excellency of the God-head This cannot be comprehended by any of the creatures Yet let me tell you the understanding shall then be more perfect In its apprehension In its judgment I. In its apprehension that shall be most quick and acute the Soul shall have a most sharp and piercing eye-sight readily apprehending and conceiving it shall not see thorow a glass it shall not have its knowledg at second hand 1. It shall not apprehend God by the Creature by the light of Nature the Creatures are the darkest representations of God there are but some of his foot-prints in the Creatures they are no glasses wherein we shall behold the face of God At the best the Creatures are but Jacob's Ladder to us by which we may ascend from Earth to the knowledg of God in Heaven the Creatures can but take us by the hand and lead us to God and lift up our minds to Heaven the sight of God is more then all the Creatures can afford because God's face cannot be seen in the Creature and yet this we may grant that the Saints shall see God in the Creatures then but with this difference as Dionysius well observeth Dionys Ercop the Creatures will be specula clara in statu integro clear glasses in a perfect state but now in statu corrupto in a corrupt state they be specula aenigmatica obscure glasses 2. The glorified Soul shall apprehend God after another manner then now it can know him from his Word or understand him in his Word The knowledg of the Word is by the Schools called cognitio Fidei the knowledg of Faith it is a far greater knowledg then the knowledg of God from the Creatures Faith is of an higher reach then Reason or the light of Nature the Word of God speaks of God more then the eye of Reason ever can by the eye of Nature kenne things which Reason could almost deny at least dispute against the Word reveals of God The Creatures shew but the foot-steps of God the Word sheweth his back-parts his glorious attributes his gracious goodness but yet the Word cannot shew us the face of God therefore the Beatifick Vision is more then the knowledg of God we have from the Word 3. The knowledg of God in Heaven is more then that which the Saints have of him by the light of grace in this life by the light of grace the Saints do behold the light of God's countenance in this life David often prays Lord lift up the light of thy countenance upon us but yet the light of grace cannot shew the very countenance of God himself it must be the light of glory that must discover that to us Indeed to know God by the light of grace which more properly is termed the knowledg of Faith is called life eternal John 17.3 It is called eternal life because to believe in God and in Christ is the medium a way and means to life eternal and then again it is vita eterna inchoata saving Faith in Christ is the beginning of eternal life but the eye of Faith is too weak to look God in the face yet this we may grant that what the Creature what the Word reveals of God what we know by the light of grace we shall have a more clear more full and more manifest sight of it in Heaven We shall then see God as he is i. know himself by himself we shall know him by himself without the Creature know him by himself without the external preaching of the Word know him without the Sacraments the Word and Sacraments being glasses wherein we behold the glory of God but in Heaven there shall be no need of these glasses we shall see his face without these glasses by himself Look as God doth manifest himself to the Angels so he will manifest himself to us they see God in himself and by himself therefore they are said always to behold the face of God and so shall glorified Saints do Here the bodily eye may be dim either by reason of the weakness of the eye a defect of strength in the organ or instrument of sight or because of scales or films growing over it so it is with the understanding or eye of the Soul its sight may be dim and imperfect either by reason of its natural weakness or by the scales of lusts or sinful corruptions overgrowing it these do exceedingly blind the understanding and dull the apprehension while we are in this state of mortality Now both these shall be done away in that state of glory the organ or eye of the Soul shall then be strengthned with perfection there shall be no weakness remaining in it it shall be most strong and vigorous the Soul shall then be elevated and raised to that strength that it shall be able to gaze upon the glory of God for ever and so see him as never to lose the sight of him then likewise all the scales shall be removed there shall not be the least mote of lust to dim the eye of the Soul it shall see clearly and perfectly and ignorance which is here a brand of sin shall be quite defaced by the brightness that shall enlighten the Soul Tunc nec falli nec peccare possunt homines veritate illuminati in bono confirmati then men illightened with the truth and confirmed in good can neither deceive nor be deceived nor sin saith St. Augustine How quick was Adam's apprehension in the state of innocence how did the acuteness of his understanding penetrate into the insides of the Creatures as is manifest by his giving them names suitable to their natures Now as Christ the second Adam is incomparably more excellent then the first Adam and Believers are the spiritual seed of Christ as Men and Women are the natural seed of Adam so far more transcendent shall that perfection of apprehension and understanding be which Christ shall illighten the Souls of his Saints withal as his seed in that state of blessedness even far surpassing that which Adam had and which should have been propagated from him to his natural issue had he persevered in the integrity of his nature wherein he was created SECT II. Of the perfection of the judgments of the Saints in glory II. AS the apprehensions so likewise the judgments of the Saints shall be perfected in Heaven Here sometimes quick apprehensions are accompanied with shallow judgments as on the other side solid judgments are joyned with slow apprehensions but in glory the soundness of the judgment shall be correspondent with the clearness and quickness of the apprehension it shall not be subject to the least mistake nor obnoxious to any error here we are full of levity and wavering in matters of Religion taking up opinions lightly without due examination and for want of strength of judgment we are ready upon every sleight occasion to receive another Doctrine and likewise presuming upon the strength of and subtilty of our own wits not limited by
of it and so for some that are in affliction 't is possible for them to miss of Heaven yet 't is not their affliction that deprives them of it the good or evil use of either is that which makes all of us in either to be happy or unhappy Let it therefore prepare us for the constant and patient bearing of afflictions whensoever they shall come upon us especially if they shall come upon us for the testimony of the Gospel and for righteousness sake for if the crown of glory belong to any that suffer then certainly to those sufferers that our Saviour speaks of Matth. 5.10 Those that suffer for righteousness sake they of all other are blessed and to them belongeth the Kingdom of Heaven yea if in Heaven there be degrees of glory as we may perswade our selves there be we may withall perswade our selves that the chiefest mansions are for such they that most partake with Christ in his sufferings they shall most share with him in glory the faireâ—â— crowns of glory that Heaven hath to give shalâ— be set upon the Heads of Martyrs first the Crown of Martyrdom and then a Crown of Glory as God hath called them to their sufferings so doubtless he will strengthen them in their sufferings and crown them for their sufferings may they therefore stand fast unto the end and bear all their troubles and tribulations patiently constantly joyfully Patienter propter Deum confidenter propter auxilium gaudenter propter praemium patiently for God's sake because he hath called them to it constantly for his assistance sake because he will aid them in it joyfully for the rewards sake because he will crown them for it Upon this account it was that the Apostle commendeth the Hebrews that they passed thorow all manner of afflictions and cleaved fast to the Gospel and therefore bids them call to remembrance the former dayes in which after they were illuminated they endured a great fight of afflictions partly saith he while ye were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflictions and partly while ye became companions of them that were so used for ye had compassion of me in my bonds and took joyfully the spoilinâ— of your goods knowing in your selves that ye haâ— in heaven a better and an enduring substance Hebr. 10.32 33 34. Have any of us then received the beginning the earnest the first-fruits of eternal life then let it be far from us to think of leaving all these rich hopes of eternity for fear of the sharpest temporary sufferings and let me add that afflictions are so far from keeping us from Heaven as they be rather a way to bring us to Heaven We must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God Act. 14.22 Certainly many persons had never come to Heaven if God had not brought them to his Kingdom this way CHAP. XXXII An Exhortation to Christians to believe the promise of God touching their salvation and so to lay claim to it 1. NOw seeing God will hereafter crown his people with glory then labour O Christian Reader in the first place to believe the promise of God touching the salvation of thy soul labour to have a full assurance of faith and a full affiance in God that he will save thee A man takes it ill if he be not believed on his Word and promise and so doth the faithful God who is truth it self and cannot lye The sum of that which every faithful soul professeth to believe in the Creed is as much as if he should say I believe that God is my God and Father by the mediation of Jesus Christ through the sanctification of the Holy-ghost whereby he hath made me a member of his Catholick Church which is the Communion and Society of his Saints to which and to all the members thereof and so namely to me he will give remission of sins and an happy resurrection of the body to be partaker with the soul of life eternal This was David's faith I believed to see the goodness of God in the Land of the living Psal 27.13 And Fulgentius saith it was not proper onely to David to say so for saith he the just man living by faith saith boldly I believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living S. August speaks well to this purpose God hath promised thee O man that thou shalt live for ever dost thou not believe it that which he hath already done for thee is a greater matter than that which he hath promised thee Therefore let us labour to get an assured trust in God and his promise that when he that is our life shall appear we also may appear with him in glory which glory though we know it not yet we know that God hath given us the interest and title of it already and by faith do stand assured through the Spirit that he will in due time give us the full sight and fruition of it which none can know but they that have it revealed to them from God but God revealeth it by the Holy Ghost to every one that believeth in his promise and hopeth for his salvation therefore let no faithful soul whom God hath called into Communion with himself and to the hope of everlastingly life stand any longer in doubt of that salvation which God hath promised him 2. When once thou dost believe the promise of God touching the salvation of thy soul then mayest thou claim Heaven as thine own by a due debt God hath made himself a debtor to his people by promise faithful promise makes due debt the debt in that case ariseth not from any desert of him to whom the promise is made but only the word of him that promiseth We must therefore distinguish between debt of desert and debt of promise for debt of desert ariseth out of the nature and condition of the work it self which obligeth him to whose use and service it is done but debt of promise ariseth not from the thing that is done or yielded to another but onely from the promise it self whereby a man hath bound himself As August well observeth that it is one thing to say to a man Thou art a debtor to me because I have given to thee another thing to say Thou art a debtor to me because thou hast promised me debt of promise moveth the promiser for his own sake though there be nothing in the party to whom he hath made promise that may excite or cause him to perform his promise Now it is an act of justice in God to perform his promise made to his Children to bring them to Heaven and to bestow eternal life upon them for it is the justice of God that what is promised be paid or performed hereupon saith August we say not unto God Repay that which thou hast received but pay that which thou hast promised let us hold him therefore a most faithful debtor because we have him a most merciful promiser the promise was
him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and believeth in him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day 2. Christ hath promised it Hosea 13.14 I will ransome them from the power of the grave I will redeem them from death O Death I will be thy plagues O grave I will be thy destruction John 6.54 Whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day Yea Christ hath considered it by his last will and testament John 17.22 24. 3. It is evident by the Saints profession Job confesseth thus much plainly Job 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my flesh worms destroy this body yet shall I see God in my flesh whom I myself shall see mine eyes shall behold and no other for me though my reins be consumed within me Our Saviour who called himself the resurrection and the life refutes the Sadduces and confirms the doctrine of the Pharisees as to that opinion producing a place out of the Law of Moses and using it as an argument for the proof thereof As touching the resurrection of the dead have ye not read that which was spoken to you by God saying I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the dead but of the living Matth. 22.32 with the weight of which argument he astonished the multitude and silenced the Sadduces And St. Paul also asserteth the doctrine of the resurrection being brought before the Councel the one part whereof were Sadduces the other Pharisees one denying the other asserting the resurrection Acts 23.6 SECT II. I Shall now prove the resurrection of the Saints bodies by arguments 1. Else why should the Saints in all ages crucifie themselves to the World suffer afflictions for faith in and hope of the resurrection 1 Cor. 15.19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable for the wicked esteem the godly as the most miserable men in the World and had they only hope of the things of this life they were then most miserable forasmuch as these temporal pleasures are not a sufficient reward of temporal afflictions 2. The bodies of the just are instruments and companions in the work of holiness therefore also in the reward of them in glory now if we be dead with Christ we also believe that we shall live with him Rom. 6.8 without this the bodies of the just were of all mens most miserable 3. If the bodies of the wicked shall rise again to receive the reward of condemnation then by the same rule must the bodies of the Saints rise to receive the reward of life and salvation Christ saith that the hour is coming when all that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation John 5.28 29. if it were not so then God should delight or exceed in justice more then in mercy 4. Because God is able to raise them out of their graves again As the Lord by the resurrection of dry bones revived the dead hope of Israel Ezek. 37.10 11 12. and made them to know that he would open their graves and cause them to come out of their graves and bring them into the Land of Israel so when the bodies of the Saints go down to the dust and their bones are dried there and their hope seems to be lost yet then doth their flesh rest in hope for God will not leave them in the grave nor suffer his holy ones always to see corruption Psal 16.9 10. 5. Otherwise the second Adam could not repair the loss of the first Adam and Christ were not so strong to save as Adam was to destroy for as in Adam all die even so in Christ all shall be made alive 1 Cor. 15.21 22. Adam was the Author of Death's strength and Christ of Death's resurrection 6. Christ is an eternal King and hath an everlasting Kingdom which cannot be unless his Subjects also be eternal for these are relatives and do sese mutuo ponere tollere Also his covenant is everlasting and that not with the dead but with the living sc such as live in soul Matth. 22.32 and shall at the end of the World live eternally both in soul and body and unless we make Christ's body a monster we must not seperate the head from the members which we shall do if we deny the resurrection of the just Luke 14.14 7. If we deny the resurrection of the Saints bodies we deny Christ to be risen upon which many absurdities gross heresies and all manner of impieties will ensue 1 Cor. 15. from 13. ad 19. verse If there be no resurrection of the dead then is Christ not risen and if Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain yea and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up if the dead rise not SECT III. BUt Christ is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. 15.20 let us therefore consider the personal types or figures of our Saviour's resurrection 1. Adam was a type of Christ among other things in this viz. that as he slept in the Garden so Christ died on the Cross and was buried in a Garden When Adam descended into a sleep there was a resurrection of his Rib which awaked into a Woman Adam's sleeping was a type of Christ's suffering and dying and his awaking of Christ's rising again yea this resurrection of the second Adam doth well resemble the nativity of the first Adam for in Genesis Chap. 2. you shall find Adam taken out of the ground and fashioned out of the dust of the earth so was it with our blessed Saviour at his resurrection he was as I may speak born again of the earth rose out of the dust of death the grave was in travail with him and Death it self was compelled to bring forth the Lord of life and so he is the first-born of the dead Colos 1.18 But see here the malice of the Jews towards our blessed Saviour which ended not upon the Cross but as they began with him in his cradle so they persecute him to his grave where as though they had not laid him up safe enough they invent bonds beyond death they watch and seal him up in the grave as if they could have held in him who had the keys of Hell and death but for all the great stone which they had brought with much heaving no doubt to lay upon the mouth of the grave for all their seal set upon the stone and a diligent watch set to
sanctification and redemption They shall know him as their Pledg and Surety as one that satisfied the justice of his Father and bore all the pains and torments their sins deserved they shall know him as their Head that gave them life and motion they shall know him as their Tutor and Guide that hath led them through their Pilgrimage in this World to the heavenly Canaan they shall then know how he carried a world of Saints over the same Seas they are now sailing in how Christ paid the fare of the ship himself and that not one of them was found dead on the shore They shall know him as a Father that was more tenderly affected with the sorrows and sufferings of his Children then of his own they shall then know how Christ's eye and heart was upon his Spouse making their salvation his end and the measure of his love his rising early his night watching his toyling his sweating his sore and hard travel and all that he might have a redeemed People Then shall they know him as their King Priest and Prophet who offered up himself for them they shall look upon him as one who presented all their prayers to his Father and procured acceptance who taught them the mind of God who came out of the bosome of God and revealed the Father to them who governed them and protected them all their days they shall look upon him as one that brought them through fair and foul ways to his Fathers House The perfect knowledg of these things and the like will abundantly satisfie the Saints in Heaven Then Jesus Christ shall be glorified in his Saints and admired in all that believe 2 Thes 1.10 I. He shall be glorified in his Saints which glory shall result to Christ two ways 1. By putting glory on his Saints in glorifying them he glorifieth himself he manifesteth what a King of glorious state he is what treasures of glory are in him that he can put so much glory on innumerable Saints without any diminution of his own glory all that glory which the Saints enjoy is Christ's originally he is the Fountain they the Cisterns he infinitely full though they are filled with it also they receive grace for grace from Christ and they receive glory for glory happiness for happiness joy for joy from him Christ sheweth the riches of his glory as a King sheweth the riches of his treasury when he can make many rich and he not wax poor but what King can do so excepting Christ the King of Kings 2. He shall be glorified in his Saints that is as Chrysostom expounds it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by his Saints Chrysost in 2 Thes 2.10 All his Saints shall with one heart and mouth ascribe to him all the glory of their glory and for their glory Revel 4.10 Then all the Saints will take their Crowns of glory from off their heads and cast them down before the Throne of Christ saying Thou art worthy to receive honour and glory and power He is infinitely worthy in himself because he is God over all but he is also relatively worthy in respect of the Saints because all the glory they have they received from him he purchased their glory he hath brought them to glory he hath glorified his power in making them glorious and he counts them worthy of this glory II. Christ shall be admired in all that believe Wonder and astonishment ariseth ex magnitudine novitate rerum the greatness and strangeness of a thing causeth admiration in all beholders The glory which Christ will put on his Saints shall be exceeding great and exceeding strange beyond all conceit and imagination the heart of man cannot now perceive it but when the eye shall see this glory and the heart shall perceive it Christ will be wonderfully admired in them and by them The glory of his power will be admired in that such poor dust and ashes should be advanced to such an height of glory that he can make his Creatures so glorious They will admire his love toward them in communicating such glory to them they will admire his grace in bringing such worthless Creatures to such glory even from the Dunghil to the highest Throne of glory Moreover they shall clearly understand that great mystery of the Trinity of the Persons in the unity of one God-head and Divine essence which is now so far above the understanding of the sincerest Christian they shall see how the Son is begotten of the Father as the word and wisdom of the Father and abideth in the Father how the Holy Ghost proceedeth from both and abideth in both they shall see how these three are distinguished by a personal propriety so that they are three Persons subsisting in themselves and yet together in number are one essence or simple Deity one power one wisdom one goodness one majesty one immensity one eternity then shall they see how the Father is in the Son how the Son is in the Father and the Holy Ghost in both how all are in each and each in all This is a mystery which here no heart can conceive or tongue express it is as Hilary saith Extra sermonis significationem extra sensus intentionem extra intelligentiae conceptionem no speech can set it forth no sense can sound the depth of it no reason reach the reason of it but in Heaven the Saints shall perfectly understand this great mystery This is the Heaven saith Gregory Nazianzen that I look for Nazian orat contra Arrian that I may have a view of the glorious Trinity and understand that great mystery This truth that hath met with so much contradiction from many blasphemous Hereticks in former ages such as Nestorians Arrians Sabellians Macedonians they shall then most clearly understand SECT IV. GLorified Saints shall also look into the great mystery of godliness with great delight shall they read the Book of Life the eternal Decree of God electing them to Salvation how shall it fill their hearts with joy to look into the original Records of eternity to see into that depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledg of God at which the Apostle made a stand The Apostle was at a stand as one whose stature in that condition of mortality was too low to wade any further into that great deep therefore he cries out Rom. 11. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out The waters are too deep I can find no bottom for who hath known the mind of the Lord or been his Counsellor But in Heaven the Saints shall fully understand this unsearchable depth viz. how God should so carry on the great designs of the declaration of his pardoning mercy to some and his punishing justice to others and that in both these God was free in his grace and just in his judgments though he neither chose nor called according to works that the damned Creature was most guilty and that God was both severe and
