The Four Last Things, Discourse 3

The Four Last Things · Discourse 3

p. 267OF HEAVEN.

Psalm 16.11.

Thou wilt shew me the Path of Life: in thy Presence is fulness of Joy, at thy right Hand there are Pleasures for evermore.

THE Divine Wisdom and Goodness was pleased, before and during the legal Dispensation, by various Predictions and Types to delineate the Person of our Redeemer, and the Work of Redemption, to prepare the Minds of Men for his Reception at his coming into the World. All the Evangelical Prophecies recorded in the Old Testament, as dispersed Rays, p. 268are conspicuously united in him, the Sun of Righteousness; and as in a curious Piece of Mosaick Work, each Stone according to its natural Vein and Colour is so exactly disposed, and with that proportion join'd to another, that the lively Figure of the Humane Body, results from the Composure; so by variety of Types, the intire Image of our Saviour's Life is represented from his first appearing on Earth, to his ascending to Heaven.

Now the due comparing and observing the harmonious Agreement between the Prophesies and Types of the Old Testament, and the History of the New, is a powerful means to produce and establish a true lively Faith in the blessed Jesus as the promised Messiah: For it is an infallible Argument of the Divine Providence in disposing Times and Things so, as the Oracle should be verified in the Event, and the mysterious Figures substantially exhibited in the manifestation of the Son of God. 'Tis true, his Miracles raised Admiration, and argued the concurrence of Power truly Divine: For the exercise of an absolute Dominion over the Order of Nature, is a Royalty reserved p. 269to God: but that his miraculous Operations were foretold, added more Authority to his Person, and Efficacy to his Doctrine. Therefore our Saviour himself, in answer to the publick Question sent from John the Baptist, whether he were the expected Saviour of the World, commanded the Messengers to tell him what they heard and said, The Blind receive their Sight, Matth. 11.Matt 11and the Lame walk, the Lepers are cleansed, the Deaf hear, and the Dead are raised up: Which healing Miracles were foretold by the Prophet Esay, Isa. 35.Isa 35as the clear and distinguishing Characters of the Messiah from all Seducers, when he should come. The fulfilling God's Word by the Works of Christ, of which there was sensible evidence, was an irrefutable testimony that his Miracles were true, and performed for the confirmation of the Truth.

Now of all the chosen Saints that foretold the coming of Christ, the new Law of Grace, and the new Kingdom of Glory, that he should reveal and establish: Of all that represented him in various Particularities, concerning his Person and Offices, there was not a more illustrious Type than p. 270David, Illorum hominum non tantum lingua sed & vita prophetica fuit. Aug.that by prophetical Words, and by prophetical Actions did so clearly describe him.

In this Psalm composed by him, there is a mixture of History and Prophecy: Some things in the literal and immediate sense referring to David: I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Our being at God's right Hand, implies the highest Honour; his being at our right Hand, implies present and sure protection and defence. And of this David had the infallible Promise of God to secure his Hope, notwithstanding all his unrighteous and implacable Enemies. But the following Verses are applicable to David but in a lower sense, and by a remote Metaphor, and have their literal and principal Accomplishment in our Saviour. Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, that is, in the State of the Dead; nor suffer thy holy One to see Corruption: that is, the Body of our Saviour should be exempted from the corrupting Power of the Grave, and restored the third Day to Life. In this propriety and perfection of sense, the Prophecy is applyed by St. Peter to our Saviour's alone: for p. 271David died and saw Corruption;Acts 2 27, 29.Acts 2:27Acts 2:29 and his Body still remains under the Dominion of Death. And this last Verse, Thou wilt shew me the Path of Life: in thy Presente is fulness of Joy, at thy right Hand are Pleasures for evermore; is applied by the Apostle to Christ, his Resurrection, Ascension to Heaven, and sitting at the right Hand of the Majesty on high. Thou wilt shew me the Path of Life; that is, introduce him into the Kingdom of Glory, and by experimental Fruition make him partaker of it: In thy Presence is fulness of Joy, at thy right Hand are Pleasures for evermore.

In these words the Causes and Excellencies of the Heavenly Life are express'd. The Causes, are the glorious Presence of God, and the intimate application of his Presence, and discovery of his peculiar Love to the Saints. This our blessed Saviour had respect to, as the compleat Reward of his Sufferings: Thou shalt make me full of Joy with thy Countenance. And his right Hand implies his Bounty that dispenses, and his Power that secures our Happiness. The Excellencies of it, p. 272are fulness of Joy, and Pleasures for evermore.

From the words I shall observe one Proposition.

The enjoyment of the Divine Presence in Heaven, is the supream and everlasting Felicity of the Saints.

In the discoursing of this Point, I will consider,

First, The Place wherein the Divine Presence is gloriously reveal'd.

Secondly, Shew that the enjoyment of the Divine Presence is the supream Felicity of the Saints.

Thirdly, Prove that the Felicity shall be Everlasting.

First, The Place wherein the Divine Presence is revealed. 'Tis consistent with the Divine Immensity, to be differently present in some places. The essential Presence of God is the same every where; the influxive declarative Presence of God is special, and p. 273wise in one place than another. He is more excellently present in the living Temples, his Saints on Earth, by the gracious and eminent Operations of his Spirit, than he is in the rest of the World: He is most excellently present in Heaven, by the clearest Manifestation, and the express Characters and Effects of the Divine Perfections.

This inferior World is fram'd with exquisite Order; The Earth is full of the Glory of the Lord: yet 'tis but the Sediment of the Creation, the Habitation of Birds and Beasts, nay of rebellious Sinners: And by this we may raise our Thoughts to conceive something of the glorious Sanctuary of Life and Blessedness above. 'Tis called the Heaven of Heavens, which is the highest Comparison to instruct and astonish us with the Amplitude and Glory of the Place. 'Tis a Place becoming the Majesty of God, the Image of his Immensity. Our Saviour assures us, In his Father's House are many Mansions, to receive the innumerable company of glorified Saints. 'Tis called the Excellent Glory, 2 Pet. 1.17.

The shining Firmament, with all the Luminaries that adorn it, are but p. 274the Frontispiece to the highest Heaven. All the Lustre of Diamonds, the Fire of Carbuncles and Rubies, the Brightness of Pearls are dead in comparison of its Glory. 'Tis the Throne of the God of Glory, wherein his Majesty is reveal'd in the most illustrious manner. For Pleasantness 'tis call'd Paradise, in allusion to the delightful Garden planted by the Hands of God himself for Adam, his Favourite, whilst innocent. There is the Tree of Life. There are Rivers of Pleasure springing from the Divine Presence. 'Tis call'd the Inheritance of the Saints in Light; to signify the Glory and Joy of the Place; for Light has splendour, and conciliates chearfulness, and is a fit Emblem of both. As on the contrary, Hell is described by the blackness of darkness for ever: to signify the sadness and despair of the Damned; and because in that centre of Misery, a perpetual Night and invincible Darkness increases the horror of lost Souls.

Heaven for stability is called a City that has Foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. The present World is like a Tent or Tabernacle set up for a time, whilst the Church is passing p. 275through the Wilderness: but Heaven is the City of the Living God, the Place of his happy Residence, the Seat of his eternal Empire. The visible World, with all its perishing Idols, shall shortly fall, this Beautiful Scene shall be abolish'd: but the supreme Heaven is above this Sphere of mutability, wherein all Bodies compounded of the jarring Elements are continually changing and dissolving: 'tis truly call'd a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. Briefly, the wise Maker has fram'd it correspondently to the end for which it was designed: 'tis the Seat of his Majesty, his Sacred Temple, wherein he diffuses the richest Beams of his Goodness and Glory, and his chosen Servants see and praise his adorable Excellencies for ever.

Secondly, I will endeavour to shew, that the enjoyment of the Divine Presence in Heaven, is the supreme Felicity of the Saints.

To make this supernatural Blessedness more easy and intelligible to us, the Scripture describes it by sensible Representations. For while the Soul is clothed with Flesh, Fancy has such p. 276a dominion, that we conceive of nothing but by Comparisons and Images taken from material things. 'Tis therefore set forth by a Marriage-Feast, Rev. 17.7.Rev 17:7to signify the Joy and Glory of the Saints above. But to prevent all gross Conceits, we are instructed, that the Bodies of the Saints shall be spiritual, not capable of Hunger or Thirst, nor consequently of any Refreshment that is caused by the satisfaction of those Appetites. The Objects of the most noble Senses, Seeing and Hearing, the pleasure of which is mixed with Reason, and not common to the Brutes, are more frequently made use of to reconcile the blessed and Heavenly State to the proportion of our Minds. Thus sometimes the Saints above are represented on Thrones, and with Crowns on their Heads: Sometimes clothed in White, with Palms in their Hands: sometimes singing Songs of Triumph to him that sits on the Throne. But the real Felicity of the Saints infinitely exceeds all those faint Metaphors. The Apostle, to whom the admirable Revelation was exhibited, of the Sufferings of the Church, and the victorious issue out of them in the successive p. 277Ages of the World, tells us, it does not appear what the Saints shall be in Heaven. The things that God has prepared for those that love him, are far more above the highest ascent of our Thoughts, than the Marriage-Feast of a King exceeds in splendor and Magnificence, the Imagination of one that has always lived in an obscure Village, and never saw any Ornaments of State, nor tasted Wine in his Life. We can think of those things but according to the Poverty of our Understandings. But so much we know as is able to sweeten all the Bitterness, and render insipid all the Sweetness of this World.

