dead I am called in question And when he made his Apology before Felix the Governor he spake in this manner This I confess unto thee that after the way which they call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets and have hope towards God which they themselves also allow that there shall be a Resurrection of the dead both of the Just and Vnjust As the Jews of our time have forsaken God God hath also forsaken and given them over to a reprobate sense for as they set aside the infinite merits of the Death and Rassion of Jesus Christ they vainly perswade themselves that their sins are sufficiently expiated by their own Deaths Notwithstanding the grievous corruptions that are to be found in their Doctrines they depart out of this life in hopes of rising again one day for that reason they are careful in washing their dead Bodies in burying them with honor and decency and when they have thus laid them in their Graves they bow themselves three times towards the Earth and cast behind them Grass newly pluckt up from the Ground by which ceremony they would have us understand that the Corps which they lay in the Earth shall one day rise again and push forth according to the Prophets expression Your Bones shall grow as the Grass But this Article of the Resurrection of our Bodies which is found in some few passages of the Old Testament is to be seen almost in every Page of the New And the passages concerning this truth are so plain and express that 't is not possible to reject this wholesome Doctrine but we must at the same time abjure Christian Religion and give the lie to the holy Ghost That our faith might be setled the better God hath been pleased not only to publish this Resurrection from the dead by his Prophets and Apostles he hath not only discovered to us many excellent and delightful Types and Figures of the Truth but to give to us a more experimental testimony of his power he hath raised several from the dead In the Old Testament God raised up two Children one at the Prayers of the Prophet Elisha the other at the request of Elisha's Successor 1 Kings 17. And when a dead Body had been laid in Elisha's Grave and touched his Bones he returned to life again 2 Kings 6. And during our Saviours abode on Earth he raised to life the Daughter of Jairus that was dead the Widows Son of Nain who was carried out of the Gate to be buried and Lazarus who had been four dayes lying in his Grave whose body began to stink Math. 9. Luke 7. When this merciful Saviour gave up the Ghost upon the Cross The Graves were opened and many Bodies of Saints which slept arose and came out of the Graves after his Resurrection and went into the holy City and appeared unto many Math. 27. After his Ascention he raised from the dead Dorcas a charitable Widow at the Prayers of St. Peter and to comfort the poor Widows that wept for her and a young man named Eutyches was restored to life by the means of St. Paul that the Congregation of believers who were troubled at the unexpected fall and sudden Death of that man might have cause to rejoyce and comfort themselves in an assurance upon God But chiefly we have the example of our Lord who hath raised himself up by his Divine Power This glorious instance is able not only to stir up our admiration but also to settle our Faith and nourish our hopes For the Resurrection of other persons shew what God can do but the Resurrection of Christ declares unto us what God will do and is an earnest to assure us of our future Resurrection It is not possible to believe as we ought that Iesus Christ is risen from the dead but we must also by a necessary consequence believe that he will raise us likewise This St. Paul endeavours to teach us If we believe that Jesus Christ is dead and risen even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 1 Thess 4. As the head is so shall the members be As the first-fruits are so shall the rest of the harvest be The same Apostle labours to perswade this truth in these excellent words Christ is risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept for since by man came Death by man came also the Resurrection of the dead for as in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive But every man in his own order Christ the first-fruits afterward they that are Christs at his coming Some are ready to oppose against this holy and Divine Doctrine this objection That some Bodies are consumed by fire and burn'd to ashes it is true But What follows from thence For whether the Bodies be reduced to dust or ashes it matters not God is able to restore them and render unto them their primitive forms Seeing that certain herbs consumed to ashes rise again out of the ground by a natural inclination as we have already observed and seeing that art is so industrious as to make transparent Bodies of an extraordinary beauty of melted ashes shall not God who is so far transcendent above all abilities of nature created by him and of all Arts and Sciences which proceed from his direction be able of ashes to compose a beautiful and a perfect body Others pretend next That a great many bodies have been drowned in the Seas and swallowed up in the Waters I acknowledge that to be true But I affirm that God is altogether as able to draw a body out of the depths of the Sea as out of the bowels of the Earth He that hath prescribed bounds to this great Sea that dries up its vast concavities and layes open its bottomless bottom Hath not he a command over this Sea Cannot he oblige it to a restitution of those bodies that have been committed to its keeping as when he commanded the Whale to bring again to Land the Prophet Jonas whom it had swallowed up alive Some object That there are bodies devoured by the Beasts which have been their Food and have been turned into their substance But this objection is not to be valued for when an humane body shall have passed through the bowels of the Beasts and been changed a thousand and a thousand times into their substance there is nothing that can hinder God from restoring them again at the day of the Resurrection for those Animals shall never rise again It is therefore nothing to the purpose to inquire after them when the body shall reassume that which they shall have devoured and turned into their own substances The strongest and most plausible objection concerns the Anthropophages the eaters of Men for it is very well known that in the Indies there are some Savages so barbarous as to feed upon humane flesh and to esteem it as their
an accomplishment our Saviour confirms this interpretation when he saith in St. Lukes Gospel It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away then that one tittle of the Law should not be fulfilled The Holy Scripture is full of such kind of expressions but I would rather stick to the answers which I have already given to the former passages and to say that the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away not in regard of their substance but only in regard of their accidental qualities In St. Peters expressions I find a double comparison or allusion the one relates to the Tents that are pulled down when the pieces are taken asunder This comparison is very proper for this World is like a great Tabernacle a glorious Pavillion God shall pull off all the coverings he shall cut the Cords and separate every piece But he shall one day raise it up again gather every piece and make it a Royal Tabernacle full of splendor and glory The other comparison is borrowed from Goldsmiths who cast the Gold and Metals into pots and then melt them in the fire Now as they do not destroy by this means the Gold and the Silver but they cleanse it from drosse and from dirt they cause them to appear in all their brightness and beauty and give them a new shape and form Likewise the fire of the last Judgement shall not consume the Heavens and the Earth but shall only give them a new form and beauty The strangest objection in my opinion is occasioned by the words of St. Peter The Earth and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up But I answer to this that there is a great