A Prospect of Eternity, Introduction
THis Chapter in the aime and intention of it, is a Conſolatorie reſerve for ſuffering Saints; a Scripture-cordial for fainting Martyrs; and it may be parcelled into four principall parts.
1. Here is Pauls vindication of his The firſt part of the Chapter.Miniſtery; and that in three regards.
1. He advanceth his Miniſtery, by his call to it: by acknowledging free grace in calling him to ſo glorious a function. Paul chaines Miniſtery and Mercy together, and reads Gods compaſſion in his own function: a practice unuſuall with us, for we for the moſt part make the Miniſtery a cloth which will ſtain moſt, and eſteem that ſacred office, our miſery, not our mercy, our burden, not our priviledge; while we reproach the perſons, deride the qualifications, and diſpute the office of the Miniſtery; but this great Apoſtle makes that his honour, which we repute our ſcorn, ver. 1.
2. The Apoſtle magnifies his office by his ſincere carriage in it, and as he eyes Gods grace to him, in ſelecting him for this office, ſo he doth not overpaſſe Gods grace in him, in carrying him on in the office; he triumphs in Gods bounty and his own innocency. And truly ſincerity ſheds a gloſſe upon the Miniſtery, and dreſſes it in its genuine attire; Miniſters ſhould no more want integrity in their office then qualifications for it: the firſt obſtructing the prevalency, the latter undervalanuing the dignity of the Miniſtery, verſ. 2. &c. Paul was no daubing ſophiſter, who made the mine, and gain his end: who did adulterate the truth, to get a reall gain; he did not daub with untempered morter, nor preach fucatam Ezek. 13. 11.Doctrinam, diſſembled and painted Doctrine, or vent truth in a duskiſh light; but he would weigh his intentions and practices, not in the ballance of his opinion, but in the ſcales of other mens conſciences: he preaches not himſelf, to make the Pulpit his pander; but Jeſus Chriſt, and him crucified: and if his own name muſt be mentioned, it was but as the cypher to the figure, to make Chriſt the more glorious, verſ. 2, 3, 4, 5.
3. Paul advanceth his office by opening the truſt, that glorious truſt, that every Miniſter was entruſted withall, verſ. 7. Miniſters they are conſiderable caskets, which contain rare jewels, as the matter of the Lamp to the light of it. As Caeſar ſaid to the trembling mariner, Thy boat carries Caeſar and all his fortunes: ſo the Miniſters they are the heralds of divine truth; and every one of them may juſtly take up Iſaiahs Apologie, Iſa. 6. 5. Woe is me, for I am undone, I am a man of unclean lips: pure truth drops from their unclean lips; and this is the firſt part.
11. And as the firſt part comprizeth The ſecond part.the glory of the miniſteriall office, ſo the ſecond comprehends the troubles of the Miniſteriall officers: they are not only earthen, but battered and broken veſſels, verſ. 8. Paul and others they flamed in zeal, but many ſtormes fell upon the fire of their zeal; they were burning lights, but there were many winds to blow theſe lights out; the dignity of the office did not prevent the miſery of the perſon; in the former part Paul admires his function, and in the ſecond he bewayles his condition; Miniſters their calling is honorable, but oftentimes their condition is deplorable; We are troubled, we are perplexed, verſ. 8. Indeed their ambaſſage is glorious, but their uſage is often grievous, and Chriſts Ambaſſadors Rev. 1. 20.often finde the ſame welcome with Davids: they are ſent out with renown, 2 Sam. 10. 4.though entertained with reproach; they are ſtarres muſtled in a cloud: though the miſery mentioned ver. 8, 9. may be underſtood of the Saints in generall.
But thirdly, there is a lampe appears The third part.in this night; the third part of the Chapter comprehends the rare indulgence of God, in providing planks for theſe ſhiprackt Miniſters and people, harbours for weather-beaten Saints, there were yet back-dores for ſtraightned profeſſors, troubled but not diſtreſſed, verſ. 8. 9. and the voice of deſpaire was not heard in the ſtorme of their calamity, ſome twigs there were to keep them above weather; God hath either the caſtle of Providence, or the Act. 23. 17.arke of a Promiſe, or the alſufficiency of his own grace, for the retirement 2 Cor. 12. 8.of his people in the greateſt ſtormes and tempeſts.