which then they shall enjoy they shall never be afraid of losing God Christ Heaven Happiness but shall be secured to all eternity which is the Crown of this glorious liberty of the Children of God It is a sore thraldome to be perplexed with fears of losing our enjoyments it imbittereth all our joyes it is death to a worldling to think he must die and leave all his riches honours friends delights much more will it be a very Hell to the afflicted if they should be afflicted with the fears of losing Heaven but no such fears or thoughts shall at any time during eternity perplex the hearts of the Godly it casteth out all such fears they shall see it is impossible for them to lose what they do possess Notable is that phrase Luk. 16.26 Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed that if the glorified would get out of Heaven they cannot come to the damned and the damned cannot come out of Hell to Heaven God hath fast bolted the gates of Heaven and Hell with an everlasting decree CHAP. XXVIII Of the eternity of the glory of Heaven II. THe second adjunct of this glory is the perpetuity of it it shall be everlasting this is abundantly witnessed in the Scriptures I give to them eternal life saith Christ and they shall never perish Joh. 10.28 He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life Joh. 5.24 To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory honour and immortality eternal life Rom. 2.7 it is called eternal life eternal glory eternal salvation 2 Tim. 2.10 Hebr. 5.9 Hebr. 9.15 The Hebrews when they did speak of eternal life they would speak in the plural number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vitae not vita lives not life implying eternity Quest Here it may be demanded how the blessedness of the Saints is made perpetual endless everlasting Adam was made perfect after the Image of God perfectly blessed perfectly holy and yet he fell both from holiness and happiness this blessed estate of his seemed to have been of very short continuance yea many of the Angels which were more excellent and glorious than man and had none to tempt them yet left their habitation and fell from this blessed estate how then cometh it to pass that the happiness of man shall be everlasting Resp For answer hereunto if I should say that they shall see God face to face and so shall be filled with God and so all occasions of sin and revolting from God shall be prevented and they shall be so abundantly satisfied in God and so invincibly strengthened and confirmed by God dwelling in them that nothing shall so far prevail over them as in the least degree to withdraw their affections from God I see not how this might suffice for doubtless the Angels that kept not their first estate did thus see and enjoy God yet they fell totally and finally Therefore the sole reason is the will of Almighty God his infinite goodness his eternal love toward them according to which he hath made a covenant of grace with them in his Son by his promise and oath assuring them of eternal life and this immutable will and love of God declared in the infallible truth of his gracious promise and covenant is a better and firmer assurance than the highest perfections and excellencies that any meer creature is capable of yea a child of God here on earth having the least measure of true grace mixt with many corruptions almost stifled with the body of death opposed discouraged discountenanced by a wicked and ungodly world assaulted by all the powers of darkness and with numberless temptations is in a safer condition for perseverance and is better assured to hold out to eternal life because of the verity of God's promise and the firmness of his covenant grounded upon the rock Christ-Jesus than one that were by creation perfectly upright and happy if his holiness and happiness were only in his own keeping and not established upon this everlasting foundation the will of God and the infallibility of his promise This being the cause we may also conceive divers holy ends for which as he doth preserve every child of his by his effectual working power unto salvation so having brought them thither he will for ever preserve them in his Heavenly Kingdom As I. That he may have some of the lost seed of Adam to be everlasting Monuments of his rich grace who to all eternity shall be real demonstrations of his infinite love and unspeakable mercy and goodness in redeeming justifying sanctifying cleansing and preserving them II. That he may be to eternity praised for his glorious victories over all his enemies that when the Devil and his Angels have used the utmost of their craft might and malice when the hands of the world have been hot and smoking with the blood of the Saints and their hearts sick with blasphemy and malice against Christ and his followers when sin hath thrown out its most deadly poyson or when death hath been devouring Man-kind so many ages yet shall the Almighty power of God be so prevalent over all as to make and everlastingly to keep his elect in a blessed state and he in them and they with him shall celebrate an eternal and most glorious triumph in the Kingdom of Heaven III. That Jesus Christ may be eternally honoured as a Redeemer God the Father will have the fruit of his Son's purchase to be perpetual and everlasting he will magnifie the infinite value of that price which Christ hath paid the infinite vertue of that blood which Christ shed for the redemption of lost souls by establishing his ransomed ones in everlasting happiness therefore it is said He shall come to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that do believe 2 Thes 1.10 Christ is now very admirable and glorious in the hearts of his redeemed ones who are illightened with saving knowledge who have an experimental taste in themselves of the efficacy of his blood and the fruit of that redemption which he hath wrought But oh how admirable and glorious shall he then appear when they shall enjoy the fulness of his redemption in an unchangeable state of blessedness for evermore IV. That he may have everlasting objects of his love to whom he may communicate his goodness sweetness fulness whom he may enrich with the treasures of his Kingdom feast with his love beautifie with his salvation and adorn with the brightness of his glory for ever and this is that wherein the infinite goodness of God delighteth even to give forth and to communicate it self such is his blessedness and perfection that it is beyond all possibility of addition he can receive nothing from any but delighteth to give and communicate and as he is an everlasting fountain of blessedness so he will have everlasting vessels of honour into whom fulness of blessedness may stream and
11. A twofold use made hereof Chap. 12. Sheweth how the creatures shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God wherein many questions are propounded and answered Chap. 13. Of the time when the Saints shall be glorified Chap. 14. Of the place of the Saints happiness how Heaven is the house of God and shall be the habitation of the Saints that in this house are many mansions and these sufficient to receive many Inhabitants shewed in three Sections Sect. 4. Sheweth that Heaven is the Throne and Kingdom of God Sect. 5. Sheweth that Heaven is the place where the Saints inheritance lyeth Sect. 6. Sheweth that there they shall receive their reward and what that reward is Some Objections resolved Sect. 7. Sheweth that Heaven is the place where God will give his people a kind welcom and loving entertainment Chap. 15. Of the Antecedent to the Saints glory viz. the resurrection of their Bodies their resurrection proved by seven Arguments Of the personal types of our Saviour's resurrection and the proofs of his resurrection That the same bodies of the Saints shall be raised proved by five arguments An Object answered Chap. 16. Of the glory of the Saints bodies in Heaven Of the clarity agility spirituality impassibility incorruptibility and immortality of glorified bodies and of their sensitive actions and answerable passions which include not corruption And what glorious things may be spoken of the particular senses and parts of the body and of their several objects with the uses that are to be made thereof Chap. 17. Of the blessedness of the Soul before the resurrection when the soul shall remain separated from the body The opinion of the mortalists that the soul dieth or sleepeth with the body refuted Chap. 18. Of the blessedness of the Soul in general shewed in two things Chap. 19. Of the more distinct blessedness of the Soul Of the perfection of the Saints apprehensions and judgments in glory Chap. 20. A description of what things shall be seen in God by the Saints in Heaven and how they shall fully see what God is to themselves how they shall behold the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Man and as the Author and finisher of their faith and how they shall look into the great mysterie of godliness Chap. 21. Of their knowledge of that innumerable company of Angels Chap. 22. Of the Saints mutual knowledge of each other in Heaven Two Objections answered Chap. 23. Of the purity and perfection of the wills of glorified Saints Chap. 24. Sheweth how their affections shall be enlarged composed and rightly placed there Chap. 25. Of the joy of glorified Saints what it is and to what it extendeth it self Chap. 26. Sheweth what affections shall have no place in Heaven Chap. 27. Of the adjuncts of the glory of Heaven that the glorious estate of God's children is a state of liberty shewed in divers respects Chap. 28. Of the eternity of the glory of Heaven Chap. 29. Of the certainty of the Salvation of the Saints Chap. 30. Sheweth that no afflictions shall rob the Saints of their crown of glory Chap. 31. A cordial to them that are in affliction and a preparative to them that are not Chap. 32. An exhortation to Christians to believe the promise of God touching their Salvation and so to lay claim to it Chap. 33. Sheweth how a man may know whether he hath a title to Heaven Chap. 34. Setteth forth the danger of those that are in a state of damnation Chap. 35. An exhortation to offer violence to the Kingdom of Heaven A PROSPECT OF HEAVEN Rom. 8.18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us CHAP. I. THE Apostle having set forth the work and wages the duty and the reward of the Sons of God shewing that their work is to suffer with Christ their reward to reign with Christ in glory in this Verse he preventeth an Objection which might arise in the mind of a Believer that might discourage him from suffering valiantly and patiently as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ for it might be objected you tell us of glory but that glory is dearly bought that must cost so many grievous trials and afflictions as we are like to meet with yet this is satisfied by setting forth the pettiness of the afflictions of this life in comparison of future glory Be your afflictions never so many be they as great as grievous as can be imagined and endured yet the glory which shall be revealed in you is far greater then all your sufferings The words are a peremptory conclusion in which we may observe 1. The Person making the conclusion I Paul 2. The Things concerning which the conclusion is made the Afflictions of this life and future Glory 3. The Thing concluded that there is no comparison between the one and the other Now for explication of the words I reckon I Paul that have had great experience of the sufferings of this life we may read a narrative of his sufferings 2 Cor. 11.23 ad vers 31. I also that have had this high priviledg above all the Apostles to be rapt up into Paradise and saw such glory and heard such unspeakable words or things which are impossible for a man to utter with his tongue therefore St. Paul's peremptory conclusion is to be credited Rhem. Test 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I reckon This word importeth not a probable conjecture of the Apostle as the old Translation Existimo and the Rhemists would have it which Erasmus Erasm disliketh because it doth not fully express the sence of it who interprets the word reputo I account or resolve in my mind But the word properly signifieth to decree and determine a thing after much reasoning on both sides therefore many render it statuo I do ordain decree or determine and so it noteth a tried weighed and experienced conclusion proceeding from an infallible spirit and judgment and is a Metaphor taken from such as casting an Account do find what the Sum amounts unto He doth not say I think or it is my opinion but it is my reckoning St. Paul did put afflictions in one seale of the ballance and glory in the other and this he determineth that glory doth by far weigh down all our present sufferings This is the matter of his account he instanceth rather in the passive than in the active obedience of the Saints not because it is more excellent or difficult for an ungodly man may be brought to suffer but cannot truly perform a gracious work but because it is more grievous and painful The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 passiones translated sufferings includes all manner of evils which we do or can suffer as reproaches cruel mockings scourgings revilings troubles pains diseases hunger cold nakedness perils loss of liberty and life it self These afflictions are said in the Greek
the Children of God and these are imperfect in this world and fully perfected and consummated in the world to come Glory to speak properly of that which is to come I rather conceive to be the general comprehending holiness it self and all other excellencies of this glorious estate and condition then a part or member distinguished from it for that perfection of holiness which the Saints shall then enjoy shall be exceeding glorious but thus I speak according to our usual manner of expressing these things The glory of the Saints in Heaven is that which accomplisheth that which grace hath begun and setteth a Seale upon the fullness of all our felicities Glory as one well observeth implieth some great eminency and excellency Dr. Sibs as the foundation of it and then a manifestation of that excellency Though there be excellency yet if there be not a manifestation thereof it is not Glory Christ was inwardly glorious while he was upon earth in the state of abasement he had true glory as he was God and man but there was not a manifestation of it till he was received up into glory therefore the glory of the Saints is called the manifestation of the Sons of God Rom. 8.19 Glory also implyeth victory over all opposition here God's children are subject to abasement to shame to sufferings in divers kinds but glory will exempt them from all baseness and all that may diminish esteem and excellency and in the day of their glorification their excellency shall shine and break forth and all things shall be removed that might hinder their glory so that glorified souls shall be like that Egyptian Pyramid which perpendicularly reflected on by the Sun did cast no shadow When the Saints shall appear with Christ in glory they shall appear as so many glorious Conquerours over their enemies they shall see Sin and Satan their Spiritual enemies subdued and they shall appear Conquerours over wicked men who did in this life trample upon them and they shall see them damned before their faces SECT II. ADam in Paradise was but a little inferiour to the Angels and crowned with glory and honour Psal 8. He discoursed familiarly with the Angels and he knew that his Soul though included in a body was little inferiour to those blessed Spirits but hereafter the Saints shall be made like or equal to the Angels The Lord will raise his Saints to a higher pitch of glory then Adam was in Paradise which may thus be illustrated 1. Adam was made Lord of the inferiour Creatures in that happy State all was submitted to his will he was equally absolute in his Person and Dominion he was Lord of the Universe but the Saints at the last day shall be raised to such a degree of glory that they shall have no need nor use of these inferiour Creatures the Fowls of the Air the Fishes of the Sea the Beasts of the Earth were put under the feet of Adam before his fall but then they shall be below all the necessities of the Saints who shall be raised far above these things enjoying all in and from the fountain of life God himself living and reigning with his children will be their everlasting inheritance he will fill all their desires perfect all the powers of their Souls and communicate himself so surely and so abundantly to them that as there is nothing they have cause to fear so there is nothing they need or can wish for 2. Adam indeed was crowned with Glory but yet left in a possibility to stain his Glory Man in Paradise could not raise himself up to God nor defend himself against the Devil without the assistance of grace saith St. August August Epist 109. ad Bonif. he was therefore soon exiled from Paradise and constrained to endure a banishment as long as life and here he undergoes all the miseries of an exterminated person he is deprived of his goods and being driven out of Paradise is fallen from all those honours that equalled his condition to that of Angels and reduced to a deplorable estate rendring his condition little different from that of the beasts that perish Job was more happy in his misery saith the same Father then Adam in his Innocence August in Psal 29. he was victorious on the dunghil this other was defeated on his Throne He gave no ear to the evil counsel of his wife this other was cajol'd bâ— His He despised all the assaults of Satan this other suffered himself to be worsted at the first temptation He preserved his righteousness in the midst of his soâ—rows this other lost his innocence in the midst of his pleasures The first man saith he in another place received in Paradise a liberty void of all servitude God presented him with fire and water and gave him leave to chuse man took fire and rejected the water God who is just let him grasp what he had chosen so that he was therefore unhappy because he would be so Man was left in a possibility to stain his honour and lose his glory he did not long abide in that honour Adam fell as is probable the same day he was created 1. Because Christ saith of the Devil he was a murtherer from the beginning John 8.44 His malicious mind being such toward them that stood himself being fallen that he could not endure to see them in that estate no not for an hour 2. If he had continued one day or one night in his integrity the blessing of God upon his Marriage would have taken place and so he would have begotten children without sin which sith he did not but begat Children in his own Image Gen. 5.3 It 's likely he fell the same day wherein he was Created 3. See the Answer that Eve makes to the Devil Gen. 3.2 We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the Garden i. e. Have free liberty to eat signifying that as yet they had not eaten and therefore it could be no long time But the Saints at the last day shall be raised to such a state of glory and honour as shall never fade their Crown and Garland shall never wither fading glory is very imperfect it is like a flash of lightning Adam was tempted and lost his present Glory his dignity was soon gone but the Glory that God will put upon his Saints shall be like the fixed Stars shining in the Kingdom of the Father they shall be like unto Christ whose Glory is Eternal this is the greatest and last benefit they shall receive by Christ far greater then Adam's in his state of innocence St. John saith that when he shall appear we shall be like him 1 John 3.2 that is like him in glory Now when I say the Saints shall be like unto Christ you must consider that there is a great difference between likeness and equality Things may be like each other which may be very unequal Water in a Dish is like the Water in the River but very unequal
are interested that look as the creature is said verse 19. earnesty to expect they do as it were put forth their heads to look for the glorious appearing of the Sons of God so all the Saints do earnestly expect their future promised glory saith Parisiensis Guilielm Parisiens their hopes are altogether taken up with Heaven they long for this eternal habitation the moments that stop them here below seem ages the diversions illusions the pleasures of the world seem torments to them the happiness of the world a dangerous temptation Now the Spirit of God inspires them with strong desires of Heaven points out the glory of the Blessed fills them with hope of the shortning of their exile they live always in their desire after Heaven comfort themselves with the expectation and by a certain hope taste the happiness they shall one day be satisfied with in an everlasting enjoyment Now the hope of a Christian is sure and being founded on the promises of God who cannot lye never deludes the Believer that listens to them Jesus Christ hath given to his People such favors as whereby he strengthens their hope for what happiness they yet enjoy not the death he suffered for us is an assurance of that life he prepares for us neither can we doubt saith Augustine Aug. that we shall not reign with him in glory seeing he was willing to die for us upon the Cross for what good things may we not expect when his death is a pledg of his love and an assurance of the happiness we look for he that hath this hope may boast himself happy before hand for Philo Philo Jud. the Jew calls it the fore-runner of joy a harbinger pleasure preceeding the eternal one an ante past of blessedness 3. God hath already given them the beginnings of glory they are sealed with the holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of their inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession c. Ephes 1.13 Here indeed the Saints are Sons but they are not Heirs invested into that blessed estate they have title to God reserves not all their happiness for the world to come but gives them somewhat here to bear up their spirits to mitigate and sweeten their troubles in their absence from their Husband and to render them happy in the midst of their miseries he sheds the graces of his Spirit into their spirits with so much complacency that conversing with men they may relish the bliss and happiness of Angels He gives them the Holy Ghost as a pledg of that glory which one day they shall receive with him you know an earnest is for security of a contract so the Holy Ghost doth secure us of that blessed estate we shall have hereafter in Heaven An earnest likewise is part of the bargain a part of the whole that is secured though it be never so little yet it is a part so it is in the operations of the Spirit upon us in that peace and joy that it worketh in the heart it is a part of that peace and joy the Saints shall for ever enjoy in Heaven Moreover an earnest is given rather for the security of the party that receives it then in regard of him that gives it so God by giving us this earnest of his Spirit gives us assurance of salvation he makes us thereby to read our Names written in the Book of Life he takes us into that Privy Chamber where the definitive sentence of our eternal happiness is pronounced he applieth to us the merits of Jesus Christ and himself interposeth the caution of his Promises he blots out those mortal discontents that labour to throw us into despair advancing our hope by a prelibation of glory and handles us with so much tenderness that he that hath this assurance cannot be made to believe that he can be miserable in the other world that hath been so happy in this The Saints also have glory here in primitiis they are said to have received the first fruits of the Spirit Rom. 8.23 to assure them that they shall have a rich harvest and a good crop Look as sometimes it falls out with wicked men in their merry sports God sends some horror of conscience into them that like an unwholesome damp choaketh all their pleasure which is the first fruits of Hell a taste of the cup of wrath which the damned drink of in Hell so when a godly man is in his sad dumps when he is almost buried in the gulf of troubles then God's Spirit doth as Jonathan take a little honey upon the top of his rod and gives it him to eat which comforteth his fainting spirit the Spirit of God then droppeth a little comfort upon an afflicted heart gives him a taste of the rivers of pleasures and secretly assureth him of the favor of God in Christ and that one day he shall enjoy communion with him to all eternity these are the very first fruits of Heaven The godly are already glorified in part because that wherein eternal life and glory do consist they have now in part they know God in part they do here enjoy God and Christ in part they have now communion with God in Christ and Christ is said to live in them and God is said to make his abode in them that Soul must needs be glorious wherein God and Christ do make their abode It is true what a holy Man said a Believer hath Coelum in se Christum in illo Coelo A Christian hath Heaven within him and Christ in that Heaven Where God and Christ is certainly there is Heaven 4. Because Christ their Head is glorified therefore must the Members also be glorified they are united to Christ he is their Husband they are his Spouse now where he is they must also be as he himself tells his Disciples John 14. Now is the time of contract only the time of the Marriage solemnity shall be at the appearing of Christ Now we are the Sons of God but it doth not appear what we shall be 1 John 3.2 But when he who is our life shall appear we shall also appear with him in glory Colos 3.4 Christ in his own Person is now glorious Ought not Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory Luke 24.26 This glory is given him by God his Father 1 Pet. 1.21 John 17.24 Now when it is said God the Father gave him glory it cannot be meant of essential glory because he had that from all eternity but by glory is meant the glory of his Mediatorship and the glory he had after his Resurrection wherein we shall be made like unto him sitting at the right hand of God Now real glory is given to Christ in regard of his Humane Nature so it was manifest in time but in respect of his Deity he had it with his Father before the world was John 17.5 As the Sun when there is a Cloud between us and it the Sun
