Dying Thoughts Upon Philippians 1:23, Part 4

Dying Thoughts Upon Philippians 1:23 · Part 4

p. 163IV. The Conſtitutive Reaſons from the ſtate of my will.

§ 1. But it is the WILL that is to the Soul, what the Heart is to the Body: As it is the prime …eat of Morality, p. 164ſo is it the chief ſeat of Felicity. My greateſt Evil … there; and my greateſt ſubjective Good will be there. Satan did moſt againſt it, and God will do moſt for it. And will it not be better with Chriſt than here?

1. It will not there by tyed to a body of croſs intereſts and inclinations, which is now the greateſt ſnare and enemy to my Soul? Which is ſtill drawing my love, and care, and fears, and ſorrows, to and for it ſelf, and turning them from my higheſt intereſt. How great a deliverance will it be, to be freed from the temptations, and the inordinate love, and cares, and fears for this corruptible Fleſh?

2. My will ſhall not there be tempted by a world of inferiour good, which is the bait and proviſion for the Fleſh, where Meat, and Sleep, and Poſſeſſions, Houſe, Lands, and Friends, are all become my ſnares and danger: Gods mercies will not be made there the Tempters inſtruments: I ſhall not there have the Flatteries or frowns, promiſes or threatnings of the Tyrants of the World to tempt me: Bad company will not infect me, nor divert me: The errours of good men wi…l not ſeduce me; nor reputation or reverence of the Wiſe, Learned, or Religious draw me to imitate them in any ſin.

3. I ſhall there have none of Satans ſolicitations, to pervert my will: He will not have that advantage by my Senſe and Phantaſie, nor that acceſs unto me as now he hath. But of this I ſpake before.

§ 2. My WILL ſhall there be better than here, I. Negatively, becauſe, 1. There will be nothing in it that is diſpleaſing to God: No ſinful inclination, habit or act: Nothing to ſtrive againſt God's Spirit: Nor grudge at any word or work of God: No Principles of Enmity or Rebellion left. 2. There will be nothing p. 165that is againſt the good of others: No inclinations to injury, or any thing that is againſt my Neighbours or the common good. 3. There will be nothing in it that is croſs to itſelf; no more war or ſtriving in me; not a Law in my Mind, and a Law in my Members that are contrary to each other: No croſsneſs between Senſe and Reaſon, nor between the ſenſitive Appetite and the rational: All will be at unity and peace within.

§ 3. II. Poſitively; Chriſt will have finiſhed his cure on my will: The work of Sanctification will be perfect: And I. My will ſhall there by union and communion be made conformable to the will of Chriſt, and ſo unto the Fathers will. This muſt needs be meant (whatever more) in the Prayer of Chriſt, Joh. 17. 21, 22. Where he prayeth [that they may be One as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in us, that they may be one, even as we are one.] The will of Chriſt and of the Father will be my will, that is, I ſhall love and will (diſpoſitively and actually) the ſame that God loveth and willeth (in the meaſure of a Creature, infinitely below him:) And if ſo, 1. How can the will of Man have greater honour, than to be the ſame with the will of God? Aſſimilation to a King among us poor Mortals goeth for Honour: Aſſimilation to Angels is much more: That we ſhall be like or equal to the Angels, is a high part of the Bleſſeds praiſe: But how much more is it, to be thus far like to God! Indeed God's Image and the Divine in us here, can be no leſs, than this ſimilitude to God's will in the degree that we have it: But, alas, that degree is ſo very low, as that we can hardly tell whether our ſimilitude or our diſſimilitude be the more; I mean, whether our wills are for more that God willeth, or againſt more. O how many Thouſand wiſhes and deſires p. 166have we had, which are againſt the will of God! But there we ſhall have the full impreſſion of God's will upon our wills, as Face anſwereth Face in a Glaſs▪ or as the Wax anſwereth the Seal: As the Finger on the outſide, anſwereth the motion of the Clock within, ſo in all things which belong to our duty and perfection, we ſhall anſwer the will of God. As the Eccho anſwereth the Voice, defectively, but truly, without contradiction or diſcord, ſo will our wills be as the Eccho of God's will.

2. And then I am ſure that there will be nothing in my will but good! For God willeth no evil.

3 And this will be virtually all obedience! For all ſin is voluntary, and all Moral good is primarily in the will.

4. And then there can be no matter of diſquiet in me, but all will be in perfect Peace; for all that is like God will be pleaſing both to God and me: No troubling croſsneſs will remain.

5. And how eaſy and ſweet then will all my obedience be, when I ſhall perfectly will it, without any reluctancy or averſneſs? All will be my very pleaſure, that I do.

§ 4. II. And ſeeing my will ſhall be the ſame with the will of God, it followeth that it ſhall never be fruſtrate, but I ſhall have all whatſoever I would have, and ſhall be and do whatſoever I would be and do? For I ſhall deſire nothing but what God willeth; and God's will ſhall certainly be done: I ſhall have as much Love and Joy as I would have: I ſhall be as happy as I would be: I ſhall deſire nothing for others but it ſhall be done: Indeed if God's will were there unknown to me, I might ignorantly go againſt it, as I do here: But there before I will or deſire any thing, I ſhall know whether it be God's will or not: So that I ſhall never wiſh any p. 167thing, which ſhall not be accompliſhed: An I as it is God's Perfection to have his will alway done (though all his Laws be not obeyed,) ſo my Perfection ſhall conſiſt in this likeneſs unto God, that my will ſhall be ſtill fulfilled. And then Chriſt's promiſes will be perfectly performed, Whatſoever ye ask the Father in my Name he will give it you, Joh. 15. 16. &. 16. 2…. &. 14. 13, 14. & 15. 7. Ye ſhall ask what you will, and it ſhall be done unto you: While their will was the ſame with the will of Chriſt: But he ſaith not that it ſhall all be given us here: we ask for Perfection, and we ſhall have it, but not here.

