A Prospect of Heaven, Treatise · Chapter 21 – Chapter 23
CHAP. XXI.
MOreover, the Saints ſhall ſee and know that innumerable company of Angels, their natures, each of their perſons in particular. As the Angels know every Elect perſon, becauſe it is their work to gather the Elect from all the corners of the Earth, and to ſeperate them from the wicked, Matth. 13.41. ſo the glorified Saints ſhall know the holy Angels, whom the Lord ſent forth to miniſter for them, whom the Lord appointed for their guard while they were upon Earth, who encamped round about them while they were encompaſſed with ſo many dangers. Some Divines are of opinion, that the number of the Angels is ſo great, that they exceed without compariſon all corporal and material things in the Earth; and like as the greatneſs of the Heavens exceedeth the greatneſs of the Earth without any proportion, even ſo doth the multitude of the glorious Spirits, exceed the multitude of all corporal and material things that are in the World, with the like advantage and proportion. Now what thing can be imagined more wonderful then this? Again, if every one of the Angels (yea though it be the leaſt Angel among them all) be more beautiful and goodly to behold then all this viſible World; what a glorious ſight ſhall it be then to ſee ſuch a number of beautiful Angels, to ſee the perfections and offices that every one hath in that high and glorious City? there do the Angels go as it were in Embaſſages, are exerciſed in their Miniſtry, there the Principalities and Thrones triumph, there do the Cherubims give light, & the Seraphims burn with fervent love: All of that heavenly Court are perpetually ſinging Praiſes and Hallelujahs to God Almighty, and to the Lamb that ſits on the Throne for ever. Oh what honour is this which God will do to his Children hereafter, when he ſhall exalt them to ſo high a dignity, as to place them among the Angels in Heaven, and make them like unto the Angels of God?
CHAP. XXII.
SECT. I. Of the Saints mutual knowledg of each other in Heaven.
FInally, the Saints ſhall know each other, the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apoſtles, Martyrs, and People of God in all Ages and Nations; the Saints ſhall behold numberleſs hoſts and troops of glorified Pieces, redeemed Saints, in that higheſt Orb and Region of glory; there they ſhall behold the general Aſſembly and Church of the firſt-born, whoſe names are now written in Heaven, Heb. 12.23. immediately illuminated, ſtudying, preaching, and praiſing Chriſt for evermore. There you ſhall ſee Abraham, Iſaac, and Jacob, and all the Prophets, in the Kingdom of God, ſaith our Saviour, Luke 13.28.
It was propounded as a doubt to Martin Luther, Chemnit. harmon. evang. cap. 87.a little before his Death-bed, Whether glorified Saints ſhould have mutual knowledg of each other? he thus reſolved his Friends, that as Adam knew his Wife in Paradiſe, when ſhe was firſt preſented to him; and as St. Peter, raviſhed with a heavenly viſion at the Transfiguration of Chriſt, Matth. 17.4. took notice of Moſes and Elias, when (as Tertullian ſaith) he never ſaw ſo much as any of their Pictures,Tertul. contr. Marcion. lib. 4. the Law prohibiting ſuch things to the Jews; if in this ſhort taſte of glory, he and the other two Diſciples with him, had a knowledg of theſe glorified Saints, then doubtleſs when the Saints ſhall enjoy fulneſs of glory, they ſhall have a clearer knowledg of each other.
As we think it reaſonable to conclude the Soul to be immortal, becauſe it deſireth to be ſo, before it be enflamed by any ſtudied notions and apprehenſions of eternity; ſo with equal probability, we may prefigure and delineate ſome parts or ſhadows of our future happineſs, being guided by thoſe innate and univerſal propenſions which encline every Soul to deſire and wiſh the ſame thing. Among thoſe tranſcendent deſires which iſſue from our natures, this is one, that thoſe acquaintances which were virtuouſly begun on Earth, may be renewed and perfected in Heaven. This deſire was once of ſo great authority, that former ages had reſpect unto it; for when they found it eaſier to overcome all other terrors of death, then that one of an everlaſting abſence from a Friend, they were careful to chear a departing Soul, by aſſuring it, that the happineſs of the other World, next to the contemplation of the Divine nature, conſiſted in the gaining of new, and the indiſſoluble recovery of old acquaintance. What they made a part of their happineſs, we admit but as an appendix to ours; and as we think it not ſafe to joyn any Creature unto God, to make up the object of our happineſs, ſo we believe it would derogate from the glory of his goodneſs, if particular Souls, like ſo many divided channels, ſhould have their own banks full, but yet be debarred from all commerce, and mutual knowledg of each others bleſſedneſs.
