severe and awful Reprimand Who is this that darkens Counsel by Words without Knowledg Job 38.2 But this may shew how little our Words or Thoughts can reach God's own essential Perfection Yet is this Godhead united to the Man Christ Jesus But how I solemnly profess I know not though I believe it to be true and think it easily demonstrable from Sacred Writ And I think it as copiously asserted and plainly proved as almost any Article of the Christian Faith and I take the Gospel to have very little Mystery comparatively if so far diluted as to lose this central Mystery 1 Tim. 3.16 And hence it plainly follows that to be with the Lord is a great aggravation of the Glory and Delightfulness of the Heavenly State it being not improbable to me that Christ himself will be the Mediator of Fruition as he hath been of Acquisition And therefore to proceed we cannot think that to be with Christ infers a Peerage with him or Partnership in his Divine Excellencies and Prerogatives Rev. 3.21 We are to worship him and not to be worshipped with him Rev. 5.13 Phil. 2.10 11. John 5.12 13. What is Worship but Obsequium alicui praestitum propter excellentiam A reverent acknowledgment of Excellence and fit Respects and Homage paid thereto And if then Christ the Mediator be God-Man hath he not therein the preeminence above all other Creatures in the Universe and the Respects which must be paid thereto what Worship will you call it Names are to be suited unto things they cannot otherwise duly represent them Christ then as Mediator is more excellent than any meer Creature therefore as a middle Person to be more regarded And what then will you call this over-plus of Respects if I may call it so I know we may distinguish where we cannot divide and whether Divine Worship may fitly be distinguished upon or not I leave to the more accurate to determine But I conceive that God expects that the Humane Nature as individuated in that exalted Person Jesus Christ shall have such Honour paid thereto as none besides in Heaven or Earth shall be allowed to have In a word Christ as Mediator is not so great as God therefore the Worship must not rise so high Yet as Mediator he is above all Creatures and more than they to be respected Consider well Heb. 1 3-6 As Man there is Humane Excellence in its Height as God there is increated Excellence As Mediator there is a sitting at God's right Hand and he that sits there must and will be accordingly acknowledged and had in reverence by all in Heaven And now let us see a little what that State imports that we may form right Notions of it And here we will 1. Premise the Excellence of the Place as suited to all the Grandieurs of the State Ephes 4.10 the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Col. 1.12 the Building made by God 2 Cor. 5.1 Heb. 11.10 16. 13.14 Joh. 14.2 But where and how 't is situated divided and accommodated no Pisgah high enough on Earth for us to see it from Rev. 21 9-23 22 1-5 And 2. the Perfections of the Subjects to make them receptive of that State. Defecated Souls and Spiritual Bodies Heb. 12.14 Mat. 5.3 1 John 3.3 with 1 Cor. 15 50-54 2 Cor. 4.14 1 Thess 14 14-17 For none must go with Christ to Glory nor live with him for ever whose Hearts and Lives are not for him whilst here and whose Spirits are not transform'd and so adapted or suited to the Privileges and Ministrations of the Heavenly Kingdom Rev. 21.27 And therefore 't is supposed and concluded that the Constitution of the Soul be sound and sweet and fit for its immediate entrance into Heaven and its abode with Christ for ever Rom. 8 9-11 The Spirit of Christ imprinciples Providence exercises all these heavenly Principles our Covenant-state obliges us to the most lively exercise thereof Habits are fix'd and strengthned by Acts and the Soul's first immediate look at Christ compleats its Transformation and then is it admitted into the presence of its Lord. So that in strictness of Thoughts and Speech the Temper of the Person must be distinguish'd from his State as that which qualifies him for his admission thereinto And then as to the Body it must not be Flesh and Blood for that will be too weak and gross for Christ his so glorious and majestick Presence and for the Visions and Employments of the State above Saul could not bear the Glory of Christ's personal Appearance to him