But laſtly, here is mention made, of The fourth part.the glorious plot and deſigne that God hath in all the ſufferings of his Miniſters and people; and that is to bring them to glory at the laſt; the life of a Saint is a Tragicomedy; teares in the pilgrimage, but joy in the heritage; weeping in the bud, but glory in the flower; here perſecution, but ſhortly coronation, verſ. 15, 16, 17. The ſtripes of a Saint are eaſie, but the crown is weighty,
1. For the maſſineſſe of it: much glory.
2. For the value of it, and ſo I have now brought you within view of the text.
And the whole verſe is the cloſe of the diſcourſe of this Chapter: and it is a ſerious Aphoriſme argumentatively uſed, to ſtay the minds of Gods people in all their infelicities, and to dry up all their tears: and the argument runs thus, That ſuppoſing our life here were ſpread with roſes, yet they are marceſſible; and if with thornes, yet they are dying; the jewels of the Crown will receive a damp, and the terrors of the Croſſe will ſoon be at an end: groanes and joyes in this life are both expiring, our troubles and our triumphs have their ſetting, foreign, for the things that are ſeen are temporall; the diſtreſſes of the world are a ſhort and ſuddain tempeſt, and the delights of it are a ſhedding flower; and therefore the Apoſtles argument is, that there ought to be an indifferency in mens thoughts, for the outward paſſages of this world, wiſdome and grace ſhould make our judgments even, and we ſhould be in an aequilibrio, whether we ſway the ſcepter, or are caſt upon the dunghill, for all things ſublunary are foreign, for a ſeaſon: but the things that are not ſeen, are eternall; foreign. And now I have brought you within ſight of the vaſt Ocean of eternity, and the text is a pregnant argument that the great Apoſtle uſeth why we ſhould make it our inquiry, what our perpetuated eſtate ſhould be; our future condition, when millions of years ſhall be as millions of cyphers, and ſignifie nothing: when the Crown and the Croſſe ſhall be ſtretcht out to eternity, and there ſhall be neither fading in the one, nor waſte in the other. Now before I traverſe the doctrinall concluſion that compriſeth the ſubject of the treatiſe, I ſhall unmaske the text it ſelfe in a percurſory explication: and the queſtion will be what the unſeen things are in the text. And firſt I ſuppoſe theſe unſeen things ſpoken of here, are principally thoſe fruitions of glory, which free grace hath ſtretcht out to eternity, that unſhaking and unſhaken crown of eternity; that everlaſting joy, that the Saints ſhall partake of; that unfading happineſſe they ſhall flouriſh in, to all eternity; that eternall houſe for the ſecurity of it, 2 Cor 5. 1. that eternall glory for the renown of it, 2 Tim. 2. 10. that eternall inheritance for the riches of it, Heb. 9. 15. that eternall redemption for the love of it, Heb. 9. 12. that eternall ſalvation for the ſeaſonableneſſe of it, Heb. 5. 9. Theſe are thoſe unſeen things chiefly intended, thoſe glorious beatitudes which are reſerved for believers entertainment, which ſhall never receive either damp or death; thoſe rivers of pleaſure which run at Gods right hand for evermore. Pſal. 36. 8.And there are two reaſons which ſeem to enforce this interpretation:
1. As the Text is a Cordiall: Something laid in by the Apoſtle to refreſh the fainting and languiſhing ſpirit of ſuffering Saints, and it is a rich one, and the argument will hold thus, In all your perplexities (ſuffering Brethren) do but weigh anchor, and ſail into the Ocean of eternity; and conſider, there your happineſſe ſhall never be blaſted, and the waſte of ages ſhall not precipitate the concluſion of your joyes: let this ſingle eternity, as it is put into the leaſe of your glory, revive your trembling and diſconſolate ſpirits, when the ſtorme of trouble beats moſt upon you; And ſurely this very argument being weighed in the ballance, might be bladders to bear up the believer in the deepeſt waters; it might as it were corke the ſoul, that it ſhould not ſink.
And 2. this ſeems to be the genuine interpretation, becauſe there is a pregnant antitheſis obſervable in the verſe; temporals compared with eternals, fading ſorrowes with fixed joyes; our viſible martyrdoms are extinguiſhable fire, but our inviſible bleſſedneſſe ſhall be an unperiſhable crown, and ſo this verſe doth but ſecond and amplifie the former. But however this chiefly may be the expoſition of the text: yet I conceive that the unſeen things mentioned in the text may import and take in theſe two things.
