The Mystery of Mankind, Part 7
GOD RECEIVED vp in Glory.
Explication,
THis Mystery of Mankind (you see) hath now led vsus from Gods humiliation in the flesh,The sixt day of the weeke. to GOD iustified in the Spirit, from vision of Angels, to reuelation vntounto men, from thence to beleeuing, and now are wee come to the exaltation therof, for God was receyued vp in Glory. That is, Christ Iesus, God and man, in our nature is ascended vp into heauen, to take possession in our nature of that glory, which hee had in himselfe from all eternity, but hath purchased it for vsus his redeemed Church, with his most precious bloud For it was necessary that Christ …hould suffer, aud so enter into …lory. Not that this was of …bsolute necessity that he must needs suffer. For in respect of himselfe this glory was his …rom euerlasting, but was necessary, he should enter into … by suffering, onelyonly in re…pect of vsus; that the humilia…ion of the Sonne of God becomming Man might be the …ause of the exaltation of the …ature of Man. For when he …ersonally assumed the na…ure of Man, and became Man, Man became God …lmightie, hauing all pow…r, and a name aboue all …ames, that the abasing of …e diuine Maiestie and per…on of the Sonne of God …ight bee the high aduan…ng, and exaltation of the …rme of a seruant.
For when God began to be Man, and Man began to be God, God began to be a Man in subiection and humilitie, and man to be God in the height of perfection.
For if God were humbled as much as hee might be in that he became Man, was not Man exalted as much as hee might be, in that he became God? Herein vndoubtedly appeared the wisdome, and power of our God that his Sonne in obedience to the Father beeing abazed to the lowest degree of humiliation for vsus, should by his owne power (and not as Enoch and Elias were by anothers power) be exalted to the supreme height of exaltation in the sight of all the world both of men and Angels.
Therefore we beleeue that hee which Ascended is the same that Descended first into …o the lowest parts of the …arth. Descended, when his …ody was layde in the graue; Descended, when his soule separated from the body went …o the place where the soules departed were; Descended when his Deitie exhibited …t selfe into the lowest pit to …he terror of the diuels, and …urther despayre of the dam…ed: Descended, when the power of his passion did ex…end it selfe euen to those ex…reme parts: Descended when …e suffered those extreme anguishes and torments which for our sakes by his Fathers will he was willing to endure. Descended when he deliuered those that deceased before his resurrection, and brought them by the power of his sufferings into the place where they now are. And he that thus Descended, is the same that Ascended farre aboue all heauens to fulfill all things. Euen hee our Lord Christ, that in our nature was accompted but a most despicable man, yea a worme, and no man, that vndertooke our sinnes the cause of his suffrings, that endured a cursed death, the punishment due for our transgressions, euen he that in the entrance of this bottomlesse sorrow had his soule heauy vntounto the death, and made strong cries, and teares to bee deliuered, and in the progresse thereof, had clods of bloud breaking from him, and when he was deepest in, vttered that dreadfull clamor expressing a most horrible passion, My God my God why hast thou forsaken me? Euen hee (I say) now t… umphes ouer all the powers of hel, and the heauens stoope downe, and receiue him vp in glory.
And this the power and mighty hand of our God hath wrought for vsus to the glory of his great name, which be praysed and blessed for euer.
By God wee vnderstand …he hypostaticall vnion of the diuine, and humane natures …n the person of Christ Iesus. By Receiued vp, wee conceiue not a momentany but by degrees of time a locall motion ascending from an inferiour place to an higher, and by Glory, is meant that hee was exalted aboue these visible heauens, and receiued throgh the spheares, the cataracts of heauen opening vntounto him, euen that hee might sit at the right hand of God in great Maiesty and highest glory for euermore in the heauēs of the blessed. The circūstāces of this article of our Christian faith, is most euidently in all the particulars set down in holy w…it.
The place where he was receiued vp, was mount Oliuet neere to Ierusalem, the cittie where he was so abased, euen there (there I say) was hee taken vp into the glory of the father in the sight of his cursed enemies.
The manner of his ascent was,Act. 1. a cloud receiued him vp. The heauens stoope downe to doe homage vntounto the heire of heauen and earth. For by the same power whereby he made all things in the begining, hee also lift vp himsele aboue all things that are created.
His passage naturall without either change or diffusion of his natures. His Session also actuall. For according to his true naturall being, hee sits at the right hand of God, and according to his personall being he is eueryevery where.
