A Prospect of Eternity, Chapter 15
CHAP. XV.
Concl. 15 Mans eternall condition admits of no conception.
MAN cannot fully conceive it, grace may believe it, but reaſon cannot fadome it. Man may apprehend it, but not comprehend it. As Moſes did the Lord, ſee Exod. 33. 23.the backparts of it; this is one of thoſe things, that in this world we cannot bear. In the fadoming of eternity, acuteneſſe is but ignorance, ingenuity ſtupidneſſe, and the largeſt latitudes of knowledge are but purblind. If all Ariſtotles reaſon could not Haec aeternae vitae faelicitas, nobis in hac vita eſt incomprehenſibilis, ſi de accurata, quidditativa, & ſcientifica cognitione agatur. Gerard.finde the cauſe of the ebbing and flowing of the ſmall river Euripus, what then can it do to ſound the Ocean of Eternity? What the Apoſtle ſaith of the naturall man in reference to ſpirituall, 1 Cor. 2. 14. that all cannot receive them; may be well ſaid in reference to eternity. It is with the Proſpect of eternity, as with the eye to the Ocean, it may ſee the ſurface of Concipe animo ſtatum vitae illius, quantum homini concipere datur, nam juxta rei dignitatem nobis ſermo nullus adeſſe poteſt, ex iis tamen quae audimus, ſeuper aenigmata conjecturam quan…ulamcun que faeiemas. Chry.it, but not its bottome; ſome glimmering knowledge we may have, ſed quis intima vidit? who ever ſaw the inſide, and end, and bottom of it? As the blind man, Mat. 8. 24. I ſee men as trees walking; ſo we may glance at eternity with an imperfect ſight, gathering ſome few weak parcels of the knowledge of it. When the great Apoſtle Paul was carried up to the third heaven, to ſee a landskip of glory, and to take a view of thoſe tranſcendencies heaven was enricht with; at his return, with what aſtoniſhment 2 Cor. 12. 2. &c.doth he make his relation, and tels us indeed, he can make no full relation; thoſe beatificall ſights he had been bleſſed with, were not to be drawn by the pencill of the moſt rare and fluent Oratory, he heard foreign, ſuch words as are not to be repeated. It is a great conteſt among grave and learned writers, what theſe words ſhould be, which neither Paul could expreſſe in his beſt oratory, nor yet would in point of duty, for foreign, it was not convenient, ſaith the text. Gregory the great, ſuppoſeth that theſe ſecreſies were many diſcoveries of the nature, gifts, qualifications, and glory of the Angels. Dionyſ. conjectures that Paul ſaw the glory of Chriſt, and heard many things here altogether unknown. Theod. ſaith, Paul ſaw the beauty of heaven, heard the muſick, and the joys, numeroſam, & modulatam hymnorum coelestium, of the inhabitants of glory. Others opinionate, he heard many things of Predeſtination, and the calling of the Gentiles. But what fell within the glorious view of the Apoſtle, or was ſuggeſted to him in this extraordinary revelation is uncertain, and ſhall not be diſcuſſed; Hic certo nibil dici poteſt, cum Paulus ipſe ea ſiluerit, as the learned man obſerves. But from the whole this inference may be deduced, That the glories that do attend the Saints eternity are a ſphear above the apprehenſions of humane underſtanding. Eternity to come, is like Providence Ezek. 1. 15.here, it is a wheel within a wheel; it is a ſtate vaild with myſteries: like a Picture with the curtain drawn before it. I ſpeak ratione noſtri, in reſpect of us, who are in via, as the Father ſpeaks, In vita aeterna dei eſſentia non quidem ſenſibus verum animo ſeu mente cognoſeetur a beatis. Martyr.in our travell to eternity. There is nothing in future eternity that lyeth liable to our conſideration, which hath not brought forth many debates, differences, ſeverall conjectures, and tremulous probabilities even among Divina eſſentia ab angelis, aut beatis videri non poteſt. Alcuinus. Chryſ. Theop.the moſt eminent Patriots of learning. How it is debated at this day, whether the Saints ſhall ſee the eſſence of God in heaven, or elſe ſome circumambient glory; whether we ſhall know one another in happineſſe, and ſo our joyes receive a freſh tide from that perpetuall fellowſhip: whether we in heaven ſhall ſee God, oculis corporis, aut mentis, with a corporall viſion, or Ignem gehennae corporeum eſſe non ambigo, in quo certum eſt corpora cruciari. Greg. foreign. Damaſc.only with an intellectuall apprehenſion.