came in the form of a Servant among the Jews who expected his coming in Princely pomp it was also the many troubles he endured for our sins because he was Crowned with a Crown of Thornes and had not a Crown of Glory upon his Head therefore his glory did not appear the carnal and blind Jews thought the promised Messiah when he came would not be thus miserable and so generally hated as Christ was thus when the wicked see godly men almost overwhelmed with troubles and even buried in the Gulf of outward calamities and look upon them as of all men the most miserable and despicable they presently think there is no glory in an holy life The miseries of the Saints are publique their advantages walk in the dark men see what they suffer but doubt of what they hope for and in the judgment of Infidels their Religion passeth for an imposture because the good things it promiseth are invisible but the evils it threatens are sensible and present We are saith August August Psal 36. like those great Trees which during the sharpness of the Winter are naked of all their leaves their life is enclosed in their roots their vigour is retired into their Sap and all their Soul and vegetation they have is hid from the eyes of the beholders but their death is conspicuous every branch publisheth it and all the mischiefs the Winter hath brought upon them are so many arguments to make us doubt of their life Thus it is with God's Children they are dead and they are alive but their Life is in a Cloud their Death manifest the persecutions they suffer the temptations they encounter the conflicts they undergo perswade wicked and unbelieving persons that their Life is but a languishing and doleful Death but their vigour is over-shadowed their glory is hid with Christ in God and as the Spring must needs return to convince the ignorant that a Tree that hath lost its leaves in the Winter is not dead so must the general Resurrection happen to assure the unbelieving World that the Life of a Christian persecuted by the World is hid with Christ in God 2. Because there is no outward excellency in grace therefore their glory cannot appear to wicked men nothing pleaseth a carnal eye but external excellency and grace hath little of that St. James Jam. 2. tells us That gay clothes and a gold Ring is in more esteem then Faith but Christ goes contrary to the World Cyrus in his speech to his Soldiers told them that were Footmen if they would follow him he would make them Horsemen he told them that were Horsemen if they would follow him he would set them over Chariots if they were Rulers of Villages he would give them Cities if of Cities he would make them Rulers of Provinces Christ Preached otherwise He that will be my Disciple let him deny himself and take up his Cross let him deny his honours and become base for my sake let him deny his riches and become poor for my sake let him deny his life and become miserable what happiness what glory is there will a wicked man say I can see no excellency in Piety if this be the portion of God's Children Grace indeed is like the Ark which within was over-laid with pure Gold and a pot of Manna was in it but the out-side was covered with Badgers-skins and Sheep-skins so grace is inwardly overlaid with pure Gold cloathed with glory and within it there is a pot of Manna even joy unspeakable Yet because the outside of grace is covered with Badgers skins and wicked men do judge according to the outward appearance therefore the inward excellency and glory thereof doth not appear to them 3. Because wicked men think that holy men because they are miserable in this life belong not to God and that their miseries here are but the fore-runners of eternal sorrows It is a good saying of Mercer Hoc est ingenium Mundi ut quibus videt deum extrinsecus maledicere maledicit quibus extrinsecus benedicere benedicit Mercer This is the guise of the World that it thinks those to be cursed of God whom he seems to cross with outward troubles and to think that they are the only blessed men whom he seems to bless with outward things Wicked men think that the love and hatred of God appeareth in outward things and that because all things go well here and every thing succeeds according to the desires of their hearts they verily presume that God by these outward dispensations intends no less then their eternal happiness and because they see that very often trouble upon trouble falls upon the godly they think they are Hypocrites and so God will deal with them to all Eternity Alas the World is blind the God of this World hath blinded their eyes that the future glory of God's Children doth not appear to them they little think that where the godly man's misery endeth there the happinesâ— of the wicked endeth and where the wicked m◠〈◊〉 misery beginneth there the hapâ—â—◠〈◊〉 th◠〈◊〉 â—â—ginneth It is Peter Martyr's 〈…〉 â—icked are called the inhabitant◠〈…〉 therefore are compared to 〈…〉 â—odly are called So journers and 〈…〉 â—â—nderers in a strange land and 〈…〉 â—â—â—ared to the Planets the Pl◠〈…〉 West to East in a contrary moâ—◠〈…〉 â—â—rs do set where the Planets riâ—e 〈…〉 â—icked and the godly that move i◠〈…〉 the one riseth where the oâ—◠〈…〉 â—â—th the glory and happiness 〈…〉 then the glory of th◠〈…〉 â—appiness doth appear SECT II. .2 THE glory of the Saints doth not yet appear to themselves it is not yet manifest what they shall be the fullness and perfection of their glory and happiness cannot be comprehended by them they must enter into their Master's Joy before they can fully see what glory belongeth to them God must make them perfectly glorious before their glory will appear Josua might have spies from Canaan that might bring with them a bunch of Grapes but yet they could not shew him the abundance of Vineyards the Rivers of honey and milk till he came into Canaan to possess it so God's Spirit may bring joy and comfort from Heaven and make the Sons of God to taste of Heaven as Josua did of the delicacies of Canaan in the Wilderness or the Spirit of God may open a cranny that the Sons of God may peep through and behold a glimpse of their future glory but their eyes can never be so fully opened while they are in the flesh as to behold the greatness of their glory and the perfection of their happiness Gorran Our glory is like a candle held in our hands covered with our fingers through which but a little of the light can be seen Indeed in some sort our glory is revealed in the Gospel in that we know that it shall be but the fullness of it is sealed up to the day of Redemption then shall it appear what the
Saints are Therefore in Jude ver 6. the day of Judgment is called the Great Day especially because it shall be a day of great Light now it is Light that makes the day and the more light the more day now in this day of Judgment there shall be abundance of light a full discovery of things and persons then shall the happiness of the Saints be more fully manifest and things shall really then appear as they are the greatest discoveries here are imperfect to that which they shall be on that day then God shall make it appear to all the World who are and who are not the Sons of God then shall all hidden things be made manifest Luk. 12. 2. That is the time for the declaration of the righteous judgment of the Lord Rom. 2.5 SECT III. THE excellent glory of the Saints is hidden from them for these reasons Reas 1. Because God would try his Children whether they would trust him or no. Whether they would believe his promises of happiness and cast themselves upon God for the accomplishment of his promises of eternal happiness Where were faith if God should make their future glory to appear to them otherwise then by promise that they shall be glorious Should God take his Children and carry them up upon a Mount as he did Moses and there shew them their future glory or take them up into the Third Heaven as he did Paul and there let them enjoy the beatifical vision how should faith be the substance of things hoped for how should faith then be the evidence of things not seen what are the things the Saints hope for is it not life everlasting is it not unspeakable glory is it not their compleat happiness and are not these the things that are not seen if these things were in view already if these things did appear to them as the Sun how could faith be the substance of things hoped for how could it be the evidence of things not seen no God will not here suffer their glory to appear but will have them live the life of faith in his promises of glory and eternal happiness before he will open Heaven to them and give them an actual possession of the heavenly Mansions and set the glorious Crown of Righteousness upon their heads Reas 2. Because God would try whether we would be content to suffer for him and to do any thing for him whether we would be willing to deny our selves to become the objects of scorn and contempt whether we would walk in his ways though they are somewhat ruggid and hedged in with sharp thornes whether we as Moses would chuse rather to suffer afflictions with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season whether we would prize the reproaches of Christ above riches more then the Treasures of Egypt and be content with his promise of future glory If the future glory and unspeakable happiness of God's Children should for the present be made manifest if God should open the windows of Heaven as he did to Stephen when he was to be stoped and let us see the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God having Crowns of glory in his hands and Robes of honour and Palms of Victory in his hands to bestow upon such as would endure reproach for his Name-sake and suffer any thing whatsoever God calls them to there is no question but the sight of this glory would make us all ready to be stoned with Stephen to be sawn asunder with Isaias to be imprisoned with Joseph to suffer with the people of God with Moses then we should esteem every reproachful contempt for Christ's sake more precious then the fairest Jewels but God doth not suffer our future glory to appear because he will try if men will suffer for him and do his will and trust themselves for glory hereafter they that will sing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb in the next life must swim through the Sea of glass mingled with fire in this life Rev. 15.2 Every one that looks for glory in the next life must make account of the Cross more or less in this life the way to Heaven is strewed with Crosses and we must think it rather an honour then a labour to follow Christ our Master as Alexander's Souldiers followed him through Mountains of Snow Reas 3. Because a future manifestation of their glorious happiness will make more for the glory of Christ then if it did now appear 2 Thes 1.10 When he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that do believe at the day of Judgment That day of horror that day of shame is the day of the manifestation of the glory of Christ and of the glory of the Saints of God then Christ will be wonderfully glorified in the glorification of his Saints and then Christ shall be admired in all them that do believe The Angels all the Saints the Wicked and the Devils themselves will be filled with admiration and be astonished at the infinite love of Christ in bestowing such glory upon all Believers Wicked men will be astonished at it and admire Christ in their glory when they shall see those poor contemned men among them to be so glorified above their expectation what will wicked men say what is yonder man in Heaven I did scorn him I did despise him upon the Earth What will another say Is that man in Heaven I saw him burnt at a Stake I saw this man imprisoned that man banished this man worried that man cast out of all that he had and now behold their glory behold their happiness They will see and wonder at it to see what glory and honour Christ hath cloathed them with then will they cry out we never thought to see such poor despised wretches whom we accounted the off-scouring of the world to be in such glory so likewise how will the Saints themselves admire Christ how will they stand wondering at themselves that they should be so glorious so happy how will they admire the love of Christ that should freely bestow such unspeakable love upon them then will the Saints say to Christ Lord what am I that thou shouldest thus honour me what glory dost thou cast upon such a worm as I am Lord I have suffered but little for thee I have done nothing for thee that thou shouldest thus glorifie me Reas 4. Therefore their glory doth not yet appear because the Sons of God while they are in these earthly houses are not fit for such glory mortality is no fit subject to have immortal glory to be put upon it these mortal Bodies of ours are not fit to be invested with the Robes of incorruptible honour yea these Bodies of ours wherein sin liveth are not fit to enjoy communion with God who is of purer eyes then to behold any unclean thing no there must be a dissolution of these earthly tabernacles mortality
must be swallowed up of life this corruptible must put on incorruption this mortal must put on immortality then and not before shall the surpassing glory of the Saints appear as Christ saith we must not put new wine into old bottles nor patch an old garment with a piece of new cloth thus Christ will not put the soul-ravishing joys of Heaven into these old bottles nor will he patch up these fading perishing Bodies with the glory of Angels Reas 5. That he might quicken their desires after their glory that our hearts may pant after those Water-brooks those Rivers of Pleasure that we may cry out with Monica the Mother of St. Augustine in her ravishing contemplation of Heaven volemus in Coelum volemus in Coelum let us fly let us fly into Heaven or as Austin himseâ—f fontem vitae sitio esurio I thirst I greedily long after the fountain of life CHAP. VII Sect. 1. ALbeit the unspeakable glory of Believers be for the present hidden yet in due time it shall be revealed Colos 3.4 When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear with him in glory Before Christ shall appear in the brightness of his glory we shall not but when the time of his appearing in glory shall come then shall all the Saints manifestly appear with him Quest Here it may be demanded What is the glory that shall be revealed Resp 1. The glory of God himself God will manifest and display his glory before them we shall see God as fully and clearly as we are capable by God's immediate communication of himself to us without any external means 1 Cor. 15.24 God will be all and in all that is God the Father Son Holy Ghost will then reign immediately over his Church by himself without any outward means and will fill his Church with his own light life love and glory It is a disputed case whether we shall see God with our bodily eyes it is answered that the Essence of God being purely spiritual cannot be seen with bodily eyes and God is styled by the Apostle absolutely invisible Again the Angels behold the glory of God and the Souls of the Saints now in Heaven see him but have not eyes therefore the sight of God is rather an act of the mind then of the Body intellectual knowledg not corporeal light But though we shall not with our eyes see the Divine Essence yet the Divine Essence will abundantly manifest it self in the Humane Nature of Christ now glorified to our eyes they shall see him God in him his Attributes in him in this life the Ordinances are a Glass to give us the sight of God in Heaven the Humane Nature of Christ is a Glass to give our bodily eyes the sight of God 2. The glory of Christ shall be revealed his glory as Head of the Church as Saviour of the Body to which he is united his glory as Judge of the World shall be revealed it is said of him that he shall appear in glory Colos 3.4 and that he shall come in his own glory and in the glory of his Father and in the glory of his holy Angels Luke 9.26 and his appearing to judge the World is called a glorious appearing Tit. 2.13 His first appearing was mean the second shall be glorious SECT II. THe Reasons that the appearing of Christ shall be glorious are these 1. Because God hath appointed Christ to judge the World therefore Christ will in the latter day appear gloriously whom God appointed to be the Saviour of the World him hath God appointed to judge the World John 5.22 Christ is God's Delegate to judge the World God will have his Judge to appear in glory Earthly Kings will have their itinerary Judges to appear in pomp and to judge Malefactors they appear both in terror and honour how do all the Gentry give their attendance how are they attended with Spear-men and the Trumpets sounding before them and are invested with Robes of honour Thus God will have his Judge of all the World to appear in glory upon his Tribunal and therefore chargeth all the Angels of Heaven to attend his glorious Majesty chargeth the Arch-angels to sound the Trump to awaken the sleepy Prisoners in the Grave the dark Prison of Death think ye what a glorious appearance it will be If Peter was amazed at Christ upon Mount Tabor when he saw but a glimpse of his glory at the Transfiguration what appearance will that be when Christ shall come in the brightness of his glory and all the Angels and Saints with him cloathed in brightness of glory 2. Because Christ will be glorious before those that did dishonour him Christ did appear to men in the form of a Servant then he was a despised a rejected Christ then was he crowned with a Crown of Thorns and had no better Sceptre then a Reed then was he a reviled a buffeted Christ the malicious Jews did most contumeliously spit on his face and every Sinner would contradict oppose and persecute him then was he a crucified Christ a Man of sorrows and of shame every one looked upon him as a despised Man none would own him for the Son of God yea the Jews did accuse him for Blasphemy for telling them that he was the Son of God therefore Christ will appear in glory one day to the horror and terror of these men that did thus blasphemously abuse him that was King of Kings that did reject him that came to save them that so Christ might be glorified before them and upon them in taking vengeance on their Souls and Bodies then those that did mock at him put a Crown of Thorns on his head a Reed in his hand shall see he was Heir of a better Crown then the Crowns of the greatest Kings and Emperors then they that did contumeliously spit upon and buffet him in scorn shall see they did this to one whom the Angels reverence he will make Kings to throw down their Crowns and Scepters to his feet then those that scorned and despised him shall see that verily he is the Son of God 3. Because glory is terrible the more glorious Christ appears at the last day the more terror will be upon the wicked therefore the glorious appearing of Christ to judge the World is called the terror of the Lord 2 Cor. 6.11 If the sight of one Angel in glory be terrible what will the sight of Christ be who will appear ten thousand times more glorious then all the Angels be if godly men that had good consciences were so horribly affrighted at the appearance of an Angel in lesser glory how will wicked men that have accusing consciences be afraid at the beholding Christ's glorious appearance if holy men were so amazed at good tidings because brought to them by a glorious Messenger how will wicked men be amazed to hear the sentence of condemnation pronounced against them by the Lord of glory To see God in Christ is the