The time of his ascent was …ortie dayes after his resurre…tion from the graue. For so …ong was he conuersing with …is people after his passion, …hat they might bee the more …scertayned of the truth of his …rising from the dead, and …ight be informed, and confirmed the more in his doctrines, both of grace, and glory.
Sixescore witnesses were present at the place in whose …ight he was receiued vp.
Two Angels from heauen spake vntounto them that were present, and preached his returne to iudgement. The words were specified which …e, and the Angels vttered at …is departure. The sequell …hereof related at large, to wit, whither, the multitude went which saw him ascend, and …nd what they did, and many …ther things which followed …re as a cloude of witnesses to the confirmation hereof For as the truth of his ascension is irrefragable, so the effects thereof are vnutterable.
For first, by his ascention he hath opened heauen vntounto vsus, that was shut against vsus,Eph, 1. and hath Made vsus sit together with him in heauenly places.
Secondly, hee hath taken possession of heauen for vsus in our nature,Ioh. 14. and in our names as he told his disciples before▪ Saying, I goe to prepare a place for you, and I will come againe, and take you vntounto me.
Thirdly, hee hereby accomplisheth our Christian comfort in triumphing ouer Hell, all the powers of darke…nesse hauing led Captiuitie captiue, and giuen gifts vntounto men, by sending downe his holy spirite the informer and …omforter of his cho….
And lastly, his Receiuing … hath filled all things (as the …postle speaketh) the earth …ith his merciemercy, hell with his …stice, heauen with the ma…festation of his glory euen the blessed Angels.
And now there hee is …r aduocate with the Fa…er, our intercessor in all …r necessities, our master of …quests in all our suits, there …e turneth away the eyes of …d the Father from our …nes, to looke vponupon his …edience, and meritori…s righteousnesse, and day… prepareth a way for vsus … to the throne of grace.
For these causes hee is …scended into the height … that Maiestie where …d vouchsafeth to display his glory to the view of men, and Angels in the face of Iesus Christ.
The perfect knowledge of the superexcellency of which place of happines we cā in no wayes attain vntounto in this life, but in possessing it in the other world we shall fully enioy it. In the meane while our holy faith is confirmed hereby, which for the corporall presence of Christ, embraceth the spirituall, that we may not be troubled with doubtings, and say in our hearts, Who shall ascend for vsus into heauen? Rom. 10.Our hope is ascertained of obtayning heauen, and of the perfection of our ioy therein, and our louelove is enflamed that our conuersatiō tending towards heauen where our treasure is our heart may be there also.
MAnifold is the vse of this his glorious exaltation.Application Let therefore the …ealous soule come hither, & …earne to forsake the world, …nd to be receiued vp on high …or where the head is of nece…sitie there must the members …e also. Let vsus ascend the degrees of this great mysterie, …rom the manifestation thereof in the flesh, let vsus go on to …e iustification in the spirite. …rom iustification spirituall, …o vision Angelicall. Frō An…elicall reuelation to Prophe…call promulgation. From the …reaching thereof to praying … faith, and so to the exalta…ion in glory. For thus it was …eete, that Christ by these …eanes of suffering might …ring his chosen to rest. For … he had gone any other way …ee might hauehave entered himselfe, but could not hauehave brought vsus in with him.
Let vsus then stand as it were vponupon the poynt of the promontorie of Nebo, and looke into the holy land, and revew the lowest step in this Iacobs ladder which is Christs exinanition in the flesh: and see how the power of God hath made it knowne vntounto A…gels, by celestiall vision, and vntounto men by degrees of holy Christian faith, vntill it hath brought vsus vp vntounto the supereminent glory.
Goe (I say) from his humanitie in the flesh to his diuinitie, a glimpse whereof was seene in his transfiguration on the mount, from his passion on the crosse in his humiliation, to his power in his resurrection, from his minoritie in respect of his Father, to their qualitie in the height of glory. Not that the deitie in his ascent could bee exalted, but that our nature in the person of the Sonne of God was first raysed vp from the dead, and then receiued vp in to euerlasting glory.
When therefore we reade that Christ was receyued vp by a cloude, wee vnderstand the cloudes of obsequiousnesse, not any helpe it afforded him (as the fierie chariot did Elias) wee conceaue the clouds seruice, not any ayde it yeelded, the cloudes ministery not any assistance that it occasioned.