without astonishment and blindness Acts 9 3-12 And in his Extasy he knew not where and what he was embodied or not 2 Cor. 12.2 3. And the appearance of an Angel made others as dead Men Mat. 28 2-4 And the Royal and Great Prophet when he saw his Glory cried out Wo is me I am undone Isa 6.5 with John 12.41 How strangely did Christ's Transfiguration confound Peter James and John Mark 9 2-6 So that the Body must it self be changed in order to its meeting and being with the Lord 1 Cor. 15.52 53. These things are then to be distinguished from the State it self as needful Preparations for it Now therefore to the State it self and here I shall avoid all fond Imaginations and Conjectures and speak hereof as God shall enable me and doth instruct me This State must then include these things and how much more I know not 1. The Visions of the Glory of our Lord or beholding Christ in all his Glory And so our being where he is Joh. 17.24 and that not to astonishment and consternation but to delightful admiration John 16.22 Jude 24. And here both Mind and Body have their looks at Christ to feast them both for ever The symmetry and delicate Proportions of his Humane Body the Beauty of his Face the Majesty of his Countenance the Pleasingness of his Speech the placid Aspects of his smiling Looks at us the Glory of his Throne the orderly Disposals Attendances and Ministrations of all his Favorites and Attendants with all the awful and yet delightful decencies of his Gestures and Deportments towards all with him and the Expressions of Divinity in all this O what an ocular Entertainment will this amount unto What shall our Souls say then to all his evident Prerogatives his wise Conduct his excellent Government his bounteous Dispensations his intimate Converses with us and the delight he evidently takes in the Harmony and welfare of that State And who knows what besides But this I now remember was touch'd upon before 2. The glorious Benefits and Pleasures that will result herefrom There is Glory given as well as Glory seen John 17.22 called an Inheritance of the Saints in Light Col. 1.12 the Crown of Life Jam. 1.12 A Kingdom prepared to be inherited Mat. 25.34 The Joy of our Lord ver 21. Fulness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 We shall be honourable triumphing Members of the glorified Church
accurately to their Capacities Tempers and Concerns and every way preserving all his Subjects and all their Entertainments and Employments in all the harmony and decencies of a Divine Kingdom and then how very kind he ever is and will be to them Witness their conformity to his glorious Self their intimate conversation with him and the inundations of Delights that ever flow from him upon them such a Prince such Subjects under such Laws and circumstances and in such order 3. The Time and Manner of its Commencement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ descends and we ascend to meet him in the Air and then we part no more peruse the Account hereof as given by inspired Persons see Mat. xxv 31-34 1 Cor. xv 50-54 1 Thess iv 15-17 Then come those Visions Dispensations and Employments and those reciprocal Satisfactions which cannot be but where Christ and his Favorites are gotten and kept together II. The Evidence of this Truth 1. Why else was Jesus Christ Incarnate Heb. 2.14 He took not hold of Angels but of the Seed of Abraham Vers v. ib. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is there the word and it is used of Christ when he took hold of timerous and sinking Peter on the Waves Mat. xiv 31. No doubt but Christ's assuming to himself our Nature was a great hold thereon Such an alliance and approach to Man as intimated yea demonstrated Christ's fitness and resolution to be both visible and delightfully conversible to all his Saints for ever even in their own Nature Became Christ visible that he might not be seen Would he be Man to be eternally retired from humane view We are told that the Word was made Flesh and dwelt amongst us full of Grace and Truth and that there were Eye-witnesses of his Glory the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father John i. 14. And O how ample and emphatical is this Passage if well considered by us and how pertinent and cogent as to the Case in hand The Word that living quickning Word by whom God made the World and us Ephes iii. 9. John v. 26. and whom God promised to be the Root and Prince of Life 1 Joh. v. 11. by whom and for whose pleasure all Things both are and were created Rev. iv 11. and upheld Heb. i. 2 3. Who is the Image of the Invisible God the first-born of every Creature See further Col. i. 15-19 That Word which was to be and was and is his Father's Oracle to tell us fully what we are to know be do avoid and trust to Heb. i. 12. Acts iii. 22. Mat. xvii 5. 