1. The intereſt of man, we ſee not what the claime of man is here, many here are but Mountebancks and cheats in Religion, Alchymie profeſſors: mens ſpirituall eſtates are no more known by their outward profeſſion, then their temporall eſtates are by their cloathes; wherefore our conjectures are often miſtaken in our concluſion, what the intereſt of man is; whether their intereſt be laid up in Chriſt, or whether miſery ſhall be their portion. This may be one of the inviſibles in the text; but this unſeen intereſt in man ſhall be eternall, the Saints intereſt in Chriſt is eternall, his memberſhip, his relation, and the ſinners loſſe is eternall: the impropriation of man is eternall, their damage or their gain.
2. The ſtate of man is eternall; as the tree fals, ſo it ſhall lie to all eternity, there ſhall be no ſtoppage to, or breaking up of mans future condition. We ſee not what the condition of man is here: but his eſtate ſhall be everlaſtingly permanent; whether in the throne or on the wrack, eſtate of felicity or calamity; his condition, whether grace hath inamel'd it with happineſſe, or ſin inpoveriſht it with miſery, it ſhall be inalterably everlaſting.
And now at laſt I am arived at that concluſion or obſervation which ſhall be the ſum of the future diſcourſe; and it is this, Mans future condition is an eternall condition; and I ſhall take in as well the groanes of hell, as the joyes of heaven; and now to unravell this bottomleſſe knot, or to ſound this fadomleſſe Ocean of eternity, hic labor hoc opus eſt. This indeed is a conſtellation of difficulties, here the choiceſt underſtanding may be dazled; eternity being a probleme, that may rather aſtoniſh, then fit the underſtanding: we cannot faddome the Ocean of waters, much leſſe that of eternity: but through the direction and by the guidance of the inviſible and eternall Spirit, I ſhall endevour to draw a map of this unlimited ſtate, and give you a proſpect of this boundleſſe and bottomleſſe Ocean. And this I ſhall do rather negatively, then poſitively; as Plato ſaid concerning Plat.God, What he is (ſaith he) that I know not; but what he is not, that I know. And as Auguſtine deſcribes Auguſt.the true beatitude of heaven by removing from it the very thoughts of all evill; ſo in reference to eternity, we muſt rather remove from it what it is not, then go about exactly and accurately to deſcribe it; that we ſhall only do when we are caſt upon the ſhoar of eternity. I ſhall ſet upon the enterpriſe in ſeverall Propoſitions and concluſions.
Concluſ. 1 And the firſt ſhall be this, Mans eternall condition admits of no changes or diſtinction of time. There ſhall be no night in heaven, nor any day in hell: In the eternity of glory, there ſhall be no full or wanes of the Moon, no falling of the leaf or Autumnall declination: that is a pregnant place, Rev. 22. 5. And there ſhall be no light there, and they need no candle, neither light Rev. 22. 25.of the ſun: for the Lord giveth them light, (that is) by his immediate preſence, &c. In heaven the ſun ſhall not ſet, nor the morning ſtar ariſe: there ſhall be no clouds to vail the Saints happineſſe, no ſtormes nor tempeſts to be the ſhadow of a diſturbance, no froſt to pinch or afflict the bodies of believers, which ſhall be beſpangled with glory; no winters day to ſhorten the beatificall viſion. And ſo in the eternity of miſery, there ſhall be no ſpring, nor pleaſant reſurrection from the dolefull grave of a winter. That is very remarkable, Mat. 25. 30. Caſt ye the unprofitable ſervant into utter darkneſſe, foreign, ſome render it abundant darkneſſe; it may well be underſtood in tenebras circumferentes, environing darkneſſe, the mantle of darkneſſe. In eternall calamity, there ſhall be no chirping birds, or green-livered fields to be the emblemes of an approaching Summer; hell ſhall not be gilded with a ſunſhining day. But eternity ſhall be an identicall condition, ſimul & ſemel; the interchangeable ſeaſons of the year ſhall ceaſe in eternity: the ſerenity and blackneſſe of the skies, the flouriſhing beauty and wither'd deformity of the earth, the eclipſes and changes of the celeſtiall bodies, the dawning morning, and the duskiſh evening, ſhall all be unknown in eternity. And an everlaſting night ſhall overſhadow the damned; and an eternall morning ſhall refreſh the bleſſed, who ſhall be ever ſunning themſelves in the preſence of God; and the Sun ſhall be laid aſide as uſeleſſe in heaven, for it would not be ſeen for the brightneſſe of God. Now there can be no diſtinctions of time in the eternity of the bleſſed (and this method ſhall runne through the whole diſcourſe).