For the matter or subiect that ascended, is …properly the humane nature of Christ, for the deitie is neither contayned in place, nor subiect to motion.
So the auncient Fathers spake, The Sonne of God had of ours whereby hee hanged on the crosse, and of his owne, whereby he ascended into heauen. For the humane nature ascended, and the ascent was wrought through the power of the diuine nature.
And this is the cause that Tertullian calleth Iesus the sequestrator of God and man, for of either party he had, that was committed vntounto him, and he keepeth the pledge of the flesh in himselfe the earnest of all mankinde. For as he hath left vntounto vsus the earnest of the spirit, so he hath taken from vsus the earnest of the flesh, & carryed it into heauen as a pledge of the whole family which hereafter shall bee brought thither also.
Thus is Christ our treasure in heauen, and assuredly where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also.
If Christ bee our treasur… let vsus follow him in heart, where hee is in body, let vsus follow him with paces of louelove, because his returne in the iudgement day will bee terrible.
The hand writing that was against vsus is now cancelled,Gen. 1. the curse was, Earth thou art, and to earth thou shalt returne.
But the blessing is purchased,Luc. 23. This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.
Christ therefore in this life by his grace doth ascend vntounto our hearts, when the feare of the Lord of hoasts receiueth therein plantation, hee descendeth into our hearts when wee take his counsels to heart, hee issueth from our hearts when wee runne afrer him in our affections in the sweete perfume of his pretious oyntements feeling our owne defects, and againe, he ascendeth aboue our hearts, when by the eyes of holy fayth wee see as with an Eagles eye the prey a farre of (as Stephen Act 7.did) euen Iesus standing at the right hand of God.
Let the sanctified soule come hither, and see it selfe in heauen three manner of wayes whiles it is on earth. First, in conuersation, for, Our conuersation is in heauen, saith the Apostle.Phil. 3.
Secondly, in our affe…ctions.1. Ioh. 4. For they that abide in charitie, abide in God.
Thirdly, by right of possession. For Christ is ascended to prepare vsus a place.Ioh. 14.
Let the oppressed, and distressed soule come hither, and looke vp, Seeing wee hauehave an high Priest which is passed into the heauens, Iesus the Sonne of God, let vsus hold faste our profession.
For wee hauehave not an high Priest that cannot bee touched with our infirmities, but was in all partes tempted like as wee are, without sinne.
And albeit▪ wee reade that Moses, and Samuel, Noah, Daniel, and Iob those holy men were not powerfull to preuayle with God in some cases for others, yet no where can it bee found that our Lord Iesus Christ had euer the repulse for his chosen.
For hee is the Sonne, in …hom the Father is well …leased.
Let the curious questioner come hither, and if hee aske,Mat. 28. How is Christ with vsus vntounto the end of the world, as he promised, if he be receiued vp in glory.
I answer, that hee who Was before Abraham, Ioh. 8.is with vsus by his grace, and power of his holy spirit, that liue in the faith of Abraham.
His departure hence into heauen beeing for our exceeding great Comfort, and benefite.
For where should an aduocate bee, but before the Iudge pleading his Clyents cause? where should a Captaine bee, but fighting with the enemies without the Citie.
And the father of a great family doth not alwayes reside at home, but trauelleth into a farre country about his affayres, to prouide for his houshold.
So Christ himselfe testifies,Ioh. 14. That vnlesse he depart the Comforter should not come.
Not vnlike the glorious sunne of the firmament, which when it is furthest from vsus in locall distance, it is neerest vntounto vsus in power, and effect, as appeareth in the Summer season. For then the beames of the Sunne are more p…ercing, albeit it bee further of, because then they are direct, and perpendicular, which in the Winter though the body of the Sunne bee neerer, yet the rayes thereof are oblique and aside: Semblably the bodyly presence of Christ on earth wrought not so effectually in his Apostles, and other the faithfull, as his holy spirit did after his departure, which hee powred out on them in great measure, as hee promised, for then were their hearts throughly resolued, their willes fully purposed, and their zeales feruently onflamed.
Yea let the most Seraphicall and most Cherubicall soules that liue, come hither, and see what the Angels of heauen admire at, who beholding Christ Iesus ascending with this glorious conquest of his redeemed church say but by way of admiration.