This will appear by considering whatever is requisite to constitute the compleat Blessedness of Man, is fully enjoyed in the Divine Presence.

1. An exemption from all Evils is the first condition of perfect Blessedness. The Sentence of the wise Solon is true,

Dicique beatus

Ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet.

p. 278No Man can be call'd happy whilst in this Valley of Tears. There are so many natural Calamities, so many casual, which no humane Mind can foresee or prevent, that one may be less miserable than another, but none perfectly happy here. But upon the entrance into Heaven, all those Evils, that by their number, variety or weight, disquiet and oppress us here, are at an end.

Sin, of all Evils, the worst and most hateful, shall be abolish'd, and all Temptations that surround us and endanger our Innocence shall cease. Here the best Men lament the Weakness of the Flesh, and sometimes the violent Assaults of Spiritual Enemies. St. Paul himself breaks forth into a mournful Complaint, O wretched Man that I am, who shall deliver me from this Body of Death? And when harrass'd by the buffets of Satan, renews his most earnest Addresses to God to be freed from them. Here our Purity is not absolute, we must be always cleansing our selves from the Reliques of that deep Defilement that cleaves to our Nature. Here our Peace is preserv'd with the Sword in our Hand, p. 279by a continual warfare against Satan and the World. But in Heaven no Ignorance darkens the Mind, no Passions rebel against the sanctified Will, no Inherent Pollution remains. The Church is without Spot or Wrinkle, or any such thing. And all Temptations shall then cease. The Temper was cast out of Heaven, and none of his poison'd Arrows can reach that purified Company. Glorious Liberty! here ardently desir'd, but fully enjoyed by the Saints above. And as Sin, so all the penal Consequences of it are quite taken away. The present Life is a continual disease, and sometimes attended with that sharp sense, that Death is desir'd as a remedy, and accepted as a Benefit. And though the Saints have reviving Cordials, yet their Joys are mix'd with Sorrows, nay caused … Sorrows. The tears of Repentance are their sweetest refreshment. Here the living Stones are cut and wounded, and made fit by sufferings for a Temple unto God in the new Jerusalem. But as in building of Solomon's Temple, the noise of a Hammer was not heard, for all the parts were fram'd before with that exact p. 280design and correspondence, that they firmly combin'd together. They were hewen in another place, and nothing remain'd but the putting them one upon another, and then as Sacred they became inviolable. So God the wise Architect, having prepar'd the Saints here, by many cutting Afflictions, places them in the eternal Building, where no Voice of Sorrow is heard. Of the innumerable Assembly above; is there any Eye that weeps, any Breast that sighs, any Tongue that complains, or any appearance of Grief? The Heavenly State is called Life, as only worthy of that Title. There is no infirmity of Body, no Poverty, no Disgrace, no Treachery of Friends, no persecution of Enemies. There is no more Death, nor Sorrow; nor shall there be any more Pain: for former things are past away. God will wipe away all Tears from the Eyes of his People. There Salvation is compleat in all degrees. Pure Joy is the Priviledge of Heaven, unmixed Sorrows the Punishment of Hell.

2. A concurrence of all positive Excellencies is requisite to Blessedness. And these are to be considered with p. 281respect to the entire Man.

1. The Body shall be awak'd out of its dead Sleep, and quicken'd into a glorious immortal Life. The Soul and Body are the essential parts of Man; and though the inequality be great in their holy Operations, yet their concourse is necessary. Good Actions are design'd by the counsel and resolution of the Spirit, but perform'd by the ministry of the Flesh. Every Grace expresses it self in visible Actions by the Body. In the Sorrows of Repentance it supplies Tears; in religious Fasts, its Appetites are restrain'd; in Thanksgivings the Tongue breaks forth into the joyful Praises of God. All our Victories over sensible Pleasure and Pain, are obtain'd by the Soul in conjunction with the Body. Now 'tis most becoming the Divine Goodness, not to deal so differently, that the Soul should be everlastingly happy, and the Body lost in forgetfulness; the one glorified in Heaven, the other remain in the Dust. From their first setting out in the World to the Grave, they ran the same race, and shall enjoy the same Reward. Here the Body is the p. 282Consort of the Soul, in Obedience and Sufferings, hereafter in Fruition. When the Crown of Purity, or Palm of Martyrdom shall be given by the great Judg in the view of all, they shall both partake in the Honour. The Apostle assures us, the Bodies of the Saints shall be revived and refin'd to a spiritual and glorious Perfection. Flesh and Blood, the Body with its terrene Qualities, is mutable and mortal, and cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven; it cannot breath in so pure an Air. God tells Moses, No Man can see my Face and live: The sight of the Divine Glory is not consistent with such temper'd frail Tabernacles of Flesh. Nay, the Body must be freed from the innocent Infirmities that were inseparable from Adam in Paradise: for he was made a living Soul, i. e. the Soul united to the Body was the Fountain of the natural sensitive Life, which was in a perpetual Flux, the vital Heat wasting the radical Moisture, from whence there was a necessity of Food and Sleep to repair the Substance and Spirits, and preserve his Life in vigour: but in the Divine World, the Body shall be spiritual in p. 283its Qualities and the Principle of its Li…e: it shall be supported by the supernatural Power of the Spirit, without the supplies of outward nourishment, and exempted from all the low Operations of Nature: therefore our Saviour tells us, the Children of the Resurrection shall be equal to the Angels, prepar'd for the employment and Enjoyments of those blessed Spirits.

And a substantial unfading Glory will shine in them infinitely above the perishing Pride of this World, and the Glory of the Flesh, that is but an appearance, like the false Colours painted on the Feathers of a Dove, by the reflection of the Light, which presently vanishes, when the Posture is chang'd, or the Light withdrawn. Of this we have a sure Pledg in the glorified Body of Christ, who is the first Fruits of them that sleep; He shall change our vile Bodies, that they may be fashion'd like to his glorious Body, according to the working of his Power, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself. What can be more glorious, than to be conform'd to the humanity of the Son of God? This Conformity shall be the Work of his own Hands: p. 284and when Omnipotence interposes, nothing is difficult. The raising the Body to an immortal state of Glory, is as easy to the Divine Power, as the forming it first in the Womb. As the Sun labours no more in the Mines, in the forming Gold and Silver, the most precious and durable Metals, than in the production of a short-liv'd Flower.

2. The supream happiness of Man is in the Soul's Communion with God. This will appear by considering the principal Ingredients of Happiness: they are the excellence of the Object, and the vigour of the Actings upon it. The Life and Blessedness of God, is to know and love himself, according to his infinite Perfections. And 'tis the highest happiness of the reasonable Creature to know and love God. For he is a spiritual infinite, unchangeable Good, and can fully communicate all that is requisite to intire Blessedness, Supply all the Wants, and satisfy all the Wishes of the immortal Soul. The Understanding and Will are our most comprehensive Faculties, the principles of our most eminent Operations. p. 285To know and to love are essential to the reasonable Soul, and in directing those Acts upon God, the Rectitude, the Perfection and Felicity of Man consists. As the intellectual Creature by setting its Mind and Heart upon earthly things, is degraded into a lower order, the thoughts and desires that are spiritual with respect to the principle from whence they proceed, are sensual and perishing with respect to their Objects: So when our noble faculties are exercis'd in their most lively and vigorous perceptions upon the supream Good, Man is advanc'd to an equality of Joy and Perfection with the Angels. Now in Heaven, God by his most evident and effectual presence, excites and draws forth all the active Powers of the Soul in their highest degrees; and such is the immensity of his Perfections, fills their utmost Capacity, from whence a Divine pleasure, a perpetual Satifaction springs, a Joy that is as unspeakable as 'tis eternal.

To unfold this more particularly.