of evils you can suffer for Christ yet what comparison is there between this death and that life which you shall live in Heaven Had you as many lives as hairs on your heads as a Martyr wished he had had you millions of lives to lose for Christ yet the loss of all these are not worthy to be compared to the life which suffering Christians shall live in Heaven put all together and you shall see there is no comparison between your present sufferings and your future enjoyments of good See what Christ saith Mark 10.29 30. There is no man that hath left House or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my sake and the Gospels but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time c. There is no comparison between your present losses and present gains your present sufferings and present reward your present reward is an hundred-fold more then all you can lose the grace of God is present the savour of God is present the right to Heaven which Believers have for the present is far above all their present sufferings Now if the reward which suffering Christians have in this life be an hundred-fold better then their sufferings then doubtless their glory in Heaven shall be a thousand-fold more transcendent SECT II. II. THere is no proportion or comparison if you respect the properties of our present sufferings and our future glory 1. There is no comparison between earthly and heavenly things your present sufferings are earthly the goods of which you are spoiled are earthly your liberty your houses your lives your joys your ease are earthly things but your glory is heavenly every part every degree of your future glory is heavenly 2. There is no proportion between that which is transient passing away and cannot endure and that which is permanent enduring your present sufferings are transient they pass away they endure not Athanasius said of persecution Nubecula est quae cito transiret There is nothing more transient and swift then time your sufferings pass away together with time they cannot endure always all you which are the subject of them shall not endure always now your glory is permanent it shall abide and endure when time shall be no more 3. There is no proportion or comparison between a moment and eternity a moment a minute and for ever and ever your present sufferings are but for a moment a short space of time your glory is eternal for ever and for ever your pain and torment is but for a moment your ease and rest is for ever and ever your suffering imprisonment is but for a moment your glorious liberty is eternal you suffer death but for a moment your life is eternal what comparison is there between the twinkling of an eye and eternity You say you have suffered long as Asaph you are plagued every morning you have been in bitterness all your days ever since you began to look after Heaven you have been afflicted from your youth up to your age even to the day of your death Grant all this to be true yet thy whole life is but a moment compared to eternity the sufferings of a thousand years is but a moment to eternity yea millions of years are but a moment compared to eternity nor will they pass for so much if we did but consider what eternity is 4. There is no comparison between light things and heavy between a feather and a rock between chaff and a mountain of lead your present afflictions are light your future glory is ponderous and weighty 2 Cor. 4.17 observe what a most elegant opposition the Apostle makes he opposeth glory to afflictions he opposeth eternal to momentany he opposeth weight to light and he addeth a most transcendent expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we translate it A far more exceeding weight of glory Some by adding some other words do give this sense Our afflictions are out of measure moment any our glory is out of measure eternal our afflictions are out of measure light our glory is out of measure weighty Whatsoever your afflictions are and how grievous soever they are in themselves and how long soever yet they are but light being compared with the glory of Heaven and with the weight of it If you look only on your sufferings and judge of them according to your sense so they are not light but judge of them as opposed to future glory and so they are out of measure nothing 5. Afflictions do not seize on us at all times Christians have their lucida intervalla their moments of ease as well as their moments of trouble their present times of rejoycing as well as their present times and Now 's of sorrowing they even they have their times to sing and dance as their times to weep and mourn Paul had his raptures as well as his pressures David had his time to play on the Harp as times to hang it up and there is no Christian that is afflicted at all times they have their sad Eclipses but now and then but now their glory shall be at all and every moment during eternity they shall have perpetual glory without one moment of shame perpetual joy without one moment of sorrow God will wipe away all tears from their eyes they shall continually sing for superabundant joy of Soul and Body their eyes shall ever see God they shall not see sorrow any more they shall be as the Angels of God who never felt sorrow since their Creation they shall be as very strangers to sorrow as the Damned shall be to joy this present time shall be no more then the afflictions of this present time shall be no more That was an arrogant and false self-deceiving speech of Babilon Lo I sit as a Queen and shall see no more sorrow The godly when taken up into glory shall say it truly now we sit as Kings and shall not see any sorrow no not for a moment whilst eternity lasteth Eternity is nothing else but a perpetual moment of unspeakable and glorious joy and happiness 6. There is no proportion because afflictions are justly due are ye hated of all men ye deserve it and more ye deserve to be hated of God of his Angels for ever Are ye cast by men into Prison into Dungeons ye deserve it and more even to be cast into Hell fire are ye banished from your Countrey friends and acquaintance you deserve that and more ye deserve to be banished from Heaven from your God from your Saviour to Eternity Are ye spoiled of your goods ye deserve it and more even to be spoiled of eternal mercies of eternal Salvation Are your bodies condemned to be burnt or to be cast to Lyons and wild Beasts to tear them to pieces you deserve this and more even to have both body and Soul condemned to Hell fire to be cast to Devils to be devoured ye that sin daily deserve to suffer daily ye that
and women of all sorts that lived before the flood after the flood before the law after the law before Christs coming in the flesh after his incarnation until this day and from this day that shall live to the end of the world of all Nations under heaven then who can tell the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part the four hundredth part of this Israel of God the remnant and gleanings of those that have lived in so many thousand years will arise to an unspeakable multitude After the sealing of the hundred and forty four thousand of the twelve Tribes St. John saith I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all Nations and Kinred and People and Tongues stood before the Throne and before the Lamb cloathed with white Robes and Palms in their hands How should this rejoyce every faithful Soul resting in hope of this sweetest and most blessed Society Though in the mean time thou seest many frown upon thee and sleight thee to thy face yea even shun thy company yet labour thou for an assured part in thy Father's House and then rejoyce in assured hope there to find many dwelling places and in those places many Dwellers many sweet Companions Though a man were constrained to live like an Eremite or Anchoret all his time from the company of men on Earth yet the assured hope of this Society to be enjoyed for ever in our Father's House were sufficient to refresh him Ascend my Soul mount up on Eagles wings And get above these Sublunary things Make haste and flie unto that lofty Hill Where God abides with Saints and Angels still Oh how should every Christian so love the Lord as to long after his House and Kingdom and a more near and full enjoying of his presence Laban noted in Jacob an earnest longing after his Father's house Genes 31.30 saith he to him Thou wouldest needs be gone because thou sore longedst after thy Father's house Jacob had such a love to his Father Isaac though very old and blind that he sore longed to be gone from Laban to his Father's house how much more should we labour for such love to our heavenly Father who is infinite in all excellency and glory as should make us weary of being here and exceedingly to long after our heavenly Father's House It was a good change for Jacob to go from Laban an unkind Father-in-law unto Isaac a loving and tender-hearted Father but what a blessed change is it for the Children of God to go from the World a cruel Step-mother yea a dangerous Enemy unto God their heavenly and most gracious Father to go from among Swearers Worldlings Drunkards Prophane Persons Scorners of Religion Persecutors to go from Snares and Temptations to go from Sin and the danger of Sin to go from the lower Region which is as it were under the feet of Satan who is as it were over our heads being the Prince of the power of the Air I say to go from all these and to go into the arms of the Lord our most gracious Father should not a Child of God long after this exceedingly It sheweth want of love in a Child and an ungracious disposition when he secretly longeth for his Father's Lands or Goods because he cannot enjoy them unless his Father die whose life should be much dearer to a Child then all his Goods or Lands but it argueth the truth of our love to our heavenly Father when we have an earnest longing after that glorious Inheritance of his because we shall live with him in the everlasting Habitations And to this end let us labour to get our Souls fully assured that the Lord is our Father in Jesus Christ and that we are his Children that so we may long after our Father's House If we saw our Father's House we would cry to be over the Water and to be carried in Christ's arms out of this borrowed Prison The Earth is the Lord's lower House while we are lodged here we have no assurance to lie ever in one Chamber but must be content sometimes to remove from one corner of our Lord 's nether House to another resting in hope that when we come up to the Lord 's upper House we shall remove no more because then we shall be at home We now see and hear at home and abroad nothing but matter of grief and discouragement which indeed maketh our life bitter but let this comfort all faithful Christians that Christ is coming to fetch them to his Father's House his Father will make them welcome and give them house-room and though they change dwelling places yet they shall not change their Master nor their services His Servants shall serve him Revel 22.3 SECT IV. MOreover you are to understand that Heaven is the Throne and Kingdom of God Thus saith the Lord Heaven is my Throne Isai 66.7 Here is the height of a Christians glory and exaltation to be taken up into the Throne of God according to that speech of our Saviour Rev. 3.21 To him that overcometh will I give to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and sate down with my Father in his Throne Christ at the last day will say to the Sheep on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father receive the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World You that have followed me in the regeneration to you I have appointed a Kingdom Luke 22.29 Fear not little Flock it is your Father's will to give you a Kingdom Rev. 2.10 Be faithful to the death and I will give thee thâ— Crown of life In one place it is called a Crown of righteousness in another a Crown of glory in a third a Crown of incorruption and elsewhere a Crown of life Now Crowns you know are given either as Ensigns of Majesty or Rewards of Virtue 1. As Ensigns of Majesty therefore we see they are worn on the heads of Emperors and Princes when at times of highest solemnity they will shew their greatest magnificence 2. As Rewards of Virtue therefore by ancient stories it appeareth that almost all Nations such as excelled in Valour or in Learning they were Crowned with one thing or another some with Roses some with Laurel or Bayes some with Olives some with Gold that so they might cherish the profession and exercise of Arts and Virtues to these the Scripture alluding it promiseth Crowns and a Kingdom as the goodliest rewards we can either desire or receive to such as through faith and patience overcome either the affections of their sinful Nature or the afflictions of this wretched World Hence I infer how abject soever the condition of the Saints be upon Earth it shall be most glorious in Heaven glory shall follow their sufferings as the day followeth the night there is no glory upon Earth you know greater then the glory of Kings it is true Popes of late days have striven to out-climb them so the Bramble in Jotham's
Parable would have out-climbed the Cedar they would perswade the World that they were created as the Sun to rule the Day that is over the Clergy and that Kings are but as the Moon to rule over the Night that is say they over the Laity But Popes are no Creatures of God's making Kings are the anointed of the Lord God himself hath given testimony sufficient of their magnificence in that it hath pleased him to change Names with them and taken their Name to himself he is called a King and gives them his own Name in exchange for therefore he hath said they are Gods I urge it the rather because of the inference that followeth for the greater Kings are the greater Christians are for Christians are said to be Kings Rev. 1.6 He hath made us all Kings and Priests unto God And to the meanest and most abject Christian a Crown shall be given infinitely far more excellent and glorious then the Crowns of all earthly Kings 1. In respect of the Soveraignty that belongs to it Crowns are Ensigns of Soveraignty as I hinted before and Soveraignty is a thing much accounted of to be but as the Centurion was would put a spirit of ambition into us that we might have those under us to whom when we say Go they should go when Come they should come when Do this they should do it If we could have not only Persons but Provinces under our subjection and could make our selves Commanders and Rulers over Countries and Kingdoms so that People should serve us and Nations should bow before us this would kindle a great fire of ambition in us it would make one that had the aspiring mind of Absalom to snatch the Crown from his Father's head If we could climb higher yet and get to be not only Soveraigns over divers Provinces as Ahasuerus was but also be Monarchs of the whole World as it is said Alexander was so that the Princes of all Nations should pay Tribute to our Coffers Si jus violandum regni causa violandum Caesar ex Euripide and the People of all Countries bow their knees before our foot-stool this if any thing would enflame our ambition and if at all for a Kingdom one would violate the bonds of Nature or Justice as one long ago was wont to say for such a Kingdom as this he would be provoked to the doing of it Alas Beloved all this is nothing in comparison of the Soveraignty belonging to the heavenly Crown and Kingdom the poorest Saint in Heaven shall be more glorious in Soveraignty then ever Ahasuerus or Alexander were or then ever Adam was when he was Lord of the whole World for look what was said of our Saviour Heb. 2.8 All things shall be subdued all things shall be brought in subjection to him and when it is said all things shall be subdued there 's nothing left out that shall not be subdued the same may be said of every faithful Member of Christ they shall every one have a share in this Rule and Dominion even all things shall be brought under their subjection the very Angels shall then be made subject to them where Christ sits they shall sit whom Christ judgeth they shall judg and as Christ reigneth they shall reign also 2. In respect of the safety that belongs to it there is no Crown so setled upon the head of any earthly Prince as that he can promise to himself perpetual safety under it either safety from sickness and diseases or safety from Adversaries and Enemies either domestical or forreign but that he is in danger of both Kings are as much in danger of sickness as other men for Chairs of State are not Castles of health nor can their Crowns keep their heads from aking they are as much in danger of Enemies as other men nay they more then others every railing Shimei hath a tongue to bark at them every traiterous Sheba will be blowing trumpets of rebellion against them but the Crown of glory shall sit sure upon the heads of the faithful even with as much safety as majesty no sickness shall be able to blast it no Enemy to endanger it St. Paul saith that all our Enemies shall be put under our feet 1 Cor. 15.27 And the Prophet saith All tears shall be wiped from our faces Isai 25.8 3. In respect of the peace and tranquility of it the Princes of the Earth though they have a great many more honours yet they have a great many more burthens then other men their Crowns are thicker stuck with cares then with gems That made one of the Emperours say when the Imperial Robe was brought him to put on Oh nobilem magis quam faelicem pannum Oh here 's a Robe saith he fuller of bravery then felicity 'T is otherwise with the Crown of glory this Crown is as free from troubles as from dangers they that are crowned with it are crowned with peace as well as with honour it shall not disquiet them with cares but give them rest from their labours rest and peace shall ever wait upon them whom God shall vouchsafe so to dignifie as to let their Temples be empall'd with this glorious Crown 4. In respect of perpetuity therefore the Apostle calls it a Crown of Life James 1.12 because they that are crowned with it shall never taste more of death Herein again it differs from all earthly Crowns and excells as much as it differs earthly Kingdoms and Crowns are subject to alteration to dissipation Job tells us that God sometimes looseth the collars of Kings Job 12.13 It was told Saul when he had been a while King over Israel that God had rent his Kingdom from him and given it to his Neighbour 1 Sam. 15.28 But howsoever though the Crown be not translated yet he that wears the Crown must be translated Death will translate the greatest Princes to another place though while they live their Crowns be not translated to other Persons but sit fast upon their own heads but 't is otherwise with this Crown of life there shall be no alteration nor removal at all either from it to us or from us to it when once we shall have it confer'd upon us Were the Kingdoms of the Earth never so full of glory and happiness yet what they want of perpetuity they want of perfect felicity there can be no perfection of blessedness but where there is perpetuity of continuance so there shall be here St. Paul calls it an immarcessible Crown St. Peter calls it an immortal inheritance that shall never fade away 1 Pet. 1.4 It is said of the Bread of life John 6. that he that eats of it shall hunger no more and of the Water of life John 4. he that drinketh thereof shall thirst no more so I may say of this Crown of life whosoever is crowned with it he shall die no more How should the consideration hereof make us to labour for this glorious Crown what a shame is it to see
attend the Sepulchre yet notwithstanding our Saviour who had wrought many miracles upon others hath wrought a greater upon himself the sealed stone iâ— removed the watchmen are deceived and a dâ—ad carâ—cass revived 2. The Antients makâ— Isaac a type of Christ's passion and resurrection as namely Abraham's taking Bâ—â—a in Geâ—es 22. Isidor dâ—â—ccâ—es offic lib. 1. cap. 29. binding and laying his Son upon the Altar was a type of Christ's death and passion and as Isaac carried wood for himself so did Christ Jesus carry the wooden Cross Now will ye see a rising without death or sleep behold Isaac as near the stroke as the hand of his Father arising from the funeral pile he had taken the knife in his hand stretched out his hand to slay his Son and then between the sacrificing knife and Isaac's throat God sheweth favour to Abraham bidding him to stay his hand and a Ram was brought by the power and providence of God to rescue and redeem Isaac from death here was a sacrifice offered yet not slain and though not slain yet accepted Heb. 11.8 Thus Abraham received his Son Isaac from the dead in a figure verse 19. being a type of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead who by the power of his Divinity raised his Humanity from death to life 3. But perhaps it will more gratefully affright you to see a man taught to be buried alive and more yet to out-live his funeral behold then Joseph a most excellent type of Christ Joseph is basely betray'd and sold by his Brethren into Egypt is falsly accused by his Mistress and cast into prison and after three years imprisonment is delivered so Jesus is betray'd to the Jews by Judas his own Apostle Friend and Follower and falsely accused before Pilate by the Jews and is put to death but on the third day Christ is raised up from the dead and as Joseph after his deliverance out of prison is advanced in the Kingdom of Egypt so Christ after his resurrection is glorified in the Kingdom of Heaven Behold then Joseph from the Tomb-stone of his Prison rising into a triumph as eminent as innocency which before had conquered his passion and now his affliction behold in Joseph the mystical Body of our Saviour a Body admirably mortal and incorruptible a Body that suffered rather the Grave then Death 4. Sampson was also a type of Christ as in many things so in these two especially of his his death and resurrection for after he had slept at Gaza when the Gazites compassed him in and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the City that they might kill him in the morning he arose at midnight and carried away the gates of the City upon his back carrying them up to the top of an Hill that is before Hebron carrying away the doors of the gates of the City and the two posts bar and all upon his shoulders So maugre the watch that the Jews set to keep Christ's Sepulchre Vide Ferum in Matth. p. 292. Christ arose with the mystical Gates of Hell and Death upon his back no marvel Hell-gates cannot prevail against his Church together with the Posts and Pillars thereof and as Sampson by pulling down the House upon the heads of the Philistines was avenged of his Enemies so Christ by opening the sealed Sepulchre hath subdued Death yea conquered him in his own Den and Cabin 5. But what more proper type can there be then Christ makes of himself and that is Jonas Matth. 12.40 which is thus fitted and parallell'd Jonah's casting into the Sea was a sign of Christ's Death his being taken by the Fish and received into his Belly a sign of his Burial and his casting on shore again a sign of his Resurrection Three days he lay in his new night of astonishment as if he had found an Egypt in the belly of the Whale and did acknowledge the watry Purgatory at last the grave of the Prophet casts up the living he had surely died had he not been buried here 's a resurrection of this rare Anchorite though not a reviving for he and his Tomb were both alive But the Tomb of our Saviour was as desperate as his Death yet was it not possible that he should be holden of it Acts 2.24 for he arose on the third day from the Grave the Humane Soul of Christ did not of it self return and quicken his Body but his Divinity which rested raised his Humanity that suffered that is by the vertue and omnipotent power of his God-head whereby he is able to do all things he reduced and brought back his reasonable Soul and re-united it to his organical Body and this Body that arose was altogether glorious being void of all infirmities and weakness whatsoever being now no more subject to hunger thirst cold weariness or the like True it is he called for meat after his resurrection Luke 24.41 42. and did eat it truly but not that he needed any meat or nourishment his Body being then immortal Edebat Christus non ut necessitati satisfaceret sed ut veritatem humanae naturae ostenderet Pet. Mart. and impassible but he doth it to prove himself to be really risen again for as when he had restored others to life as Jairus's Daughter Lazarus and others to prove that they were truly restored to life he caused meat to be set before them so to manifest and declare the truth of his own resurrection he calleth for meat and eateth it before them and that it might appear there was no falshood nor forgery in the business he brought not his meat with him but he takes such things as he found them furnished with and which they had provided and although he eateth he doth it not for his own sake by reason of the necessity of nature or the infirmity of the flesh but for the sake of his Disciples for the strengthening of their faith and not for the nourishing and cherishing his own flesh Though the necessity of eating and drinking in glorified bodies be taken away saith Augustine yet it was free and in his power to eat if he would Peter Martyr tells us he did sometimes after his resurrection ad testandam veritatem humani Corporis to testifie the truth of his humane Body as namely his affording himself to be seen and felt of Thomas and others and his eating and drinking with his Disciples And some again ad suam gloriam demonstrandam to shew forth his glory of which sort was his conveying himself from them they knew not how and his coming in among them clausis januis the doors being shut If you demand what became of the meat that Christ did thus eat I answer it was a most easie matter for him that made all things of nothing to cause a little meat and drink to consume and vanish to nothing Stell Enarrat in Luc. 24. Stella out of Chrysostome saith that Christ laid aside all accidental properties in