Who is shee that looketh foorth as the Morning,Cant. 6. bright as the Sunne, pure as the Moone, terrible as an Armie with ensignes.
Nay blessed soules to which of the Angels sayde God at any time, as hee doth to our Lord Christ Emanuell: thou art my sonne: And againe, I will bee thy Father and thou shalt bee my Sonne: yea, the Angels are commanded to adore him, and the son is bid to sit down at the right hand of the Father in the glory of heauen.
Lastly, l…t the simple and honest soule come hither, and learne not to seeke Christ on earth in a Wafer Cake (as the Popelings doe) but as the Apostle counselleth in heauen, saying:
If you bee risen with Christ seeke those things that are aboue where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God,Col. 3. and where hee must bee vntill the times of the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy Prophets since the world beganne. Set therefore your mindes on heauen, and heauenly things, and not on earth, and earthly things.
Heauen is now opened, enter thou into the holy of holyest: for thou art, O my soule, past the vtter and inner Court. Thy Mediator is in heauen, pray thou here in earth, that hee may heare in heauen, and speake for thee.
Our … flesh is in heauen in the person of Christ, whereby wee see that the glory wee hauehave won by Christ, is greater then the disgrace and curse, that the malice of the diuell, brought vponupon vsus by Adam.
The diuels malice…, and our sinne cast vsus out of Paradice, but Christs louelove and sufferings for sinne, makes vsus sit in heauenly places with him.
In a word, our triumph is in heauen, who would not fight the battaile manfully against the flesh, the world, and the diuell, being assured by the captaine of the victorie.
Wee may also hence perceiue how God tenderly,1. Cor. 5. and louingly dealeth with vsus, euen as Moses sayth hee dealt with his owne people the Israelites.
And how was that? euen as the Eagle, sayth hee doth with her young. The Eagle couereth her young with her winges, so God doth with the winges of his safe protection. She sometimes perceiuing her young ones dull, and drooping, gently peckes them with her becke, to stirre them vppe, so God by afflictions doth quicken his children, yea sometimes the Eagle taketh away her young ones meate and flyeth vp into the ayre, to entice and prouoke them to practise, and endeuour to soare on high-euen so God the Father hath receiued vp Christ Iesus our heauenly Manna into glory, that wee should learne to aspyre and soare vpwards, that where, hee is, there wee might bee also.
And to this ende the two Angells tolde vsus at his receiuing vppe into this glory, that hee should in the same manner descend to iudgement in the ende of the world, which wee exp…ct with patience, nay long, and looke for, and crye in our hearts, Com… Lord Iesus, Apoc. 22.Come quickly, and wee doe nothing more seriously, while wee are on earth. but call to minde in holy meditations the Lords death, and shew it to the eyes of our faith vntill his comming againe, in partaking of his blessed body & bloud in the Sacrament; that by the power thereof wee may bee established, that we turne not this great grace into wantonnesse, nor neglect our Lord Iesus, who is thus exalted into the highest glory. not for himselfe, (for he had that glorie before the world was) but for vsus his redeemed people: so that now here is the exaltation and supereminent height of faith, euen euerlasting life.
The Being whereof is called Glorie, and our Estate there Glorification. To this doe all the goldly aspire, that they may bee where Christ Iesus is, to beholde his Maiesty, and his glory in the Kingdome of GOD the father.
The Metropolis of which Kingdome is the Heauen of the blessed, the Confines are Eternity, the chaire of Estate is the thrones, the houses of the Courtiers are the visions of Angels and Saints, God is there as the King, Christ as the Prince, the Church as the Queene, the Virgines as the Handmaides, the Nobles are the Patriarkes and Prophetes, the Notaries are Euangelists, the Prelates are the Doctors of the Church, the Souldiers are Martyres, and the Subiects are all the blessed.
In which Kingdome are all things to bee desired.
Desire you riches? Glorie & riches are in his house. Desire you gold? The Citie it selfe is of pure gold? Desire you honour? O God, Apoc. 21.such honor as this glorie hauehave all thy saints: Desire you pleasures? At Gods right hand are pleasures for euermore. Desire you knowledge? In Christ are al the treasures of wisedom, and knowledge. Desire you Libertie? Ierusalem which is aboue is free. LoueLove you peace? My people (sayth GOD) shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the Tabernacles of my protection. Desire you dainties? You shall be satisfied when his glory shall appeare. Desire you wine? You shall bee filled, with the plentie of this house: and shall drinke of the riuers of gladnesse. Doth Musicke delight you? Here Cherubin & Seraphin continually doe crie, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Saboth.