difference between burning and being totally consumed and abolished If it were in the power of a Man whose House is burned to the ground to raise it up again from its ruines and to make it more beautiful and glorious then before by his word alone he would never seek for other Materials Now I shall say again that what is impossible with Men is possible with God he hath already Created the World by his Word and he is able to restore it again by the same word Art hath found a way to make beautiful Vessels of melted ashes and shall not Gods Hand unto which all the skill of Art and the strength of Nature cannot be compared be able to gather up the ashes of this Earth and to make of it a Body full of glory and light From hence you may perceive how we are to understand that there shall be new Heavens and a new Earth they shall not be new in regard of their substance and matter which shall have been from the beginning of the World but they shall be new in regard of those noble qualities which God shall give them When a debaucht fellow leaves his wicked life and applies himself to the practice of Piety and Vertue we commonly say that he is not the same but that he is become another Man Besides when a Man hath cast off his old rags and puts on a glorious Garment we are wont to say that he is another Man We shall have much more cause to say that the Heavens and the Earth shall be new when God shall have renewed them In short he shall enrich the World with so many wonderful beauties he shall fill it full of so much glory and excellency he shall cause it to be so perfect that we shall have just reason to look upon it as upon a New World and to say with the Apostle The old things are passed away behold all things are become new I would not have you think Christians that this opinion is grounded only upon humane reason it is drawn from the words of St. Paul who speaking of the earthly and insensible Creatures as may appear by his intention he saith not only that they are subject to Vanity not willingly but because of him who hath subjected them he means Man who by his Sin and Rebellion hath spoiled the World and corrupted Nature but he adds immediately after That they hope to be delivered from the Bondage of corruption to be in the glorious liberty of the Children of God afterwards he saith for we know that the whole Creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now and before he saith That the earnest expectation of the Creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God In which passages pray take notice that St. Paul saith not that these Creatures shall be abolished and totally destroyed but only that they shall be delivered from Vanity and from the bondage of corruption unto which the Sin of Man hath made them subject and that this blessed deliverance shall be brought to pass at the day of the Redemption of our Bodies that is to say at that day when God shall redeem our Bodies from their Graves and raise them up to the highest glory and happiness which hath been prepared for us from the Creation of the World Then shall happen that which is wont to be seen at the Marriage of a great King or at a Coronation or a Triumph for not only the Prince and his Spouse and all their Court appear in their richest and most glorious Attire and loaden with their most precious Jewels and the usual Pompe of Triumphs was as extraordinary and glorious as Invention could make it In such occasions the Princes Palace is adorned with the richest with the most magnificent and rarest ornaments and the Town where this Solemnity is kept shews forth some Signs of the publick rejoycing many places are beautified with several Rarities Theaters are erected the Streets are covered with Flowers and Tapistry fires are kindled and Torches are lighted and there is no corner but shews some expressions of the publick joy Likewise when our Lord Jesus Christ shall come down from the Clouds of Heaven upon a Charriot of Triumph when he shall come to consummate his Marriage with and to Crown his Spouse He shall not only appear in his greatest Glory and most Divine Pomp but the Church also his Spouse shall be cloathed with a Garment brighter than the Sun and Crowned with an Immortal Glory All the Blessed Saints shall appear in their attire of Joy having Palms in their Hands and Crowns upon their Heads and the Companies of Holy Angels shall sing round about At that time Paradice which shall be as his Palace and Bridechamber shall be adorned and enriched with all the light anp glory which I have already essayed to describe unto you The whole World also and every part of it shall partake of this great Glory and Celestial Pomp. The richest Coronations the most Magnificent Triumphs the most stately Nuptials are gone in a few hours Therefore the fires of Joy are soon put out the hangings of the Streets are taken down and the Arches and Pageants disappear and the City is to be seen in its wonted dress But as this Glory and Joy of the Church shall never
of the Stone in his Kidneys that forceth from him at every moment most grievous sighs and groans If any should offer to paint before him his looks and grimness or that should counterfeit them ingeniously in his presence he would bring him little ease to his torments rather an increase to his vexation and trouble The most beautiful Flower also can give no delight to such as are rackt in the Executioners hands or tied to four Horses that are ready to tear him in pieces Thus it is with the most eloquent and florid Discourse it can bring no comfort to a soul that is departing Davids Harp alone can drive away the evil spirits and appease the troubles of a wounded Conscience But some may imagine in this general survey of the wise Follies and Vanity of the Heathen Philosophers I should except the Stoicks I confess that in this particular they express more gravity but they proceeded no better nay when I have well considered them I find them to be far more unsufferable and more impertinent than the rest for besides that they treat of the immortality of the soul in a very doubtful and unconstant manneâ— the pretended comforts that they offer do render Death more dreadful They tell us that Death is the end and center where all humane Afflictions and Miseries cease therefore it is rather to be desired than avoided or feared They might have some colourable reason for this conclusion if they did but discover beyond the Grave an happiness which they might here expect and hope for Death assures them of no other comfort but only to put a period to all the miseries of this wretched life Therefore such kind of Discourses are not properly Comforts and the resolution that they beget in us is but a silly Passion much like unto a Criminal upon the Rack who impatiently longs for Death that he might be delivered from the cruel hands of the Executioners or who bears the inferior torments with joy to get on the top of the Scaffold where he is to be broken upon the Wheel Oh miserable wretch the change of Tortures will bring no ease to thy Pains if thou canst not endure patiently the Ropes that unjoynt thy Members how wilt thou suffer the bar of Iron that shall crack all thy bones in pieces O blind Philosopher If thou canst not bear the miseries of this life how wilt thou endure the pains and tortures of Death Moreover they tell us That the most cruel and painful Death is a noble occasion to exercise our vertue and to cause our constancy and resolution to appear with admiration This discourse seems to be plausible but in reality it is nothing but wind for what availeth this apparent vertue because it doth not stop us from falling into the deepest Abyss of Torments and Misery but it perisheth and dies with its Idolaters Therefore such as have most admired it have at last acknowledged its vanity witness that famous and worthy General who fancied that his vertue would procure unto him the Victory over all the Enemies of the Roman Common-wealth for whose sake he took up Arms when the Battle was lost and all his ambitious hopes had deceived him being ready to stab himself with his own sword he