Our Creed moreover calls upon us to believe a communion of Saints; which if it be a matter of our faith here, it muſt be an object of our knowledg hereafter; if we muſt believe that there are ſome who ſincerely communicate with us in the faith in this life, then we ſhall hereafter clearly know who were our fellow-members in that communion; and as faith it ſelf ſhall be done away by evidence, ſo ſhall that communion which is here by faith, be hereafter perfected by that communion which ſhall be by viſion.
Thoſe who have laboured to find out the moſt intimate and peculiar properties of the humane nature, do affirm, that it was made and faſhioned for Society. Now as Divines uſe to ſay, That Chriſt came not to aboliſh, but to perfect the Law; ſo may we pronounce of our bleſſedneſs in Heaven, that it ſhall not extinguiſh, but eſtabliſh, confirm and perfect thoſe deſires which are appropriated to the Soul, as reaſonable and immortal. If the Soul may carry with it a ſociable inclination, then may it for the uſe and exerciſe of this deſire be admitted to the knowledg of other Souls, and of thoſe eſpecially with whom it had ſojourned on Earth, that like fellow-travellers, who have been equally afflicted with the difficulties of the way, they may thenceforth interchangeably communicate their joys, ſpringing from their preſent reſt and peace.
Object. But it may be ſaid, that in our union unto God ſhall be ſupplied all imaginable contents; and that the Souls of the bleſſed ſhall be held in ſo great admiration, as that they cannot admit the mixture of any ſecond or leſs joy.
Reſp. Though this opinion ſeem ſpecious, and agreeable to reaſon, yet we muſt conſider, that as in the Divine nature we admit no uſeleſs Attributes, (ſuch as the Divine juſtice and mercy would be, if there were not a Creature to exerciſe them on) ſo likewiſe in the Humane, we muſt either ſay it hath no aptneſs eternally to deſire or rejoyce in the good of another, (which a ſociable nature inwardly abhorreth) or elſe we muſt allow it an object whereon to practice its endleſs love and joy. This love we conceive ſhall be the perfection of that deſire which was begun on Earth, but always mixt with fear and jealouſie (being ſubject to thoſe common infirmities, which attend both the powers & acts of the Soul in this life) and this joy we believe ſhall ſucceed in the place of that condolency and compaſſion, which on Earth we ſuſtained one for another. This love therefore, and this joy, muſt have ſuch an object, as was once the ſubject of our fear and compaſſion, which cannot be either God or Angels, but a Creature only, of the ſame nature and condition with us. Theſe are perhaps but wild and ranging conceits, which aſſert that there is no nature, but it is capable of happineſs; no happineſs without ſociety, no ſociety without a plurality of individuals of the ſame kind. Yet by the power of theſe imaginations, did that Diſputer in Plutarch create a plurality of Worlds for ſociety ſake; and by them was Hortenſius in Tully puzzelled, and made to doubt, how God may be ſaid to be bleſſed, if alone. And I think that thoſe rude and untaught ages, meaſuring the bleſſedneſs of God by what themſelves moſt delighted in, did eaſily admit a multitude of gods to prevent a ſolitude, which in their belief overthroweth all happineſs. Though theſe opinions reliſh of the blindneſs of the age that brought them forth; yet as the darkeſt Bodies by colliſion may ſend forth ſome light, ſo out of theſe aſſertions ſome ſparks and glimmerings of truth may be produced; for though in God there be an infinite fulneſs to ſatisfie an infinite deſire, and ſo he alone may ſuffice to make himſelf happy, yet is he pleaſed not ſo preciſely to love himſelf, as not alſo to be delighted with the bleſſedneſs of his Creature: and if God (who is eſſentially bleſſed, and hath all bleſſedneſs in himſelf) be notwithſtanding by his own goodneſs, enclined to delight in the glory of a poor Creature, it muſt needs be, that Man, who is the image of this goodneſs, hath imprinted and ſtamped upon his nature, a proneneſs to delight in the bleſſedneſs of his fellow-creature, as well as a deſire to ſee himſelf happy.
SECT. II.