In a word, what delectable thing soeuer can come into mans imagination. It is here in full aboundance to be found: For God hath spoke it, Come, and I will shew thee all good. O wretched sonnes of men, whose teeth are sette on edge, with the crudities of this world, that they cannot taste of the delicacies of that other world.
For the Fathers hauehave eaten sowre grapes, and the childrens teeth are set on edge, as Ezechiel speaketh.Ezech. 16. Wee must therefore abstaine from the rawe and vnwholesome thinges of this Life, if wee meane to confirme our teeth, and conforme our taste to sauour Heauen, and these glorious thinges of God.
The best of Gods people that euer were in the world, could expresse the glory of this place, but by Negatiues, albeit they had an extraordinary inspection into it. Aske the Prophet Esaias, and Saint Peter the Apostle, they will tell you, That the things which eye hath not seene, neyther hath eare heard, neyther came it into mans heart, are which God hath prepared for them that louelove him.
And Saint Augustine sayeth, That the things which God hath prepared for them that louelove him. Our faith cannot conceyue, our hope cannot comprehend, our charitie cannot apprehend: for it surpasseth our thoughts, our vnderstanding our desires.
Let this bee our comfort, that this glory may be obtayned: expressed, or conceyued, it cannot be.
Augustine sayeth, that he can tell sooner, what is not there, then what is there.
When the Queene of Sheba came to Solomons Court and heard his wisedome, saw the house which hee had built, obserued his dyet, viewed the dwellings of his seruants, noted what seruants robes, & the manner of their service, and recounted the whole burnt offerings which were offered in the house of the Lord euerie day. The text sayth, that shee stood amazed, and there was no Spirit in her, and when shee came to her selfe, shee vttered these words.
It is true that I heard in mine owne land of thee, O King, howbeit I beleeued not the report vntill now I see it, but the one half was not told me, for thou hast more wisedome and prosperitie then I heard by report.
Right so, O my soule, shalt thou say, when thou commest into this heauenlie Court, and beholdest and knowest God, as he is known and seest the new Hierusalem, the Feast of the Lambe, the Mansions prouided, the milke white roabes of the Saintes, their attendants vponupon God, and the continuall Alleluiah sung by the quire of Heauen, thou wilt say: O it was not the least particle of this glorie, that wee heard of beneath, when we were in the earth, for this glorie farre surp…sseth all that euer wee heard or could imagine, neyther indeed could wee beleeue the same, but now O King of Heauen assuredly they are fully blessed that alwaies stand before thee and behold this thy Maiesty, and surpassing glory.
Hence was it, that Holy men of God oft sighed, and earnestly desired when they meditated of this glory to be with Christ. I desire to bee dissolued, and to bee with Christ, sayeth Paul. Aye mee that I am constrayned to dwell with Mesech, Psal. 120.sayeth Dauid. And in another place.
When shall I come and appeare before the presence of the Lord,Psal. 42. If I hauehave found grace in thy sight, O Lord, shew mee thy face, sayth Moses.
And to this purpose God sendeth his dearest children bitter pilles of affliction ofttimes in this life, to weane them from the pleasures of this world.
The world troubleth mee, saith S. Augustine, and yet I louelove it, what would I doe, if it did not afflict me? Surely it would befoole vsus, as it doth too many, who rather then they would forsake any part or parcell of the World, they will desperately and diuelishly forsake their God, and the glory of heauen, and in their hearts wish God to keepe it for him selfe, and let them enioy their pleasures and pastimes in this present life.
O blinde and barbarous folly of the sonnes of Adam, who hath bewitched you? Would you see the inuisible things of God? They are seene sayth Paul, by the visible God, being considered in his workes. Christ is receyued vp in glory,Rom. 1 ascend thou by these degrees vntounto Christ, O my soule, that he hath reuealed vntounto thee.
Say vntounto thy selfe, when thou viewest the world, and the glory thereof both in the frame of Heauen, and in the fabrique of the earth.
If O Lord, thou grantest vntounto vsus such goodlie thinges in this our prison: what hast thou prepared for vsus in thy pallace of Heauen. If here thou affoordest so liberally thy blessings, both to friendes and foes, what hast thou prouided in heauen for friendes onelyonly?