1. The Understanding shall clearly see the most excellent Objects. Now p. 286we know but in part. 1 Cor. 13.1 Cor 13The naked Beauty of divine Things is vail'd, and of impossible discovery: and by natural or accidental weakness, the Mind is not proportionable to sustain that dazling brightness. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. In that inlightned the State, manifestation of the Objects shall abundantly exceed the clearest revealing of them here. And the Understanding shall be prepar'd in proportion to take a full view of them. Therefore the Apostle compares the several Periods of the Church in respect of the degrees of Knowledg, to the several Ages of humane Life. When I was a Child, I spoke as a Child, I understood as a Child, I thought as a Child: but when I became a Man, I put away Childish things. In Children the Organs, either from the excess of moisture, or their smalness, are indispos'd for the vigorous exercise of the Mind: some strictures of Reason appear, a presaging sign what will be, but mix'd with much obscurity. But when the Organs are come to their just proportion and temperament, the Soul displays its strength and activity.

p. 287To explicate this, it is requisite to consider the expressions in Scripture, that signify the eminent degrees of Knowledg in the Blessed. Our Saviour assures us, that the Pure in Heart shall see God. Sight is the most noble, extensive, and affective Sense, and therefore fit to notify the clear, sweet and satisfying intuition of God in Heaven. 'Tis true, the Deity is spiritual and invisible to the Eye of the Body, infinite and incomprehensible to the Eye of the Soul; but the glorified Saints so clearly understand the Divine Perfections, that our present knowledg of God, compar'd to that Vision, is but as the seeing of a dark Shadow in a Glass, to the immediate view of the living Substance and Person. The discovery of the Deity to us in the present state, is by his Works and Word: and both are imperfect, and far inferiour to the manifestation in Heaven. The absolute fulness of Perfection that is inseparable from the Godhead, is inimitable by any Creature; for the Perfection of any Creature; is limited in its kind as well as degrees. Therefore God was pleased by variety of effects and resemblances, p. 288to express and represent his Attributes, that our Minds might ascend by those steps to contemplate those Perfections that are in him eminently and beyond all comparison. The Light of Heaven in all its purity and lustre, is but a shadow of his unapproachable Brightness: all the Excellencies of visible things are but a weak representation of the Glory of his Atrributes, like the describing with a Coal the beautiful Colours of the Morning: and compar'd with the immensity of his Perfections, are like the describing in a sheet of Paper the vast Celestial Spheres.

In his Word there is a more clear and full discovery of his Nature and Will, but according to our capacity of receiving. The Divine Attributes in Scripture are mask'd and shadowed under sensible Comparisons: for no Light shines into our Minds here but through the Windows of Sense. The intellectual Powers depend, as to the first notices of things, upon the lower Faculties and Senses: therefore as Elisha in reviving the Shunamite's Child, contracted himself to the proportion of the Child, and put his Mouth upon his p. 289Mouth, and his Eyes upon his Eyes, and his Hands upon his Hands; so God is pleased to condescend to our Capacity, and to adapt the Expressions of his Majesty to the narrowness of our Imaginations. But in Heaven the Revelation of the Deity is much more glorious: and the Mind is clarified from those terrene Images that flow through the gross Channels of the Senses. In this present state our purest Conceptions of God are mix'd with Dross, and very imperfect; but there the Gold shall be separated from the Dross, and our Conceptions be more proper and becoming the Simplicity and Purity of God. Here the Objects of Glory are humbled to the perception of Sense: Hereafter, the sensible Faculties shall be raised and refin'd, and made the Subjects of Glory. Now when Divine Light shines with direct Beams, and the thick Curtain of Flesh is spiritualiz'd and transparent, the Soul enjoys the clearest Vision of God. The Light of Nature was so defective as to the discovery of God's Compassionate Counsels to save the lost World; and the Minds of Men were so darkned from the Fumes of their Lusts, p. 290that that Light was but the Hemisphere of the Night in comparison of the Revelation of the Gospel: as St. Peter expresses the happy Priviledg of Christians, and their consequent Duty, that they should shew forth the Praises of him who hath called them out of Darkness into his marvellous Light. And the Glorious Gospel compar'd to the Revelation of God in Heaven, is but as the Twilight of the Morning, wherein the Light of the Day is checker'd with the Shadows of the Night, to the Sun in its full Lustre. In Heaven we shall see God Face to Face: which signifies the clearest manifestation of his Glory, and of his Favour to the Blessed: for the Face is the Throne of Majesty and Beauty, and the Chrystal wherein the Affections are conspicuous. Accordingly when Moses prayed, I beseech thee shew me thy Glory; God answered him, it was impossible, for no Man could see his Face, and live. And the form of Divine Blessing to the People of Israel was, The Lord make his Face to shine upon thee, and be gracious to thee. Whether the immediate Essence of God can be seen by the intellectual Creature, is a question, but we are sure in p. 291the Heaven of Presence, God exhibits himself to the Blessed in a most glorious manner: for according to the degrees of Excellency in the Work, such are the Impressions and Discoveries of the Cause. Now all gross material things in the low order of Nature, are but weak resultances from his Perfections, in comparison of their glorious Effects in the Divine World. The Glories of the Place, and of the Inhabitants the Angels and Saints, are the most noble Effects and Expressions of the Divine Attributes. But in a transcendent manner God exhibits himself in the glorified Mediator. He is stiled the Brightness of his Father's Glory, and the express Image of his Person; to signify that God, in the Person of the incarnate Mediator, is so fully represented to us, that in him we have a view of God's unchangeable Perfections. This appears by the following words, that having purged us from our Sins, he sat down on the Majesty on high: for they respect the Son of God as united to the Humane Nature, in which he performed the Office of the Priesthood, and took possession of his Kingdom. During his humble State, p. 292tho darken'd with many afflicting Circumstances, the Divine Vertues, Wisdom, Goodness, Holiness, Power, were so visible in his Life, Revelations, and miraculous Works, that when Philip with that ardency of Affection, desir'd the sight of the Father, the only consummate Blessedness, shew us the Father, and it suffices: He told him, He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. But how brightly do they appear in his Exaltation? We shall see him as he is; in the Majesty and Glory of the Son of God. The Apostle says, We shall know as we are known: This we are not to understand according to the exactness of the Expression; for the Sun may be as well included in a spark of Fire, as God may be comprehended by our finite Faculties. Beyond the fullest discoveries we can receive of the Deity, there remains an intire infinity of Perfections, not to be known by the most intelligent Spirits: but as we are known, is a note of Similitude, not of Equality. The Light of a Candle as truly shines as the Light of the Sun, but not with that extent and splendor. We shall have such a perfect knowledg of God, as our Minds can receive, and our Hearts desire.

p. 293We shall then see what we now believe concerning the glorious Nature of God, his Decrees and Counsels, his Providence and Dispensations. The sublimest Doctrine of the Christian Religion, above the disquisition and reach of Reason, is that of the Sacred Trinity, upon which the whole Oeconomy of the Gospel depends. In assenting to this, Faith bows the Head and adores. But such is the pride of the Carnal Mind, that it disdains to stoop to Divine Revelation: and the seeming wise Philosophers despised the Primitive Christians as Captives of a blind Belief. But this foul Reproach was as unjust as many others wherewith they designed to disgrace Christianity; for the humility of Faith does not extinguish or darken the Light of Reason, but revives and increases it: what is more suitable to uncorrupt Reason, than to believe the Revelation God affords of his own Nature who cannot deceive us? In the State above, where reason is rectified and inlarged, we shall understand that from Eternity God was sole existing, but not solitary; that the Godhead is not confus'd in Unity, nor divided in number; that p. 294there is a priority of Order, but no superiority among the Sacred Persons, but they are all equally possess'd of the same Divine Excellencies, and the same Divine Empire, and are the Object of the same Divine Adoration. Our Saviour tells his Disciples, In that Day ye shall know, that I am in the Father, that is by unity of Essence, and as naturally and necessarily God as the Father. This Promise immediately refers to the time of pouring forth the Holy Ghost upon them, after the Resurrection of our Saviour, but shall be fully accomplish'd in Heaven.

All things of a supernatural Order shall be reveal'd. The great Mystery of Godliness, God manifest in the Flesh, the union of the high Perfections of the Divine Nature, with the innocent Imperfections of the Humane Nature, the contrivance of our Redemption, wherein there is an harmonious concurrence and concord of the principal Attributes of the Deity that seem'd irreconcileable: that product of the Divine Wisdom that is so ador'd by the Angels, that astonishes and saves us, shall be unfolded. The Divine Counsels in governing the World, the Designs, p. 295the Ways, the Orders and Operations of God's Providence shall be conspicuous. In some Dispensations of God, we discern the Eye in the top of his Scepter: the Wisdom, the Rectitude, the equity of his Providence is so visible in the defence of the Innocent, and his Justice and Power in the punishment of the Guilty, that it may convince the Atheists who deny a Providence, and causes all sincere Believers to admire and reverence it. But there are other Dispensations, the immediate Reasons of which are so conceal'd in the Bosom of God, that only the Lamb with whose Blood the Elect to Glory are written in the Book of Life, can reveal: Why the Light of the Gospel was never visible to so many Kingdoms; why many are called, and few chosen, the unsearchable Ways, and incomprehensible Judgments of God, which St. Paul in an extasy admires, which 'tis not lawful to inquire in here, we shall then understand in such a manner, that Light it self is not more clear. How often are the People of God here in miserable Perplexities? and say with the Prophets, Verily thou art a God that hidest thy self, O God of p. 296Israel the Saviour! 'Tis true a stedfast Faith in the Providence of God, that all that he does, and all that he permits and disposes is best, will quiet their Passions, and change the tempestuous Ocean into the pacifick-Sea: but when they are admitted into the Council of State above, and see the immediate Reasons of his Decrees, what a heavenly Wonder, what an exquisite Pleasure will fill their Minds? when the original Fountains of Wisdom, as clear as deep, shall be open'd, what sweet Satisfaction will be shed abroad in their Spirits? They will see the Beauty of Providence in disposing temporal Evils in order to their eternal Felicity: that as in a curious Picture the darkest Tinctures are so dispos'd, as to give Life and Grace to the orient Colours: So all the Afflictions of this State were but shadows or foiles, to make their Faith, and Love, and Patience more resplendent, and their Reward more excellent. What our Saviour said to Peter, is applicable to the impenetrable dispensations of Providence to us in our mortal State: What I do, thou knowest not now, but shall know hereafter: p. 297then the Arcana Imperii, the Secrets of his Counsels, shall be unsealed, and we shall be able to expound the perplexing Riddle, how out of the Eater came Meat, and out of the Strong came Sweetness: we shall understand that his over-ruling Providence is most eminently glorified in extracting Good out of Evil; for we shall know as we are known.