been exercised in extending themselves and mercy to the poor be for ever bound by the ingratitude of death shall those knees which have bowed with such willing reverence be so held down by the violence of mortality that they can never rise up again Where are then thy tears O David if thine eyes shall not enjoy the happiness of their own sorrow What then O Job is become of thy faith and patience if thy body be now as much without hope as before it was without rest Where are then O Esaias thy victorious sufferings if after the ignorant fury of the saw and schism of thy body thy body suffer a wider disordation from thy soul for tedious eternity Where are thy travels then O Paul if after thy Christian Geography and Conquest of Paganism thou art for ever confin'd to the dull peace of a Grave No the Almighty which hath made man with wisdom of Art will neither lose his glory nor his work but as he made the greater Heaven for his Angels so made he the less and mortal Heaven of Man's Body as I may so speak for his Soul and will have it eternal as his Soul SECT VII THere is more excellency of workmanship in the Soul but more variety in the Body the Soul doth more truly express God the Body more easily the Soul judgeth best but the Body first and though the eyes of the Soul do behold the work of God more clearly yet doth the eye of the Body most properly Nay should not the Body be raised to life and Heaven how great a part of Heaven and that life would be lost whiles not enjoyed and be as unnecessary as it is wonderful God hath prepared joys for the Saints which the eyes have not seen nor the ears heard but which the eye shall see and the ear shall hear and without the pleasure of a trance for ever possess as much without error as without measure such honour will the Creator of our Bodies do to the Bodies of all his Saints They shall acknowledge Corruption yet overcome it they may in their journey be the Guests of the Grave but at last they shall be the Inhabitants of Heaven Yet the Lord cannot hereafter honour Humane flesh by raising it as he hath already by assuming it it was before his Servant now his Companion that was a resurrection of the flesh when it was raised unto God but the only resurrection of our flesh is when it is raised unto the Soul At the last day of Judgement though there be no Marriage of sexes yet there shall be of parts when Souls shall be united to Bodies in so entire and so inexorable a Matrimony that it shall admit no hope nor fear of a divorce nor need we fear in the jealousie of this Match the Ignoble Parentage of the flesh since what it wanteth by Birth is supplied by Dowry and flesh now is become such refined earth being made wonderful in shape and office that the Soul may be thought scarce more noble but that it seems more reserved by being invisible this mortal body shall put on immortality this Body sown in corruption shall be raised in incorruption it shall not only be freed from death but also from corruption yea and whatsoever savoureth of mortality or the least decay And notwithstanding these principles of earth fall into such an heap of dust that they are with as much difficulty to be seen as numbred yet thus divided among themselves retaining still though not an appetite yet an obedience to a resurrection Nature hath not lost this and God will supply that and as easily unite as distinguish each dust to yield to this is the Creed of the Creed If any mans faith in the assent to this mystery be as weak as his reason he may help both his faith and his reason by sense by which he shall be either convinced or perswaded If you will be but as hardy as Antiquity you may propose to your selves the solemn Poetry of the Phoenix a Creature rarer then the Resurrection though not so admirable in whose ashes you may find the fire of life expecting but to be fann'd to the resurrection of a flame as if this Creature by a riddle of Fate would by a fire both perish and revive But without the courtesie of supposition you may in earnest behold the Eagle shoot forth new quills wherewith may be written and testified his endeavor of immortality thus doth God teach Nature how to teach us mysteries and without the magical learning of the language of Birds to understand without their voice their secret instruction But perhaps you will think that to discern this truth in the nature of Eagles would require a sight as sharp as the Eagles Remove then your eyes from the Fowls of the Air but to the Trees whereon they nest and with a negligent view you may observe how after the nakedness and death of Winter they bud forth afresh into life and beauty yet why should we in the sloth of this easie contemplation study so broad an object let our eye with more grateful industry confine it self with the small seed of corn and at least take the pains to see the pains of the Husbandman and shall we not admire at his delightful Arithmatick of nature to behold a seed whose hope seems as small as it self by being cast away to be found by destruction to receive increase from the same furrow to take both a Burial and a Birth He that shall now see a little drop of man's seed in a glass and a lump of earth together would think the one as unlikely to become a man as the other and yet we see how miraculous and curious a work the Lord makes every day of the principle of seed which made David cry out I am fearfully and wonderfully made Psal 139. and he can easily restore our Bodies out of a praeexistent something which may confute the erronious opinion of the Sadduces who denied the resurrection Matth. 22.23 of the Athenian Philosophers who derided it Acts 17.18 holding the Pythagorean transmigration of Himeneus and Philetus who said the resurrection was past 2 Tim. 2.18 and lastly of all those Atheists and Epicures Isai 22.13 that cry out and say Mors ultima linea rerum SECT VIII BUt now the Soul will have its old Companion again for should the Soul for ever want the Body it should want both perfection and wonder Is not the Soul most perfect when it is most noble is it not most noble when it is most bountiful and is it not most bountiful when it gives life to the dead Is it not likewise most full of wonder when it is thus perfect in that which is imperfect when it mixeth with corruption and yet is incorruptible when it is most burthened and yet is most variously active Thus by this necessary inclination of the Soul the Resurrection is as natural in respect of the union as it is above Nature in respect of
shall be seen through the Body in such a sort as the life of the Soul is seen and observed in and by the vivacity and liveliness which it imparts by action and motion to the outward visible parts of the Body Dr. Rich. Sheldon of mans last end and not only did the face of Christ shine as the Sun at his Transfiguration on Mount Tabor but also his rayment was white as the light Matth. 17.2 St. Mark addeth that his rayment became shining exceeding white as snow so as no Fuller on earth can white them Mark 9.3 Now his garments did cover his Body yet such was the glory and clarity of his Body that his rayment became white as snow for it became not Christ or the Angels to appear in naked Bodies Cyril Hierosol Catech 18. Cyril of Jerusalem speaking of this point saith The Just shall shine as the Sun and as the Moon and as the brightness of the Firmament And God foreseeing the incredulity of Men Ut Anima ista dum exercet functiones suaâ— in corpore impertit ei colorem totam hanc externam Corporis gloriam ita tum cum Deus erit omnia in omnibus spiritus Christi in nobis habitam induet Corpora nostra gloriosissima quibusque qualitatibus Rolloc in Johan cap. 5. hath given unto little Worms called Glow-worms a shining Body that they might shine therewith that from those things which do appear we might believe what we do expect he that hath made a Worm so to glister will make the Bodies of the Saints much more bright and shining SECT II. Of the agility of glorified Bodies THe Bodies of the Saints in Heaven shall also have a wonderful agility whereby they shall be able to move from place to place with incredible swiftness this agility is a glorious quality whereby the Bodies of the glorified are totally subject to the Souls as to most powerful movers to be moved by them without the least reluctancy or resistance for the Soul shall then as some Learned men say have a most absolute dominion over the Body and by a redundancy and emanation impart to it a glorious quickning and vivacity far beyond that which any mortal Creatures in their bodily heavy parts can have for glorified Souls shall then be made perfect and glorified Bodies shall have more perfect instruments for motion then those which corruptible Bodies usually have and the weight of their Bodies shall not in the least hinder their motion And albeit the same Father saith Certe ubi volet Spiritus ibi protinus erit Corpus that the Body will presently be there where the Soul would have it Yet may we not grant unto the same Bodies any instantanean motion so that in an imagined instant of time they may make any true real corporal motion for time in a proper speech hath no true or real instant either as part or period or end of it self for then a glorified Body must pass thorow the beginning middle and end of a space at once if it move from place to place in an instant which were more then utterly impossible involving a contradiction and would be destructive to the nature of a true Body Yet the motion of glorified Bodies may be very sudden and in so short a time as it were imperceptible Augustine compares it to the Sun-beams August Epist 4â— the which as it were in an imperceptible moment of time do fill this whole Hemisphere with their glorious lustre The Author of the Book of Wisdom saith The Righteous shall shine and as sparks among the stubble they shall run too and fro Sap. 3.7 Whereby some think the agility of the Saints Bodies in Heaven and their facility for motion is figured One saith that its agility will be so great that it will out-pass the winds and lightning it will flie without wings through the spacious Regions of the Air it will walk upon the water and not sink and in a very short time passing from one end of the World to the other will be no longer a clog and torment to the Soul Moreover which way soever they shall move they shall have the glorious presence of God with them in Heaven the Saints live move and have their glorious being in him they live of him by partaking of his glorious life move before him like the holy Angels by a most prompt and ready obedience and are in him being entered into the joy of their Lord. SECT III. Of the spirituality of glorified Bodies A Farther degree of the happiness of a glorified Body is that it shall be spiritual It is sown a natural Body but it riseth a spiritual Body 1 Cor. 15.44 It is called a spiritual Body not as though the Body were changed into the Soul and Spirit for so that which is raised should not be Man consisting of a Soul and Body but a third distinct thing differing from Man it shall not then cease to be a Body it shall change condition but not change nature were its nature changed the mystery of the resurrection of the flesh should be quite taken away and so the same thing that fell should not be raised again Neither is it called a spiritual Body as though the Body after the resurrection were rarified like the Air and Wind as the Eutychians of old affirmed denying glorified Bodies to be palpable but I call it spiritual 1. Because as the Body shall be re-united to the Soul so it shall be perfectly submitted to it as the Spirit serving the Flesh may not unfitly be called carnal so the Body obedient to the Soul is rightly termed spiritual The Soul shall have a more powerful influence upon and dominion over the Body after the resurrection then it ever had or could have in the time of her mortality it shall no longer be the Prison but the Temple of the Soul then the Body shall readily yield to every motion of the Spirit 2. The Body shall be endued with spiritual properties the Bodies of the Saints shall be even as the Angels are now in Heaven they shall be able to live without sleep without eating and drinking without marriage they shall need none of such things as these natural Bodies in this mortal condition do Our Bodies now are but so many clogs to our Souls subject to toyl and weariness but then the Body will have such advantages as will free and clear it from all such corporal imperfections and defections as bodily and corporal substances are obnoxious to the corruptible Body overladeth and oppresseth the Soul and this earthly tabernacle presseth down the mind meditating on heavenly things but in Heaven when the Souls of the Blessed shall see the glory of God and be for ever in the contemplation of him they shall then be freed from all clogs and hinderances that so they may bend themselves with all their might to the contemplation love and fruition of God whose goodness will then be most clearly and fully presented
to them But as for subtilty which properly signifies a property whereby such things as are spiritual have a penetrative vertue to pass through the corpulent parts of any thing that hath a Body having parts and dimensions I cannot see how it can be attributed to glorified Bodies which after the resurrection shall have the same extensive and bodily parts for quantity and material substance as they had before and can no more pierce thorow any true bodily substance which hath the dimensions of quantity as length breadth thickness then they could before their resurrection during the time of their mortality and corruption Although divers of the Antients affirm that Christ after his resurrection entered into the room where his Disciples were the doors being shut John 20.26 by passing thorow the door yet if it were so we may not attribute the same as a thing natural to his glorified Body it having the same dimensions of quantity for fulness of matter it had before but must rather be attributed to the power of his God-head to whom nothing is impossible but I suppose though the doors were shut presently before and after his passage yet they opened of their own accord or by his Divine power at the instant of his passage as Acts 12.10 the Creature giving place to the Creator otherwise we must hold the Body of Christ made a penetration thorow the doors and then there must be two solid Bodies in one place at the same time which were impossible And St. Augustine saith even of glorified Bodies Tolle spatia corporibus corpora non erunt take away spaces from the Bodies and they will cease to be bodies SECT IV. Of the impassibility of glorified Bodies MOreover the Bodies of the Saints in glory shall be made impassible in this life we are subject to many infirmities to thousands of miseries our Bodies are Butts against which miseries and afflictions which are the Arrows of the Almighty are shot but glorified Bodies are subject to none of these they suffer no pain Christ will wipe away all tears from their eyes sorrow and mourning shall flee away and be sent packing to Hell among the Devils and damned Wretches their afflictions are their portion Heaven and the blessed state of the Saints in Heaven is as free from misery as from sin this World to the godly is as the Prison to Joseph as Nebuchadnezzar's Furnace to the three Children as the Lions Den to Daniel this World to the godly is like an House of Correction wherein is much toyl and labour and very much scourging besides We are born to be miserable we shall do nothing else but suffer but we shall be taken out of Prison our Bodies shall be drawn out of the Furnace freed from the House of Correction and no grief nor misery shall evermore touch our glorified Bodies Their impassibility will then free them from all the injuries of the Elements the natural heat which now wasteth them shall no more consume the natural moysture the contraries that compose man will then agree and the Body being no longer tormented with hunger and thirst will stand in need neither of meat nor drink he will be in a state of consistency wherein he will have his just proportion The Apostle tells us that what is sown in weakness shall be raised in power and vertue so that the Body shall not need that propping up as the weak pillars thereof do now need support in this state of mortality But this power is no supernatural vertue making the elementary parts and qualities to be of another nature then now they are for there must be no change nor destruction but only a perfection of Nature neither shall these elementary qualities by the power of God be limited or obstructed in their operations that they shall not fight against each other to their mutual destruction for then the impassibility of glorified Bodies should not be an internal vertue as abiding in the Body which is against the Apostle's intent but only an external assistance of God Aquinas saith Aquin. supplem qu. 82. art 1. that this vertue and power of impassibility floweth immediately from the Soul her self which informing the Body doth so fully and perfectly subdue all the powers and qualities of the same unto her self that no contrary Agent can be able to make any violent impression upon or act violently against the Body either to corrupt or destroy it or in the least to be able to draw it from that quiet and peaceable state wherein it resteth SECT V. Of the incorruptibility and immortality of glorified Bodies FInally the glory of the Body shall be so firm and stable that it can never wither or decay it shall be incorruptible The Body is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption 1 Cor. 15.42 This corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality verse 53. The Bodies of the beatified shall then be embalmed with the Spirit that shall cause them for ever to be incorruptible their Bodies shall be made incorruptible and immortal like the glorious Body of Christ these earthly Tabernacles or demicilia Animae must be taken down and then these Bodies of dust must return to dust we must say to Corruption thou art our Mother and to the Worm thou art our Sister and the Soul must suffer a divorce from the Body But when Christ shall appear our mortality shall be swallowed up of life then our corruption shall put on incorruption these vile dusty Bodies of ours shall be made glorious Mansions for our Souls and our Souls shall be for ever united to our Bodies again so that they shall never suffer a divorce from the Body and the Body shall never see corruption any more We shall then enjoy an eternal spring of years which shall never wither our days will pass on yet shall we never feel any decay or declension in our selves our budding verdure will fear no Winter the Lillies and Roses of our Countenances will keep their freshness and as original Righteousness served to Man as a Garment in the state of Innocence so Glory will be instead of a Robe to the Blessed God hath made the Soul of so powerful a nature August Epist 66. ad Dioscor saith one of the Antients that from her glorious happiness there redounds to the Body the vigour of incorruption and so long as the glorified Soul shall be subject to God and the glorified Body be subject to the Soul so long it shall be impossible for any bodily agent whatsoever to have any transient action or impression which may any way change or hurt the same But as St. Paul saith Rom. 6.10 In that Christ died he died unto sin once but in that he liveth he liveth unto God so we shall then live with God and unto God as Christ for ever SECT VI. ALbeit glorified Bodies shall be impassible and incorruptible so that they shall not be subject to any contrary or
God in his nature essence and substance wherein he is invisible but in some visible created form which it pleased him to assume and wherein he appeared to them Athanasius saith that they saw God in some manifestations of himself but not in his own nature so it is conceived that the Servants of God even after this life when they be perfectly sanctified and glorified shall not see God the Father and the Holy Ghost in their essence for they shall still have their true bodies and true eyes and therefore they shall see but their proper objects Reas 3. Because the Angels who have no bodily eyes and stand continually before the Lord and the blessed Souls of Saints in Heaven do now see God and yet have no bodily eyes wherefore their sight of God is only mental not ocular Reas 4. Because the Apostle expresseth the seeing God face to face by perfect knowledge 1 Cor. 13.12 Now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face now I know in part but then shall I know even as also I am known where to know God as he knows us is to see him face to face II. Although we shall not see God with our bodily eyes yet notwithstanding the glorified organ of a glorified body informed by a glorified Soul shall have most glorious objects to look upon in Heaven as 1. Heaven it self is a most glorious sight for our glorified eyes what a glorious sight is the outside of Heaven bedeckt with the Sun Moon and innumerable Stars if the outside be so glorious what is the inside wherein the glory of God is displayed if the porch and pavement of this Palace be so glorious what then is the Presence-Chamber It was Chrysostom's wish that he could see Christ in the flesh Paul in the pulpit Rome in her glory In Heaven you shall see Christ not in his state of humiliation but in the highest degree of glory not Paul in the Pulpit but Paul sitting on a Throne of glory not Rome but Heaven it self the heavenly Jerusalem in its fulness of glory 2. These eyes of our bodies shall see the glorious man Christ Jesus in whose Humane nature as in a glass God will in an ineffable manner manifest the glory of his Divine essence hence the Apostle calls him the brightness of his person the beam the splendour of his person In Rev. 21.23 it is said The City hath no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it for the Glory of God doth lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof that is Christ himself is the light by which we shall see God Oh what a glorious ravishing object will Christ's body be to the eye A Philosopher was so ravished with the Sun that he thought himself made for no other end but to look upon the Sun Christ's Body in Heaven is a thousand times more bright then the Sun Non in forma servi sed in forma the Sun is blackness of darkness in comparison of it here we see Christ as he will manifest himself to us otherwise but there we shall see him as he is 1 John 3.2 Ferus expounds the words thus we shall know him as he is that is Ferus in 1 Joan. 3.2 saith he we shall know Christ no more under the notion of a Servant we shall not know Christ as the Son of Man but then we shall know him as God as he is the Son of God the King of glorious state the Lord of glory Cajetan Cajetan in loc saith that this particle sicut as he is excludit omnem visionem per representans excludeth our knowledge of Christ from any thing that represents him sed sicuti est sicut ipse seipsum offert i. e. we shall know him by himself and not by the creature or any thing whatsoever Much of Christ is discovered here in the Word in the the Gospel and in the Ordinances and great manifestations of Christ are made to the Souls of his People by the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation but all comes short of this when they shall see him as he is in himself see him face to face as Friends talking together do look one another in the face so shall Christ and godly Men see one anothers face There 's a great difference between the sight of a Picture though it be a true Picture of a dear Friend when he is many hundred miles distant from us and the sight of his own face far more blessed shall the Children of God be when they shall see Christ as he is then now they can discern him while they are in the body and absent from him and can see him only by representations If old Simeon when he saw Christ as he was in his infancy embraced him in his arms and said Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation Luke 2.29 How then shall the sight of him as he is transport the Souls of the Saints with unspeakable joy and admiration if it were so delightful to see Christ in his infancy in his swadling cloathes what joy will it be to see him in Heaven all glorious if the fight of Christ in the types and promises which were but prefigurations of him were so sweet to the Saints of old what will the sight of Christ himself the Antitype be Abraham foresaw by the eye of faith the first coming of Christ in the flesh he saw my day afar off saith Christ and was glad Qui bona egerint fulgebunt sicut Sol cum Angelis in vitam aeternam cum Domino nostro Jesu Christo videntes eum semper ab eo visi incessabili laetitia quae apiso provenient perfruentes Damascen lib. 4. de Fide John 8.56 Much more glad would he have been with old Simeon to have seen Christ himself If John Baptist leaped in the Womb for joy at the presence of Mary the Mother of our Lord how will our hearts dance for joy when we shall see the Lord Jesus himself in his great Majesty and glory if it be sweet to behold him in his Image and in his People who are but shadows of Christ if sometimes an heavenly vision of Christ hath driven a man into an extasie and hath ravished him out of himself Oh then what shall it be to see him as he is if the inward sight of him by a few beams darted upon us by this glorious Son of righteousness doth transform us from glory to glory Oh how will it then ravish our hearts when we shall have both an ocular and intellectual sight of the Lord Jesus Oh what running thronging and posting was there to see Christ when he was upon earth in his state of abasement Zacheus being a man of a low stature climbed up a Sycamore-tree that he might see Jesus passing by Luke 19. what then will the sight of Jesus be when you shall see the Son of man coming in power and