2 Pet. i. 16-18 Yea and with whom and what and where we are to be for ever 2 Tim. i. 10. Whatever then this Word shall say may we expect and rest upon John i. 17 18. Rev. iii. 7 12 14. Think here then upon that insinuating charm of Speech In my Father's House are many Mansions were it not so I would have told you John xiv 2 3. This Word made Flesh See Heb. ii 16-18 Rom. viii 3 4. and in that Tabernacle dwelling amongst Men And why that he might be our Kinsman Surety Brother Heb. ii 11-13 that he might thus be conversant and sympathising with us and strike our very Hearts even through our very Senses and thereby make us fervently desirous to be with him for ever Good to be here said the Apostle Peter when he had seen his Master's Glory in but a transient glimpse Mat. xvii 4. And we saw his Glory full of Grace and Truth Grace poured into his Lips and prosperous Majesty because of Meekness Truth and Righteousness Psal xlv 2-4 6 7. Isa xi 2-5 And now can we imagine that Christ should meet us in our Nature and transmit such Glory to us through his very Flesh and thus allure us and conform us to himself and so make us fit and long to be with him and all to drop and leave us here 2. Why else was Christ incarnate so spirited employed and exercised towards and for us whilst in this outward Court Acts x. 36-40 1 Pet. ii 21-27 Heb. xii 2 3. As to his personal Accomplishments and Deportments he was the Pattern of our Duty and the Mirror of our Glory in his Presence Phil. ii 5. 1 John ii 6. with Phil. iii. 21. 1 John iii. 2. And as to his Sufferings he was the purchaser of our Persons and our Glory that his own Grace and Name might thus be glorified in us 2 Thess i. 12. 1 Cor. vi 20. 1 Pet. i. 17-21 And wherefore all this waste if Christ and we must part at last The Soul and Spirit is the Man and if that be not right the Joys and Treasures of the Heavenly Kingdom cannot relish well nor be esteemed of to purpose Hence O the visible Beauties of Christ's Soul Such Wisdom in Self-conduct such Purity Vigour Tenderness Sweetness Constancy Sincerity Fervour and Impartiality How inwardly evenly readily and chearfully was his Soul kept for God! and how entirely were his Thoughts taken up with God! And all to let us see what frame we must be in for an eternal Fellowship with himself in God In him we see what Spirit we must be of in Heaven All his Conversation in this World was but the genuine Efforts of the devotedness and resignedness of his Soul to God and to the good of others by his Will. And all the Excellencies of humane Nature that a right Spirit and Behaviour towards God and Man could reach and shew were so advanced and conspicuous in Christ as that they challenged all Mens Observation and bad defiance unto all Impeachments and Arraignments Joh. 7.18 8.29 46. 1 Pet. ii 22. His Aim and Business was our conformity to him in Sentiment in Heart and Life in this World that he might thus present us to his Father as fitted for the Work and Joys of Heaven and for the Freedoms and Delights of his own eternal Pretence Never was humane Nature seen before nor since as it was in him Such Knowledg of God! such Wisdom in the conduct of Affairs for God! such Obedience and Submission to the Will of God! such Dependance on God Delight and Acquiescence in him such Expectations from him and such Fulfillings after him John xvii 4. these shew what Christ will bring us to and so meet us in at last And in this holy Course God met him with a sweet Prelusion to his exalted State and ordered Peter James and John to be Eye-witnesses of his Glory in the Mount and Moses and Elias to attend him and to be clouded whilst his Glory shone Mat. xvii 1-3 2 Pet. i. 16-18 Which Christ liked well in that hereby it might appear with whom we are to be for ever and unto whom we shall be like And as to his Sufferings and Death they were the purchase of this State Ephes i. 14. Heb. v. 9. ix 15. ii 9 10. x. 20. The Expiation of our Crimes the Ransom of our Souls and the