§ 5. III. Yea my will it ſelf ſhall be my Fruition: For it ſhall not be the will of one in need; a deſire of what I want; for I ſhall want nothing: Therefore it is ſaid that we ſhall Thirſt no more: But it will be a Complacency in what I do poſſeſs: And in this alſo my perfection will be the Image of God's perfection: Not but that all Creatures ſtill Receive from God, and in that ſenſe may be ſaid to need, in that they have nothing of themſelves, but all by gift and communication from him: But being ſtill and full poſſeſſours they cannot properly be ſaid to want▪ Complacency in that which we poſſeſs is Love and Pleaſure in one act: And indeed Pleaſure and Love are the ſame thing: To Love any thing is to have that thing to be Pleaſing to my mind. Even when it is wanted, it is thought on a pleaſing thing, and therefore deſired; ſo that the deſiring act of the Will is but a ſecond act occaſioned by want, and following the firſt act, which is Complacency or ſimple Love. I deſire it becauſe I love it. Rightly therefore is the Will itſelf called LOVE; for in the firſt act, Love, Will, and Rational Appetite are all words of the ſame ſignification. My will therefore muſt needs be perpetually full of perfect JOY, when enjoying Love and Pleaſure p. 168will be my will itſelf: Thus ſhall I have in me the Spring of Living Waters; and the Comforter will then perfectly do his work; when my conſtant will itſelf ſhall be Comfort: well therefore is Glory ſaid to be the …erfection of ſanctifying Grace: when this Grace is the beginning of that Love and Joy which Glory is the Perfection of: And Perfection is the Spirits work.

§ 6. IV. And it will be much of my felicity that my Will ſhall be confirmed and fixed in this conformity to the will of God, and holy LOVE will be its Nature. Now both underſtanding and will are ſo lamentably mutable, that further than God promiſeth to uphold us, we know not one day, what we ſhall think, judge or Will the next. But when Love is as a fixed Nature in us, we ſhall be ſtill the ſame, adhering to amiable goodneſs, without intermiſſion or Ceſſation: It will be as eaſy to us (and more) to love God and Holineſs, as it is to the Hungry and Thirſty to love meat and drink, or to the proud to love praiſe or domination; yea or to any Man to love his life. And we ſhall be no more weary of Loving, than the Sun is of ſhining, or than the Hungry is of Feaſting, or a Friend of friendly love and converſe: Nay the Compariſon is quite too low; for all Creatures here have a fading vanity which wearieth the ſatiated or failing Appetite; but there is no ſuch thing in Heaven.

§ 7. II. And as from the nature of that act, ſo much more from the nature of the Object, my love will appear to be my happineſs: The Objects (which are as the Matter of the act) will be theſe.

1. GOD himſelf will be the full and everlaſting Object of my Love. And he that could but underſtand as well as thoſe in Heaven do, what this word ſignifieth p. 169[to LOVE GOD and be BELOVED of him] would ſay that there needs no other deſcription of perfect happineſs! Perfect joyful Complacency in God is the Heaven which I deſire and hope for. This is my Felicity, and much more. As I am the Agent of Love to God, and the Object of God's Love to me, it is my Felicity: As God is the ultimate Object of my Love, and the Agent of his Love to me (that is, of the effects of it,) ſo it is unſpeakably more high and excellent than to be my felicity: Love is the cloſure of the Wills of God and Man: And as it is God's part or intereſt (efficiently or objectively) it is infinitely more excellent, than as it is my part and intereſt.

§ 8. In GOD there is all that Love can deſire for its full everlaſting Feaſt. 1. He is Infinitely good in himſelf, that is moſt amiable: And the nature of Man's will is to love Good as Good: Could we love God with a Love that is adequate to the Object, we ſhould be God our ſelves which is impoſſible; none but God can adequately know God or Love him: In God's Love to Himſelf, both the Act and Object are Infinite, and indeed are both one, there being not that formally which we know by the name of Act and Object; but [Act and Object] are our analogical inadequate conceptions of that Act of God which is his Eſſence. But in our Love to God, the Act is finite and infinitely below the Object: Yea, the Object which in reality … itſelf infinite, yet proximately as the eſſe Cognitum is the Object of our Love, is finite there: It is the Conception or Idea of God in the Intellect, which is the proper and neareſt Object of the Will: And this is as a Face in a Glaſs, a ſhadow; even the finite little ſhaddow of an infinite Being. The ſame Infinite good is a felicity to diver… Perſons in divers degrees according as they diverſly love him, and are receptive of his Love.

p. 170§ 9. 2. God who is infinitely Good in himſelf, will be that moſt ſuitable Good to me, and meeteſt for the deareſt embracements of my will. For, 1. He hath All in himſelf that I need or can deſire: There is no Room, nothing above him, or beyond him, or without him, for love to cleave to: (Though Below him the Creature, though not being without him, is loved without him, by the deception of the mind.)

§ 10. 2. He is willing to be loved by me: He diſdaineth not my Love: He might have refuſed to be embraced by ſuch affections, as have ſo oft and ſinfully polluted themſelves by embracing vanity and filth: As Perſons of ſtate and ſtately cleanlineſs will not be touched by filthy hands; much leſs let Dogs or dirty Swine leap on them which come from wallowing in the mire: God might have driven me away from the happineſs of loving him; and have denyed me the leave for ſo high a work: But he commandeth my Love, and maketh it my greateſt duty: He inviteth and intreateth me, as if he were a gainer by my happineſs: He ſeeketh to me to ſeek to him, and as he is the firſt, ſo is he the moſt earneſt ſuiter: He is far readier to receive my Love, than I am to give it him. All the compaſſionate invitations which I have had from him here, by his Word and Mercies, aſſure me that he will there receive me readily; he that ſo valued my poor cold imperfect love to him on Earth, will not reject my perfect love in Heaven: He that made it the great work of his Spirit to Effect it, will not refuſe it when it is made perfect by himſelf.

§ 11. 3. And he is near to me, and not a diſtant God out of my reach, and ſo unſuitable to my Love: Blind Unbelievers may dream that he is far off; but he is as near us even now, as we are to our ſelves: He is not far from any of us, for in him we live, and move, and p. 171have our being: The Light of the Sun is not ſo nea… my Eyes, as God will be for ever to my Mind. When he would ſanctifie us to love him, he bringeth us nigh to him in Christ. As we love our ſelves eaſily as being, as they ſay, the neareſt to our ſelves: So we ſhall as eaſily love God as our ſelves, when we ſee …at he is as near us as we are to our ſelves, as well as that he is infinitely more Amiable in himſelf.

§ 12. 4. And becauſe of the imparity of the Creature and the Creator, he hath provided ſuch Means to demonſtrate to us his nearneſs, as are neceſſary to the exerciſe of our Love: We ſhall ſee his G…o…y and taſte his Love in our glorified Mediator, and in the G…o…y of the Church and World: God will condeſcend to ſhew himſelf to us according to our Capacities of beholding him: Here we ſee him in his Works and Word, and there we ſhall ſee him in the glory of all his perfect Works. But this leadeth me to the ſecond Object of my Love.

§ 13. II. Under God as I ſhall ſee, ſo I ſhall delightfully Love the glorious Perfection of the Univerſe; even the Image of God in all the World; as my Love will be my delight, ſo I ſhall love beſt that which is beſt, and moſt delight in it: And the whole is better than any part: And there is a peculiar Beauty and Excellency in the whole World, as perfect, compaginate, harmonious, which is not to be found in any part, no not in Chriſt himſelf as Man, nor in his Church.