great glory when you shall see him with trumpets sounding before him and see him with his glorious train with all his glorious Angels as himself speaks Matth. 16.27 to see him sitting upon his Throne of Majesty and the World round about him his Friends the Sheep on his right hand the Goats his Enemies on his left hand what a sight will this be especially if you have then so much interest in Christ as to be placed among the Sheep at his right hand how will it affect you when he shall be always in your eye and never out of your sight If the Queen of Sheba was so stricken with amazement when she beheld the glory of Solomon that there was no more spirit in her 1 Kings 10.5 how will all the Saints be filled with admiration when they shall behold the glory of Christ how did that astonished Queen bless the Attendants of Solomon Happy are thy Men happy are these thy Servants that stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom Alas what happiness is this in regard of the Angels and Saints who stand continually in the presence of Christ in whose presence there is fulness of joy fulness of glory was it such an happiness to hear the wisdom of Solomon what a transcendent happiness is it then to hear the wisdom of Christ who is greater then Solomon I conceive that the glory which three of Christ's Disciples saw upon the holy Mount was but a glimpse of that fulness of glory wherewith he is now silled in Heaven yet that little drop was so affecting that Peter cried out Master it is good for us to be here He was so ravished with extraordinary joy conceived at the heavenly vision that he even lost and forgat himself and wist not what they said Luke 9.33 34. but being overjoyed it appears his wish was inconsiderate and his counsel rash and unadvised Let us build three Tabernacles one for Thee another for Moses another for Elias for these Reasons 1. Because he thought earthly Tabernacles fit habitations for heavenly Bodies 2. Because he conceived not aright of the end of the vision viz. to comfort them in letting them to see as in a glass what Christ's glory and their glory should be which he would have had continued when it must of necessity be intermitted for had Christ continued in this estate he could not have suffered and so our salvation had not been accomplished But while Peter was thus speaking behold a bright Cloud overshadowed them and they feared when they were entering into the Cloud had not this Cloud somewhat abated the glory of the Apparition it had not been possible for these Disciples in the state of mortality to have beheld the countenance of their Master Now if Christ in his Transfiguration while he was on Mount Tabor was so delightful to behold when his Humanity appeared in a glorious form only but for a short time how pleasant will the sight of him be to the godly when they shall see him by perfect vision and enjoy him by full fruition With abundant satisfaction shall the Saints behold the face of Christ in fulness of glory Oh how will it ravish their hearts when they shall see him who gave himself for them who loved them and washed their sins in his blood who being the Prince and Captain of our salvation was content to be perfected by sufferings that he might bring them into glory when they shall see him who died for them and rose again for their justification ascended up into Heaven took possession thereof and prepared a place for them and came again and took them to himself they shall then be even transported with joy to behold their Saviour whom they loved so dearly all their lives but never had the happiness to see before for whose appearance they longed thirsted sighed prayed Come Lord Jesus Oh how will their hearts melt toward him think you when they shall see him Oh this is he that died for me that shed his precious blood for me they will then look thorow him if it were possible and then to think they shall always see him and enjoy him and never be divided from him any more they will then be even ravished into an extasie of joy their sight of him shall be laeta familiaris perpetua joyful familiar and perpetual which is a special part of the beatitude peculiar to the Saints from which the Wicked are excluded Oh happy yea thrice happy are those eyes which shall see the face of Christ whom they shall love perfectly and of whom they are infinitely and eternally beloved What a ravishing sight will it be to behold that Body which was so foully disfigured upon the Cross for our sakes It shall be undoubtedly as St. Bernard saith a thing full of all sweetness and delight when men shall there see and behold a Man the Creator of men and Lord of all things created We are wont to esteem it a singular great honour to our Family to see one of our Kindred advanced to a Crown or dignified with some Princely honour but how far greater honour shall this be to us to see that Lord who is our God our near Kinsman of our flesh and blood sitting at the right hand of God the Father and made King both of Heaven and Earth And if the Members do account that an honour to them which is done to their Head by reason of that strict union that is between the Head and its Members what else shall it be but that every faithful Christian shall account the glory of Jesus Christ their Head as their peculiar glory How should the consideration hereof make every one of us cry out O my dearest Saviour and blessed Redeemer when shall this joyful day come Oh when shall I appear before thy face and be ravished by beholding thy excellent beauty when shall I see that countenance of thine which the Angels are desirous to behold How true concerning the things of the World is that which Solomon saith the eye is not satisfied with seeing Eccles 1.8 and it is as true that in Heaven the eye shall be fully satisfied but not satiated at all with seeing they shall see such glory that they shall desire no greater If Philip on Earth said to Christ Shew us the Father and it shall suffice how much more when we shall see the King of Kings in his glory shall glorified Saints say We have enough Satis Domine satis they shall desire no greater glory yet never be weary of seeing SECT VIII 3. HEreunto I may also add that blessed and glorious spectacle of the general Assembly and Church of the first-born whose names are written in Heaven those many thousands of Patriarchs and Saints of the old and new World Prophets of the Old Testament Apostles of the New Martyrs faithful Preachers and sincere Professors of the Gospel Enoch Noah Abraham Isaac Jacob Moses Samuel David Daniel Joh Peter Paul the great Doctor of
absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. Here you may see that while the Souls of the Saints are present in the Body as they are during this life they are absent from the Lord albeit Jesus Christ dwelleth in them by his Spirit and they are spiritually united to him yet in regard of local distance they are absent from Christ in respect of his Humane nature not seeing him face to face they walk by faith not by sight Moreover when their Souls are absent and seperated from the Body by death they shall be present with the Lord not walking by faith at a distance from Christ but resting in his presence immediately beholding him The Souls of the Saints then do not die with the Body but live in the presence of their Saviour at the very same time when they are absent and seperated from the Body by death This must needs be meant of the state of the Soul not after the resurrection but between death and the resurrection for that is the only time when the Soul is absent from the Body and during that time the Apostle saith it shall be present with the Lord. To these may be added that gracious answer of Christ to the penitent Malefactor Verily I say unto thee this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Luke 27.43 viz. the very same day wherein he died Now the heavenly Paradise is no burying place for dead Souls but a glorious habitation for the living spirits of just men made perfect Observe likewise that argument of Christ grounded upon the speech of God to Moses at the bush which strongly proveth both the resurrection of the Body and the immortality of the Soul as well before as after the resurrection Matth. 22.31 32. Have you not read what is spoken to you by God saying I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the dead but of the living This was spoken long after the natural death of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and so the Argument standeth thus Those who have God for their God by Covenant are not dead but living but Abraham Isaac and Jacob have God for their God by Covenant Ergo they are not dead but living So then they live in their principal parts their Souls while they are absent from the Body whereunto their Bodies are to be re-united at the great day that their whole persons may fully enjoy their God and perfectly possess the fruit and benefit of God's covenant verse 34. this argument silenced the Sadduces Finally consider what meant Stephen's prayer at his death Lord Jesus receive my Spirit or Soul Acts 7.59 If his Spirit or Soul had died with his Body why should he call upon Christ more for the receiving his Soul but because he knew his Spirit or Soul was immortal and must live and subsist when it was seperated from the Body he prayed Christ to give present entertainment to his Soul that he might rest in the bosome of his love until his Body should be raised and reunited to it Now as this may stop the mouth of this lying Spirit which of late is crept forth into the World again so it may demonstrate according to the point in hand that the Souls of the Faithful after their seperation from the Body are instated into blessedness By which places fore-mentioned and such like is refuted their Heresie who either directly deny the immortality of the Soul or imply it as the Socinians who say that Mori est penitus extingui V.d. Gens in Confes remonstrant p. 254 256. resurgere est ex non ente iterum existere And this Opinion some others have seemed to favour in the Declaration of their Opinions about the Articles of Religion in that they are altogether silent in the point that concerneth the blessed rest of the Saints Souls after this life CHAP. XVIII Of the blessedness of the Soul in general MUch more might have been spoken of the blessedness of the Soul in glory when it is absent from the Body but because these things belong as well to the Soul re-united to the Body when it hath full possession of salvation I chuse to treat of them under that consideration 1. This shall be the wonderful felicity of the Soul in that it shall have a Body every way suitable to it self immortal spiritual incorruptible glorious as its habitation for a pure immortal glorious Spirit to dwell in in this respect the glorified Souls now in Heaven all the time of their seperation do even vehemently desire and wait for the redemption of their Bodies who were their yoke-fellows in the day of their pilgrimage upon Earth Though the Soul of a Believer reign with Angels yet hath she a passion for her Body and all the good she doth possess cannot take her from the desire and memory thereof though she hath made trial of its revolts though this friendly Enemy hath oftentimes persecuted her and that she hath desired death to be freed from the tyranny thereof yet doth she languish as it were and vehemently long after it Though the Body be reduced to dust though it cause pity in its Enemies and though it cause horror in those to whom it was lovely yet she forbears not to desire it and to expect the resurrection with a kind of impatience that her Body may partake of the bliss which she enjoyeth The Souls of the Saints departed this life do not account their glory their blessedness compleat till their Bodies be reunted hence they do naturally desire their re-union and as they cry under the Altar How long Lord how long will it be ere thou avenge our blood so all the Souls of just men made perfect with one voice cry out How long Lord how long will it be ere thou redeem our Bodies that we may be perfectly blessed in the full fruition of thy self Oh then how shall the glorified Soul rejoyce in its glorified Body raised from among worms dust and rottenness rescued from its captivity from under the power of death and corruption and now again made one with the Soul no longer to be a snare or burden to it but a companion meet for it taking in no object by the senses that may in the least degree endanger the polluting of the Soul and having nothing in it that may stupifie the affections or any way discompose the eternal rest disturb the peace eclipse the joy of the Soul interrupt its enjoyment of God or any way diminish its compleat happiness 2. There shall be a perfect harmony between the Body with all its parts and the Soul with all its powers and both Soul and Body shall be fully conformed to Christ and so shall most sweetly comply each with other and I conceive the very remembrance of that dulness sottishness earthiness and drossiness which in the state of mortality is in the Body shall be matter of great joy to the Soul now that it
findeth such a wonderful change in the Body transformed unto such a glorious perfection even as it is a great refreshment to the mind of a man after a perfect cure to find the Body lightsome full of spirits and in perfect health after a lethargy or some other dulling disease that hath debilitated nature exhausted the spirits and indisposed it for action Then shall the happiness of man be perfect when a glorified Soul shall be united to an immortal Body and mutually communicating all their advantages the Soul shall be happy in the felicity of the Body and the Body happy in that of the Soul all their differences shall then be composed in this general peace the Soul shall then forget all the revolts of the Body nor shall the Body any more complain of the severities of the Soul but both of them remembring only the good they have done each other they shall reign in Heaven in a community of glory CHAP. XIX Of the more distinct blessedness of the Soul SECT I. Of the perfection of the apprehensions of the Saints in glory LEt us now more distinctly consider of the blessedness of the Soul first laying this general rule that it shall be perfect for the Apostle plainly sheweth that the Spirits of just men are made perfect Heb. 12. Now the perfection of the Soul principally consisteth in the knowledg of God Now there is Scientia directa intuitiva a direct knowledg of God upon view and sight Now this is either perfect or imperfect A full and perfect knowledg of God himself none hath but God himself no creatures no man no Angel is capable of it God himself fully and perfectly seeth himself which no other can do for a full and perfect knowledg of an infinite Beeing is infinite as that Beeing is He that hath a full and perfect knowledg of any thing whatsoever it be hath the full measure of that thing in his understanding which he fully and perfectly knoweth Now what is the shallow and narrow capacity of any created understanding of Man or Angel that it should measure the infinite essence and excellency of the God-head it is not so much as a spoon to the Ocean and there is less disproportion between the water of the Sea and the capacity of a spoon then the understanding of Man or Angels and the infinite majesty and excellency of God Now God knoweth himself fully and perfectly in himself If the Sun-beams were animated and living creatures endued with reason how clearly and perfectly would they know and see through themselves every way being altogether light and transparent God is the light of lights a most pure bright and glorious Beeing and he is of infinite wisdom and so fully and perfectly knoweth himself On the other side there is a knowledg of God direct and intuitive or upon view which is not perfect and this is of those blessed Creatures already possessed of glory such knowledg have the Angels who see God face to face as our Saviour saith Matth. 18.10 The Angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven They do not only see his back-parts as Moses did but his face by an immediate view beholding the beauty and glory of the Lord. Whether the Saints departed before the resurrection of the Body do thus see the face of God I determine not doubtless they do already enjoy a great degree of blessedness the fruition whereof is more sweet for one day then the enjoying of all the World for a mans life howsoever after the resurrection when they shall be fully possessed of glory they shall see the face of God as the Angels do Job 19.25 26 27. I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh I shall see God whom I shall see for my self and not another c. So David compareth the temporal prosperity of Worldlings which they enjoy in this life with the blessed estate which he expected after the resurrection of the Body he calleth them Psal 17.14 15. Men of the World which have their portion in this life and whose belly the Lord filleth with his hid treasures which are full of Children and leave the rest of their substance to their Babes This was their seeming happiness all worldly and temporary Now on the other side he speaketh of his own condition As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness He cared not for those hidden treasures locked up in the mines and bowels of the earth nor for a portion in this life nor for large portions for his Posterity c. but to behold the face of God in righteousness to see him face to face which he was assured of by faith and so to be satisfied with his Image Object But why is this knowledg said to be imperfect sith the Apostle speaking of this glorious condition of the Saints saith That then that which is perfect shall come and that which is imperfect shall be done away Sol. I answer this knowledg of God which the Angels have and the Saints shall have in God himself is Perfect in regard of the Subject in which it is Imperfect in regard of the Object of whom it is Perfect in regard of the Subject and that in two respects 1. Because it filleth the understanding and satisfieth the spirit with a fulness of light resulting from so glorious an object so that the Soul hath a beatifical vision of God so far as it is capable And as the eye is refreshed by an object fitly proportioned and hurt or dimmed by a disproportionable eminency or excellency in the object surpassing its strength and ability so the Soul perfected and glorified and the Angelical Spirits have such a knowledg of God in himself as filleth them not such as confoundeth them and this is perfect in regard of them because it is such a perfection as they are capable of and can contain 2. It is perfect in respect of the subject in which it is in that it is as much as is due and requisite to make their happiness compleat and perfect without any defect it is so perfect that they need no more knowledg of God then that which they have and who can deny but that this is a perfection of knowledg in respect of the subjects they are as blessed every way and so especially in regard of the knowledg of God as such creatures can be and that is a perfection though relative and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they say in relation to the subjects in whom it is Secondly on the other side this knowledg which these glorified spirits have and shall have of God in himself is imperfect in respect of the Object of whom it is viz. God whom they know in himself that is it is not a knowledg matchable to the infinite essence and