Blood whereby we are consecrated to this so glorious and delightful State compare Luke xxiv 26. with Heb. x. 19-22 xii 24. If Christ then taught did suffered so much that we might be both fit and sure to be together How can we doubt thereof or miss it He knew what was in Man what most affected him and best became him and what was the likeliest way to suit Men to himself and to the Visions Services and Entertainments of that most glorious State and Kingdom where he himself now is and will abide enthroned for ever What Constitution Complexion their Souls and Persons were to be brought unto What Means and Helps would be most expedient hereunto What Doctrines Laws and Priviledges what Ordinances and providential Dispensations would best accommodate them in this Affair In what Ways and Seasons and to what Degrees they should be furnished and tried and what would most effectually engage and keep them for his Father and himself And hence we find his Name to be Wonderful Counsellor Isa ix 6. That in him are all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledg hidden Col. ii 3. That all the fulness of the God-head dwells bodily in him vers 9. And that he is made of God Wisdom to us 1 Cor. i. 30. Under the conduct of this Wisdom he acquaints them with himself John xvii 7 8. He shews them his Commission and Design John vi 38-40 Whither he was to go and their way to follow him Joh. xiv 4-6 with all that might help or hinder them in their proficiency and advances towards his exalted Self with all their needful Preparations for that State and Day wherein they should behold him and be with him in his Meridian Glory Luk. ix 23-26 xii 33-38 yea and the cost and gain of Christian Godliness Luk. xiv 33. xviii 29 30. His evidently great Love to them with all Expressions and Avouchments of it this seasons all his Doctrines and Instructions Joh. xiii 1-15 34 35. xv 8-17 He suffered long was kind vaunted not himself was not puffed up envied not never behav'd himself unseemly sought not his own was not easily provoked thought no Evil rejoiced not in Iniquity but in the Truth and in the welfare and advancement of his own unto himself He bare all things believed hoped and endured all things for thus doth Love 1 Cor. xiii 4-7 Thus having shewed them what Spirit he was of who was the brightness of his Father's Glory and how this Spirit stood and wrought towards them and thus how safely they might trust him and wherein their Tempers were to harmonize and accord with his that so his Presence might be their felicity and delight then is he frequently discoursing with them about the Jubilee which they and he must keep together in the Heavens Peter thou shalt follow me hereafter John xiii 36. Because I live ye shall live also and then you shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you Joh. xiv 19 20 28. And because I go to the Father you shall see me Joh. xvi 16 22. and I will come and fetch you to my self Joh. xiv 3. And having lived as bound for Heaven practically shewing His their way thereto he dies a Sacrifice for Sin a Ransomer of Souls a Purchaser of Heaven a Conqueror of Death and Hell a Martyr for the Christian Cause and Hope a Patern and Exempler of Patience Fortitude Holiness and Hope and Love to his and can Christ lose or leave us after all this 3. Why else should he in his raised and exalted State aim so directly at this thing for all that he hath spoken and done and is still doing looks this way Joh. xx 17. How pertinently and copiously might we improve that Paragraph Ephes iv 1-16 as the enforcement of this Truth and Hope did not the stated Limits of a single Sermon forbid it Was Life and Immortality brought to Light by him only to tantalize our Souls 2 Tim. i. 10. Is it illustrated by the Gospel to us as a State separate from Christ himself Must he as Man have it without us or we without him or must both have it in a State of Separation each from other Was not Christ raised by his Father that our Faith and Hope might be in God 1 Pet. i. 21. And what is the Hope that Christ and we should see each other's Face no more Christ rose not to continue here for he was not suited to this gross animal fading state and frame of Things and Persons And would Christ shew himself