2. I will consider the blessed Effects of the Vision of God in Heaven upon the Saints. Our Saviour tells us, This is Life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. The beginning and introduction of our Felicity, is by a lively Faith here, the consummation of it is by present sight in Heaven. From the Vision of his Glory, there will be a resultance of his likeness imprest on us. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All the Perfection and Happiness of the Saints is comprised in that Promise. The Sun, when the Sky is clear and serene, forms its Image on a Cloud temper'd to receive it, with that orient brightness, that the Eye cannot distinguish between the Copy and the Original. p. 298Thus the uncreated Sun by powerful emanations transforms the Soul into its likeness, in that divine Degree of Holiness and Felicity, as gloriously resembles God. Moses by conversing with God in the Mount, and seeing his back-parts, return'd to the Israelites with such a radiancy in his Face; that they could not look on it without a Vail. What an impression of Glory is in the Saints, who see his Perfections in their infinite lustre? 'Tis the priviledge of Christians in this Life, above the Church under the Law, They behold in the Gospel as in a Glass, the Glory of the Lord, and are chang'd into the same Image, from Glory to Glory: they become more Holy and Heavenly, more purified and adorn'd with his Vertues and Graces. Now if the Vision of Christ here in a Glass, an eclipsing Medium, be so influxive upon Believers, what an illustrious and infallible efficacy has the immediate, clear, and permanent view of his Glory upon the Saints in Heaven? That sight is productive and conservative of his Image in its purity and perfection for ever.

p. 299The Divine Presence affects the Saints with the most humble reverence and solemn veneration of God. This is an eternal respect due from the intellectual Creature to the Creatour, upon the account of his infinite and incommunicable Excellencies. He is distinguish'd not only from Idols, but from Creatures of the highest Order, by his essential supreme, and singular Name, I AM. Every kind of Being, every spark of Life, every degree of Perfection is from his Efficiency, and depends entirely upon his supporting Power. The most eminent Qualities of the Creatures are but in show and appearance, compar'd with the reality and stability of his glorious Nature. In the Scripture, Wisdom, Holiness, Goodness, Power, Truth, Immortality, are attributed to God, with the exclusion of all Creatures from those Prerogatives; they being his essential, infinite and wise incomparable Perfections. They are separable Qualities in the Creatures, like the gilding and enamaling of baser Metal: but in the Deity, they are like substantial massy Gold. There is a vast distance between p. 300created Beings; but the Distance between a Fly, or a Worm, and an Angel, is nothing to the distance between an Arch-angel and God: there being no comparison between finite and infinite. All Creatures equally vanish, and disappear as nothing compar'd to the glorious Creatour. As if one from the Region of the Stars should look down upon the Earth, the Mountains and Hills with the Vallies, would appear one flat Surface, an equal Plain, the height and the lowness of the several parts being indiscernible at that immense distance.

Now in Heaven the Divine Majesty is most visible and most awful and adorable. The sublimest Spirits cover their Faces before his glorious Brightness. The Prophet Isaiah had a representation of Heaven: 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 twain he cover'd his Face, with twain he cover'd his Feet, with twain he did fly. And one cried to another, and said Holy, holy, holy Lord of Hosts, the whole Earth is full of his Glory. They highly honour p. 301him, by the reflection of his separate and peerless Excellencies, his Almighty Power, his Infinite Supremacy and Eternal Empire, in their consert of Praises.

This is the principal Duty of Angels and Men to the blessed Creator for his admirable Perfections, and his excellent Benefits. The Evidence of it is so entire, that the reasonable Mind cannot suspend its Assent: for Goodness and Beauty, the Fruit and the Flower of amiable Things, do so recommend them to the Understanding and Will, that they powerfully allure and engage the Affections. Now these are in God in unspeakable degrees of Eminence. The Prophet breaks out in a rapture, How great is his Goodness, how great is his Beauty!

'Twas a Precept of the Ceremonial Law, that the Firstlings of the Flock, and the first and best Fruits of the Earth should be offer'd to God; not as if the first that open'd the Belly was more valuable in his Account than the last, or the most early Fruits in the Spring more pleasing to him than the later in the Autumn; but 'twas instructive, that our Love, the first born p. 302of the Soul, and the beginning of its strength, should be consecrated to God.

2. In Heaven the Saints as perfectly love God as they know him. The Love of God is the Essential Character of a Saint, that distinguishes him from the Unregenerate. Indeed, it is strange that God, who is infinitely lovely, and infinitely liberal and benificent, should not prevail on the Hearts of all Men; but if we consider the degeneracy of Mankind, how their Minds are depraved and deceived, and their Affections are vitiated, the Wonder will cease. Carnal Men have not due Conceptions of God, and will not attentively observe his amiable Perfections. St. John tells us, He that loveth not, doth not know God. Knowledg is the leading Principle in the Operations of the Soul. There must be a heavenly Eye to discover the heavenly Beauty, before there can be love of it. Now Men are in ignorant darkness, and are defiled in Flesh and Spirit, and therefore cannot love God who is glorious in Holiness. Without resemblance there can be no affectionate Union, which is the Essence of Love. The contrariety p. 303of Dispositions infers a contrariety of Affections. The Scripture expresses this in dreadful Colours: The carnal Mind is enmity against God: the Friendship of the World is enmity with God: that is, Pride, and Covetousness, and Sensuality, which are the Lusts of the Carnal Mind, and are terminated upon worldly Things, are inconsistent with the Love of God. The Justice of God is terrible to the Consciences, and his Holiness odious to the Affections of the Unrenewed; 'Till by Divine Grace the Understanding is enlightned and purified to have right apprehensions of God; till the Will and Affections are cleansed and changed; till there be a resemblance of God's holy Nature, and a conformity to his holy Laws, they are not capable of delightful adhering to him, which is the internal essential Property of Love.

But those who are partakers of the Divine Nature, the holy and heavenly taste, and see how good the Lord is, and according to the Illustrations of the Mind, such are the Impressions upon the Heart; the Love of God in their Breasts here is like smoaking Flax, but in Heaven 'tis a p. 304triumphant Flame. God is the first Fair, the Original of all amiable Excellencies, in whom they shine in their unstained Lustre and Perfection; when he fully reveals himself, and displays the richest Beams of his Love and Glory, how transporting and endearing is that Sight? Our Affections that are now scatter'd on many things, wherein some faint Reflections of his Goodness appear, shall then be united in one full Current to him, who is all in all. In Heaven the immense Treasures of his Grace are reveal'd: That when Man for his rebellious Sin was justly expell'd from Paradise, and under the Sentence of Eternal Death, God should not only pardon, but prefer us to the dignity of his Children, and prepare such a Glory for us, and us for such a Glory. This will inspire the Saints with such ardent Affections, that will make them equal to the Angels, those pure and everlasting Flames of Love to God.

In Heaven we shall be with Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, who is seated at the right Hand of God. And how admirable will he appear to the Sense and Soul of every glorified Saint? p. 305for we shall see the King in his Beauty. When our Saviour was upon the Holy Mount, and one vanishing Beam of Glory appear'd in his Transfiguration, Peter was so transported at the sight, that he forgot the World and himself: How ravishing then will the sight of him in his Triumphant Majesty be, when we shall be transfigur'd our selves? Now while Believers are in the shadows of the earthly State, they love their unseen Saviour with such intense degrees of affection, as deface all the washy Colours, all the vain loves of things in this World: but when they are admitted into his shining Presence, and see him in the day of Celestial Glory; with what an extasy of Affection will they be transported?