The marvellous inclination that all things have to Union, even the Inanimates, might perſuade me, if I felt it not certainly in my ſelf, that it is moſt credible that Man alſo ſhall have the like inclination, and ſuch as is agreeable to the nature of his Faculties: And therefore our love and delight in all things, is that uniting inclination in Man.

p. 172§ 14. III. And I ſhall have a ſpecial Love to the Holy Society, the triumphant Univerſal Church, conſiſting of Chriſt, Angels, and Saints, as they are ſpecially amiable, in the Image and Glory of God: God himſelf loveth them more than his inferiour works: (that is, his Eſſence, which is Love, and hath no degrees or change, doth ſend forth fuller ſtreams of good upon them, or maketh them better and happier than the reſt:) And my love will imitate the love of God, in my Capacity. And if Societies on Earth, more holy and wiſe than others, though imperfectly, are very amiable, what then will the heavenly Society be? Of this I ſpake before (of knowing them.)

§ 15. 1. Think here, O my Soul, how ſweet a ſtate▪ unto thee it will be to Love the Lord Jeſus thy glor…fied Head with perfect love! When the glory of God which ſhineth in him, will feaſt thy love with full and everlaſting pleaſure: The higheſt created Perfection of Power, Wiſdom, and Goodneſs, refulgent in him, will not give leave to thy Love, to ceaſe, or intermit, or abate its fervour. When thou ſhalt ſee in the glorified Church the precious fruits of Chriſt's Redemption, Grace, and Love, this alſo will feed thy love to him, from whom this heavenly Glory cometh: And when thou ſhalt feel thy ſelf poſſeſt of perfect happineſs, by his Love to thee, will not this alſo do its part? Yea the remembrance of all his former Love; what he did for thee, and what he did in thee here on Earth, how he called thee with a Holy calling, how he waſhed thee in his Blood from all thy ſins, how he kindled in thee thoſe deſires which tended to that perfect Glory, how he renewed thy Nature, how he inſtructed, and guided, and preſerved thee from thy Childhood, and how many and how great ſins, enemies, dangers, and p. 173ſufferings he ſaved thee from, all this will conſtrain thee Everlaſtingly to love him: Thus, (though he give the Kingdom to the Father as ceaſing his Mediatory, healing, ſaving work of acquiſition) he will be to thee the Mediator of fruition: God in him will be acceſſible, and condeſcend to a ſuitable communion with us, Joh. 17. 24. And as Chriſt is thy Life, radically and efficiently, as he is the giver of Grace and the Spirit of Love, ſo he will be Objectively thy Life as he is Lovely, and it will be formally thy Life to Love him, and God in him for ever.

§ 16. 2. Think alſo, O my Soul, how delectable it will be to Love, (as well as to know) thoſe Angels that moſt ſervently love the Lord! They will be lovely to thee as they have loved thee, and more as they have been Lovers and Benefactors to the Church and to Mankind; but far more as they are ſo many refulgent Stars which continually move, and ſhine, and burn in pureſt love to their Creator. O bleſſed difference between that amiable Society of holy Spirits, and this dark, mad, diſtracted, wicked World! Here Devils tempt me within, and Devils incarnate perſecute me without: Blaſpheming of God, reviling godlineſs, deriding the Sacred Scriptures, and Sacred exerciſes, malignant ſlandering of the Servants of God, hating, perſecuting, ſilencing and ſaying all manner of evil falſly of them, for their Righteouſneſs ſake, while ſuch Crimes are pretended as they once falſly charged on Chriſt himſelf; this is the Converſation of thoſe that I have long dwelt with in this World: Atheiſm, Infidelity, Papal Church tyranny, bloody Wars, deſtroying the Righteous, oppreſſing the Poor, Adultery and Fornication, Stigmatizing-Perjury, Ambition, Violence, Covetouſneſs, deceit, ſottiſh Ignorance, wilfulneſs in Sin, hatred of Reproof, revengeful p. 174Malice; theſe and ſuch like are the fruits of the Soil where I have long ſojourned (Though through the Grace of Chriſt among the faithful there have been better fruits:) And is not the Company of Holy Angels better than this? With whom God is all; who are even made up of ſhining Wiſdom, and holy Lov…, and beneficent activity: who are the bleſſed Cho…e that melodiouſly ſing forth the high Praiſes of their Maker: Among whom God dwelleth as in his preſence Chamber or his Temple, and in whom he taketh his great delight: With theſe I ſhall ſee or hear no evil: No mixture of fools or wicked Ones do pollute or trouble their Society: There will be no falſe Doctrine, no evil Example, no favouring Wickedneſs, no accuſing Goodneſs, no hurtful Violence, but holy, powerful, operative Love, will be all and do all, as their very Nature, Life, and Work. And is it not better be a Door-keeper there than to dwell in the Pallaces of Wickedneſs! And is not a Day with them better than a Thouſand here?

§ 17. 3. And with the holy Angels I ſhall love holy Souls that are made like unto them and joined with them in the ſame Society (and it is likely with them Judge, that is, Rule the World.) All their infirmities are there put off with the Fleſh; they alſo are Spirits made up of holy Life, and Light, and Love: There is none of their former ignorance, errour, imprudence, ſelfiſhneſs, contentiouſneſs, impatience, or any other troubling hurtful thing. When I think with what fervent love to God, to Jeſus Chriſt, and to one another, they will be perfectly united there, alas, how ſad and how ſhameful is it, that they ſhould here be prone to diſaffections and diviſions, and hardly agree to call each other the Servants of God, or to worſhip God in the ſame Aſſembli… ▪ p. 175But the remnants of dividing Principles (viz. Pride, Errour and Uncharitableneſs) will be all left behind. Society with imperfect Saints is ſweet: The imperfect Image of God upon them is amiable: But their frailties here are ſo vexatious, that it is hard to live with ſome of them in Peace. But perfect Love will make them one, and O how delightful will that communion of Saints be. I can never forget how ſweet God hath made the courſe of my Pilgrimage, by the fragrancy and uſefulneſs of his Servants graces: How ſweet have my boſom Friends been, (though mutable?) How ſweet hath the Neighbourhood of the godly been? How ſweet have the holy Aſſemblies? And how many hours of comfort have I there had? How profitable have their Writings, their Conference, and their Prayers been? What then will it be to live in the union of perfect Love with perfect Saints in Heaven for ever, and with them concordantly to love the God of Love?