Object. BƲt it may be feared that our knowledg of one another, and our mutual delight in each other, may beget ſome interruptions in our union with God, taking the Soul aſide from the contemplation of its Maker, to gaze on and delight in the beauty of a Creature; therefore thoſe acts of the Soul, love and joy, ſeem not to be admitted, being but digreſſions of the Soul, and an allay to our bleſſedneſs.
Sol. This fear, I think, will vaniſh, ſo ſoon as we conſider, that it is the ſame beauty which we behold in God, and love in the Creature, though of a different ſplendor; and as the Stars, the Air and Water, by their borrowed lights do raiſe us to behold the Sun, the fountain of all that light; ſo whereſoever the rayes of glory are caſt, (whether on Angels or Men) we cannot but behold God ſhining on each nature, and confeſs him to be all in all. Moreover, it is not a glance, but a fixing on the Creature (which in that ſtate is not to be feared) can endanger our happineſs, otherwiſe neither God nor Angels are truly bleſſed; for the Divinity of former ages would perſwade us, that God as it were cometh daily out of himſelf to behold his own image in the Angels, and the Angels look upon the ſame reſemblance as caſt from them, and reflected by the Soul; but neither God nor Angels are ſo raviſhed with thoſe dimmer beauties, as to dwell upon them, but do ſuddenly return back to the Fountain, God to himſelf, and the Angels unto God.
But to let paſs theſe excuſable conjectures, let us remember upon what ground we are ſolicited to believe, how the Angels are daily converſant about us in acts of knowledg and love in their miniſterial employments, in fulfilling the Divine juſtice & mercy; yet notwithſtanding theſe ſeeming interruptions of their viſion, they continue bleſſed. And we believe alſo that Chriſt himſelf (though in perfect glory) continueth his interceſſion for us, which being an act of mediation between divers parties, cannot be performed without a knowledg and love of thoſe for whom he interceedeth. And though it may be conceived, that in God there can be no intermiſſion in the contemplation of himſelf, becauſe by the ſame ſingle act, he at once beholdeth himſelf, and all things elſe; yet we muſt not imagine ſuch an infinite comprehenſiveneſs in the creature, as to be able within the ſame Act to involve and circumſcribe all that may be known or deſired in every object, for this were to extol the Creature above it ſelf, making it equal with God. The Angels therefore, and Chriſt himſelf as man, have their actions bounded; and thoſe acts by which they immediately behold and love the Creature, are not the ſame by which they immediately contemplate, and neceſſarily love the Creator. Wherefore I think we may without raſhneſs believe, that our bleſſedneſs, which is a cleer and everlaſting contemplation of the Godhead, may conſiſt with ſuch inferiour acts in the ſoul, as are requiſite to conſtitute a bleſſed ſociety among the Saints.
SECT. III.
IT was no ſmall contentment and ſatisfaction to S. Paul, that he ſhould meet his beloved Theſſalonians in the preſence of Chriſt: for thus much ſeemeth to be intimated by that his exulting demand: What is our hope, or joy, or Crown of rejoycing, are not ye even in the preſence of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt at his coming? And the ſame Apoſtle, when he would ſet bounds and limits to a Chriſtians ſorrowing for the dead, tells us, that we muſt not ſorrow, as thoſe that have no hope (ſuch as are all that are imbued with thoſe Epicurean principles of the Soul's Mortality, and it's reſolution into nothing) ſuch mens ſorrow finds no caſe, becauſe that good whoſe abſence they bemoan, in their opinion is irrecoverably loſt: and to ſhake hands with a dying friend, is with them as much as to bid them everlaſtingly farewel: But a Chriſtian's tears (like drops from a cloud) may ſometimes fall; they muſt not, like a River, be alwayes running. He may ſorrow becauſe he is parted from ſome good (ſuppoſe from a loving friend) bur this ſorrow muſt be tempered with this hope, that he ſhall ſee his friend again, and that good which as yet continues the object of his ſorrow (while conſidered as ſtoln and taken from him) muſt after a while become the ſubject of his hope and comfort, being put in mind, that God who for a time laid it out of his ſight, will reſtore it back again unto him. This the Apoſtle alloweth to be his meaning, by bidding us, comfort one another with theſe words: for if otherwiſe, it would fully anſwer the Apoſtle's meaning, to ſay it is enough, that God raiſe thoſe that ſleep to glory, though he exile them from a mutual knowledge of each other. Then let us ſee what comfort this interpretation can afford to a penſive and lamenting Soul, which may ſuggeſt unto it ſelf on this wiſe; God will reſtore my friend unto himſelf, but not to me; he will bring back the Jewel into the Cabinet, but will lock it up from my ſight; he vvill reſtore the thing, but not repair my loſs: and it ſeemeth all one to me to loſe him in an eternal nothing, and not to be allowed to know that he is a glorious ſomthing; now what comfort can we place in ſuch a meditation?