We shall then feel the endearing Obligations our Saviour has laid upon us, who ransom'd us with so rich a Price, and purchas'd for us such an unvaluable Inheritance. For in proportion as we shall understand his Greatness in himself, we shall his Goodness to us. The Eternal Son of God descended from the Heaven of Heavens to our lowly Earth; and which is more, from the Majesty wherein he there reign'd, and p. 306was visible to the Angels, he became Man that he might die, to redeem us from the most woful Captivity, from Death, and the sting of Death, Sin, and the strength of Sin, the Law, and obtain a blessed Life and Immortality for us. O unexampled Love! Greater Love hath no Man than this, to lay down his Life for his Friend: And what is the Life of a sinful Man, a vanishing Vapour, a Life mix'd with Troubles and Vexation; and to lay down this for a Friend deservedly dear, is the highest expression of humane Love: But for the Son of God to lay down his Life, a Life without Sin, and without End, for Immortality was a Privilege due to his Innocence, and for Enemies, for the worst Enemies, Rebels by revolture from obedience to their Creator and King, is a Love truly Divine, and infinitely surpassing, not only the Affections, but the understanding and knowledg of all Creatures. Ephes. 3.Eph 3Briefly, he gave his Life for us, and gives himself to us, the most excellent testimonies of Love that we can receive from Love it self, and we shall love him with all the strength of our glorified Spirits.

p. 3073. Union with God by Knowledg and Love, accomplishes the Perfection and Happiness of the Saints. The most pernicious effect of Sin, is the separation of the Soul from God: and the restoral of us to Happiness, is by reunion with him. This we obtain by Christ, who is Emanuel in his Nature, and by Office, who took our Flesh which he offer'd as a Sacrifice to God to atone his Displeasure, and gives his Spirit to dwell in us, as a permanent active Principle, by whose special operation Faith is produc'd in our Hearts; that is, such a belief of his Love in redeeming us, as inspires us with a sincere and superlative Love to him; and by these vital Bands we are united to him, and as his true Members, live the same Life with him in Grace and Glory.

Now in Heaven our Union with God is more near and noble, more intimate and influential, more inseparable and eternal. 'Tis observable in natural Causalties, that what is of a more refin'd and purer Nature, is more active and penetrating, and more closely unites with other things, than what is more gross and material. Light, p. 308which is the purest Quality in the World, actuates all Colours, and makes them visible, and actuates the Eye, and conveys the lively Image of the Object with shining Evidence into it. The Sun shoots its invisible Virtue into the deepest Mines. Fire is more subtile and pure than Water, and will pierce into solid Metals, which the Water cannot soak into. The glowing Iron seems to be all Fire. Now God is the purest Spirit, and of infinite energy, and can unite himself to our Spirits, more intimately than the closest Union between any Creatures in the World. He unites himself to the Understanding by an immediate irradiation, and discovery of his glorious Excellencies. In thy Light, saith the Psalmist, we shall see Light. He unites himself to the Will, by the infusion of his Love, and by that, drawing forth our Love to him. This Union is compleat in Heaven, and most communicative of the Divine Influences to the Saints, and consequently their conformity and fruition of God, is in the highest degrees that created Spirits are capable of. This is the most desireable and perfect State of reasonable Creatures; for God p. 309is the ever-flowing Fountain of Felicity, the only stable Center of the Soul, wherein it reposes it self for ever. Accordingly the Psalmist speaks, Return to thy Rest, O my Soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.

When the Soul opens its Eyes to the clear discoveries of the first Truth, in which is no shadow of Error, and its Breast to the dear and intimate imbraces of the Supream Good, in which is no mixture of Evil, and beyond which nothing remains to be known, nothing to be enjoy'd, what a Deluge of the purest and sweetest Pleasures will overflow it? We cannot ascend in our Thoughts so high, as to conceive the excess of Joy that attends those Operations of the glorified Soul upon its proper Object. But something we may conjecture.

Those who are possess'd with a noble Passion for Knowledg, how do they despise all lower Pleasures in comparison of it? How do they forget themselves, neglect the Body, and retire into the Mind, the highest part of Man, and nearest to God? The bare apprehension of such things that by their internal Nature have no attractive p. 310influence upon the Affections, is pleasant to the Understanding. As the appearance of Light, though not attended with any other visible Beauties, refreshes the Eye after long darkness: So the clear discovery of Truths, how abstract so ever, that were before unknown, is grateful to the intellective Faculty. Thus some have been strangely transported with the pleasure of a Mathematical Demonstration, when the Evidence, not the Importance, of the thing was so ravishing; for what is more dry and barren of delight than the speculation of Figures and Numbers? Solon when near his End, and some of his Friends that visited him were speaking softly of a Point of Philosophy, by that sound of Wisdom was awaken'd from the sleep of Death that was just seizing on him, and opening his Eyes, raising his Head to give attention; being ask'd the reason of it? Answered, That when **Ut cum istud quicquid est de quo disputatis percepero, moriar. Val. Max.I understand what you are discoursing of, I may die. Such was his delight in Knowledg, that a little of it made his Agony insensible.

But here are many Imperfections that lessen this intellectual Pleasure, p. 311which shall cease in Heaven. Here the acquisition of Knowledg is often with the expence of Health: The Flower of the Spirits, necessary for natural Operations, is wasted by intense Thoughts. How often are the Learned sickly? As the Flint when 'tis struck, gives not a spark without consuming it self; So Knowledg is obtain'd by Studies that waste our faint sensitive Faculties. But then our Knowledg shall be a free emanation from the spring of Truth, without our labour and pains. Here we learn by circuit, and discern by comparing things; ignorant darkness is dispell'd by a gradual succession of Light: But then perfect Knowledg shall be infused in a moment. Here, after all our labour and toyl, how little Knowledg do we gain? Every Question is a Labyrinth, out of which the nimblest and most searching Minds cannot extricate themselves. How many specious Errors impose upon our Understandings? We look on things by false Lights, through deceiving Spectacles: But then our Knowledg shall be certain and compleat. There is no forbidden Tree in the Celestial Paradise, as no p. 312inordinate Affection. But suppose that all things in the compass of the World were known, yet still there would be emptiness and anguish in the Mind: for the most comprehensive knowledg of things that are insufficient to make us happy, cannot afford true Satisfaction. But then we shall see God in all his Excellencies, the supream Object and End, the only Felicity of the Soul. How will the sight of his glorious Perfections in the first moment quench our extream Thirst, and fill us with Joy and Admiration? 'Tis not as the naked conception of Treasures, that only makes rich in Idea's, but that Divine sight gives a real interest in him. The Angels are so ravish'd with the Beauties and Wonders of his Face, that they never divert a moment from the contemplation of it.

2. The pure Love of the Saints to God is fully satisfied in the possession and enjoyment of him, and consequently the greatest delight and complacency is shed abroad in their Hearts. Love considered as an Affection of Friendship, is always attended with two Desires; to be assured of Reciprocal Love, and to enjoy the Conversation of the p. 313Person beloved, the testimony of his Esteem and Good-will. This kind of **Aristotle.Affection seems to be inconsistent with that infinite distance that is between God and the Creature. But tho 'tis disproportionable to the Divine Majesty, 'tis proportionable to his Goodness. Accordingly our Saviour promises, He that loves me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and manifest my self unto him. And to confirm our belief of this astonishing Condescention, repeats it, If a Man love me, my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. In the present state, the signs of God's special Favour are exhibited to his Friends. Now he bestows on them the honour of being his Sons, the Graces and Comforts of his Spirit, the precious Earnests of his Love, and Seal of their Redemption. But in eminency of degrees, the Emanations of his Love, and the Effects of his Beneficence, are incomparably more glorious in Heaven. Here the Saints are adopted, there crown'd. There he opens all the bright Treasures of his Wisdom, the Riches of his Goodness, the Beauties of his Holiness, the Glories p. 314of his Power, and by the intimate application of his Presence makes his Love most sensible to them. Infinite Goodness excites and draws forth all the Powers of the Soul, and fills the utmost Capacity and Expansion of the Spirit. From hence perpetual Pleasure and Satisfaction springs. O the pure Delights between God and glorified Souls! God looks on them with an engaged Eye, as his own by many dear Titles, and is ravish'd with the Reflex of his own Excellencies shining in them. As the Bridegroom rejoices over the Bride, ('tis the Language of Divine Love) so their God rejoices over them. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy: he will rest in his love; he will rejoice over thee with singing. He is infinitely delighted in the communication of his Goodness to them. And what a blessed Rest do they find in the compleat fruition of his Goodness? All their Desires quietly expire in his Bosom. What triumphs of Joy follow? Can we frame a fuller Conception of Happiness, than to be perfectly loved by the best and most blessed Being, and perfectly to love him, p. 315and to partake of the richest Emanations of his Loving-kindness, that is far more valuable and desireable than Life it self?