§ 18. III. And as the Act and the Object of LOVE will conſtitute my felicity, ſo will my Reception from the Love of God, and his Creatures be ſweeter to me than my own activity can be: For it is Mutual Love that makes it up. I ſhall not be the Fountain of my own delights; nor can I act till I am acted, nor offer any thing to God, but what I have firſt received from him. And Receive I ſhall abundantly and continually, and from thence ſhall overflow to God, and Receiving and Returning (are now and) will be, the circular endleſs motion, and our true perpetual Life and Happineſs.

§ 19. I. All my Receivings ſhall be from God. His LOVE is not a meer Immanent Will, nor a Wiſh which toucheth not the Object: But it is what Heat is in or p. 176from the Sun or Fire: It is an efflux of Goodneſs: It is the moſt powerful, ſweet, communicating Principle or Work. All Love is communicative; but none in compariſon of Gods: As there is none primitive and ſimply good but God. How much doth Love in the affairs of men? All that is pleaſant in the World is it, or its effects. Were it not for ſenſual Love there would be no Generation of Man or Bruits: God hath made it a generating Principle: Hatred cauſeth not congreſs, but fighting with or flying from one another: Were it not for Natural Love, Mothers would never endure the pain, and trouble, and care, which is neceſſary to humane Birth and Education: Were it not for Love, Parents would never labour all their lives to leave their Children well inſtructed and well provided for when they are gone. My Food would not pleaſe me, did I not love it, and I ſhould neglect it to the neglect of my life: Did I not love my Books and Learning itſelf, I ſhould never have beſtowed ſo much of Threeſcore Years in poring on them, and ſearching for Knowledge as I have done: Did I not love my Houſe, my Conveniences and neceſſaries I ſhould neglect them; and they would be to me of ſmall uſe: Did I not love my Friends, I ſhould be leſs profitable to them and they to me: Did not I love my Life, I ſhould neglect it, and never have endured the labour and coſt about it as I have done! If a Man love not his Courtrey, Poſterity and the common good, he will be as a burdenſom Drone in the Hive, or as pernicious Vermine. What is done in the World that is good, but by LOVE?

And if created Love be ſo neceſſary, ſo active, ſo communicative, how much more will the infinite Love of the Creator be? His Love is now the Life of the p. 177World: His Love is the Life of Nature in the Living, the life of Holineſs in Saints; and the life of glory in the Bleſſed. In this infinite Love it is that I and all the Saints ſhall dwell for ever more. And if I dwell in LOVE, and LOVE in me, ſurely I ſhall have its ſweet and plenteous communication; and ſhall ever drink of the Rivers of Pleaſure. It is pleaſant to Nature to be Beloved of others: Eſpecially of the great, and wiſe, and good: much more to have all the communications of Love, in converſe and gifts, in plenty and continuance, which may be ſtill expreſſing it to our greateſt benefit! Had I a Friend now that did for me but the hundredth part of what God doth, how dearly ſhould I love him? Think then, think believingly, ſeriouſly, conſtantly, O my Soul, what a life thou ſhalt live for ever in the Preſence, the Face, the Boſom of infinite Eternal Love? He now ſhineth on me by the Sun, and on my Soul, by the Sun of Righteouſneſs but it is as through a Lanthorn, or the creviſes of my darkſom Habitation: But then he will ſhine on me, and in me, openly and with the fulleſt ſtreams and beams of Love.

§ 20. God is the ſame God in Heaven and Earth, but I ſhall not be the ſame Man; Here I receive comparatively little, but live in darkneſs, doubtful and frequent ſorrows; becauſe my Receptivity is leſs: The windows of my Soul are not open to his light: Sin hath raiſed clouds, and conſequently ſtorms againſt my comforts: The enterances to my Soul by the ſtreights of Fleſh and Senſe are narrow; and they are made narrower by ſin than they were by Nature, Alas how oft would Love have ſpoken comfortably to me, and I was not at home, to be ſpoken with, but was abroad among a world of Vanities; or was not at leiſure; or was aſleep and not willing to be awaked! p. 178How oft would LOVE have come in and dwelt with me, and I have unkindly ſhut my doors againſt him! How oft would he have been with me in ſecret where he freely would embrace me, but I had ſome pleaſing company or buſineſs which I was loth to leave! How oft would he have feaſted me, and had made all ready, but I was taken up and could not come; …ay, when his Table hath been ſpred before me, Chriſt, Grace and Glory have been offered to me, my Appetite hath been gone or dull, and all hath been almoſt neglected by me, and hath ſcarce ſeemed pleaſant enough to be accepted, or to call off my mind from luſcious Poyſon! How oft would he have ſhined upon me, and I have ſhut my windows or mine eyes: He was jealous indeed, and liked not a Partner: He would have been All to me, if I would have been All for him: But I divided my Heart, my Thoughts, my Love, my Deſires, and my Kindneſſes; and alas, how much did go beſides him? yea, againſt him to his Enemies, even when I knew that all was loſt, and worſe than loſt, which was not his? What wonder then if ſo fooliſh and unkind a ſinner, had little pleaſure in his Love; and if ſo great ingratitude and neglect of Soveraign goodneſs, were puniſhed with ſuch ſtrangeneſs, and fears, and faintings, as I have long with groans lamented? Recipitur ad modum recipientis.

But in Heaven I ſhall have none of theſe obſtructions: All old unkindneſs and ingratitude will be forgiven: The great reconciler in whom I am beloved, will then have perfected his work: I ſhall then be wholly ſeparated from the vanity which here deceived me! My open Soul will be prepared to receive the heavenly influx: With open Face I ſhall behold the open Face of glorifying Love; I ſhall joyfully attend his Voice; and p. 179delightfully reliſh the Celeſtial Proviſions! No diſeaſe will corrupt my Appetite: No ſluggiſhneſs will make me guilty again of my old neglects: The Love of the Father, by the Grace of the Son, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit, will have got the victory over all my deadneſs folly, and diſaffection, and my God-diſpleaſing and ſelf-undo…ng averſeneſs and enmity will be gone for ever! The perfect LOVE which God do…h firſt effect in me, will be my everlaſting Receptivity of the fulleſt Love of God: Benevolent love will make me good, that is, a Holy lover of God; and then pleaſed love will make me his delight, and benevolence will ſtill maintain me in my capacity.