cryed out Oh miserable Vertue what art thou but a vain and an unprofitable word a name without a body He did thus exclaim against his Vertue that he had formerly adored because it could yield him no comfort in the day of his distress nor free him from falling into utter dispair The most ordinary and usual comforts that they commonly bring are these That Death is inevitable that we all enter into the world upon condition to go out that we have as much cause to be afflicted with the day of our Birth as with the day of our Death That Humanity and Immortality are not consistant That Death is a Tribute we all owe to Nature That the Kings and greatest Monarchs are forced to pay it as well as the meanest Subjects and that this is such an universal Law that it admits of no exception But these kind of Comforts do but increase our trouble and add to our affliction I have therefore good reason to speak unto these grave Philosophers Job's language to his troublesome friends Miserable Comforters are ye all For in truth they don't only search the wound to the quick without any application of an healing Plaister but they also tear and widen it enflame and render it far more grievous when we are in hopes of seeing an end to our calamities our soul is comforted and armes it self with constancy and a patient resolution but when we see our selves cast into an Abysse of Evil and that no hopes appear of getting out we are then overwhelmed with grief and despair It is a lamentable thing to be born to dye but it is far more lamentable and grievous to know that Death is not to be avoided that all the Treasures of the world cannot free us from it for his affliction is the greatest whose misery can never be cur'd This also is a false and deceitful maxime That the comfort of the miserable is to have companions in misery although many thousand drink together of the waters of Marah they seem no less bitter and although thou shouldest be burnt in a fire where many are consumed thou shalt not find there a milder and a more easy abode Thy neighbors grief doth not lessen thy Affliction their Sickness cannot restore to thee Health and their Death comfort thee against the approaches of thine own On the contrary if thou hast any sence of Humanity thou wilt weep for their Misery and thine together It is that which great Xerxes King of Persia did practice for when he took a view of his numerous Army in which there were 1100000 Men and considered that within one hundred years so many brave Captains and Soldiers would be rotting in their Graves he was moved with compassion and wept I do not mention here the brutish and foolish opinion of such as imagine that Mans Soul is mortal and dies with our Bodies This consideration brings no comfort but casts us into an irrecoverable despair for after the torments of Hell fire there is nothing that can be imagined more dreadful than a reducement to nothing It is needless also to mention the Philosophers that are Disciples of Plato who have discoursed of the Souls Immutability and of its Blessedness after this life they imagine themselves very acute and subtle but their discourses of this matter are so gross and extravagant that instead of perswading the Truth they express it to scorn and contempt Let their fond and imaginary descriptions of the Elysian Fields be witnesses for whatsoever they have invented of this kind hath been placed amongst the Fables and poetical Fictions Those Chymerical Gardens under ground contain nothing like to the Divine Excellencies and unspeakable pleasures of the Paradise of God In one word
like to vanity his days are as a shadow that passeth away Psal 144. and say as David I am gone as the shadow when it declineth Psal 109. If thou hearest the roaring of the Winds that God taketh out of his Storehouses Lift up thy Soul unto God thy Creator and say with Job Job 7. Remember that my life is but a wind mine eye shall no more see good Job 30. that is the imaginary Good of this miserable World And elsewhere Thou liftest me up to the wind thou causest me to ride upon it and dissolvest my substance If thou takest any delight in the sight of Birds that fly in the Air Let this excellent thought enter into thy mind My days are passed away as the Eagle that hasteth to the prey Job 9. If thou lookest up to the Glory and Beauty of the Heavens and seest the ravishing light of the Stars consider that thy God who hath form'd thee after his Image is so good and noble that he will not suffer thee to dwell for ever or perish amongst this slimy and miserable Earth but to dwell with him for ever in the Heavens and that at the end of thy Race he will raise and carry thee into the Palace of his Glory where thou shalt shine as the Sun in its greatest splendor If thou dost meditate upon the changeableness of the seasons remember that the spring of thy infancy the hot Summer of thy Youth the Autumn of thy Maturity and the sad countenanc'd Winter of thy cold and decrepid age shall succeed one another in the same order Let him who travels by Land think upon Job's complaint My days have been swifter than a Post they flee away they see no good Job 9. Let him call to mind the Apostles excellent saying This one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press forwards towards the mark for the prize of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. Let him who sails upon the Sea fancy the whole World as a great Sea tost up and down with several furious Waves our Life as a dangerous Voyage and our Days as Ships that pass away in a moment and let him consider that the last breath of Death will drive us into the Haven of Eternal Felicity to the enjoyment of immortal Glory Job 9. Doth God bless us with Children let us understand that we are minded by them of our Mortality for they come to take our room and to succeed to our Estate Doth God take them away to his Rest and those of whom we are most fond Let this advertise us That God intends thereby to cut off all the lower Roots that tye us to this Earth to unloose our hearts and affections that we may offer them up to him alone Instead of spending our selves in Tears and indulging our foolish humour in needless displeasures Let us comfort our selves with this consideration That by this means a part of our selves is enter'd into Heaven and that tother part will follow apace Let us say with David We shall go to them but they shall not return to us 2 Sam. 11. Let the Rich Man when he reckons his Money remember that God hath reckon'd and appointed his days and let this Order sound continually in his Ear Give an account of thy Stewardship Luke 16. Let the Magistrate when ever he delivers his Vote or pronouce a Sentence be arm'd with this consideration That he who sits in the Judgement Seat here below shall stand at the Bar and be judged himself above That one day he shall appear as a poor prisoner at the Tribunal of his great God That the Books will be open'd and that the universal Judge of the World will peruse every particular of his accusation That he must tender an account not only of his words and actions but also of his most secret thoughts and that without any examination at the Rack God will discover the very bottom of his heart Let the Gentleman whenever he receives his Rents and his Revenues call to mind the Tribute that he must needs pay to death Let the Prince and the Lord when he handles his Royal Parents and his antient Charters or when he examines the Homage and Duties to be paid to his House and Family take notice that he must go in person to Heaven Gates and pay his Homage to the Divinity Let the King who sits in his Seat of Justice or Chair of State think upon the Throne of the King of Kings before which he must appear as well as the most wretched Caitiff and the meanest of his subjects and that he must give account before a just God who is no respecter of Persons Let the Minister be never employed about the Duties of his Function but let him Long and wish for that happy day in the which the Lamb shall instruct and feed him in person and lead him to the Fountains of living water Let the Christian