on Earth alive only to shew us what and with whom we never are to be as if he only came to raise our Expectations to our shame and horror What was the sense of that great Message which he sent by Mary to his Brethren Go tell my Brethren I ascend to my Father and your Father to my God and your God John xx 17. What! Sons of God and Brethren to Christ and not live together with the same Father and in the same Inheritance and State Heb. xi 16. If Children then Heirs Heirs of God and joint-Heirs with Christ and to be glorified together Rom. viii 17. What meant his entrance into Heaven as our Fore-runner Heb. vi 20. Was it to tell the glorious Inhabitants of that blessed World in all their heights of Wonderment and Expectation that he repented of this his glorious Enterprize or that he was baffled in it and that he cared not for having his Favorites and redeemed Ones in his sight What means his Intercession there Heb. vii 25. ix 24. whereby our Prayers and Pains and Hopes are so emboldned Heb. x. 19-25 35. ix 12. Prays he against what he appeared endeavoured and suffered for or can he not prevail with God for us or doth he trifle with his Father within the Veil or sport himself before his Courtiers there with our deceiving and deluded Hopes O such Blasphemy and Soloecism is there in these Thoughts when they are matter of suspicion and belief as that no sober thinking Mind can entertain them Why is he there enthroned Heb. viii 1. Mat. xxviii 19 20. Why made Head over all things to his Church see Ephes i. 17-23 Addrest unto by a dying Martyr for this thing and he too owned signally yea miraculously in this his Martyrdom and Address Act. vi 15. vii 55-59 And why commemorated by his own special Order at the Table of the Lord as one with whom we are to meet again as our Redeemer 1 Cor. xi 23-26 Is not this priviledg sealed and secured to us by the Covenant of Grace How can the Amen the faithful and true Witness cherish and seal to deceitful Expectations Heb. x. 23. 2 Tim. ii 10-13 What doth the Spirit of Jesus form and seal us to but this 2 Cor. v. 5. i. 21 22. Ephes i. 14. iv 30. The Notions which he forms the Faith which he works the Tempers which he frames the
The earnest of the Spirit left and the earnest of Flesh carri'd up to Heaven a Pledg that all shall once be fetch'd up thither The Kingdom of God and Heaven possest in Christ makes all secure O then let Flesh and Hearts both rest in hope for Christ in Heaven will fetch us all to Heaven for there at God's right Hand stands Christ to plead and vindicate Act. 7.55 and there he sits to hear dispense and rule Heb. 1.3 13 14. And if he fail in both then may the lively Hopes 1 Pet. 1.3 of quickened Hearts Eph. 2.5 expire and die And if so then where is our Anchor sure and stedfast reaching to that within the Vail Was not the Heart of our ascending Lord and Head exceeding mindfull of his Friends and warm toward them Joh. 20.17 and cool'd it by the way Heb. 4.15 No surely all that are truly and firmly Christ's alway lie warm upon his Heart Let him be where he will though in the heights of all his Glory he is yet our High Priest Heb. 4.14 8.1 Our Life Col. 3.4 Our Head Eph. 1.22 23. Our Peace Eph. 2.14 Our Hope 1 Tim. 1.1 Our Lord 1. Cor. 1.2 Our Saviour Tit. 1.4 The Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls 1 Pet. 2.25 and our Advocate 1 John 2.1 And can Christ in Heaven statedly and avouchedly under such near and sure and dear Relations to us suffer our Hopes to fall surely his Exaltation puts no period to his Relation to us nor to those Bowels that are proper to it nor to those Expectations that are built upon it It 's true his Joys are high his Trust is great but it is as true that his Heart is commensurate with and answers both nor will his Kingdom please him without his Bride he will step once more from Heaven to fetch Her to Himself John 14.3 8. O what an Antidote is this Hope against the Snares and Fears of things below 2 Cor. 5.1 the Cross is heavy and Hearts are soon unfixed when Heaven and Christ therein and our determinate abode with him are not our lively Hope and stated Poize The Cross can make no breach while Christ in Heaven thus sets his Heart upon us and we have sent our Hearts intirely after him keep them there Rom. 8.34 35. Heb. 10.34 And Pleasures can do but little hurt whilst this great Hope