Common Places, Part 2 · Chapter 18 · Section 12
The life euerlaſting.
49 We which here liuing in the church by the ſpirit of Chriſt, hauehave obteined remiſſion of ſins; and when we hauehave atteined vntounto regeneration in felicitie and glorie, what either can we or ought we afterward wiſh, but that it be granted vsus to liue euermore ioifullie, contentedlie, and happilie in GOD through Chriſt? And although ſuch a ſtate is for manie cauſes verie greatlie to be deſired; yet all the parts of that happie life muſt be referred to two good things; the firſt hath reſpect vntounto the ſoule; Happineſſe of eternall life in two reſpects.and the other vntounto the bodie. Touching the which this I will ſaie brieflie, that it will come to paſſe, that all labours, gréefes, miſeries, and ſorrowes, which we are compelled to ſuffer in this vnhappie vale ſhall ceaſe from the ſame. And this is it, which is ſaid in the Apocalypſe; Apoc. 21, 4.that God will wipe awaie all teares from the eies of his ſaints: neither ſhall there remaine to them anie more ſorrows, lamentations, ſighs, or wailings. Wherefore our bodie ſhall méerelie be renued, according as we treated in the article of the reſurrection. VntoUnto which ſentences declared this we adde; that there is a liuelie & effectuall example in the reſurrection of Chriſt, what maner of heauenlie properties our bodies ſhall hauehave. It is euident alſo, euen in ſundrie of his actions, when he was cōuerſant in this paſſible ſtate of life, Iohn. 20, 19. Iohn. 6, 19.what time as he ſhewed miracles euen in his owne bodie.
Acts. 1, 9.He entred into the place, where the apoſtles were, the doores being ſhut. He walked vponupon the waters of the ſea, Luk. 14, 39.and ſoonke not. He was lifted vp into the aire, or rather aſcended into heauen: as we hauehave aboue confeſſed. And he offered himſelfe to be ſeene and felt of his diſciples. Beſides this, when his will was neither to be ſéene, nor yet to be caught hold of by anie man, he ſo ordered his bodie, Luk. 4, 30.as neither the one nor the other happened otherwiſe, than it pleaſed himſelfe. Iohn. 8. 59. Mat. 28, 1. &c.As in Nazareth, when they endeuoured to throwe him downe headlong from the mounteine; or when they went about to ſtone him in the temple. Mat. 17, 2.Againe, when he roſe vp and went out of the ſepulchre, which the ſoldiers kept, he would not be ſéene. No more would he be ſéene vponupon mount Thabor, wherein his bodie being tranſformed, became bright like the ſun. And we are not anie waie forbidden to hope, but that our bodies ſhall probablie be adorned with thoſe qualities in the life eternall. For it ſéemeth altogither conuenient, that the members ſhould be like vntounto their owne head. Fleſhlie care of the bodie muſt be reiected.Wherfore, if anie man hauehave a fleſhlie care of his owne bodie, he dealeth vnwiſelie, to obeie it in thoſe things which manifeſtlie ſtriue with ſo bleſſed an end. He ought rather, for that fauour, wherewith he is indued by the grace of God, to yéeld the ſame bodie of his to the obedience of the ſpirit; by whome it ſhall at the length be quickened and carried vp into ſo excellent a ſtate. In conſideration wherof, Paule decréed; Rom. 8, 18.that Thoſe things, which we preſentlie ſuffer, are not worthie of the glorie, which ſhall be ſhewed to vsus: And as in the ſame maner, Chriſt diſputing of eternall life, ſaid; Hee that will find his life, Mat. 10, 39.ſhall looſe it.