Soldier engrave upon his Sword this Sentence of Job Is there not as it were a warfare appointed to all Mortals on Earth Job 7. And instead of thirsting after humane blood let him prepare to encounter with Deathit self Let the Husbandman when ever he sows his Seed or when he reaps the Corn of his Fields be mindful of the season that comes on apace in which his Body must â—ot in the Earth that it might grow up to Eternity Let him think upon what St. Paul saith O fool that which thou sowest is not quickened except it dye 1 Cor. 15. and let him meditate upon Davids comfortable perswasions They who sow in Tears shall reap with Songs of Triumph Psal 126. Let an Handy craftsman that works in his shop imprint in his mind this excellent Sentence Our days are like the days of an hireling and when he hath ended his Task and that he is departing to his Rest let him comfort himself with this assurance That assoon as he shall have ended that work that God hath given him to do he shall rest from all his labors Job 7. When ever the Physitian visits his Patient or when the Chyrurgeon tends upon his wounded Bodies let them consider that they have no Secret nor Art able to protect them from Death or to cure the wounds that it strikes in our corruptible Nature Let the most cunning Lawyers the most advised Counsellors and the most eloquent Orators remember that all their Rhetorick and subtilty will never obtain for them their Suit against Death nor procure a moment of respite and delays And let the most Learned Philosophers learn That the soundest Philosophy is the meditation of Death In short What ever be our Imployment Condition or Age let us lift up our minds and hands unto God to speak to him in the Language of the Prophet David Lord let me know my end and the number of my days that I may know how long I am to live Or of Moses So teach
Servants Princes and Subjects all of us in general we may with reason say to the Men of this World as Abraham to the Children of Heth I am a stranger and a forreigner in the midst of you Now he that travels in a strange Countrey may gather some Flowers in his passage or take with him a few Ears of Corn but if he be wise he will never tarry to build a Palace If he be well Treated in his Inn he must not cast away the good chear but if his Entertainment be bad he must endure with patience the inconveniencies and contemn all the disorders that happen during his abode if the way be deep full of Mud Bryars and Thorns he must get out of them assoon as he can and if it be good and pleasant he must not stop in it nor busy himself with needless inquiries Every one that is a Traveller dreams of nothing but how to advance in his journey and go forward Likewise we being accustomed to Plenty and Want to Riches and Poverty to Honor and Dishonor we ought to leave the things that are behind and proceed forward to such as are before that we may attain to the end and reward of our Heavenly Calling Phil. 3. 2. Consider not only I beseech you that we are strangers and forrainers in the world but that we are not to inhabit always in this forrain Countrey but that our passage will be but of few days Revel 7. We need but little to nourish and entertain us in this short race at the end of it we shall neither hunger nor thirst and the Sun shall burn us no more As it happen'd with Jacob and his Family when they went into Egypt they had no other Corn nor Food but what was needful and necessary for them in the way because they were certain to meet with plenty of all manner of good things in Joseph's House Likewise we need not make any great provision for our selves in this life because we are marching apace towards our Saviour Christ our elder Brother unto whom God hath given all power in Heaven and in Earth Matt. 28. We are marching into a Countrey that abounds with all manner of true Riches Excellency Glory and Happiness 3. Consider that we are not only strangers but Soldiers to fight under the banners of Christ our Captain who judges and fights justly Revel 19. Job acknowledges That there is a warfare appointed to all Mortals upon Earth Job 7. But I may say that this War is chiefly for such as aim at the glorious immutability For God calls them to endure grievous and violent encounters Therefore St. Paul exhorts his beloved Disciple Timothy to behave himself as a good Soldier in this just War and to fight the good fight of faith 1 Tim. 1. Now he that goes to War must not incumber himself with the affairs and enjoyments of this life 4. Moreover consider that we are like to Soldiers that are engag'd in an Enemies Countrey not with a design to conquer and establish our Selves but only to obtain a free passage having only an intent to pass thorough into our own Native Countrey We don't desire to get into our hands the Inheritances and possessions of the Worldlings nor to rob them of their Crowns and Scepters We have no other request to make to them but that which the Children of Israel made to the Inhabitants of Edom when they were going to the promised Land Numb 20. We desire leave to pass peaceably and go along by the Kings high way to take possession of the Inheritance which God hath prepared for us from the beginning of the World We would not so much as taste a bit of Bread without paying for it nor drink a cup of water without leave 5. Consider that this Life is a Race and the World the place to run in now such as are in a Race must take heed that the Thorns do not catch hold of them in their Course nor that their Feet sink into the Mire or the Clay and that they may run swifter they must cast off all burdens and incumbrances If therefore we will run in this Race in such a manner as that we may obtain the Prize we must see that the Thorns and Briars of the World do not take hold of us and that we sink not into the mire of the dirty Pleasures of this life we must cast away all the burdens that overcharge us and especially the burden of sin which is so grievous that Nature it self grâ—ns under it It is the design of St. Paul's exhortation Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the Race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross Rom. 8. Heb. 12. 6. Consider that our life is a continual wrestling for we must wrestle not only against Flesh and Blood but also against Principalities and Powers against the Lords of the World and the Rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual wickedness in high places Eph. 6. 1 Cor. 10. Now he that intends to wrestle well must diet himself accordingly If therefore for a corruptible Crown Men tame their Bodies render them supple and pliant and abstain from Delights and Pleasures how much more reason have we to do the like for an uncorruptible and a Glorious Crown 7. Consider that God will have us to be conformable to the image of his Son and that we should follow his footsteps Now this good Saviour represents to us his own condition Rom. 8. 1 Pet. 2. The Foxes have holes and the Birds of the air have Nests but the Son of man hath not whereon to lay his head Luke 9. Therefore he made this confession before Pontius Pilate My Kingdom is not of this World John 8. and for that reason he reproves the gross and carnal imaginations of the two Disciples as they were going to Emaus O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken Luke 24. ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his Glory according to his blessed example we must have little part and concernment in the World and enter by many afflictions into the kingdom of God Acts 24. 8. I judge that it is also necessary that we should represent at every moment unto our selves that to speak exactly we can have but the 〈◊〉 and not the right enjoyment of Gods Creatures We are intrusted with his favors as the Stewards of his Blessings and Riches At every moment he may call us to an account and require from us a reason of our behaviour and take from us our enjoyments we should therefore look upon our Houses and Possessions as upon things that are let unto us for as we are not displeas'd to restore what we had