How precious and joyful will the Presence of Christ be to the Saints? 'Twas his Prayer on Earth, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me, where I am, that they may behold my Glory. When the Saints are received into the Everlasting Kingdom, the first Object that draws their admiring regards, is Christ on the Throne. Inestimable Felicity! whether we consider him as the Son of God, in whose conspicuous Countenance all the Glory of his Father shines, or as the Saviour of Men, and the Head of the Elect, upon a double account: partly, that he that loved us, and wash'd us from our Sins in his Blood; after suffering all Indignities and Cruelties for our sake, has received the Reward of his meritorious Sufferings, the triumph of his Victory, being glorified with the Father with the Glory he had before the World was: and partly because every Member shall be conform'd to him in Glory. The sight of the Face of Moses when radiant, had no transforming p. 316Efficacy, for the Light of it was not in him as its Spring but by derivation. But the Son of God is Light essentially, and the sight of his Glory will transform us into his Likeness. And how dear and joyful is the presence of the Saints to Christ? He then sees of the travel of his Soul, the fruit of his sharp Sufferings and bleeding Love, and is satisfied. How delightful is it to him to see all his Spiritual Progeny safely brought to Heaven, and made partakers of his Glory and Joy in his everlasting Kingdom? For according to the extent of the Object, and dearness of the Affection, Joy rises. He will then present them to his Father with infinite complacency; Behold, here am I, and the Children whom thou hast given me.

The dearest Affections of Christ and the Saints in Heaven, are mutual and reflexive. In the Sacred Song, the expressions of Love, Desire, and Joy, borrowed from the espousals of Solomon and his beloved Wife, are, as it were, Characters in the Bark, to be understood in a spiritual Sense, of the Mystical Marriage of Christ and the Church. What endearing entercourse p. 317is there between the most perfect Lover and his Spouse inspir'd with the same pure Flam? Here amiable Perfections attract his Eye and Heart: Thou art all fair, my Love, Cant. 7.Song 7there is no spot in thee. His propriety in the Church is his unvaluable Treasure: My Vineyard which is mine, is ever before me. He repeats the word Mine, in the sweetest and most tender manner. And the Church, with the same harmonious Affections, speaks of Christ. She contemplates in a soft extasy his ever-satisfying Beauty. My Beloved is the chiefest of ten thousand, Cant. 10.16.he is altogether lovely. She breaks forth in triumph, My Beloved is mine, Cant. 6.Song 6and I am his. By all their expressions of joyful Love and Union, we may ascend in our Thoughts, what are the Joys of Heaven, where the Communion of Christ and the Church is entire and uninterrupted for ever? If Faith and Love of our unseen Saviour produce a Joy unspeakable and glorious, as if Believers were wrap'd up to Paradise, or Paradise descended into them, what will the sight and fruition of him? There is as great a difference in degrees between the Joy that flows from p. 318the assurance and application of Faith, and the Joy from Vision and full Possession, as between the impression of Joy the Forerunner of Christ felt, when he sprang in the Womb at the coming of our Saviour; and his ravishing Joy, when he saw Christ, and pointed him out to his Disciples, Behold the Lamb of God, that takes away the Sins of the World.

3. The supream Joy of the Saints is for the Felicity and Glory of God himself. For as the holy Soul feels no more powerful motive to love God, than because he is most worthy of it, as he is God, a Being of infinite Excellencies, and therefore to be loved above the dearest Persons and Things, even it self; so the highest Joy it partakes of is from this consideration, that God is infinitely blessed and glorious. For in this the supream desire of Love is accomplish'd, that the most beloved Object is perfectly honour'd and pleased. In Heaven the Love of the Saints to God is in its highest Perfection, and they see his Glory in the most perfect manner, which causes a transcendent Joy to them. And this is one reason why the Saints, tho shining with unequal degrees of Glory, p. 319are equally content. For their most ardent Love being set on God, that he is pleased to glorify himself by such various communications of his Goodness, is full satisfaction to their Desires. Besides, in those different degrees of Glory, every one is so content with his own, **Sic ita que habebit donum aliud alio minus, ut hic quo que donum habeat, ne velit amplius. Aug.that there is no possible desire of being but what he is.

4. In Heaven the innumerable Company of Angels, and the General Assembly of the Church of the First-born, as they receive Happiness from the sight of God, so they communicate the purest Pleasure to one another. An unfeigned ardent Affection unites that pure Society. Our Love is now kindled, either from a relation in Nature, or a civil Account, or some visible Excellencies that render a Person worthy of our Choice and Friendship: but in Heaven the Reasons are greater, and the degrees of Love incomparably more fervent. All Carnal Alliances and Respects cease in that supernatural State. The Apostle tells us, If I have known Christ after the Flesh, I know him so no more. By the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ he was transported into another World, and had communion p. 320with him as an Heavenly King, without low regards to the temporal Priviledg of conversing with him on Earth. The spiritual Relation is more near and permanent than the strictest Band of Nature. The Saints have all relation to the same Heavenly Father, and to Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace, and Head of that happy Fraternity. The principal Motives of Love here are the inherent Excellencies of a Person. Wisdom, Holiness, Goodness, Fidelity are mighty Attractives, and produce a more worthy Affection, a more intimate confederacy of Souls, than propinquity in Nature, or any carnal respects. Vertue is amiable in an old Person, tho wrinkled and deformed: Vice is hateful in a young Person, tho beautiful. There are clearer Eyes than those of Flesh, a purer Light than what is sensible, a diviner Beauty than what is Corporeal, and a nobler Love than what is sensual. David declares that all his delight was in the Excellent. But there are allays of this Spiritual Love here. For,

1. There are Reliques of Frailty in the best Men on Earth, some Blemishes that render them less amiable when discovered. p. 321Here their Graces are mix'd with Infirmities, and but ascending to Glory. Accordingly our Love to them must be regular, and serene, not clouded with Error, mistaking Defects for amiable Qualities. But in Heaven, the Image of God is compleat, by the union of all the glorious Vertues requisite to its perfection. Every Saint there exactly agrees with the first Exemplar, a Divine Beauty shines in them ever durable, a Beauty that darts no contagious Fire, that is inviolable and can suffer no injury. The Apostle tells us, The Church shall be glorious in Holiness, without spot or wrinkle, or any thing that may cast an Aspect of deformity upon it.