graciously merciful and that none hath cause to complain of God and that the fundamental cause of this various administration with Nations and Persons is the holy and soveraign will of God who hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardeneth This is the depth without a bottom that St. Paul speaks of But in Heaven the Saints shall be filled with the knowledg of these mysteries the bosome of God being opened to their understandings What are the events that have hapned in the World or in the Church but the effects or consequents of those decrees which have been everlastingly in the mind of God Now if the Saints in Heaven shall perfectly see God then nothing of God shall be hid from them which may make up their compleat happiness they shall then clearly understand the mysteries of justification and glorification and all the deep things of God all the mysteries of the holy Scriptures all the Prophecies all the Figures Types and Symbolical shadows all the mystical Senses all these things they believed here either expresly or implicitely but the reward of faith is vision and clear knowledg The same doth St. Augustine insinuate saying August de Civit. Dei cap. 21. What shall we see in Heaven but God and all those things which now believing we see not CHAP. XXI MOreover the Saints shall see and know that innumerable company of Angels their natures each of their persons in particular As the Angels know every Elect person because it is their work to gather the Elect from all the corners of the Earth and to seperate them from the wicked Matth. 13.41 so the glorified Saints shall know the holy Angels whom the Lord sent forth to minister for them whom the Lord appointed for their guard while they were upon Earth who encamped round about them while they were encompassed with so many dangers Some Divines are of opinion that the number of the Angels is so great that they exceed without comparison all corporal and material things in the Earth and like as the greatness of the Heavens exceedeth the greatness of the Earth without any proportion even so doth the multitude of the glorious Spirits exceed the multitude of all corporal and material things that are in the World with the like advantage and proportion Now what thing can be imagined more wonderful then this Again if every one of the Angels yea though it be the least Angel among them all be more beautiful and goodly to behold then all this visible World what a glorious sight shall it be then to see such a number of beautiful Angels to see the perfections and offices that every one hath in that high and glorious City there do the Angels go as it were in Embassages are exercised in their Ministry there the Principalities and Thrones triumph there do the Cherubims give light the Seraphims burn with fervent love All of that heavenly Court are perpetually singing Praises and Hallelujahs to God Almighty and to the Lamb that sits on the Throne for ever Oh what honour is this which God will do to his Children hereafter when he shall exalt them to so high a dignity as to place them among the Angels in Heaven and make them like unto the Angels of God CHAP. XXII SECT I. Of the Saints mutual knowledg of each other in Heaven FInally the Saints shall know each other the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and People of God in all Ages and Nations the Saints shall behold numberless hosts and troops of glorified Pieces redeemed Saints in that highest Orb and Region of glory there they shall behold the general Assembly and Church of the first-born whose names are now written in Heaven Heb. 12.23 immediately illuminated studying preaching and praising Christ for evermore There you shall see Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God saith our Saviour Luke 13.28 It was propounded as a doubt to Martin Luther Chemnit harmon evang cap. 87. a little before his Death-bed Whether glorified Saints should have mutual knowledg of each other he thus resolved his Friends that as Adam knew his Wife in Paradise when she was first presented to him and as St. Peter ravished with a heavenly vision at the Transfiguration of Christ Matth. 17.4 took notice of Moses and Elias when as Tertullian saith he never saw so much as any of their Pictures Tertul. contr Marcion lib. 4. the Law prohibiting such things to the Jews if in this short taste of glory he and the other two Disciples with him had a knowledg of these glorified Saints then doubtless when the Saints shall enjoy fulness of glory they shall have a clearer knowledg of each other As we think it reasonable to conclude the Soul to be immortal because it desireth to be so before it be enflamed by any studied notions and apprehensions of eternity so with equal probability we may prefigure and delineate some parts or shadows of our future happiness being guided by those innate and universal propensions which encline every Soul to desire and wish the same thing Among those transcendent desires which issue from our natures this is one that those acquaintances which were virtuously begun on Earth may be renewed and perfected in Heaven This desire was once of so great authority that former ages had respect unto it for when they found it easier to overcome all other terrors of death then that one of an everlasting absence from a Friend they were careful to chear a departing Soul by assuring it that the happiness of the other World next to the contemplation of the Divine nature consisted in the gaining of new and the indissoluble recovery of old acquaintance What they made a part of their happiness we admit but as an appendix to ours and as we think it not safe to joyn any Creature unto God to make up the object of our happiness so we believe it would derogate from the glory of his goodness if particular Souls like so many divided channels should have their own banks full but yet be debarred from all commerce and mutual knowledg of each others blessedness Our Creed moreover calls upon us to believe a communion of Saints which if it be a matter of our faith here it must be an object of our knowledg hereafter if we must believe that there are some who sincerely communicate with us in the faith in this life then we shall hereafter clearly know who were our fellow-members in that communion and as faith it self shall be done away by evidence so shall that communion which is here by faith be hereafter perfected by that communion which shall be by vision Those who have laboured to find out the most intimate and peculiar properties of the humane nature do affirm that it was made and fashioned for Society Now as Divines use to say That Christ came not to abolish but to perfect the Law so may we pronounce of our blessedness in
have no hope such as are all that are imbued with those Epicurean principles of the Soul's Mortality and it's resolution into nothing such mens sorrow finds no case because that good whose absence they bemoan in their opinion is irrecoverably lost and to shake hands with a dying friend is with them as much as to bid them everlastingly farewel But a Christian's tears like drops from a cloud may sometimes fall they must not like a River be alwayes running He may sorrow because he is parted from some good suppose from a loving friend bur this sorrow must be tempered with this hope that he shall see his friend again and that good which as yet continues the object of his sorrow while considered as stoln and taken from him must after a while become the subject of his hope and comfort being put in mind that God who for a time laid it out of his sight will restore it back again unto him This the Apostle alloweth to be his meaning by bidding us comfort one another with these words for if otherwise it would fully answer the Apostle's meaning to say it is enough that God raise those that sleep to glory though he exile them from a mutual knowledge of each other Then let us see what comfort this interpretation can afford to a pensive and lamenting Soul which may suggest unto it self on this wise God will restore my friend unto himself but not to me he will bring back the Jewel into the Cabinet but will lock it up from my sight he vvill restore the thing but not repair my loss and it seemeth all one to me to lose him in an eternal nothing and not to be allowed to know that he is a glorious somthing now what comfort can we place in such a meditation This perswasion of a restauration to a mutual knowledge of each other containeth also some advantages and motives to a Godly life for the fear of being eternally divided from those I sincerely love on earth will draw me to an imitation of their sanctity if herein they be exemplary or give me the courage to lead them into the way if their course be irregular and exorbitant for those who unfeignedly desire to meet at the journeys end will study to preserve each other in the way and they who would wear the same crown of rejoycing in the presence of Christ will assist each other here that they perish not in the agony and conflict it gives an edge and sharpness to those affections which are employed for each others good when we consider that that heat and fervency which they spent in desire and travel for one another shall be turn'd into an excess and extremity of delight in each other The Egyptians embalmed the Carcasses of the dead to preserve them if it were possible through all the parts of time being guided by an opinion that so long as the body continued undissolved the soul would not forsake the earth but continue hovering about the place where the bodies lay in like manner the Souls of men which by many kinds of association may be united into one masse and heap and as it were become parts of one another will continue the more vigilant and active for each others everlasting welfare so long as they are perswaded against an eternal divorce and dissolution and do contrarily believe they shall be rewarded by a sense of each others happiness and that that union which is among themselves as of one member to another shall not be dissolved but perfected by that union which shall unite them to Christ as to their Head and through him unto God CHAP. XXIII Of the perfection and purity of the wills of glorified Saints IN the next place I will shew how the wills and affections of glorified Saints shall be raised to a fulness of glorious perfection now it is evident God must be first gloriously united to the Soul and her powers before she can by her understanding see and by her will and affections love and embrace God in Heaven God shall be immediately united to the very nature of the Soul her self which is chief in man yea formally man which can be no otherwise done than by a glorious change and immutation made in the Soul it self by communicating to her by grace a glorious and perfect estate of participated eternity which is the root and foundation of all that most glorious exercise about which the Saints in Heaven are conversant This being so the wills and affections of glorified Saints shall be perfectly pure and holy without the least tincture of defilement they shall be holy as God is holy not infinitely holy but perfectly holy without mixture of any thing contrary to holiness their wills shall suit and meet exactly in every thing with the pure and holy will of God they shall will what he willeth and nothing but what he willeth their wills shall give full consent to the will of God in all things There shall be compleat holiness in the will our wills like to the will of Christ shall be altogether conformable to the will of God we shall fulfil the will of God the conformity of our wills to God is the glory of our wills which in this life are like Nebuchadnezzar's Image partly clay partly gold here we are partly regenerate partly unregenerate but in Heaven we shall be all gold all holy glorified Saints shall never find any grudgings of their old diseases sin and corruption in them in the least degree they shall see themselves perfectly cured of all the sicknesses and distempers of their Souls they are no longer constrained to resist the motions of the flesh because this Rebel is subdued and losing in the resurrection what ever they drew from Adam in their birth they have now none but just and holy inclinations the Spirit of a glorified Saint is now no longer busied to maintain a war against sin because this monster cannot set its foot within the gates of Heaven he groaneth not now under the revolt of his passions his will cleaves to God as strongly as he can desire CHAP. XXIV SECT I. MOreover the affections of the Saints in glory are much enlarged and are most quick and lively our affections in this life are subject to distractions but then they shall be composed and rightly placed 1. In Special the Saints shall love God with all their hearts Sicut magnes impetum quendam imprimit ferro quo illud ad magnetem trahitur ei se arctè jungit ita Deus clarè conspectus impetum quendam imprimit animae quo ipsa potentissimè in illum trahitur Lessius de summo bono Ca. 11. with all their souls with all their strength from the cleer contemplation of God presently there ariseth in the blessed a love which most powerfully draws them unto God and the greater any good is that is propounded so much the more strongly doth it draw the affection to it especially if it be
Heaven be that it shall be alwayes present with thee and yet thou never satiated for if I shall say Thou shalt not be satisfied there shall be an hunger and thirst if I shall say Thou shalt be satiated thou wilt fear a cloying there where shall be neither famine hunger nor thirst nor any tedious cloying to the same purpose Cyprian saith Cyprian de laude Martyrii the Saints shall not onely taste how sweet God is but they shall be filled with a wonderful sweetness nothing shall be wanting to them In Heaven there is no more desire for Christ as a thing absent the thirst being swallowed up in Christ the Soul thirsteth no more Christ being present their desires are satisfied God shall be all in all his presence shall fill and satisfie all the powers and faculties of their Souls Holy David having here tasted of God's sweetness cries out Whom have I in Heaven but thee there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee Psal 73.25 intimating to us that he that hath God hath enough in God The Soul that possesseth God in this life hath recovered that great loss that fell upon Adam and all Man-kind by fin Man by sin lost God now he that hath God in Christ hath recovered this great loss Man in his first estate had enough by enjoying God now he that recovereth this loss wanteth nothing for he findeth enough in God And although Adam in innocence enjoyed many other things besides God as perfect health possession of the Garden of Eden and full authority over the Creatures and albeit these things were comfortable in a degree in their kind yet man's happiness in that state did not consist in possessing these things but in enjoying God and all the glory and sweetness and any thing that was desirable in all these things was derived meerly and wholly from God Now whatever God doth here give to man by the Creature he will supply in Heaven without the Creature viz. immediately by himself if the streams be sweet how much better is water in the Spring and purer there In Heaven the Saints shall want nothing yet shall they enjoy nothing there but God he will be all to them their drink their food their rest their joy their pleasure the height of all their honour he will be all and more than all unto them Which consideration made a devout man meditating hereupon to cry out Deus meus omnia ah one refreshing of thine Drexel Consider de Aeternit one enjoyment of thee is a sweet refreshing indeed for to enjoy thee is to enjoy the quintessence of all good Thou art unto me O my good God goodness it self rest in my labours pleasure in my grief security in my cares and the only true riches in my poverty thou art my strong Bulwark against all the furious assaults of men thou art my refuge whatsoever evil doth oppress me and finally Thou art all unto me whatsoever I can wish for or desire wherefore then when we come to Heaven we shall not need to seek to quench our thirst with any stream when we have so chrystal a Spring-head or fountain as this where we may lye down and drink our fills in having and enjoying God we shall have whatsoever we can desire then the Lord will wholly frame the hearts of his Children according to his own mind that whatsoever is pleasing to him shall be delightful to them the heart shall then be kept in from wandring any more after vain and sensual delights and the Soul being wholly conformed to God it hath whatever it can desire SECT II. ANd as for the affections of fear and sorrow and anger they shall have no place in Heaven for then they shall be set far above the fear of all evil the Saints being possessed of an infinite good which is God himself for their portion they shall have no cause then to fear any evil there is no evil can hurt them for no evil shall be able to reach them that are in possession of him that is an infinite good they are also possessed of God the infinite good in perpetuity they have him in everlasting possession for otherwise although they need not fear any evil while they are possessed of him yet they might fear the loss of him and their woful separation from him and then they should lye open to all sorts of evils therefore to prevent this fear the Lord hath betrothed them to himself for ever and hath given himself to them in Marriage and that in an everlasting covenant and will never be divorced from them but be theirs for ever and ever The graces of Repentance Mortification Self-denial shall have no place in Heaven which are of great use here in the way to Heaven there shall be no sense of evil to be sorrowed for nor sin to be repented of nothing distasteful to provoke their anger or to discompose those blessed Spirits that are above there shall be a perfect harmony between God and them Neither shall there be any use of those graces of Faith and Hope in Heaven S. Paul tells us Now abideth faith hope and charity these three but the greatest of these is charity why greater than the other but because this abideth immortal for ever In Heaven instead of believing we shall see here the object of faith is things not seen the thing promised but not yet performed now in the life to come when all things that are promised are fully performed to us and possessed by us there is no use of faith in relation to these things So for Hope when all the glory of Heaven is fully enjoyed that the Saints hope for there is an end of Hope in reference to the same things the affection of Hope ceaseth not until the good that is desired and hoped for be obtained and made present but that good thing being had and attained unto then the affection of Hope ceaseth for what we have and enjoy we hope not for Visibile non est objectum Spei Rom. 8.24 25. Therefore saith August Hope is a Child of Faith by which man hopeth from him whom he knoweth for that which yet he hath not Now when the good that we hoped for is obtained Hope doth end and cease Yet notwithstanding although Faith Hope and Patience shall cease in respect of their objects yet they are eternal in respect of their fruits Heb. 6.12 The Apostle stirring up the Hebrews to walk after the examples of those that are now in glory speaks thus Be ye followers of them who through faith and patience have inherited the promises Those things that heretofore were not seen by them but by an eye of Faith they are now in full possession of they do inherit the promises on the other side they have no more sufferings to endure therefore there is no more use of patience but the fruit of those graces which they sought for that they now inherit and enjoy S. Paul tells
us Gal. 6. that he that soweth to the Spirit shall reap life everlasting When the Husbandman soweth his seed in the Earth the seed dieth and is dissolved in the ground there it lies hid he sees no more seed till the harvest cometh but then he reapeth many Bushels for one so he that soweth to the spirit worketh in the strength of those graces shall reap life everlasting he shall have no use of those graces in the life to come but reap the fruit of it even life eternal when the Saints come to possess Heaven as a portion cast out by God's own lot for them from all eternity they shall for ever enjoy the fruit of their piety and the end of their Faith and Hope Oh how sweet shall the remembrance of their work of faith and labour of love and patience of Hope be to all eternity CHAP. XXVII Of the Adjuncts of the glory of Heaven HAving spoken of the Circumstances and substance of the glory of the Saints in Heaven in the next place I shall treat of the adjuncts thereof 1. The glorious state of the Sons of God is a state of liberty Rom. 8.21 I will shew in what respects it is a state of liberty I. A liberty from all subjection Natural Servile Magistratical in this state of liberty all yokes shall be broken to pieces Fathers shall no more exercise their paternal authority and Sons shall not be under their command men shall be no more servants to men the highest Potentates shall no more exercise authority over men as it is said of Marriage They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage so I may say of subjection they shall neither command nor obey in the resurrection 1 Cor. 15.24 He shall put down all rule and all authority and power Christ will put down all the authority which Fathers have over their Children which Masters have over their Servants which Princes have over their Subjects and Vassals all the authority which both the Enemies and Persecutors have over the Church then it shall have no more nursing Fathers and Mothers all Crowns and Scepters shall be cast down at the feet of Christ he will put them down the Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enervabit he will at the last day put them down not onely that they shall not prevail but that they shall be utterly abolished II. They shall be delivered even from that sweet and gracious subjection to Christ as King and Mediator Christ shall rule over his body not as Mediator but as God he himself will lay down the Crown of his Mediatorship and deliver up his whole government into the hands of God 1 Cor. 15.24 28. And when all things shall be subdued unto him then c. When Christ hath levelled all authority with the ground and shall have trodden down all his Enemies then he will rule no more as Mediator but give up the Kingdom to God the Father and God will be all in all he will immediately govern all his Saints III. A liberty from all spiritual Tyranny in divers respects 1. It is a liberty from the Tyranny of Sin Sin though it doth not rule in the Godly as a King yet as a Tyrant though the Saints do not and never will sell themselves to work evil yet while they are in this body they are sold under sin no slavery is more intollerable to a Holy man than this slavery to sin it is a Godly man's hell to be under the Tyrannical power of any lust Slavery to Pharaoh is liberty compared to slavery to pride to worldly-mindedness or to any lust whatsoever It was the doom of a Godly Martyr to have a dead man chained to him his eyes to the dead man's eyes his breast to the dead man's breast that he might perish by the stench of the dead Carcass Such is a Godly man's present condition to be tyed to the body of sin which is a very death to him in whom is the life of grace Now the state of glory will set all the Children of God at liberty from this thraldome sin will then be put off when glory is put on when the new man is perfectly renewed in respect of degrees and parts the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts shall be perfectly destroyed in respect of presence and operation in the state of glory they will not be afraid of sinning such will their liberty be from sin they shall be as free from all sin as the Sun from the least shadow 2. It is a state of liberty from all tokens effects yea fears of the wrath and displeasure of God Now and then God writes bitter things against his people in this life and makes them his mark to shoot the arrows of his displeasure into their very Consciences What doleful complaints have the Godly made and still do make of God's dealings with them some of them live in Bondage to the fear of God's wrath all the dayes of their lives Now there is no liberty from the fears of God's displeasure in this life so long as there is the remnant of sins within them while we have a body of sin within us we shall have a miserable body now in the state of glory they shall enjoy a perfect liberty from wrath and all their chains of fears shall be knockt off the glorified shall no more fear wrath than the glorified shall hope for favour they shall no more dread Hell than the damned truly desire Heaven their perfect sense of God's love toward them and their perfect love of God will cast out all these fears the state of glory is a fearless estate as far above fear as Heaven above earth the mountain of glory cannot be removed with the greatest tempest of the fears of any evil 3. It is a state of freedom from all afflictions now afflictions are compared in Scripture to Bonds Fetters Chains Yokes and such Engines and Instruments of miserable bondage The evil of sin and afflictions are twins born together and shall cease and dye together when the Soul takes her flight to the mountain of glory she casteth off the mantle of suffering Glory and misery are as inconsistent together as the most contrarious extreams sooner shall East and West meet in one point noon and midnight in one moment than perfection and glory and the least affliction Lazarus is now as great a stranger to afflictions as Dives to pleasures 4. It is a freedom from all temptations and rage of Satan it is impossible for the Devil to tempt a man in glory When man was in a perfect state of grace he tempted him to sin but when man is in a perfect state of glory he cannot tempt him the Devils are cast out of Heaven never to appear there to tempt any who have made their entrance into it the Church hath a promise that Satan shall be bound up a thousand years but then he is bound to eternity the Devils are now in chains of