This perſwaſion of a reſtauration to a mutual knowledge of each other, containeth alſo ſome advantages and motives to a Godly life; for the fear of being eternally divided from thoſe I ſincerely love on earth, will draw me to an imitation of their ſanctity, if herein they be exemplary: or give me the courage to lead them into the way, if their courſe be irregular and exorbitant: for thoſe who unfeignedly deſire to meet at the journeys end, will ſtudy to preſerve each other in the way: and they who would wear the ſame crown of rejoycing in the preſence of Chriſt, will aſſiſt each other here, that they periſh not in the agony and conflict: it gives an edge and ſharpneſs to thoſe affections which are employed for each others good, when we conſider that that heat and fervency, which they ſpent in deſire and travel for one another, ſhall be turn'd into an exceſs and extremity of delight in each other.
The Egyptians embalmed the Carcaſſes of the dead, to preſerve them, if it were poſſible, through all the parts of time; being guided by an opinion, that ſo long as the body continued undiſſolved, the ſoul would not forſake the earth, but continue hovering about the place where the bodies lay: in like manner the Souls of men, which by many kinds of aſſociation may be united into one maſſe and heap, and as it were become parts of one another, will continue the more vigilant and active for each others everlaſting welfare, ſo long as they are perſwaded againſt an eternal divorce and diſſolution, and do contrarily believe they ſhall be rewarded by a ſenſe of each others happineſs; and that that union which is among themſelves (as of one member to another) ſhall not be diſſolved, but perfected by that union which ſhall unite them to Chriſt as to their Head, and through him unto God.
CHAP. XXIII. Of the perfection and purity of the wills of glorified Saints.
IN the next place I will ſhew how the wills and affections of glorified Saints ſhall be raiſed to a fulneſs of glorious perfection: now it is evident, God muſt be firſt gloriouſly united to the Soul and her powers, before ſhe can by her underſtanding ſee, and by her will and affections love and embrace God: in Heaven God ſhall be immediately united to the very nature of the Soul her ſelf, which is chief in man, yea formally man, which can be no otherwiſe done than by a glorious change and immutation made in the Soul it ſelf, by communicating to her by grace, a glorious and perfect eſtate of participated eternity, which is the root and foundation of all that moſt glorious exerciſe about which the Saints in Heaven are converſant.
This being ſo; the wills and affections of glorified Saints ſhall be perfectly pure and holy, without the leaſt tincture of defilement; they ſhall be holy as God is holy; not infinitely holy, but perfectly holy, without mixture of any thing contrary to holineſs: their wills ſhall ſuit and meet exactly in every thing, with the pure and holy will of God; they ſhall will what he willeth, and nothing but what he willeth; their wills ſhall give full conſent to the will of God in all things: There ſhall be compleat holineſs in the will: our wills (like to the will of Chriſt) ſhall be altogether conformable to the will of God; we ſhall fulfil the will of God: the conformity of our wills to God, is the glory of our wills, which in this life are like Nebuchadnezzar's Image, partly clay, partly gold; here we are partly regenerate, partly unregenerate, but in Heaven we ſhall be all gold, all holy: glorified Saints ſhall never find any grudgings of their old diſeaſes (ſin and corruption in them) in the leaſt degree; they ſhall ſee themſelves perfectly cured of all the ſickneſſes and diſtempers of their Souls: they are no longer conſtrained to reſiſt the motions of the fleſh, becauſe this Rebel is ſubdued, and loſing in the reſurrection what ever they drew from Adam in their birth; they have now none but juſt and holy inclinations: the Spirit of a glorified Saint is now no longer buſied to maintain a war againſt ſin, becauſe this monſter cannot ſet its foot within the gates of Heaven; he groaneth not now under the revolt of his paſſions, his will cleaves to God as ſtrongly as he can deſire.