In the which place, vnderunder the name of life; he meaneth this naturall life; the which whoſoeuer withdraweth from mortification, and the croſſe laid vponupon him by God, and dooth attempt with highlie diſhonouring of Chriſt and his name, to repulſe danger and temporall death from it: then dooth he verelie looſe it, although he determine with himſelfe to find it, and to recouer it. For he deſpoileth it of thoſe properties, which otherwiſe it ſhould perpetuallie hauehave in that eternall felicitie with Chriſt. But the ſpirituall and true chriſtians, which by the iudgement of the world are thought to betraie their owne life, while they make ouer-ſmall account of the ſame, taking great and infinit perils in hand, yea & willing death for Chriſts his ſake: theſe (I ſaie) as Chriſt moſt truelie teſtifieth, in looſing of their ſoule, doo in verie déed find and moſt certeinlie obteine the ſame. Iohn. 12, 24.And that is moſt aptlie expreſſed in the ſimilitude of a grain of corne, which vnleſſe it ſhould firſt become rotten in the earth, it would neuer giuegive out flower or fruit, framed in the order of an eare of corne.
50 But let vsus procéed, & ſée, in what thing the ſpirits of the bleſſed may reſt themſelues in that ſtate, whereof we hauehave ſpoken. They that be iuſtified by Chriſt, although that, euen in this life, they hauehave ſetled their deſire to louelove God with all their heart, with all their ſoule, and with all their ſtrength; & ſo long as they acknowledge, they be verie far off from dooing that, which they ought to doo, they muſt néeds be diſquieted with excéeding ſorrow. How pleaſant a thing (thinke we) will it be to them, that they ſhall be able to ſatiſfie their deſire, ſo iuſt, ſo excellent, ſo great, and ſo long deſired of them? A deliuerance from ſlane.Then we ſhall be indued with this gift, that we ſhall offend him no more: we ſhall be deliuered from the ſeruitude of ſinne, and from our domeſticall enimie; namelie, from the aſſaults of the fleſh, ſéeing the ſame ſhall be at peace with the ſpirit. We being conſtrained with the bonds hereof, cannot fulfill the lawe of God. But in that ſtate we ſhall louelove God with all our ſtrength, and more than either our ſelues, or whatſoeuer elſe is in the world. Neither ſhall that fleſh let vsus anie thing, from the true & perfect louelove of our neighbour: he vndoubtedlie ſhall hauehave no néed of the duties of this life, but yet we ſhall louelove him, in that we ſhall no leſſe be deſirous of his felicitie than of our owne.
The motions of enuie, ſelfe-pleaſing, and of other deſires (the which things be verie great enimies vntounto vsus, and make vsus the ſlacker to louelove our neighbours) ſhall hauehave no longer abiding in vsus. But as touching that, which is of greateſt importance, and is greatlie wiſhed for of all men that be indued with reaſon and anie godlineſſe at all (I meane the knowledge of God) ſhall then at the laſt be granted vntounto vsus. Indéed it is now, after ſome ſort, giuen vntounto men to knowe God by the euident tokens of things created, by the teſtimonies of the ſcriptures, and by inward reuelation of the ſpirit: but there ſhall be then a full and perfect knowledge. Wherfore ſaith Paule to the Corinthians; We ſee (ſaith he) through a glaſſe as in a darke ſpeaking. 1. Co. 13, 12Now there be certeine darke ſentences laid before vsus, which the Graecians call foreign: then ſhall it be ſet foorth to be perceiued indéed. All vailes and couering ſhall be remooued, that we may penetrate euen to the face of God himſelfe, the which cannot be perceiued in this life: as God himſelfe verified to his faithfull ſeruant Moſes, Exo. 33, 20.in theſe words; It cannot be that a man ſhould ſee me and liue. Therefore thou ſhalt not ſee my face, but I will cauſe, that as I paſſe by, thou maiſt ſee my backe part.