When thou shouldest speak with a Divine Tongue and with an Heavenly Wisdom thou mayest have good cause to cry out Who hath believed our report and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed Isai 5. John 12. In short as the Rivers of fresh Water that run continually into the Sea derive not from thence their natural bitterness thus thy good and Holy Life thy Learned and excellent Sermons will not be able to remove the corruptions of this present evil Age nor stop the Torrent and hinder the overflowings of Vice for thy labor and industry if compared with the corruption of the World are as unconsiderable as a few drops of water in comparison of the Ocean This cursed Earth may be watered with thy Sweat and Tears it will nevertheless bring forth nothing but Bryars and Thistles the Weeds which thou thinkest to pluck up will tear thy Skin and draw bloud out of thy Hands In short he that plants is nothing nor he that watereth but it is God who giveth the increase 1 Cor. 3. It is justly to be feared that in staying any longer time in this corrupt and unwholsome Air thou mayest receive some evil impressions from the general contagion It is to be feared that thou mayest sully thy pure Hands by handling so many Wounds and Sores and that the Thorns of this cursed Earth may pluck off the Wooll of thine harmless and innocent life But when thou shouldest have a thousand times more Gifts and Graces and that thy labors should bring far greater advantages and profit to Christ's Church it belongs not to thee to give Laws unto thy God but to follow the motion of his Will Leave to him the chief care of his own Houshold and rest upon his Eternal Providence He hath more right in the Church than thou canst pretend to for he hath created it by his Power and redeem'd it by his precious Bloud He that cares not for his own especially for those of his Family hath denied the Faith and is worse than an Infidel and can God who is Faithfulness it self and the very Being of Truth God who cannot deny himself and whose Gifts and Calling are without Repentance Rom. 12. Can such a God cast off all care of his Church of that Church which he embraceth with an Eternal Love and cherisheth as the apple of his Eye Jer. 31. This Father of Mercies who hath not spared his own Son but hath delivered him to dye for his Church how should not he with him freely give her all things Rom. 8. He understands better than thou and all the men of the World what is proper and advantageous for this Holy Congregation and for every member that composes it He knows how to provide for all its wants for his Wisdom is infinite and his Providence is most wonderful When this great God hath a designe to plague his Enemies and to declare his justice he hath always fit Agents ready and his Quiver full of Arrows As soon as he commands the Holy Angels that wait before him to cast their Sicles into the Earth and to reap or pour down the Viols of his wrath these Holy Spirits fly with an unspeakable swiftness to perform his Sacred Pleasure Revel 14 16. Likewise when he intends to do good to his Chosen he finds in every place the Heralds of his Mercy and his Divine hand is always full of Blessings As the Main Ocean of his wonderful Riches can never become dry Likewise the Channels by which he conveys them to us shall never fail The cause of thy complaints should serve to appease thy Grief nourish thy Faith and increase thy Hopes for if thou art graced with extraordinary Gifts this proceeds neither from thy Nature nor thine Industry but God's Favour and Bounty Now thou mayest be assured that his hand is not shortened his great Power is not lessened the Well-spring of all his Blessings and Wonders is not stopt nor dryed up Is 49. He that sends a desired whiteness the prognostick of an approaching harvest to the spacious Fields John 4. He sends also into his Spiritual Harvest Laborers when he sees it convenient In this latter Age and in this decay of the World as well as in the first appearance of his Church Luk 10. he finds Men to work in his Vineyard or rather he forms and fashions them with the hand of his Grace and enables them by his Holy Spirit for he gives the Mouth and the Tongue he makes deaf dumb blind and restores the eye-sight he calls things that are not as if they were Matth. 20. Exod. 4. Rom. 4. When he designes for himself a Tabernacle he calls by name a Bezaleel and fills him with his Spirit of Wisdom of Understanding and knowledge in all manner of Workmanship Exod. 31. When he resolves to deliver the Children of Israel from their Babylonish Captivity and to build the Temple of Jerusalem he hath at his Command Cyrus Darius and Artaxerxes Acts 14. He stirs up Zerobabels Esdras and Nehemiahs Likewise when he intends to repair the breaches of his House and to increase the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour he makes Servants and fit Agents and bestows upon them sufficient Graces for such a noble Work Psal 8. Mat. 21. As he hath never left himself without witness in doing good thus he hath never been without witnesses to declare his Sacred Truth Luk 19. By the mouth of Babes he perfects his praise and as our Saviour told the Jews If these held their peace the stones would cry out Luk 19. God will rather pluck the Pillars of the Idols Temples to prop up his Church rather than to suffer it to fall down he will change the Wolves into Lambs and the Lambs into Shepheards rather than that his Sheep should want their necessary Pasture He chooseth the feeble things of this World to confound the strong the despicable and such as are not to destroy such as are 1 Cor. 9. Thus God never leaves his Church without some testimony of his favour some powerful instrument of his Grace but many times it happens that when he removes one good thing from us he bestows upon us something more rare and excellent This consideration glads the Heart of Joseph upon his Death-bed as appears by what he said to his Brethren I am going to dye but God will not fail to visit you and cause you to go up from hence into the Land that he swore unto Abraham Isaac and Jacob Gen. 50. For instead of a Joseph who had occasioned their Bondage God raised up a Moses who deliver'd them with a mighty hand and a stretched-out Arm 2 Kings 2. Thus God took up Elijah with a Chariot of Fire but he gave unto Elisha a double portion of his Masters Spirit and caused his Glorious Miracles to appear with greater admiration Likewise our Lord and Saviour when he had finished the great work of our Redemption he ascended up into Heaven A Cloud conveying him
complain but shall be transported with joy and adore that infinite Goodness which thou hast declared to us poor and miserable sinners who out of thine incomprehensible Love hast made us thy Children and Heirs of thy Kingdom O Goodness worthy of the admiration of Heaven and Earth we were all lost but we shall be all found in God we were dead but by death we shall return to life we were over-whelmed in a grievous misery but by this means we shall attain to the greatest happiness O my God I recommend unto thee my Soul as to a faithful Creator Heavenly Father my Spirit I leave in thy Hands Amen CHAP. 15. The third Consolation against the fears of Death is to represent continually unto our selves the Death and Sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to trust upon the merits of his Cross IF we will dye with a peacable and quiet mind we must always represent to our selves the death and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ and rely upon the merits of his Cross for the death of this Prince of Life should be the Model of ours and the bottomless Fountain of Comforts to a believing Soul 1. By looking upon this perfect example the wonder of Men and Angels we learn to endure with an Holy resolution and patience all the evils and pangs that accompany Death Luk 22. For although our Saviours Torments were most bitter so that his Soul was sorrowful unto death although there issued out of his innocent Body a bloudy Sweat for the violence of his pain nevertheless none ever heard the least murmuring or expression of impatience Isai 53. He was led to the slaughter as a Lamb and as a Sheep before the Shearer is dumb 2 From hence we learn that the last hours of our life must be employed in fervent and continual Prayers unto God seeing that this Beloved of the Father offers unto him at such a time his Prayers and Supplications with great Cries and a floud of Tears as to him who was able to deliver him from Death Heb. 5. In the bosoms of this Heavenly Father he poureth out all his Griefs and three times he presents this request Father if it be possible that this cup should pass away from me except I drink it Matth. 