Study this heavenly work of Love, O my Soul; theſe are not dead or barren ſtudies: Theſe are not ſad, unpleaſant ſtudies: It is only love that can reliſh love, and underſtand it: The will here hath its guſt, ſo like to an underſtanding, as maketh ſome Philoſophers ſay that voluntas percipit, is a proper Phraſe: What can poor carnal Worldlings know of glorious Love, who ſtudy it without Love? What ſounding Braſs and tinkling Cymbals, a lifeleſs Voice, are they that preach of God, and Chriſt and heavenly Glory without Love? But gazing upon the face of Love in Chriſt, and taſting of its gifts, and looking up to its glorious reign, is the way to kindle the Sacred Fire in thee. Look upwards if thou wouldſt ſee the Light that muſt lead thee upwards! It is not for nothing that Chriſt hath taught us to begin our Prayers with [Our Father which art in Heaven:] It is Fatherly Love that muſt win our Hearts, and that muſt comfort them: And it is [in Heaven] where this is gloriouſly manifeſted: As I ſaid before, as the Soul is in all the Body, but yet underſtandeth not in the Hand as it doth in the Head, nor p. 180rejoiceth not in the Foot as it doth in the Heart; ſo God that is every where, doth not every where glorifie his Love, as he doth it in Heaven: Thither therefore the Mind and Eye are even by Nature taught to look up as to God, as we look a Man in the Face when we ſpeak to him, rather than to his Feet, though his Soul be alſo there.

My ſinful Heart hath needed ſorrow! My careleſs, raſh, preſumptuous Soul hath needed fears; and I have had ſome part of theſe: Mercy ſaw it good for me, as neceſſary to prevent my more dangerous deceits and lapſes! And O that in the hour of ſenſual temptations, I had feared more, and departed from evil. But it is HOLY LOVE that muſt be my life! Or elſe I am dead notwithſtanding fear.

O come then and ſtudy the life of Love: It is more of a Holy Nature than of Art; but yet ſtudy muſt do much to prepare thee to receive it. This is the great uſe of a heavenly Converſation! It is the contemplation, belief and hope of the glorious ſtate of Love hereafter, that muſt make us like it, and kindle it in us here: The burning Glaſs muſt be turned directly to the Sun, if you will have it ſet any thing on fire. There is a carnal or common love to God, which is kindled in men by carnal pleaſures: But a Holy love like that in Heaven muſt be ſtudiouſly fetcht from Heaven, and kindled by the fore ſight of what is there, & what we ſhall be there for ever: Faith muſt aſcend, and look within the vail; thou muſt not live as a ſtranger to thy home, to thy God, and Saviour, and thy hopes: The fire that muſt warm thee is in Heaven, and thou muſt come near it, or open thy ſelf to its influence, if thou wilt feel its powerful efficacy. It is night and winter with carnal minds, when it is day and ſummer with thoſe that ſet their Faces Heavenward.

p. 181§ 21. II. But though all my Receivings will be from God, they will not be from him alone: We muſt live in perfect Union alſo with one another, and with all the heavenly Society; and therefore as we muſt love them all, ſo ſhall we be beloved by them all: And this will be a ſubordinate part of our bleſſedneſs: God there will make uſe of ſecond cauſes, even in communicating his Love and Glory.

§ 22. 1. The Lord Jeſus Chriſt will not only be the Object of our delightful love, but will alſo love us with an effectual operative love for ever: His love will be as the Vital Heat and Motion of the Heart to all the Members; the Root of our Life and Joy. The Love of our Redeemer will flow out into us all as the Vital Spirits, and his Face of Glory will be the Sun of the heavenly Jeruſalem, and will ſhine upon us, and ſhew us God: And in his light we ſhall have light. Did his tears for a dead Lazarus make men ſay, Behold how he loved him! O then what will the reviving Beams of heavenly life, make us ſay of that love, which filleth us with the pleaſures of his preſence, and turneth our Souls into JOY it ſelf! He comforteth us now by the teaching of his Word; but ſurely the fruition of Salvation will be more gladding then the tidings of it! When he that told us of Glory in his Goſpel ſhall give it us, we ſhall not only believe but feel that he loveth us.

§ 23. Believe, O my Soul, thy Saviours Love that thou maiſt foretaſt it and be fit to feel it. We were uncapable in ſinful Fleſh of ſeeing him otherwiſe than as cloathed with Fleſh; and his conſolations were adminiſtred by a word of Promiſe ſuitable to his appearance: But when he withdrew his bodily preſence, the Comforter was ſent with a fuller Conſolation: But all that was but the earneſt and the firſt fruits of what he will be to us for ever: Be not ſeldom, not unbelieving, p. 182nor ſlight in the thoughts of thy Saviours love; for it is he that is the way to the Infinite love: Let thy believing be ſo much of thy daily work, that thou maiſt ſay, that he dwelleth in thy Heart by Faith, Eph. 3. 17. and that while thou liveſt here it is Chriſt that liveth in thee; and that thy life in the Fleſh is not a fleſhly life, but by the Faith of the Son of God that hath loved thee and given himſelf for thee, Gal. 2. 20. And that though thou ſee him not, yet believing thou loveſt him alſo with unſpeakable Joy, as believing the unſpeakable, perfect Joy which his Love-will communicate to thee for ever.

Look upon the Sun and think thus with thy ſelf, [How wonderful is the Emanation of this Sun: Its motion, light, and heat communicated to ſo many Millions of C…eatures all over the Earth, and in the Seas: What if all theſe beams of light and heat, were proportionable beams of perfect Knowledge, Love, and Joy? and that all Creatures that are under the Sun had from its influx as much Wiſdom, Love, and Joy, as they have Light, Heat, and Motion: ☞Would not then this Earth be as a World of Angels, and a Heaven? O what a bleſſed World would it be? And what a benefactor would the Sun be to the World? Why, even ſuch will Jeſus Chriſt be to the Celeſtial World! He is the Sun of Glory: His Influence will ſend forth LIFE, and LIGHT and JOYFUL LOVE upon all the bleſſed from the Face of the God, as the Sun ſends forth from God, its Motion, Light, and Heat, upon this World. Now therefore begin and live upon him: live upon the influence of his Grace, his Teaching, Love-kindling, and Quickning Grace, that thou maiſt have his Name and Mark, and he may find in thee ſomething of himſelf or of his own, when thou comeſt to his Righteous ryal. His Grace is not in my power, not at my command: p. 183It is not meet it ſhould be ſo: But he hath not bid me ſeek and beg in vain: If he had never told me that he will give it me, it is equal to a promiſe if he do but bid me ſeek and ask: But I have more! He teacheth me to pray: He maketh my Prayers: He writeth me out a Prayer Book on my Heart: He giveth me deſires, and he loveth to be importuned by them! His Spirit is firſt a Spirit of ſupplication, and after of Conſolation, and in both a Spirit of Adoption: ſo far is he from being loth to be troubled with my importunity, that he ſeeketh to me to ſeek his grace, and is diſpleaſed with me that I will ask and have no more!