2. In the present state the least part of the Saints Worth is visible. As the Earth is fruitful in Plants and Flowers, but its Riches are in Mines of precious Metals, and the Veins of Marble hidden in its Bosom. True Grace appears in sensible Actions, but its Glory is Within. **O si animum boni viri liceret inspicere, ex magnifico placidó que fulgentem! nonne veluti numinis occursu obstupefacti essemus? Senec.The sincerity of Aims, the purity of Affections, the impresses of the Spirit on the Heart, the interior Beauties of Holiness, are only seen by God. Besides, such is the humility of eminent p. 322Saints, that the more they abound in spiritual Treasures, the less they show. As the heavenly Bodies when in nearest conjunction with the Sun, and fullest of Light, make the least appearance to our sight. But all their Excellencies shall then be in view. The Glory of God shall be revealed in them. And how attractive is the Divine Likeness to an holy Eye? How will it ravish the Saints to behold an immortal Loveliness shining in one another? Their Love is reciprocal, proportionable to the cause of it. An equal, constant Flame is preserv'd by pure Materials. Every one is perfectly amiable, and perfectly enamour'd with all. How happy is that state of Love? The Psalmist breaks out in a Rapture, Behold how good and pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together in Vnity! Love is the Beauty and Strength of Societies, the Pleasure of Life. How excellent is the Joy of the Blessed, when the Prayer of Christ shall be accomplished, that they all may be one; as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. God is absolutely One in his glorious Nature and Will, and therefore unalterably Happy; And p. 323their inviolable Union in Love, is a Ray of the Essential Unity between the Sacred Persons. There are no Divisions of Heart and Tongues, as in this Babel; but the most perfect and sweetest Concord, an Eternal Agreement in Tempers and Inclinations. There are no envious Comparisons; for Love that affectively transforms one into another, causes the Glory of every Saint to redound to the Joy of all. Every one takes his share in the Felicity of all, and adds to it. Such is the Power of that Celestial Fire wherein they all burn, that it melts and mixes Souls in such an entire Union, that by Complacence, and an intimate Joy, the Blessedness of all is, as it were, proper to every one; as if every one were plac'd in the Hearts of all, and all in the Heart of every one. If in the Church of the First-born Christians in the earthly Jerusalem, the Band of Charity was so strict, that 'tis said, the Multitude of Believers were of one Heart, and one Soul; How much more intimate and inseparable is the Union of the Saints in Jerusalem above, where every one loves another as himself? 'Tis recorded of Alexander, that entring with Hephestion his Favorite, into the Pavilion p. 324of the Mother of Darius, then his Prisoner, she bowed to the Favorite, as having a greater appearance of Majesty, thinking him to be Alexander: But advised of her Error, she humbly begg'd his Pardon. To whom the generous King replied,Non errâsti Mater, nam hic Alexander est. Curt. lib. 3. You did not err, Mother, this is also Alexander. Such was their Affection, that whoever was taken of them, the other was taken in him; the less ascending in the greater, without degrading the greater in the less. This is a Copy of the holy Love of the Blessed; but with the same difference, as between the Description of a Star with a Coal, and its Beauty in its proper Aspect. And where all is Love, all is Delight. The Act it self is its own Reward. As that benign and pleasant Affection is enlarged with respect to the Object, and its degrees, such is the complacence and delight that results from it. In that blessed Society there is a constant receiving and returning of Love and Joy. And that double exercise of the Saints, in the perfect circle of Love, is like the pleasant labour of the Bees, who all the day are flying to the Gardens, and returning to their Hives, and all their Art is in p. 325extracting the purest Spirits from fragrant Flowers, and making sweet Honey. O how do they rejoice and triumph in the Happiness of one another? With what an unimaginable tenderness do they embrace? What Reciprocations of Endearments are between them? O their ravishing Conversation, and sweet Entercourse! for their Presence together in Heaven is not a silent Show. In the Transfiguration, Moses and Elias talk'd with Christ: We may understand a little of it, by the sensible complacence that is among sincere Friends here. In pure Amity there is a threefold Union: a Union of Resemblance, that is the principle of it; likeness causes Love: a Union of Affection, that is its Essence; 'tis said of Jonathan, that incomparable Friend, his Soul was knit with the Soul of David, and he loved him as his own Soul: the Union of Conversation, that is requisite to the satisfaction of Love. What an entertainment of Love and Joy is there in the presence and discourses of dear Friends! their mutual Aspects, like a Chain compos'd of Spirits luminous and active, draw and fasten their Souls to one another: The Felicity of p. 326Love consists in their Conversation. Now in Heaven whatever is pleasant in Friendship is in Perfection; and whatever is distastful by Mens Folly and Weakness is abolish'd. With what excellent Discourses do they entertain one another? If David felt such inward Pleasure from the sense of God's Favours, that he could not restrain the expression of it, but invites the Saints, Come and hear, all ye that fear the Lord, and I will tell you what he has done for my Soul. Certainly in Heaven, the Blessed with overflowing Affections recount the Divine Benefits: the admirable Methods, whereby the Life of Grace was begun, preserv'd and carried on in the midst of Temptations; the continual Succession of Mercies in the time of their Hopes, and the Consummation of all in the time of their enjoyment. How joyfully do they concur in their Thanksgivings to God for the Goodness of Creation: in making them reasonable Creatures, capable to know, love and enjoy him, when they might have been of the lowest Order in the whole Sphere of Beings; for his compassionate Care and Providence over them in this World, but especially for his sovereign p. 327and singular Mercy in electing them to be Vessels of Honour; for his powerful Grace, in rescuing them from the cruel and ignominious Bondage of Sin: for his most free Love, that justified them from all their Guilt by the Death of his only Son, and glorified them with himself. They are never weary in this delightful Exercise, but continually bless him for his Mercy that endures for ever. We may judg by the Saints here, when they are in a fit disposition to praise God, what Fervors they feel in their united Praises of him in Heaven. The Psalmist in an Extasy calls to all the parts of the World to join with him; The Lord reigns, let the Heavens rejoice, and the Earth be glad; let the Sea roar, let the Fields be joyful, and all that dwell therein. He desires that Nature should be elevated above it self, that the dead parts be inspired with Life, the insensible feel motions of Joy, and those that want a Voice break forth in Praises, to adorn the Divine Triumph. With what Life and Alacrity will the Saints in their blessed Communion celebrate the Object of their Love and Praises? The Seraphims about the Throne cried to one another, to express their Zeal and Joy, p. 328in celebrating his Eternal Purity and Power, and the Glory of his Goodness. O the unspeakable Pleasure of this Concert! when every Soul is harmonious, and contributes his part to the full Musick of Heaven. O could we hear but some Eccho of those Songs wherewith the Heaven of Heavens resounds, some remains of those Voices wherewith the Saints above triumph in the Praises, in the solemn Adoration of the King of Spirits, how would it inflame our Desires to be join'd with them? Blessed are those that are in thy House, they always praise thee.

3. The fulness of Joy in Heaven is everlasting, without defect, and without end.

1. 'Tis undecaying, the productive Causes are conservative of it, being always equal. Those are the beatifick Object, and the continual fruition of it. Whilst we are here below, the Sun of Righteousness, as to our perception and sense, has Ascensions and Declinations, Accesses and Recesses. And our Earth is not so purified, but some Vapours arise that intercept his chearful refreshing Light. From hence there are alternate successions p. 329of Spiritual Comforts and Sorrows, of Doubts and filial Confidence in the Saints. 'Tis a rare Favour of Heaven, when an humble Believer in his whole course is so circumspect, as not to provoke God to appear displeased against him: When a Christian (as those tutelar Angels spoken of in the Gospel) always beholds the Face of his Heavenly Father, and converses with him with an holy Liberty. And what a torment the hiding of God's Face is to a deserted Soul, only they know who feel it. External troubles are many times attended with more Consolations to the Spirit, than Afflictions to Sense; but to love God with a transcendent Affection, and to fear he is our Enemy, no Punishment exceeds, or is equal to it. As his Loving-kindness in their esteem is better than Life, so his Displeasure is worse than Death. How do they wrestle with God by Prayers and Tears, and offer, as it were, a holy Violence to the King of Heaven, to recover their first serenity of Mind, the lost Peace of Heart? How passionately do they cry out with Job, in the Book of his Patience, O that I were as in months past, Job. 29.2, 3, 4.Job 29:2Job 29:3Job 29:4as in the days when God preserved me: when p. 330his Candle shin'd upon my head, and when by his Light I walk'd through darkness: As I was in the days of my youth, when the Secret of God was upon my Tabernacle. And sometimes God delays the revealing himself even to his dearest Children; not that he does not see their Necessities, and hears their Prayers, or is so hard that till their Extremities he is not moved with Compassion, but for wise and holy Reasons; Either that they may not return to folly, if by any presumptuous Sin they forfeited their Peace; or if they have been careful to please him, yet he may deprive them of Spiritual Comforts for a time, to keep them humble, and that with an obedient resignation to his Sovereign Pleasure they may wait for his reviving Presence. And then Joy returns greater than before. For thus God usually renders with interest what he suspended only for trial. But the Saints above are for ever enlightned with the vital splendor, and dear regards of his Countenance, always enjoy his beamy smiles. A continual effusion of Glory illustrates Heaven and all its blessed Inhabitants.

And their Contemplation of God is fixed. If the Object, though extraordinary p. 331glorious, were transient, or the Eye so weak that it could only see it but by glances, the height of Joy would not be perpetual. But the mind is prepar'd with supernatural vigour, to see the brightness of God's Face, and by the most attentive application always converses with that blessed Object; so that the Joy of Heaven is never intermitted for a moment. They always see, and love, and rejoice, and praise him.

'Tis possible a carnal suspicion may arise in some, as if the uniform perpetual vision of the same Glory might lose its perfect delightfulness. For those who seek for happiness in the vanity of the Creatures, are always desirous of change, and have their Judgments so corrupted, that while they languish with a secret desire after an unchangeable Good, yet they conceive no Good as desireable, that is not changed.

But to correct this gross errour of Fancy, let us a little enquire into the causes of Dissatisfaction, that make the constant fruition of the same thing here to be tedious.

Sensible things are of such a limited Goodness, that not any of them can p. 332supply all our present wants, so that 'tis necessary to leave one for another. And the most of them are Remedies of our diseased Appetites, and if not temperately used, are destructive Evils. Eating and Drinking are to extinguish Hunger and Thirst, but continued beyond just measure, become nauseous. Besides, the Insufficiency of their Objects, the Senses themselves cannot be satisfied all at once. The Ear cannot attend to delightful Sounds, and the Eye be intent on beautiful Colours at the same time. The Satisfaction of one Sense defeats another of enjoying its proper good; therefore the same Object is not constantly pleasant, but the Heart is distemper'd from as many Causes, as there are desires unaccomplish'd. Add farther, all things under the Sun afford only a superficial delight, and miserably deceive the Expectations raised of them: and many times there is a mixture of some evil in them, that is more offensive, than the good is delightful. The Honey is attended with a Sting, so that often those very things we sigh after through vehement desire, when they are obtain'd, we sigh for grief. Now all these Causes of dissatisfaction p. 333cease in Heaven; **Vitae nos taedium tenet timor mortis, natat omne consilium, nec implere nos ulla faelicitas potest. Causa autē est, quod non pervenimus ad illud bonum immensum & insuperabile, ubi necesse est, consistat nobis voluntas nostra, quia ultra summum non est locus. Senec. Ep. 74.for there is an infinite variety in God, and whatever is truly desirable is eminently enjoyed in him. And in his Presence all the Powers of the Soul are drawn out in their most pleasant exercise, and always enjoy their entire happiness. The fruition of him exceeds our most raised hopes, as much as he is more glorious in Himself than in any borrowed Representations. God will be to us incomparably above what we can ask or think. The compass of our thoughts, the depth of our desires are imperfect measures of his Perfections. And as he is a Pure Good in Himself, so he is prevalent over all Evil. 'Tis evident therefore that nothing can allay the Joys of Saints when they are in God's presence.