26. 3. We learn to present our selves before God's Divine Majesty with Humility and to resigne our selves wholly to his wonderful Providence seeing that he who thought it no robbery to be equal with God he whom the millions of Angels and Seraphims worship continually thought it no disgrace to himself to fall upon his knees three times to the ground and submit his Will to that of his Heavenly Father for after that he had said Father if it be possible let this cup pass away from me except I drink it He adds these words Nevertheless O Father not as I will but as thou wilt Matth. 26. 4. If at the time of our death an excessive sorrow or a malignant humour seize upon our minds so that in that disposition we are not able to see the Heavens open nor God who stretcheth out his Arm to receive us into his Rest Let us remember that this merciful Lord speaks to us as he did to his three Apostles who fell asleep when he was in his Agony Cannot you watch one hour with me Mat. 29. My dear Children it is no time to fall asleep with the foolish and inconsiderate Virgins trim your Lamps put on the Garments of Light to meet your Celestial Bridegroom and to enter with him into the Marriage Chamber Matth. 25. 5. God requires that we should do as much good at all times to our friends as we are able and to express the sincerity of our affections to those with whom Nature and our Duty have caused us to be related but especially at the hour of death we are more bound to this Religious Duty therefore Jesus Christ hath shewn us an excellent example for when he was nailed to the Cross and ready to breathe forth his Soul into the hands of his Heavenly Father he had an especial care of his Holy and Blessed Mother saying to his beloved Disciple My Son behold thy Mother and to her Woman behold thy Son 6. We must not only do good and shew kindness to our friends but we must forgive our greatest enemies such also as employ their greatest fury against us for by this means we shall follow the Blessed footsteps of our Gracious Saviour for he had compassion upon them that crucified him and mocked him Father said he forgive them for they know not what they do 7. By the Cross of Jesus Christ we learn to put our trust in the goodness of God in our greatest pangs and to embrace him as our most loving Father and Redeemer when he seems to discover to us a severe countenance full of wrath and displeasure for this Eternal Son of God in his most violent tortures when his Heavenly Father did suspend his aid and assistance and withheld the effects of his Grace the expressions of his Love and the comforts of his Divine Spirit nevertheless he looks upon him as his God and reposes himself upon him he prays unto him with an Holy assurance and repeats these passionate words My God my God! 8. If we will dye willingly and leave these crazy Bodies with a joyful mind when the time is come that we must go to the Father of Spirits we must remember with what resolution our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ prepar'd himself for death and how willingly he commended his innocent Soul into the hands of God his Father when he required it No man taketh my life away from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again this Commandement have I received of my Father John 10. Heb. 10. This caused him to speak in this manner Here am I O God to do thy will Luk 23. Therefore when he gave up the Ghost he cried with a loud voice to shew that his precious Soul was not taken from him by violence but that he did willingly offer it up as a Sacrifice to God 9. In this rich description of Christ crucified we may further learn what should be our last words and last thoughts for if God vouchsafes to us the use of our Tongues until the last gasp we cannot end our life more comfortably than by such expressions as our Saviour made use of upon the Cross Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit But if we cannot move our Lips and that we cannot pronounce these words we must inwardly meditate upon them in our minds and express them with motions of the Heart 10. When we look more narrowly into the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ we may easily find how much we are bound to give up our souls unto God when he is pleased to call for them for this Blessed death is the price and ransom that he hath paid
as the fire St. Paul intends to teach us this truth when he tells us that this Body is sown an earthly and a sensual Body but it shall rise again an heavenly and a spiritual Body we are not so to understand these words as to think that God will change them into Spirits or into such uncomposed bodies as are the Heavens for they shall yet be made up of flesh and bones and they shall have all the essential parts of an humane Body as we have already taken notice but I conceive that they are named spiritual and heavenly because they shall have no more the gross and earthy qualities and they shall live no more a Sensitive and an animal life In a word they shall need no more meat or drink than the Stars and Celestial Bodies no more than the holy Angels of God I confess that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended up into Heaven in a cloud not because that a Cloud was necessary to uphold and keep up his glorious Body for if in the estate of his infirmity and humiliation this divine Body was able to walk upon the waves of the Sea without sinking by the assistance of his divine Nature how much more since its glorification shall it be able to ascend up on high and to go whither he listeth If the help of any Creature had been necessary to uphold him he might have had Legions of Immortal Angels to carry him up but Christ needed not to be assisted neither by a Body nor a Spirit nor by any other Creature This Cloud therefore that appeared at his Ascention was no token of the infirmity of his humane Nature it did rather manifest the glory and magnificence of his Divine Majesty unto which this precious Body was united personally God hath often revealed himself attended by a Cloud as upon Mount Sina in the Ark of the Covenant at the Dedication of Solomone Temple therefore that Cloud in which God was pleased to discover himself is stiled The Glory of God that is the Sign and visible expression of his Glorious Presence and Divine Majesty Let us therefore gather from hence that the Cloud which attended upon the glorified Body of Jesus Christ was no needful help to carry him up to Heaven but as it were a Chariot of Triumph to cause him to go with more glory and pomp The Bodies of the Saints after the Resuriection shall shine and be full of glory they shall not only have some superficial splendor upon their Countenance or Skin as Moses when he had been with God forty days and forty nights in the Holy Mountain but they shall shine within and without as a true Diamond that casts abroad on all sides its light and flames So that it shall happen to them as it happened to our Saviour upon Mount Tabor for it is said that his Garments became White as the Light In the same manner at the time of our Transfiguration our bodies that are but the Garments of our Immortal Souls shall be as clear as the Light and as bright as the Celestial Globes I speak here nothing but what the Prophet Daniel saith before me Daniel 12. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever And our Saviour assures us Math. 23. That the Children of God shall shine in the Kingdom of their Father as the Sun These glorified Bodies shall never corrupt nor putrify but they shall be for ever uncorruptible Therefore St. Paul assures us that the Corruptible must put on incorruption so that I may safely affirm that their glory shall be more durable than that of the Sun or of the Moon or of the Stars for although these Celestial Bodies never corrupt out of any inward principle although there can be no alteration happen to them neither from their essential form nor from the properties that come from it nor from any other inherent quality they shall nevertheless corrupt out of an external principle for the Almighty hand of God which made them shall change and alter them as the royal Prophet tells us in 102 Psalm The heavens shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed 1 Pet. 5. Unto this St. Peter doth very well agree The Heavens saith he shall pass away with a great noise Where as the glorified Bodies shall never corrupt neither by any internal principle nor by their essential form nor by the properties and accidents that flow from it nor by any external cause nor by any accident whatsoever that can be imagined for the Almighty hand of God shall make them never to marr them again From hence it follows that they shall Die no more but shall continue Immortal for with incorruption they must put on Immortality therefore when our Saviour speaks of the estate of the glorified Saints Luk. 20. he saith not only that they shall not Die but that they cannot Die any more because they shall be like the Angels being the Children of the Resurrection In this consists the difference between them and those whom God hath raised up already mentioned in the Old and New Testament For they were forced to return to their sensual life to eat and drink and therefore they were again subject to corruption and Death but at the day of the general Resurrection whatsoever is Mortal shall be swallowed up by Life therefore St. Paul applies to this glorious day the accomplishment of this Prophecy Death is swallowed up into Victory and he brings in these who shall be cloathed with this Immortal Glory braving Death and the Grave in this triumphing Language O Death where is thy Victory O Grave I where is thy Sting In short to make us sensible that our Bodies shall put on all the richest and most noble qualities that can be imagined and to express all in a word the Holy Ghost assures us that they shall bear the Image of the Son of God and be made conformable to his glorious Body St Paul declares this Truth in the 15 Chap. of the first of the Corinth The first Man saith he was of the Earth Earthly the second Man was the Lord from Heaven as is the Earthy such are they that are are Earthy and as is the Heavenly such are they also that are Heavenly and as we have born the Image of the Earthy we shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly And in Philip. 3. he saith we wait for the Lord Jesus from Heaven who shall change our vile Body that it may be like to his glorious Body from hence you may gather Christians that at the rebuilding of this little Temple of the Godhead there shall happen no such thing as at the rearing up of the Temple of Jerusalem for when that was Rebuilding at the return from the Babilonish Captivity they that had seen the former
must take notice of two or three distinctions which if we understand well we shall find no more difficulty in this question First God may be considered in three several respects as he is in Himself and in his proper Being It is in this respect that our Souls do earnestly long for h m and desire to draw near to him and be united unto him as to their Soveraign Good and the bottomless Fountain of Glory and Happiness Secondly as he doth reveal and discover himself on Earth by certain Images and Tokens of his favourable Presence Thirdly as he shall manifest himself in Heaven by the Glorious Images and Divine marks of his Glorious Presence Secondly we must distinguish the several kinds of sight for there is the sight of the Body which looks only upon the objects whereof the Images and Species are within the reach and capacity of our Eye-sight as are Colour and Light There is the sight of the understanding which sees and beholds the things that are at a distance from our sences as the spiritual and invisible substances and the Essential forms of the Body There is also the sight of Faith which riseth yet something higher than our understanding as it is during our abode here below when it is enlightened with God's Divine Grace it sees and beholds things which the eye of the Body never saw and the sensual understandings of Men can never comprehend as the Mysteries of Christian Religion and the powers of the World to come Lastly we must distinguish the knowledge of the Understanding for sometimes it is obscure and confused at other times it is plain and distinct Moreover that knowledge which is most certain and the plainest is of two sorts the one hath bounds and limits suitable to its subject that is to say suitable to the ability and reach of the Understanding the other is absolute and of the same nature as its object that is to say as the thing it self which the understanding looks upon and beholds God as he is in himself and in his own Essence and Being hath never been seen by the Eye of the Body and shall never be neither in this life nor in the life to come for God is a Spirit and of an invisible Nature 1 Timothy 6. In this respect St. Paul affirms That God dwels in a Light which no man can approach unto that no man hath ever seen him nor can see him John 3. But this good God who of himself is invisible delights to shew him self to his Creatures in several ways First God shews himself unto all Men in the works of the Creation of the great World for as St. Paul saith in the 1 of the Romans The invisible things of God from the creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal Power and Godhead Especially he hath been pleased to give in the Light a production of Nature and the first of all visible Creatures a lively Image of himself for as there is nothing more ample purer and more beautiful than the Light Likewise there is no visible Creature that represents so well this great God who is a Being most pure most beautiful and perfect the Father of Lights and the true Sun of our Souls Secondly God discovers himself in all the workings of his wonderful Providence and chiefly in his extraordinary and miraculous Operations for when men perceive productions which exceed all the ordinary strength of Nature they are forced to acknowledge that they come immediately from an infinite Power As Pharaoh's Magicians for when they saw that by their Magick Art they were not able to counterfeit Moses's Miracle they confessed That it was the finger of God Thirdly God discovers himself in his Holy and Divine Word which is to us as a beautiful and perfect Looking-Glass where we may see his Image and the brightness of his Glory This was St. Pauls judgement when he saith That all we that behold as in a Glass the glory of the Lord with open face are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Cor. 3.18 Fourthly God revealed himself to the Church of Israel in the Ark the Signe and ordinary Token of his Gracious Presence He did speak unto this People from the midst of the two Golden Cherubims and did publish his Divine Oracles there he was pleased to discover himself in divers representations chiefly in the Cloud and Fire which came down from Heaven Therefore the Signe bearing the name of the thing signified is sometimes stiled The Lord as in that passage where David saith My Soul is athirst for God for the mighty and living God O when shall I go and appear in the presence of God Psal 42. Fifthly God manifested himself to the Patriarchs and Prophets in Dreams and Visions by Divine Raptures and Prophetical Elevations In this manner he appeared to the Patriarch Jacob in Bethel for when it is said that God was at the end of the mystical Ladder which reach'd up to Heaven without doubt he gave some Sign and Testimony there of his Presence And when the Prophet Isaiah mentions his Glorious Throne he makes no difficulty to say