made in mercy the performance thereof dependeth upon the fidelity of the promiser not upon the merit of the worker the promise is sure not according to our merits but according to his mercy therefore go to God and say Lord thou hast promised to bestow the Crown of glory upon all that come unto thee Lord we have thy word there is a promise wherein thou hast caused me to hope Be it to thy servant according to thy Word CHAP. XXXIII SECT I. Sheweth how a man may know whether he hath a title to Heaven Quest BVt here peradventure thou may'st demand how shall I know whether the promise of eternal life belongeth to me or not Sol. I answer first dost thou love God the promise of giving the crown of life is made to them that love him Jam. 1.12 He that is the best lover is the best and most accomplished Christian it is not so much what thou doest or what thou sufferest what thy actions or what thy sufferings are as what thy love to God is so then the greatest Saint is not barely he that hath done most or suffered most but he that loveth most as it was said of Mary Magdalen Luk 7.47 that many sins were forgiven her because she loved much If thou hast true saith it will be the fountain of thy love to God who believing God to be such and so merciful to to thee it swalloweth up thy affections and draweth out thy love and devotion toward him which is not unfelt in us but by the feeling thereof in our selves we gather a further confirmation and assurance to our selves that we are beloved of God both which S. Bernard well declareth saying that the love of God breedeth in the soul love toward God and by feeling it self to love it is also out of doubt that it self is beloved now if thou art one that lovest God thou maist conclude thou art beloved of him for we love him because he loved us first and therefore thou hast an interest in the crown of life which God hath promised to them that love him True it is sometimes it is said it shall be given to such as the Lord loveth his love to us that is it that shall set this glorious crown upon our heads The Apostle Eph. 2.4 speaking both of our Sanctification and Salvation makes God the Author of them both and in God the cause of both the riches of his mercy and the greatness of his love God who is rich in mercy through his great love wherewith he hath loved us hath raised us up together and made us to fit together in Heavenly places So S. John saith it was God's love to us that he sent his onely Son to us in him to give us life and salvation herein was the great love of God manifested towards us in that God sent his onely begotten Son into the world that we might live through him 1 Joh. 4.9 Yet S. James tells us the crown of life shall be given to them that love the Lord as if it were not so much his love to us as did graciously vouchsafe it as our love to him that did deservedly merit it But these may both stand together the promise of eternal life may be said to belong both to those whom the Lord loveth and to those that love the Lord for first this love of God to us and our love to him do alwayes go together like fountain and stream seed and fruit fire and light cause and effect whensoever his love takes hold upon us it generates and begets in us love toward him again We read of Solomon that he was named Jedidjah because he was the beloved of the Lord 2 Sam. 12.25 and we likewise read of him 1 Kings 3.3 that he loved the Lord he was the beloved of the Lord and he loved the Lord God's love working upon him it wrought in him again love toward God now they that are beloved of God and they that love God they have both of them the promise of eternal life God's love to them is properly the cause of it their love to him that 's onely the Seal of it What S. John saith of the love of our Brethren the same may we say of the love of God We know by it that we are translated from death to life 1 Joh. 3.14 which life is a token of assurance by which we know we shall be saved The cause of our salvation is in God's loving us our loving of God is a token only by which we know we are sealed up unto salvation SECT II. 2. ARt thou Holy thou hast hence good ground and reason to expect whatsoever reward God hath promised unto holiness Being made free from sin and become servants unto God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life Rom. 6.22 Are ye pure in heart they onely shall see God Math. 5.8 Are ye holy in life then shall you see the Lord Hebr. 12.14 Beware how thou dost go on in any sin answer thy lusts thy temptations thy wicked company that seduce and entice thee to sin as Solomon answered Bathsheba when she desired Abishag for Adonijah let him take my Kingdom too so say thou to thy lusts to thy temptations to thy wicked company if you beg my company then take away my Kingdom too take away my glory take away my happiness too take heed of laying down thy head in the lap of any lust as Sampson did in the lap of Dalilah What said she to him The Philistines be upon thee Sampson So if thou sufferest thy self to be deceived by thy lusts by thy sinful pleasures I will not say the Philistines be upon thee but all the Devils in Hell be upon thee it may be thou expectest Angels to carry thee like Lazarus into Abraham's bosome and the evil Angels will take thee and hurry thee into Belzebub's bosome nothing but sin will make thee uncapable of glory it is only Christ and interest in Christ by saving faith and grace and holiness that can fit thee for glory that can make thee capable of glory and happiness we must be gracious here otherwise we shall never be glorious hereafter consider the nature of this glory which God will communicate to his Saints it is pure glory therefore it is necessary that the subjects which must receive it be pure also God will put pure glory into pure vessels What ado had Queen Esther before she was brought to the King Est 2.12 She was to purifie her self a whole year before she could attain to be Queen six months with oyl of Myrrh and six moneths with sweet Odours then she was brought to the King shall an earthly Prince expect such exact purification before he will bestow his honours and shall not God expect our purifying our selves before we come and sit upon thrones of glory can we think that God will cloath our Bodies of sin with Robes of glory and that God will put the pure white
linnen of the Saints upon the stinking lowsie rags of the old Adam Zech. 3. Jehoshua was a Type of such whom God will glorifie he was cloathed with filthy garments when he stood before the Angel he was to put off those filthy garments and then God caused a Mitre to be put upon his head and change of raiment for his clothing so God will have you to put off your filthy conversations before he will set a crown of pure gold upon your heads and put on you the white linnen of his Saints Go to now Brethren ye that hope to be glorified with Christ consider with your selves whether the old man be put off whether your earthly members be mortified or do you walk still in the vanity of your minds do you still keep your former conversations are your lusts your Centurions still do you obey them then let me tell you you have no part in Christ you are not the Sons of God your hopes of Heaven are but presumptions you are never like to see God in glory See what you must expect Coloss 3.16 For which things sake cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience Tremble at it ye that hope for glory and yet go on in your sins your sins will bring the wrath of God upon your souls and not the glory of God you are the children of disobedience and not the children of God if you will maintain your hopes of glory and title to Heaven shew it forth by purifying your selves as Christ is pure Suppose a leper in times of legal pollutions should have pronounced himself clean while the leprousie was upon him yet he should not be admitted into the Camp unless the Priest did pronounce him clean so may you say that you are clean and that you shall be glorified yet you shall never possess glory unless Christ the High-Priest pronounce you clean CHAP. XXXIV Setteth forth the danger of those that are in a state of Damnation THis in the next place may serve to awaken all slumbring spirits and to startle all those that sleep securely in sin that are far from God and nigh to destruction and yet are well pleased with their condition and are insensible of the danger they are in if the Lord would now open their eyes as he did the eyes of the Host of the King of Syria they would see they were in the midst of Samaria in the midst of Enemies in the way to destruction that their judgment lingers not their damnation slumbers not on the one side they are hastening toward destruction and on the other side destruction is hastning toward them Oh how woful is the condition of such men who can dwell with the devouring fire who can endure everlasting burnings Secure Sinners ye are almost in the mouth of Death and in the gate of Hell and the longer you continue in the way you are in the farther you are from God and the nearer to ruine you are very near to hell and condemnation upon the very brink and border of the land of darkness it is said of the watered ground that bringeth forth nothing but briars and thorns that is rejected that it is nigh to cursing whose end is to be burnt Hebr. 6.8 Salvation is far from the wicked and destruction is near them Psal 119.150 If a man had a dwelling near the gate of hell within the hearing of the hideous cry and noise of those lost souls and damned spirits could he sleep quietly could he take any content in meat or drink or any thing else they that are far from God are near to the pit of destruction and this is their misery that they know it not Is it not a madness for a man to be at his sports and pastimes when his house is on fire and all that he hath is burning to ashes and is it not a far greater madness for you O sinners to sport your selves with sin while the flames of Hell fire are ready to seize upon you Oh have pity and compassion on your own souls you would pity a Beast if you should see him ready to break his neck down a rock and will you have no pity on your own souls that are now ready to be swallowed up in the gulf of hell Consider I pray you that to enjoy the Word of Christ and to hear it powerfully Preached and yet not to be effectually converted by it it brings not a man one step nearer Heaven and puts him not an inch farther from hell than he was before It is said Jude vers 5. that the Lord having saved the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt afterward destroyed them that believed not there was a land of Canaan a land of promise and of rest offered to them and the Lord had made way for them to enter in and possess it he had saved them out of the land of Egypt and brought them near the borders of Canaan but this did no whit avail those among them that were unbelieving and disobedient they were destroyed their Carcasses fell in the wilderness they perished in their sins this I take to be a Type of the condition of secure unbelieving impenitent persons under the Gospel there is salvation wrought Jesus Christ came into the world to save a way is open to the Heavenly Canaan to that eternal rest prepared for the people of God the fiery pillar the light of the Gospel is in sight shewing the way to the Kingdom of Heaven but when men and women do carelesly neglect it this their condition is worse than if there had never been any possibility of salvation Better it had been they had died in Egypt than at the borders of Canaan better never in any degree to be saved than to be once saved and afterward to be destroyed utter destruction after some beginnings of salvation is worse than no kind of salvation at all therefore in the 12 verse of that same Epistle of Jude it is said they are trees whose fruit withereth without fruit twice dead plucked up by the roots I entreat you seriously to consider the woful estate of a soul twice dead twice lost twice condemned once condemned by the Law and then again condemned by the Gospel Oh tremble and beware of this double condemnation If the river of brimstone enkindled by the Law be so dreadful Isa 33.14 Oh how dreadful then shall those flames of wrath be if they shall be fed and increased with the oyl of the Gospel for the neglect and contempt of salvation wrought by Christ Oh how do multitudes of men that are now under the sound of the Gospel and have the means of salvation afforded them put away the word of life from them and judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life such will one day when it is too late see their folly and wish they had never had a Christ nor a Gospel nor a Heaven nor an immortal soul to lose The Turkish History reporteth of Bajazet the
ever they shall see God in all his workings to eternity What a ravishing thing would it have been Burr in Beatitud if any of us should have been admitted into the presence of God and there to have seen what God hath done from the beginning of the World to this day but when this World shall be at an end as it will shortly be God and his Saints will then remain everlastingly and they shall be for ever with the Lord and they shall be there where they shall see what God will do for ever 5. They shall see the infinite love of the infinite God of which now they have but a taste they shall then clearly understand that love of God which is the spring of all spiritual blessings in heavenly things out of which they were elected to holiness eternal life and glory that love out of which Christ himself as a Mediator and Redeemer issued and out of which all things were given them that appertain to life and godliness that love which prevented them in their lost condition which turned the eye of God's compassion towards them when they lay in their blood that love which issued out a pardon of all their sins from the Court of mercy which lengthened out the patience of God toward them when they lingred in their sins Then shall they know fully where this love was bred and that none but the eternal love and delight of the Father could have outed so much love then shall they see themselves over head and ears drown'd in many obligations to his infinite love 6. They shall see him as the Fountain of light and wisdom as the only wise God as the Father of lights in whose light themselves see light from whose face all those beams do shine whereby their Souls are filled with heavenly wisdom they shall see clearly that God is light filling Heaven with his brightness and glory and fixing the eyes of all the Angels and Saints upon him as an object infinite altogether lightsome and lovely They shall behold that infinite wisdom of God which created Heaven and Earth which great piece of workmanship had nothing but nothing for its materia how all the different parts whereof it is composed had the same original and how this vacuum by the word of God brought forth the Heavens with their Constellations the Earth with all its Fields the Sea with all its Rocks how the Heavens and Earth were created in an instant though there went six days to their disposal The Saints in Heaven shall also understand that wisdom of God which in all ages hath governed the World and directed all creatures to their courses and motions how this admirable work hath endured numberless ages contrary to the Laws of Nature which suffereth that soon to perish which she is not long in forming Then shall the mysteries of Providence be fully opened and we shall see the Births in the Womb of Providence which on Earth are invisible to us then shall we understand all the ways circuits lines turnings of Providence and see how Christ hath steered the helm of Heaven and Earth when means have failed and men and times have changed They shall likewise know that wisdom that hath ordered the sins of Men and Devils to holy ends never intended by the Actors which hath over-reached the craftiest devices of the Serpent and his Seed They shall likewise behold that manifold wisdom of God that contrived the whole method of mans Redemption and Salvation the very Master-piece of Divine wisdom that wisdom that hath given light to the blind wisdom to the foolish and abundance of light to those that sate in darkness and in the shadow of death and which made those that were darkness to become light in the Lord. This shall be matter of admiration to Men and Angels that the great God should condescend to look on such vile Sinners so far below the free love and majesty of the most High Then shall the Saints understand all the counsels of God concerning themselves from all eternity when they shall be admitted into the House of God they shall not only see what God himself is but they shall see his heart his will and all his ways and glorious contrivances for their salvation 7. They shall see him as that God who is truth it self they shall exactly discern how every promise of his every prophesie delivered by his spirit to the Churches and recorded in his word is fully accomplished not one failing or falling to the ground and that whatsoever God promised or bound himself by covenant to perform though it seemed difficult or long before it was fulfilled yet it came to pass at last in its appointed time Oh the sweet satisfaction which the Saints in Heaven shall find in the full contemplation of the truth of God every way manifested and so gloriously verified in and upon themselves in keeping them by his power unto salvation in preserving them to his heavenly Kingdom in guiding them by his counsel and bringing them to glory when they shall see that all the art malice skill and power of Men and Devils could never frustrate nor make void the least tittle of God's sacred truth 8. They shall see him as a God infinite in holiness of perfect purity they shall with great delight look directly into that overflowing fountain of holiness which hath streamed into so many thousand Souls which hath washed so many unclean hearts from their filthiness which filleth all the Saints and Angels in Heaven with perfect holiness then shall they behold those fair hands as I may speak that stooped to wash such black-skinned and defiled Sinners and purged away the filth of the Daughter of Sion If the Egyptians for many ages have had a great desire to find out the fountain of that River Nilus which by his yearly inundations watereth the Land in that hot climate having no showres of rain and maketh it abundantly fruitful Oh then how shall glorified Souls rejoyce to be brought to the Spring-head of holiness which hath watered so many barren Souls and made them bring forth the fruits of the Spirit 9. They shall clearly see him as an all-sufficient God they shall see that rich treasury opened out of which all that good was given which was received by any or all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth The Lord by many notable instances of his own glorious works Job 38.22 convinced Job of ignorance and posed him by a multitude of interrogations among the rest saith he Hast thou entered into the treasures of snow or hast thou seen the treasures of hail But in that state of glory not only this holy man but every one of the Saints shall be admitted to view the treasures of God's all-sufficiency out of which all good things concerning this life and the life to come have been and shall be dispensed and distributed among the Creatures life breath all things grace and glory grace of justification grace of
sanctification preventing grace subsequent grace exciting grace confirming grace strength against temptation support under afflictions help in extremities relief against seeming impossibilities faith repentance love hope c. they shall see the Spring of that River of God's pleasures and of those living Waters which have refreshed so many thirsty Souls when they seemed ready to perish Oh how would it tickle the vain curiosity of many men to be admitted to the sight of the rich treasures of great Princes and to have their Cabinets filled with the rarest and most sumptuous Jewels unlocked before their eyes Alas they are not so much as common stones of the street in comparison of the treasures of God's all-sufficiency which the Saints shall behold in Heaven SECT II. FUrthermore as the Saints in Heaven shall see what God is in himself so they shall perfectly and fully see what God is to themselves here is the happiness of the beatifical vision not only to know that God is infinitely gracious in himself but that he is also infinitely gracious to us not only to know that God is goodness it self bonum summum the chiefest good but also to know God is our chiefest good our happiness Then the Saints will all say to God as Job did when he had that familiar conference with God Job 42.5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee So when we come to Heaven every one of us will say Lord I have heard thy Ministers say that thou art a merciful a gracious God I have heard thy Word to proclaim thee to be a Lord a Lord God gracious and merciful a God pardoning sin and forgiving iniquity and now mine eyes see thee now I plainly see that thou art such a God as indeed thou art I tell you this is one main part of the beatifical Vision not only to see what God is in himself but to see clearly what a good God he is to us this is the happiness of all the Saints this is the fulness of joy which is in the presence of God this is the rivers of pleasure which are at God's right hand Suppose the Devils and damned Spirits should know what God is in himself that he is the God of grace the God of mercy the God of glory alas they would but little bless themselves in the knowledg of God because God is not thus to them it is their woe of woes because they know that God is to them a consuming fire devouring burnings and an angry Judge To know a thing and not to possess that thing is no happiness at all to know there are riches in the bottom of the Sea doth nothing rejoyce a man but to possess those riches to know there are rich treasures of all good things and not to have any part in that treasure what comfort hath a poor man in the knowledg of that It is true what Chrysologus saith of the rich Man in Hell Dives magis uritur Lazari gloria quam proprio incendio Chrysolog The glory of Lazarus doth more torment him then the fire of Hell It is no comfort to him to see Heaven and Lazarus in Abraham's bosome and himself to be thrust into Hell This brings joy to the heart of man when he knows a thing and seeth it to be his own There are three things that make a man glad 1. When a man hath that which he loveth 2. When that which he hath and loveth is the best thing 3. When a man knoweth that he hath and that he loveth is the best thing All these things are in the beatifical Vision The Saints enjoy that which they love viz. God then God is the best thing among all the treasures of good things nothing to be compared to God Likewise the Saints do know that they do enjoy God that God is their God and what God is in himself that he is to them this is that which will satisfie all the Saints when they shall awake out of the dust They also shall see all things in God it is a true Theorem among the Schools Videntes Deum omnia vident in ipso those that see God shall see all other things in him And the reason that they give is this because the Divine essence is the representative object of all things Fulgentius makes this comparison Fulgentius his comparison God saith he may not unfitly be compared to a glass look as in a glass we see three things we see the glass it self then we see our own self in the glass then we see other things in the glass too so in God we shall see Deitatem nosmetipsos caeteraque see God see our selves see all other things besides Now this knowledg will not be a comprehensive knowledg of God we may be studying God to all eternity and yet we shall never be able to comprehend him God is infinite and our understandings are finite it is impossible for an infinite object to be confined within the limits of a finite being Aquinas gives this good rule Divina essentia tota videtur quia est simplicissima partibus carens sed non totaliter Aquinas We shall see the whole essence but as most simply void of all composition but we shall not see him wholly we shall have large and clear apprehensions of God but no comprehension As Cardan told them that asked of him What God was Tunc Deus essem if I were able to tell you what God is I my self should be a God We should all be Gods if we could comprehend God SECT III. THe Saints in Heaven shall also behold the Lord Jesus as he is God the same God with the Father and the Holy Ghost More particularly 1. They shall have a perfect knowledg of him as God and Man as Mediator between God and Man they shall not only see the Lord Jesus with their bodily eyes but they shall also discern his incomparable excellency with the eye of their inner man they shall then understand the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God they shall clearly see into the mystery of the hypostatical or personal union of God and Man which is now so little understood by us they shall then see the God-head filling the Manhood with glory and majesty dwelling in it substantially they shall behold how the nature of man was raised unto an infinite height above all created nature and joyned to the Deity in the word hypostatically and substantially they shall see how God is truly and properly Man and how Man is truly and properly God which naturally no created understanding can comprehend they shall then clearly behold that wonderful conjunction of the Son of God and of the Seed of Abraham in one Person and shall see the Man-hood exalted far above all Principalities and Powers 2. They shall behold him as the Author and Finisher of their Faith as the Sacrifice for their Sins as him who was their wisdom righteousness