When thou beholdest the surpassing beauty of the heauens, say, O my soules, How delectable are thy dwellings, O Lord of Hosts, my Spirite fainteth for desire to dwell in the Courts of thy house for euermore. For all Nations are before thee, as nothing, and they are accounted lesse then nothing and vanity.
When wee consider again that there are three principall places in this vniuerse, to witte, Hell, the World, and Heauen.
The first vnderunder the earth, the second aboue the earth, the third aboue the visible heauens. The first a place of darkenesse, the second a place mixt both with light & darknesse, the third is altogether. light. The 1. a dungeon of despayre, the second a vale of teares, the third a Paradise of incomparable delights, and delicacies, whose heart desireth not after those waterbrookes? whose soule seeketh not after those ioyes of Heauen, where is the fulnesse of ioy? and happinesse for euermore.
For there is health without sicknesse, youth without age, fulnesse without famine, plenty without penury, g…ory without infamy, peace without warre, and in a word all good without euill.
Now therefore O yee sonnes of men, Marke Sayth Saint Augustine, Heauen is to bee solde, and God requires no other price for thee to buy it, but thy selfe, it is worth so much as thou art, giuegive God thy selfe, and thou shalt hauehave it.
But obserue, thou must not present thy selfe to God in this exchange a worldling, a sinner, a cast-away, but thou must become iust, good, holy, and worthy of the same, not of thy selfe, but beeing iustified, sanctified, and bettered by the holy faith, and Spirit of thy God in Christ Iesus, in whom wee all are accounted worthy, so shalt thou by his merites obtaine a Kingdom, where the fire dooth not burne, nor the ayre infect, nor the water drowne, no… the earth tremble vnderunder thee, where there is no commet to presage thee euill, no thunder to terrifie thee, no lightning to daunt thee, no thunderbolt to consume thee no tempest to affright thee, no colde …o molest thee, no heate to offend, no plague to kill thee, no calamity to afflict thee.
O Christian soules endeauour to ascend to your Christ Iesus, vntounto, and into this glorie, and bee not discouraged eyther with the long distance from you, or with the maruellous height aboue you.
For with as much faci…itie as the Diuels, were de…ected from Heauen in Gods …ispleasure you shall be lifted …p to Heauen by the fauour of Christ.
The hand of the Lorde of Hostes that cast them out …nto the bottomlesse pitte, …hall bee stretched foorth to …eceyue you vp into glorie, …nd that in a moment,1 Cor. 15. in the winckling of an eye.
Oh how amiable are our goings towardes the Lorde of Hostes Sanctuarie? in the progresse of diuine vertues.
Humility doth lift vsus vp aboue the earth. Pouertie in Spirite aboue the water. Contrition aboue the ayre. Good workes aboue the fire: Faith, Hope, LoueLove, Discretion, Constancie, Temperance, Righteousnesse aduanceth vsus aboue the seuen Planets, our conuersation aboue the Emperiall Heauens, Purity of heart, dooth bring vsus vp to the sight of God, and vntounto the glory of the blessed,
For three places God hath appointed h… Children to liue in, the Wombe, this Earth, the Heauens. In the wombe, in a narrow place, for a short time, some nine monethes.
In the earth a place of greater extent, and a longer season, some seauentie yeares.
And lastly, in Heauen a place of extent, without limit, and for terme without time, euen for euer and euer.
And as the second place farre exceedeth the first, both in largenesse of Extent, and in continuance of time, so the third place of our most happie being, incomparably surpasseth the second in both; for it is without limmit of locall scite, and without all determinatiō of time for length of dayes.
O Christ come vntounto vsus, and into vsus with these thy graces, that wee may come to thee, and into that glory where thou ru…est, and raignest with God the Father, and the Holy spirite for euermore.
O Lord lift vp mine heart vntounto the…,
O Eternall God, and most mercifull Father in Christ Iesus,Inuocaon. who dwellest in the thrones of immortality, and blisse, vouchsafe to looke vponupon vsus thy humbled Creatures, that lye here beneath, and groane to bee deliuered from the bondage of our corruption into the freedome of thy goodnesse.
Thou hast taken vp from vsus our Lord Iesus, and hast set him at thy right hand in Maie…ty and great glorie.
O when shall wee come, …nd behold the beautie of thine …ouse, and the blessednesse of thy Saintes.