I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up and his Train filled the Temple above it stood the Seraphims each one had six wings with two he covered his Face and with two he covered his Feet and with two he did fly and one cried to another and said Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory and the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried and the House was filled with smoak Isai 6. And the Prophet Micah when he speaks of his Vision he saith I have seen the Lord sitting upon his Throne and all the Hosts of Heaven standing at his right hand and at his left 1 King 12. And the Prophet Daniel describing one of his visions speaks in this manner I beheld till the Thrones were cast down and the antient of days did sit whose Garment was white as Snow and the hair of his Head like the pure Wooll his Throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as hurning fire a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him Sixthly God shewed himself unto Moses in a particular manner not only when he appeared unto him in Horeb and spoke to him out of the flaming Bush but especially when God appeared unto him in the Holy Mountain and for the space of forty days and forty nights discoursed with him familiarly as with a friend for at that time he exposed before him such Glorious and Magnificent Tokens of his Divine Presence that it was almost the same thing as if he had seen God himself God gave him more Light and Knowledge of his Glory than to any other of
be requisite to render us perfectly happy for as when our Eye beholds the Noon-Sun it cannot stedfastly look upon it nor receive all its beams but it partakes of as much as is necessary to enlighten it and when there should be a thousand Suns our Eyes would never make use of more Light then they do at present Likewise in beholding the Father of Lights this beautiful Sun of our Souls it is altogether impossible to receive the immensity of its Beams but we shall partake of as much as shall be necessary to drive away all our darkness and to fill us full of a perfect Light to make us become Light in the Lord and to cause us to shine for ever as so many Stars and little Suns As an empty Vessel when it is cast into the Sea comprehends not all its Waters but receives only enough to fill it up so that there is no part empty Likewise when we shall be cast into the Ocean of the Godhead we shall not be able to comprehend and receive God's infinite Glory and Happiness but we shall receive and comprehend as much as shall content all our desires and satisfy all our craving Appetites so that there shall be nothing at all wanting in us which might be expected in the highest felicity of an humane Creature I do not say in the highest Felicity absolutely without limitation for there are two kinds of Felicities the one absolutely perfect beyond which there can be nothing expected This Felicity or Happiness is only to be found in God the other is perfect in a certain degree As the perfect happiness of the Angels 〈◊〉 to attain to that degree of Glory of which the Angelical Nature is capable Likewise the perfect happiness of Man is to enjoy all that Blessedness whereof the Humane Nature alone and single is able to enjoy I must say the single Nature of Man to distinguish it from that which is united to the Person of the Eternal Son of God for by this means this hath attained to an uncommunicable Glory of which other Creatures cannot partake in the same perfection it hath attained to an happiness far above the Glory of all the Children of God and of all the Holy Angels of Heaven far above what they can or may expect Moreover I may say that there is a supreme and perfect Happiness independant which subsists of its self without any forreign assistance this kind of happiness is only to be found in God For as he is of himself an infinite Being which borrows nothing from others Likewise of himself he is absolutely and perfectly happy The other happiness is that which proceeds not of our selves but is derived to us from another such is the Glory and Happiness of the Angels This Lesson the Holy Ghost teacheth us in these words God puts Light into his Angels that is to say that these Holy Spirits have nothing of Light or Glory but it is derived to them from the Father of Lights and his gracious Aspect such also is the Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ as Mediator therefore he speaks thus to God his Father Glorify thy Son that thy Son may Glorify thee John 17. In a word such shall be our Glory and Happiness for as we have our Being from God it is from him that we derive our Well-being also and it is from him that we expect all our Glory and Bliss From hence you may easily conclude that God is the only object and the only source of our Eternal Gloâ—â— and future Happiness If you enquire from me what shall be the Essential form I answer that it shall be our Likeness and Resemblance with God which shall be as perfect as an Humane Creature is capable of Now this Resemblance and Similitude shall consist in three things in a pure and bright Light which shall not be mixed with the least Darkness in a perfect and a compleat Holiness where there shall not be the least blemish and in an infinite and unalterable joy and content where there shall never be the least cloud of Grief but of this we have sufficiently Treated already Some there are that inquire whether in Paradise there shall be an equality or an inequality of Glories and Happinesses to say the truth this question is more curious than necessary for we need not inquire whether there shall be any more or less happy than our selves It should suffice us for our comfort to know that if we be true Believers and truly penitent if we fear God as we ought to do if we serve him with a Religious mind until the last gasp that in such a case we shall attain to the Glory of the Children of God and possess with them a perfect and Eternal Happiness Nevertheless that we may seem to omit nothing which might give satisfaction to every believing Soul I shall examine this particular but it shall be without advancing any new thing which I have not seen in the Holy Gospel nor learn'd from the true Doctor of our Souls I shall declare the opinion of the most Learned upon this rich and excellent subject afterwards I shall add mine own which I shall submit as the rest of this Treatise to the judgement of the Wiser and more Learned Persons who are better acquainted than I am with the Spiritual and Heavenly Enjoyments Some believe that in Paradise there shall be every where the same Glory and Happiness equal and uniform in every individual Person This opinion they back with these reasons First that we shall have no Glory nor Happiness but that which hath been purchased for us by the Death and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and that as this Glorious Saviour hath purchased this Glory and Happiness for all the Elect equally they shall all enjoy it in the highest degree and perfection Secondly that the Holiness of all the Blessed shall be perfect therefore as they shall be all perfectly Holy they shall be all likewise perfectly happy in the same degree Thirdly that our Saviour saith expresly without any exception That the Saints shall shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Matth. 23. Now the Sun is the King of the Stars and the brightest of all the Heavenly Bodies Fourthly That the Elect are represented in Heaven as so many Kings having upon their Heads Crowns of Gold Revel 1.4 5. Now there is no inequality between Kings for each of them is in possession of Soveraignty and an independant and Supream Authority Fifthly That Jesus Christ represents to us the last transactions and passages of the World by the parable of a Father of a Family who at the end of the day bestows the same Salary upon every one that hath laboured in his Vineyard Matth. 20. Sixthly That it is said in general terms That we shall see God face to face and that we shall see him as he is 1 Cor 13. 1 John 3. and that in this blessed Vision shall consist the chief Happiness of