Reaſ. 1 For all changes in heaven would argue imperfection; all mutability is imperfect, and therefore God who is Solennis ibi feſtivitas, & feſtiva ibi aeternitas; ibi nec eſt defectio, ſed optima refectio. Alard.infinitely perfect, is immutable; ſuch tranſient changes would cauſe a wane in the Saints happineſſe: Now there is a double royall perfection in heaven; 1. Of purity: 2. Of felicity. Imperfection is a weed which growes not there; there ſhall no deficiencie Pſal. 17. 15.ſtain the celeſtiall beatitude. When man hath attained to a perfection of excellency, as infallibly he ſhall in glory, there ſhall then be no defect, to be the womb of diſſatisfaction.
It would be tedious to the glorified Saints to tell the flying houres again; Aeterna vita omni taediocaret Ambr. tom. 3.and paſſe through a variety of ſeaſons; for the Saints to be incht again with the ſharpneſſe of a Winter, or ſcorcht with the over kind beames of a Summers ſun: this is inconſiſtent with that delight, they ſhall in heaven be raviſhed with; ſo their comforts would grow as cold as the ſeaſon. Beſides that of the Apoſtle is obſervable, 2 Pet. 3. 12. Wherein the heavens being on fire ſhall be diſſolved, and the elements ſhall melt with fervent heat: this text abrogates ſuch diſturbance, whether it be underſtood of a purgation or annihilation. Unqueſtionably this may be aſſerted: what ever may imply the leaſt ſhadow of trouble, or diſtaſt, ſhall be baniſht the court of glory; the joyes of eternity ſhall not be eclipſed with the leaſt viciſſitude or unpleaſantneſſe.
And Gods immediate preſence ſhall ſcatter all changes and diſtinctions of time, when his glory is in the full, what clouds can appear? God is as immutable Ex viſione Dei omnia beatorum bona unicè oriuntur, & dependent.in his glory as in his nature, and the Saints ſhall ever in heaven lie under his radiant appearancies; ſee his face, Mat. 5. 8. behold his glory, Joh. 17. 24. and he will be an everlaſting ſpring to his glorified ones. Viciſſitudes in time ſhall melt in the preſence of the Lord, the rivers of heavens pleaſure ſhall admit of no doubts or decayes, there ſhall no night vaile the day of eternall ſalvation.
Nor ſhall there be any diſtinction or change of times in the eternity of the damned. For
1. Reaſ. 1 This would alleviate and mitigate the miſeries of the damned, ſome variety would be the womb of ſome pleaſure, ſome light would be ſome refreſhment: Eccleſ. 11. 7. Truly light is ſweet and a pleaſant thing it is for the eyes to behold the ſun. But in hell there ſhall be all ſeverity, but no mercy; there ſhall be no day-break, to revive executed reprobates; could there be changes of times or ſeaſons in hell, there might fall out a winter, and Dives might meet with a ſhowre to cool his tongue; but pity viſits not thoſe diſmall priſons, what ever may contribute to the abatement of the damneds miſery, ſhall be everlaſtingly baniſht. In heaven there ſhall need no light, Rev. 22. 5. In hell they ſhall have none, they ſhall ſo far want the comfort of the ſun, as they ſhall not be bleſt with the light of a candle; none of natures variety and embroydery in point of ſeaſons, not the ſharpeſt and the harſheſt ſeaſons ſhall ſhed the leaſt refreſhment on the tortur'd reprobate.
This would be ſome ground of comfort to the damned to tell their paſt miſeries; for alteration of ſeaſons implyeth a ſucceſſion, (which as I ſhall ſhew is impoſſible in hell) they might then with ſome reflexion of joy recollect, there are ſo many ſharp winters or dark nights of miſery blown over, and this would be ſome ſatisfaction to ſuppoſe that ſome of their calamity was waſted. Now miſery is the only ſigne in hell, nor ſhall one drop of mercy fall into a hell of fire; there ſhall be no preterition in the torment of the damned, but they ſhall alwayes be in actu moriendi, in the act of execution; Auguſt.they ſhall hang in fiery chains, and thoſe chains ſhall never break, or they die in thoſe chains. As our Saviour expreſſeth himſelf in that dolefull language, Mat. 8. 48. Where the worme dieth not; Sed ſemper corrodit & nunquam ſatiatur, which alwayes gnawes, but never is ſatisfied: which language might be a knell to awaken us, from our moſt ſtupefied ſecurity. But thus much of the 1. Concluſion.