2. Novelty is not requisite to ingratiate every Good, and make it perfectly delightful. ††foreign. Arist. Eth. l. 7. c. ult.God is infinitely happy, to whom no Good was ever new. 'Tis indeed the Sauce that gives a delicious taste to inferior things. For Men relish only what is eminent; and the good things of this World are so truly mean, that they are feign to borrow a shew of Greatness by comparison with a worse p. 334estate preceding. But an infinite Good produces always the same pure equal compleat Joy, because it arises from its intrinsick perfection, that wants no Foil to commend it. The Psalmist breaks forth, Whom have I in Heaven but Thee? This is no vanishing Rapture, but a constant joyful height of Affection. God, the essential Happiness of the Saints, is always perfectly lovely and delightful to them.

3. The glorified Saints in every Period of their happy state, have as lively a perception of it as in the beginning. To make this evident, we must consider that the pleasure of Novelty springs from a quick sense of the opposite terms, between our condition in the want of some desired Good, and after our obtaining it. Now the Mind is more intense on the advantage, and more strongly affected at first. One newly freed from the torments of a sharp disease, feels a greater pleasure than from a constant tenour of health. Those who are rais'd from a low state to eminent Dignity, are transported with their first change, but in tract of time the remembrance of their mean condition is so weakned and spent, that 'tis p. 335like the shadow of a Dream, and proportionably their Joy is lessened. Honours like Perfumes, by custom are less sensible to those that carry them. But the Saints above always consider and feel the excellent difference between their suffering and triumphant state. They never lose that ravishing part of felicity, the vivid sense of past evils. Their reflections are always as strong on the Misery from whence they were rais'd to the pitch of Happiness, as in their first glorious Translation. In what an Extasy of wonder and pleasure will they be, from the fresh memory of what they were, and the joyful sense of what they are? I was (says the admiring Soul) poor, blind, and naked; but O miraculous and happy Alteration! I am full of Light, enrich'd with the Treasures of Heaven, adorn'd with Divine Glory. I was under the tyrannous power of Satan, but he is bruised under my feet. I was sentenc'd to an everlasting separation from the Presence of God, my only Life and Joy; but now am possest of my supream Good. O how transporting is the comparison of these wide and contrary extreams? How beautiful and pleasant is the Day p. 336of Eternity, after such a dark tempestuous Night? How does the remembrance of such Evils produce a more lively and feeling fruition of such Happiness? How strangely and mightily does Salvation with Eternal Glory affect the Soul? This gives a spritely accent to their everlasting Hallelujahs. This preserves an affectionate Heat in their Thanksgivings to their Victorious Deliverer. And thus their Happiness is always the same, and always new. Their Pleasure is continued in its Perfection.

The number of Possessors cannot lessen their Felicity. The Divine Presence is an unwasted Spring of Pleasure, equally full and open to all, and abundantly sufficient to satisfy the immensity of their Desires. Envy reigns in this World, because earthly things are so imperfect in their Nature, and so peculiar in their Possession, that they cannot suffice, nor be enjoyed by all. But in Heaven none is touch'd with that base low Passion: for God contains all that is precious and desirable in the highest degrees of Perfection, and all partake of his Universal Goodness without intercepting one another. p. 337In the Kingdom of Heaven there is no cause for the Elder Brother to repine at the Father's Bounty to the Younger, nor for the Younger to supplant the Elder to obtain the Birth-right. The Heirs of God are all rais'd to Sovereign Glory, and every one enjoys him as entirely and fully as if solely his Felicity. God is a Good as indivisible as infinite, and not diminished by the most liberal communications of Himself. We may illustrate this by comparing the Price of our Redemption, and the Reward. The Death of Christ is a universal Benefit to all the Saints, yet 'tis so applied to every Believer for his perfect Redemption, as if our Saviour in all his Agonies and Sufferings had no other in his Eye and Heart, as if all his Prayers, his Tears, his Blood were offer'd up to his Father only for that Person. The common respect of it the Apostle declares in those admirable words, that signify such an excess of God's Love to us, He that spared not his own Son, but deliver'd him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? But to imagin that the **Et totum se dedit universis, & totum singulis. Ac per hoc quicquid passione sua Salvator praestitit, sicut totum ei debent universi, sic singuli; nisi quod propè hoc plus singuli quam universi, quod totum accepe run… singu… quantum un… versi. Salvian.propriety of every Believer is thereby prejudiced, is not only false, p. 338but extreamly injurious to the Merit and Dignity, and to the infinite Love of Christ. Therefore the same Apostle tells us, The Life which I now live in the Flesh, I live by the Faith of the Son of God; who loved me, and gave himself for me: as if he were the sole Object of Christ's Love, the End and Reward of his Sufferings. And this appropriating of it to himself, is no prejudice to the Rights of all others. St. John describes himself by that truly glorious Title, The Disciple whom Jesus loved. Could he speak this of himself without the injury and indignation of the other Disciples? Certainly he might. For if we consider that incomprehensible Love of Christ, exprest to them all at his last Supper, after Judas was gone forth; As the Father hath loved me, so I have loved you; we may easily understand, that every one of them might justly believe that he was singularly beloved of Christ. They were all received in the Heart, though (with John) they did not all lean on the Breast of their Divine Master. Thus in Heaven God is the universal Treasure of all the Saints, and the peculiar Portion of every one, not engross'd by possessing, nor wasted p. 339by enjoying. **Si audiat multitudo silens, non inter se particulatim comminuunt sonos, tanquam cibos: sed omne quod sonat & omnibus totum est, & singulis totum. August. in Ep. ad Volusan.As by his Essence he equally fills the whole World, and every part of it; and by his Providence equally regards all and every particular Creature; so in Heaven he dispenses the Riches of his Love to all, that they cannot desire more, if every one of them were the sole Heir of all the Merits of his Son, and enjoyed him alone for ever.

2. The Blessedness of the Saints, as 'tis without diminution, so 'tis without end: 'tis compleat and continual for ever. This makes Heaven to be Heaven; the Security is as valuable as the Felicity. There is no satiety of the present, no solicitude for the future. Were there a possibility, or the least suspicion of losing that happy State, it would cast an aspersion of bitterness upon all their Delights; it would disturb their peaceful Fruition, and joyful Tranquillity: as Hope in Misery allays Sorrow, so Fear in Happiness dashes Joy: and the more excellent the Happiness is, the more stinging would be the fear of losing it. But the Inheritance reserved in Heaven, is immortal, undefiled, and fades not away. And the Tenure of their Possession is p. 340infinitely firm, by the Promise of God, who is truly immutable, and immutably true, and by the Divine Power, the support of their everlasting Duration. Our Saviour assures his Disciples, Because I live, ye shall live also: and he lives for evermore. This blessed Priviledg the Saints have by Jesus Christ, (who obtain'd eternal Redemption for them) above the Grace given to Angels and Men in the first Creation. The Angels were upon trial of their Obedience, not in a determin'd State of Felicity. The first declination of Love and Subjection, was fatal to them. Woful Change! how unlike to themselves in their Original Purity and Glory! an unparallel'd Example of the Frailty of the Creature, and the Divine Severity. Man did stand in Paradise for a little while, and had a ruinous Fall with all his Progeny. But the glorified Saints sit with Christ in Heavenly Places, and enjoy an unchangeable Happiness, as permanent as the everlasting Author of it, and the everlasting Soul the Subject of it. With God is the Fountain of Life. Who can pluck them out of the Hands and Bosom of a Gracious God? He will never p. 341withdraw his Love, and they shall never forfeit it: for Sin is from the perversness of the Will and the disorder of the Affections, join'd with some Error of the Mind. But in the Light of Glory, and full enjoyment of God, the Understanding is so perfectly illuminated, the Will and Affections so exceedingly satisfi'd, that 'tis impossible they should apprehend erroneously, or desire irregularly. God is Love, and will kindle in the Saints a pure Affection that Eternity shall not lessen. In the present state, our Love is imperfect; and as Fire out of its Sphere dies away by our neglect to feed it by proper Materials, enamouring Considerations of God. But in Heaven the uncreated Sun attracts every Eye with the Light of his Beauty, and inflames every Heart with the heat of his Love. The glorious Presence of God is in different respects the Cause and Effect of our Love to him, for the sight of God is the most powerful Attractive to love him, and Love fixes the Mind upon him. And the persevering Love of God assures the constant fruition of him: for by Love the supreme Good is possess'd and enjoyed. The Apostle p. 342tells us, Charity never fails, and therefore the Happiness of Heaven never fails. They enjoy a better Immortality, than the Tree of Life could have preserved in Adam. The Revolutions of the Heavens, and Ages, are under their Feet, and cannot in the least alter or determine their Happiness. After the passing of Millions of Years, still an entire Eternity remains of their enjoying God. O most desireable State! where Blessedness and Eternity are inseparably united. O joyful Harmony! when the full Chorus of Heaven shall sing, This God is our God for ever and ever. This adds an infinite weight to their Glory. This redoubles their Joys with infinite sweetness and security: for the direct pleasure of enjoying God, is attended with the pleasant reflection it shall continue for ever. They repose themselves in the compleat fruition of their Happiness. God reigns in the Saints, and they live in him for ever. Eternity crowns and consummates their Felicity.