All this is true! But how then cometh my Soul to be yet ſo low, ſo dark, ſo fond of this wretched Fleſh and World, and ſo backward to go home, and dwell with Chriſt? Alas a taſte of Heaven on Earth is a Mercy too pretious to be caſt away, upon ſuch as have long grieved and quencht the Spirit, and are not by diligent and patient ſeeking prepared to receive it: He that proclaimeth a general Peace, will give Peace only to the Sons of Peace: If after ſuch unkind neglects, ſuch wilful ſins as I have been guilty of, I ſhould expect to be ſuddenly in my Saviours Arm… ▪ and to be feaſted preſently with the firſt Fruits of Heaven, I ſhould look that the Moſt Holy ſhould too little manifeſt his hatred of my ſin. My Conſcience remembreth the follies of my Youth, and many a later odious ſin; and telleth me that if Heaven were quite hid from my ſight, and I ſhould never have a glimpſe of the Face of glorious eternal Love, it were but juſt: I look upward from Day to Day; I groan to ſee his pleaſed Face, and better to know my God and my home! I cry to him daily [My God, this little is better than all the pleaſures of ſin: My Hopes are better than all the p. 184Poſſeſſions of this World: Thy gracious looks have oft revived me, and thy mercies have been unmeaſurable to my Soul and Body: But O how far ſhort am I of what even Fourty Years ago I hoped ſooner to have attained? Where is the Peace that paſſeth Underſtanding that ſhould keep my Heart and Mind in Chriſt! O where is the ſeeing, the longing, the rejoicing and triumphing Faith? Where is that pleaſant familiarity above, that ſhould make a Thought of Chriſt and Heaven to be ſweeter to me than the Thoughts of Friends, or Health, or all the Proſperity and Pleaſure of this World? Do thoſe that dwell in God, and God in them, and have their Hearts and Converſations in Heaven, attain to no more clear and ſatisfying perceptions of that bleſſed ſtate, than I have yet attained! Is there no more acquaintance above to be here expected? No livelier ſenſe of future joyes! No ſweeter foretaſt? Nor fuller ſilencing of doubts and fears? I am not ſo loth to go to a Friend, nor to the Bed where I oft ſpend the Night in reſtleſs pains and rolling, as I have too often been to come to thee! Alas, how many of thy Servants are leſs afraid to go to a Priſon than to their God! and had rather be baniſhed to a Land of Strangers, than ſent to Heaven! Lord, muſt I that am called Thy Child, and an Heir of Heaven, and a Co-heir with Chriſt, have no more acquaintance with my glorified Lord, and no more love to Thee that art my portion, before I go hence, and come before thee! Shall I have no more of the heavenly Life, and Light, and Love? Alas, I have ſcarce enough in my Meditations, to denominate them truly heavenly Meditations: I have ſcarce enough in a Prayer to make it indeed a heavenly Prayer: or in a Sermon to make it a heavenly Sermon: And ſhall I have no more when I come to die! Muſt I go hence ſo like a p. 185ſtranger to my home! Wilt thou take Strang… into Heaven, & know them as thine that do no better know thee here? O my God, vouchſafe a Sinner yet more of his Spirit, that came down on Earth to call up earthly minds to God: and to open Heaven to all Believers! O what do I beg for ſo frequently, ſo earneſtly, for the ſake of my Redeemer, as the Spirit of Life and Conſolation, which may ſhew me the pleaſed Face of God, and unite all my affections to my glorified Head, and draw up this dark and drowſie Soul to love and long to be with thee.]

But alas, though theſe are my daily groans, how little yet do I aſcend! I dare not blame the God of Love! He is full and willing! I dare not blame my bleſſed Saviour! He hath ſhewed that he is not backward to do good! I dare not accuſe the holy Spirit! It is his work to ſanctifie and comfort Souls! If I knew no reaſon of this my low and dark Eſtate, I muſt needs conclude that it is ſomewhat in my ſelf! But, alas, my Conſcience wants not matter, to ſatisfie me of the cauſe! Sinful reſiſtance of the Spirit, and unthankful neglects of Grace and Glory, are undoubtedly the cauſe. But are they not a cauſe that Mercy can forgive? That grace can overcome: and may I not yet hope for ſuch a Victory before I die.

Lord, I will lie at thy doors and groan! I will pour out my moans before thee! I will beg, and whatever thou wilt do with me! Thou deſcribeſt the kindneſs of the Dogs to a Lazarus that lay at a rich Man's Doors in Sores? Thou commendeſt the neighbourly pitty of a Samaritan, that took care of a wounded Man! Thou condemneſt thoſe that will not ſhew mercy to the poor and needy! Thou biddeſt us, Be merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful: p. 186If we ſee our Brother have need and ſhut up the Bowels of our compaſſion from him, it is becauſe thy love dwelleth not in us: And ſhall I wait then at thy Doors in vain and go empty away from ſuch a God; when I beg but for that which thou haſt commanded me to ask, and without which I cannot ſerve thee or come to thee, live or die in a habit beſeeming a Member of Chriſt, a Child of God, and an H…ir of Heaven? O give me the wedding Garment without which I ſhall but diſhonour thy bounteous Feaſt: Let me wear a Livery which becometh thy Family, even a Child of God! How oft haſt thou commanded … to Rejoice? Yea, to rejoice with exceeding and unſpeakable joy: And how fain would I in this obey thee? O that I had more faithfully obeyed thee in other preparatory duties, in ruling my Senſes, my Phantaſie, my Tongue, and in diligent uſing all thy Talents? Then I might more eaſily have obeyed thee in this! Thou knoweſt, Lord, that Love and Joy are duties that muſt have more than a Command: O bid me do them with an effecting word. How can I Rejoice in Death and Darkneſs: When the Bridegroom is abſent I muſt faſt and mourn▪ While I look towards Heaven but through the creviſes of this dungeon Fleſh, my Love and Joy will be but anſwerable to my Light: How long is it ſince I hoped that I had been tranſlated from the Kingdom of Darkneſs, and delivered from the power of the Prince of Darkneſs, and brought into that Light which is the entrance of the Inheritance of Saints: And yet alas, Darkneſs, Darkneſs is ſtill my miſery! There is Light round about me, in thy word and works, but darkneſs is within me. And if my Eye be dark, the Sun will be no Sun to me. Alas my Lord, it is no… all the Learning p. 187in the World, no not of Theology that conſiſteth in the knowledge of Words and Methods, which I can take for the ſatisfactory heavenly Light! To know what thou haſt written in the Sacred Book, is nor enough to make me know my glorified Saviour, my Father, and my home. It muſt be a Light from Heaven, that muſt ſhew me Heaven; and a Light accompanied with Vital heat, that muſt turn to Love and Joy within me: O Let me not have only dreaming knowledge, of Words and Signs, but quickning Light, to ſhew the Things which theſe words do ſignifie, to my M…nd, and Heart! Surely the Faith By which we muſt live, muſt be a l…ving Faith! And muſt reach further than to Words, how true ſoever. Can Faith live in the Dark? What is it but an effect of thine Illumination! What is my Unbelief but the Darkneſs of my Soul! Lord Ieſus ſcatter all theſe miſts: Make thy way O thou Son of Righteouſneſs into this benighred mind! O ſend thine Advocate to ſilence every temptation that is againſt thy truth and thee, and thine Agent to proſecute thy cauſe againſt thine Enemies and mine, and to be the reſident Witneſs of thy Verity, and my Sonſhip, and Salvation. Hearing of thee is not ſatisfactory to me! It muſt be the Preſence and Operation of thy Light and Love, ſhed abroad by thy Spirit on my Heart, that muſt quiet and content my Soul! I confeſs with ſhame that I have ſinned againſt Heaven and before thee, and am unworthy to have any glimpſe or taſte of Heaven! But ſo did many that are now entertained and feaſted by thy Love in Glory!