But when we be looſed from this mortall ſtate, we without doubt ſhall be capable of that excellent gift. In the which thing chéefelie conſiſteth that eternall life, as our ſauiour Ieſus teacheth in the Goſpell of Iohn; Iohn. 17, 3.This is the life eternall, that they may knowe thee onelie, the true God, and Ieſus Chriſt whom thou haſt ſent. And againe he ſaith; Iohn. 8, 56.that Abraham deſired to knowe the daie of the Lord, and he knew it and reioiſed. Matt. 13, 16.And vntounto the apoſtles he ſaid; Bleſſed be the eies, which ſee that ye ſee. I ſaie vntounto you, that many kings & prophets deſired to ſee that which ye ſee, and yet it was not granted vntounto them. In which place we muſt vnderſtand, that Chriſt ſpake of his firſt comming, in the which he had the mortall and paſſible properties of humane nature. But if thou wilt obiect, that they ſawe him alſo after his reſurrection, when he was now indued with an immortall and impaſſible life: I anſwer, that he had not euen as yet gotten the full victorie of all his enimies, nether ha… procured the kingdome to be perfect, peaceable, and ſure from all aduerſaries: ſuch as it ſhall be by the iudgement of Paule, in the firſt epiſtle to the Corinthians, When he hath put all his enimies vnderunder his feet.1. Co. 15, 25
51 Wherefore, let euerie one ponder in his mind, what a felicitie remaineth for vsus, ſéeing it is admitted, that we ſhall ſée him, and ſhall hauehave experience of our firſt begotten brother in that glorie and triumph: where we ſhall not onlie be one with him, but with the eternall father alſo, with whome he ſhall make vsus firmelie to abide, as a kingdome woone by his owne conqueſt, and gouerned in an excellent ſort; Ibidem. 28.That the ſame God the father (as Paule teſtifieth in that place) may be all in vsus all. Now then my brethren, what better thing can we deſire? How profitable, pleaſant, glorious▪ honeſt, beautifull, and in euerie reſpect good ſhall it be, that that father and bleſſed God ſhall be all in all? Theſe things are not elſe-where to be fought, ſéeing they be not elſe-where to be atteined. Some ſhadowe, proofe, and little ſparke of that bleſſedneſſe of ours did Peter taſte vponupon the mount: Mat. 17, 4.and therefore he wiſhed there to hauehave his perpetuall habitation. Therof had Paule a triall, when he was rapt into the third heauen, where hée heard great myſteries ſo farre remooued from the ſenſe of man, as they were vnſpeakable. 2, Cor, 2, 2.The face of Moſes ſo gliſtered, by reaſon of the conuerſation which he had with the diuine glorie, as the Iſraelites were not able by anie meanes to behold him. Exod. 34, 35What ſhall happen therefore vntounto vsus, when we hauehave obteined with him the place of children and houſe-dwellers?
If ſo be at anie time it happen here, that we by anie motion of the ſpirit, read the ſcriptures; if we powre out our earneſt praiers before God, if we lament before him with great zeale for the euill which we ſuffer, or elſe be mooued inwardlie through the effectuall preching of the word: doo we not conceiue a ioie, delectation, and conſolation, which paſſeth all delights, paſtimes and pleaſures of this world? But this is onelie a beginning of eternall life; whereby neuertheleſſe yet we may coniecture, how pure, perfect, and vnmeaſureable happineſſe that ſhall be, which is in the life to come. Touching the which, manie more things might be diſputed; but it is more méet to leaue theſe amplifications to the faith of the godlie reader. The which felicitie ſéeing it is the gift of God, which procéedeth not from our ſelues, in that God maketh vsus capable thereof; ſo are we woont to conceiue much more according to the meaſure which commeth into vsus. And theſe ſwéet conceits of the mind doo comfort and refreſh vsus in the calamities of this life: they ſhewing vntounto vsus, euen in the middeſt of the ſtorms of this world, the hauen of ſo great a felicitie. VntoUnto the which we beſéech him to bring vsus, that by his pretious death hath procured it for vsus. And that it will pleaſe him, through his holie ſpirit, to bring therevnto all ſuch as through him are regenerated by the eternall father: with whom he liueth, triumpheth, and reigneth for euer, Amen.
¶ Heere (brethren) ye hauehave a ſhort expoſition of the particular things belonging to our faith. And as touching thoſe things, which ſhall be perceiued of you to want, I beſeech you to allow of theſe excuſes. One is, that my abilitie is but ſmall and ſlender; the other is, for that I meane, in the booke which I hauehave in hand touching the true worſhipping of God: to ſupplie manie wants, which for breuitie ſake I hauehave omitted. God and the Father make you partakers more and more of his grace in Chriſt Ieſu our Lord! Amen.
The end of the Second Part.