relishes duly with us All the Delights of Pharaoh's Court could never reach the Heart of Moses When Christ and Heaven had got his Eye and fixt it Heb. 11.25 26. Hearts should be under their restraint in lawful Mirth and at enmity with sinful Mirth during the absence of their Lord Mat. 9.15 Mephibosheth grew careless of himself until his Lord returned in peace 2 Sam. 19.24 No joy but in his Master's presence And shall not Christ in Heaven correct and moderate our Joys in things below Groans to be stript of Earth and Flesh and to be gone to Christ in Heaven should be the deepest Groans And truly Sirs if Christ in Heaven have not your Hearts they will be prone to Surfeits or Distractions You either will be tunn'd with Wind or drunk with Vanity or wrack'd with Cares and Fears Hearts pitcht on Christ in Heaven know where to be full and welcom when things below have shew'd their best and done their worst They have a Glory that will pierce the darkest Cloud and reach the greatest Deep 2 Cor. 1.5 Their bitterest Herbs and sharpest Agonies may possibly be their entertainment at their last Passover but these their short-liv'd Sorrows are but to usher in and aggravate their Master's Joys Pleasures possest and kept by Christ for them and to be possest by them in his own immediate Presence must needs be great O Christians remember Heaven and Christ therein and what he is there preparing for you and fear neither Plots nor Strokes nor Rumors 1 Pet. 1.4 to 7. Mat. 5.10 to 12. Let your exalted Head and this your elevating Hope distil such influences upon your exercis'd Hearts as to make you valiant for your Prize exalted in your Aims triumphant in your Hopes and Sufferings and evermore insulting over the Cheats and Dangers that attend you He sells his Head and Hopes for thirty Pieces that is intangl'd with or unhing'd by any thing below this Head and Heritage and these things above Sure Christ in Heaven so evidently intent upon your being brought to live where he is wants neither Heart nor Worth nor Joys to make you know and to acknowledg that he is a Non-such Friend and though rough-handed Esau may be the first-born of your Entertainments here yet Jacob hath him by the Heel and shall supplant him Suffer and reign these are the terms of Life the Royal Law of Hope 2 Tim. 2.12 Ought not we as well as Christ to suffer and so to enter into Glory Luk. 24.26 with Rom. 8.17 Must not he follow Christ that designs to reach what he hath got John. 12.26 Heb. 12.2 What though the Way be foul and rugged What should discourage you in those Paths where every step you take is an advance toward Christ in Heaven Your Faith in Christ and Hope of Heaven are as the Dawnings of this Day to you and every look at Christ in Glory is as a Lift toward Heaven and as a Foretast of it A look at Christ in Glory bore up the Spirit of that Proto-martyr Stephen above the debasements which carnal Fears produce in others and would otherwise have brought him under 9. Why should not Things above make us remember and send our Hearts to Christ above had not Christ bought the Prize of Heaven Eph. 1.11 14. and made our way thereto Heb. 10.19 20. and peirced the Vail Heb. 9.8 and won and worn the Crown through his own Blood Heb. 1.3 our being with our Lord in Glory had been beyond our reach and hope 1 Pet. 1.3 4. An open Heaven for us cost Christ a wounded Heart He was poor to make us rich 2 Cor. 8.9 Our springs of Hopes and Joys came from this cloven Lehi if I may allude to Judg. 15.19 where the Spring that God clave was not in the Jaw-bone but in the place called Lehi because of the miraculous execution that was done by the Jaw-bone of an Ass 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Maxilla as Lehi siggnifies and should not Heaven in hopes inthrone our Lord in Heart 2 Cor. 5.14 It was this made the Apostle's Heart so warm and active Wherefore we labour c. Vers 9. Good-Will indeed toward Men when such good things were purchast for them Luk. 2.14 O then Christians if there be either Worth or Love Bowels or Bounty in that Heavenly State so aggravated by our there ever being with the Lord let all your Hearts be evermore for Christ He walk'd in the Valley of the Shadow of Death that you might fear no evil and felt the Pangs and Strokes of Death with all the loads and bitterness thereof consistent with the dignity