My Lord, I know that Heaven is not far from me! It is not (I believe) one Days or Hours journey to a ſeparated Soul! How quick is the communion of my Eyes with the Sun, that ſeems far off! And couldſt thou not ſhew it me in a moment? Is not Faith a ſeeing p. 188Grace? It can ſee the inviſible God, and the unſeen World, the new Jeruſalem, the innumerable Angels, and the Spirits of the perfected Juſt, if it be animated by thine influx! Without which it can do nothing, and is nothing! Thou that oft healedſt the Blind here in the Fleſh, didſt tell us that it is much more thy work to illuminate Souls! It is but forgiving all my ſins, and removing this film that ſin hath gathered, and my illuminated Soul will ſee thy Glory: I know that the vail of Fleſh muſt be alſo rent before I ſhall ſee thee with open Face, and know my fellow Citizens above as I am known! It is not Heaven on Earth that I am begging for, But that I may ſee it from Mount Nebo, and have the bunch of Grapes; the Pledge, and the firſt Fruits; that Faith and Hope which may kindle Love and Deſire, and make me run my Race in Patience, and live and die in the Joy which beſeemeth an Heir of Heaven!

But if my part on Earth muſt be no greater than yet it is, let it make me the wearier of this Dungeon, and groan more fervently to be with thee, and long for the day when all my longing ſhall be ſatisfied, and my Soul be filled with thy light and love.

§ 24. And doubtleſs as I ſhall love the Angels and Saints in Heaven, ſo I ſhall ſome way in ſubordination to Chriſt be a Receiver from them: Our love will be mutual: And which way ſoever I owe duty, I ſhall expect ſome anſwerable return of benefit. The Sun ſhineth upon the Stars as well as on the Earth, and the Stars on one another. If Angels are greatly uſeful to me here, it's like they will be much more there, where I ſhall be a more capable receiver. It will be no diminution to Chriſt's honour that he there maketh uſe of my fellow Creatures to my joy, no more than it is here: p. 189The whole Creation will be ſtill one compaginated frame; and the heavenly Society will for ever retain their Relation to each other, and their aptitude and diſpoſition to the duties and benefits of thoſe Relations. And as we ſhall be far ſitter for them than here we are, ſo ſhall we have far more comfort in them: How gloriouſly will God ſhine in the glory of the Bleſſed? How delightful will it be to ſee their Perfection in Wiſdom, Holineſs, Love and Concord? What Voices they uſe, or what Communication inſtead of Voices we ſhall ſhortly know: But ſurely there is a bleſſed harmony of Minds, and Wills, and Practice. All are not equal, but all accord to love and praiſe their glorious God, and readily to obey him, and perfectly to love each other: There is no jarring or diſcordant Spirit that is out of tune: no ſeparation or oppoſition to each other! As God's love in Chriſt is our full and final happineſs; ſo Nature which hath made us ſociable teacheth us to deſire to be loved of each other: but eſpecially by wiſe and worthy Perſons: Saints and Angels in Heaven will love incomparably better than our deareſt Friends on Earth can do; and better than they did themſelves when we were on Earth: For they will love that beſt which is beſt; and where there is moſt of God appearing: Elſe it were not intellectual love! And therefore they will love us as much better when we come to Heaven, as we ſhall be better. If we go from loving friends on Earth, we ſhall go to them that love us far more: The love of theſe here doth but pitty us in our pains, and go weeping with our Carkaſſes to the Grave: But the love of thoſe above will joyfully convoy or welcome out Souls, to their triumphing Society: All the holy Friends that we thought we had loſt, that went before us, we ſhall find rejoicing there with Chriſt.

p. 190And O what a glorious ſtate will be that common uniting and united love! If two or three Candles joined together make a greater flame and light, what would Ten thouſand Stars united do▪ When all the LOVE of Angels and Saints in full Perfection, ſhall be ſo united as to make ONE LOVE, to God that is One, and to one another who are there all one in Chriſt, O what a glorious LOVE will that be? That LOVE and JOY will be the ſame thing: And that One univerſal LOVE will be One univerſal JOY.

Little know we how great a Mercy it is to be here commanded to love our Neighbours as our ſelves; and much more to be effectually taught of God ſo to love one another. And did we all here live in ſuch unfeigned Love, we ſhould be like to Heaven, as bearing the Image of the God of Love: But alas, our Societies here are ſmall; our Goodneſs which is our Amiableneſs wofully imperfect, and mixt with loathſom ſin and diſcord: But there a whole Heaven ful… of bleſſed Spirits will flame for ever in perfect Love to God, to Chriſt, and one another.