L…sten Lord vntounto our sup…lications, and for our Aduocates …ake that pleades our cause be…ore thee in heauen,
Let vsus be dissolued, that we …ay bee with thee, and with our …eloued Iesus, Who for vsus men …me downe from Heauen, and …as humbled to de…th, that wee might liue with thee for euer. Behold, O Lord God, how wee runne after him in the sweet sauour of his diuine perfumes. Whē hee liued here with vsus on earth, he disdayned not Mat…e… a publican, hee abandoned not Peter a denyer of him, nor cast away Paule a per…ecutor, nor despised Marie Magdalen a courtezan, nor refused to hear a Cananaatish woman, the blinde, the lame, the dumbe, the deafe, yea the possessed with diuels hee had compassion vponupon.
Therefore now wee wretches here beneath, albeit our con… tion is farre worse then any of those, yet wee conceiue comfort that now in his glorified estate he will also grant vsus his pittie, and compassion, and by the power of his grace, whereby hee is able to subdue all things vntounto himselfe, will conquer our stubborn, and disobedient hearts, and mak… them plyable and conformable… to his sacred Lawes.
That we may not reason in our vnderstanding, nor encline… our affections downewards, but as he is receiued vp in glory, so we may set our selues and soules to seeke and search after him in all heauenly things.
O Lord the dead prayse thee not, they that goe downe into the pit doe not remember thee, what benefit is there in our blood, what glory is there to thee in the land of obliuion, where thou art not once thoght vponupon? O God let the deuouring and despayring gulfe bee the portion for the diuels and the damned that neuer seeke thee in thy beloued. Let that vale be for the children of Hinnon that bottomlesse pit for the Locusts, that lake of brimstone for thy Christs enemies, that second death for the desperate, that weeping and wayling for the heathen that hath not knowne thee, that hell for the d… spisers of thy Sonn…, that euerlasting fire for the Abaddon, and his seruants, but as for those that sue for fauour vntounto thee and lye at thy mercy gate for grace, and beg but the crums, let them be deliuered because of thy beloued, let them reioyce on thy saluation, let them see the sight of thy saints, and bee glad with the light of thy countenance for euer. O speake comfortably vntounto their soules, and let their hearts euermore reioyce before thee.
Oh tender hearted Father giuegive them a tast in this life of the happinesse of the other, and a glimpse of that glory whe… into Christ Iesus is receiued. That so our hearts may bee enflamed, our wills enclined, our affections setled, and our whole selues knit vntounto thee, that neither sinne nor Sathan, life nor death, things present, nor things to come may separate vsus from the louelove and exceeding thirst and desire of beeing where Christ our treasure is. Let not the diuell with any of his subtill and slie delusions carrie vsus downeward in tempting vsus with our vnworthinesse, our euill, our wretchednesse, in putting into our mindes, that we are predestinate, and ordayned of old to destruction, and that whatsoeuer we do, …r say, or pray, it auailes not, for …t cannot alter thy decree, and so …y this meanes cast vsus into des…erate carelessenesse. But O Lord …each our soules to reason, and …ommune with our owne hearts … going vpwards where Christ …esus is receiued vp in glory, that …e beleeuing, and louing thee our God, liuing in thy grace & calling …pon thee dayly, may worke out …ur saluation with feare, and …embling.
And do thou O God ascertain …ur conscience that these things …re the actions and affections of …ose that are ordayned to blisse, …d life euerlasting in the merits of thy deare Sonne Christ Iesus our Lord.
To this blessed purpose assist vsus O God in all the occurrences of our life at home, and abroade, in businesse, and in leasure, in prosperitie and aduersitie, in sickenesse and in health, that we may still hauehave our minds lift, vppe vntounto thee through the power of our Prince of peace Christ Iesus, and euer vse these things of this life to further our saluation in him, that at the last when wee shall come … our fatall, and finall dissolution i… this world, the way of all flesh, we may bee receiued vp by thy goodnesse, and ministerie of thy blessed Angels into those euerlasting habitations, and taberncles of thy triumphant Church where Christ our head is. To whom with thee and the sacred spirit bee all glory, and houour, might and maiestie ascribed of Angels in heauen, and men on …arth throughout all generations in thy Church for … more, Amen.
FINIS.
End of the text · William Loe, The Mystery of Mankind (1619)