Go then, go willingly, O my Soul! Love joineth with LIGHT to draw up thy deſires! Nature inclineth all things unto Union! Even the lifeleſs Elements have an Aggregative motion, by which the parts when violently ſeparated, do haſtily return to their Natural adheſion. Art thou a Lover of Wiſdom, and wouldſt thou not be united to the Wiſe? Art thou a Lover of Holineſs, and of Love itſelf, and wouldſt thou not be united to the Holy who are made of Love? Art thou a hater of enmity, diſcord and diviſions, and a Lover of Unity here on Earth, and wouldſt thou not be where all the juſt are One? It is not an unnatural Union to thy loſs: Nothing ſhall be taken from thee by it: Thou ſhalt p. 191receive by it more than thou canſt contribute: It ſhall not be forced againſt thy will: It is but a Union of Minds and Wills; a perfect Union of Loves. Let not natural or ſinful ſelfiſhneſs cauſe thee to think ſuſpiciouſly or hardly of it: For it is thy happineſs and end: What got the Angels that fell to ſelfiſhneſs from Unity? And what got Adam that followed them herein! The further any man goeth from UNITY by SELFISHNESS, the deeper he falleth into ſin and miſery from God! And what doth Grace but call us back, from ſin and ſelfiſhneſs to Gods Unity again! Do…e not then on this dark divided World! Is not thy Body, while the parts by a uniting Soul are kept together and make One, in a better ſtate than when it is crumbled into lifeleſs duſt? And doth not death creep on thee by a gradual diſſolution? Away then from this ſandy incoherent ſtate! The further from the Center the further from Unity: A Unity indeed there is of all things; but it is One heavenly LIFE, and LIGHT, and LOVE which is the true felicitating Union.

We diſpute here whether the Aggregative Motion of ſeparated parts (as in deſcenſu gravium) be from a Motive Principle in the part, or by the Attraction of the whole, or by any external impulſe. It is like that there is ſomewhat of all theſe: But ſure the greateſt cauſe is like to do moſt to the effect: The body of the Earth hath more power to attract a Cload or Stone, than the intrinſick Principle to move it downwards: But intrinſick Gravity is alſo neceſſary. The ſuperior attractive Love and Lovelineſs muſt do more to draw up this mind to God, than my intrinſick Holineſs to move it upward: But without this Holineſs the Soul would not be capable of feeling that attractive influx. Every Grace cometh from God to fit and lead up my Soul p. 192to God: Faith therefore believeth the heavenly ſtate, and Love doth with ſome Delight deſire it, and Hope gapeth after it, that I may at laſt attain it.

They that have plea…ed againſt Propriety, and would have all things common in this World, have forgotten that there is a Propriety in our preſent Egoity, and Natural Conſtitution, which rendereth ſome accidental Propriety neceſſary to us: Every Man hath his own bodily parts, and inherent accidents, and every Man muſt have his own Food, his own Place, Cloathing and Acquiſitions; his own Children, and therefore his own Wife, &c. But that the greateſt Perfection is moſt for Community as far as Nature is capable of it, God would ſhew us in making the firſt Receivers of the extraordinary pourings out of his Spirit, to ſell all and voluntarily make all common, none ſaying, This or that is my own! which was not done by any conſtraining Law, but by the Law or Power of uniting Love: They were firſt all as of one Heart and Soul, Act. 4. 32.

Take not then thy inordinate deſire of Propriety for thy Health, but for thy Sickneſs: Cheriſh it not, and be not afraid to loſe it, and meaſure not the heavenly felicity by it: Spirits are penetrable: They claim not ſo much as a Propriety of place, as Bodies do: It is thy weakneſs and ſtate of Imperfection now, which maketh it ſo deſirable to thee that thy Houſe ſhould be Thine and nones but thine; thy Land be Thine, and nones but Thine; thy Cloaths, thy Books, yea, thy knowledge and grace, be Thine and Nones but Thine. How much more excellent a ſtate were it, (if we were here capable of it) if we could ſay that all theſe are as the common Light of the Sun, which is mine and every ones as well as mine! Why are we ſo deſirous to ſpeak all Languages, but that we might underſtand all men and p. 193… underſtood of all, and ſo might make our ſentiments as common as is poſſible? Whence is it that men are ſo addicted to talkativeneſs, but that Nature would make all our Thoughts and paſſions as common a… it can? And why elſe are Learned men ſo deſirous to propagate their Learning, and Godly men ſo deſirous to make all others wiſe and godly: It ſeemeth one of the greateſt calamities of this life; that when a Man hath with the longeſt, and hardeſt ſtudy attained to much knowledge, he cannot bequeath it, or any part of it, to his Heir, or any Perſon when he dieth, but every Man muſt acquire it for himſelf: And when God hath ſanctified the Parents, they cannot communicate their Holineſs to their Children (though God promiſe to bleſs them on their account.) Much leſs can any Man make his Grace or Knowledge common: Nature and Grace incline us to deſire it: but we cannot do it. For this end we Talk, and Preach, and Write; for this end we ſtudy to be as plain and convincing and moving as we can, that we may make our Knowledge and Affections as common to our Hearers and Readers as we can: And O what a bleſſed work ſhould we take Preaching and Writing for, if we could make them all know but what we know, and love what we are perſuading them to love? There would then be no need of Schools and Univerſities: A few Hours would do more than they do in an Age. But alas, how rare is it for a Father of excellent Learning and Piety, to have one Son like himſelf, after all his induſtry!

Is not the heavenly communion then deſirable, where every Man ſhall have his Own, and yet his Own be common to all others? My knowledge ſhall be mine own, and other mens as well as mine: My goodneſs ſhall be my own and theirs: My glory and p. 194felicity ſhall be mine and theirs: And theirs alſo ſhall be mine as well as theirs: The Knowledge, the Goodneſs, the Glory of all the heavenly Society, ſhall be Mine according to my Capacity: Grace is the Seed of ſuch a ſtate, which maketh us all one in Chriſt, (neither Barbarian, nor Scythian, Circumciſion, nor Uncircumciſion, Bond, nor Free;) by giving us to love our Neighbours as our ſelves and to love both our Neighbours and our ſelves for Chriſt, and Chriſt in all: Well might Paul ſay, All things yours, But it is here but as in the Seed; the perfect union and communion is hereafter. Earth and Heaven muſt be diſtinguiſhed: We muſt not extend our hopes or pretenſions here beyond the Capacity of our Natures: As perfect Holineſs and Knowledge, ſo perfect Unity and Concord is proper to Heaven, and is not here to be expected: The Papal pretenſions of an impoſſible Union in one Governour of all the Earth, is the means to hinder that Union which is poſſible. But the ſtate of Perfection is the ſtate of perfect union & communion. Haſten then upwards, O my Soul, with the ferventeſt deſires, and breath after that ſtate with the ſtrongeſt Hopes; where thou ſhalt not be rich, and ſee thy Neighbours poor about thee, nor be poor while they are rich; nor be well while they are ſick, or ſick while they are well: But their Riches, their Health, their Joy will be all thine, and thine will be all theirs, as the common Light; and none will have the leſs for the participation of the reſt: Yea, Communion will be part of every ones felicity: It conſtitueth the very being of the City of God. This Celeſtial Communion of Saints in one holy Church, above what is here to be attained, is now an Article of our Belief: But believing will ſoon end in ſeeing and enjoying.