And ſo on the contrary hand, how it is debated among learned men, whether the fire of hell be materiall or metaphoricall; on the ſad emblem of of the heat and force of Gods diſpleaſure; whether there be corporeal worms in hell or no. Baſil and others ſay, they are foreign, &c. A kind of wormes caſting poyſon, and eating fleſh; and others interpret theſe wormes metaphorically; and ſay, by wormes are underſtood, morſus conſcientiae, the corroding tortures of conſcience. And ſo there are multiplyed controverſies which doe ariſe in mens apprehenſions of our future eternity. Eternity it is the ſeed of difficulties, the womb of myſteries, the ſcandall of learning, and the very reproach of knowledge it ſelf. Indeed ſome dawning knowledge of this future ſtate ſeems to riſe in the minds of men. But how to graſpe ſcientiam quidditativam, as Gerard ſaith, the full, ſatisfactory and plenary knowledge of it; this is too large a circumference to be compriſed in our intellectuall ſphere; the tired thoughts of man cannot travell to the end of this knowledge. We muſt do with eternity, as Geographers do with Countries, they deſcribe in their Maps and Globes; for large and ſpacious Countries, they only ſet down the ſituation, and bare name of thoſe Lands: ſo muſt we for a full apprehenſion of our eternall eſtate reſt in a twilight ſpeculation. What underſtanding furniſhed with all the auxiliary helps of learning, experience, naturall vivacity, nay with grace it ſelf, while in this life, can unriddle theſe things, viz.
That millions of ages ſhould paſſe away in eternity, and yet not one moment waſted or elapſed. That in the paſſage of thouſands of millions of years there ſhould not be the leaſt variety or mutation, no accidentall or unexpected occurrences; and which is moſt inccomprehenſible, that there never fall out an end; no night, no grave, no breaking up, no concluſion; that eternity ſhould never be terminated with a cloſe or period. Here our diſeaſes have their heights, termes and ends, either in the recovery and reſtorement, or elſe in the death of the patient; the grave buries all diſtempers. And ſo likewiſe our delights, harmonies, and muſicks, they have their ſet times and periods; and they either vaniſh in themſelves, or elſe are buried in our own apprehenſions; and our lives which are the ſtage upon 1 Joh. 2. 17.which both are acted, they after the tranſition of a few winged ſpaces of time, faint away, and are emtombed in the duſt, and death draws the curtain between us and all our poſſeſſions. But now in eternity the underſtanding may be ever enquiring after, and ſearching for an end, a ſun-ſet, ſome event, or iſſue to fix and anchor upon: but ſtill the ſea of everlaſtingneſſe opens wider and wider, and all period flyeth away, as death from the damned, and there is no bottome for the plummet to give a glace of any approaching Land. This is that which puts a maske and vail upon the face of the richeſt underſtanding, and turns that ſun into darkneſſe.
That inſcription which the vain and Idolatrous Athenians did engrave upon their altar, which they dedicated to their God, foreign, to their Ʋnknown God, may in a great meaſure Act. 17. 23.be attributed to eternity; Aeternitati ignotae, to unknown eternity. Eternity is the amazement, not the prey of knowledge; we may admire, believe, foretaſt, and prepare for it, but we ſhall not fadome or comprehend it, while we are lockt in the lower room of this world.
Nor are there ſome Reaſons deficient, why eternity cannot be fully comprehended by us in this life.
Reaſ. 1 God hath expreſly ſaid, that the poſſeſſions of eternity are inconceivable ſo the Apoſtle, 1 Cor. 2. 9. Neither Iſa. 64. 4.have entred into the heart of man, the foreign. Nilus.things which God hath prepared for them that love him. Thoſe riches which are attendant upon the happineſſe of the Saints; they are above the computation of the moſt noble underſtanding; nor can the large conjectures of the mind ſound the bottom of them. They are as the Apoſtle ſpeaketh, divitiae imperſerutabiles, unſearchable riches, Epheſ. 3. 8.ſuch riches as reaſon heightned with induſtry and grace cannot find out the value, not ſearch to the end of them. And ſo the miſeries of the wicked, they tranſcend all imagination; the moſt ſerious, large, and well-compoſed thoughts cannot ſuppoſe the extremity of them; how much heat is incloſed in one ſpark of Gods wrath. God himſelf to ſtop the proud and preſumptuous thoughts of man, hath himſelf given it in, that the loves and loſſes of eternity are above the reach of our moſt ſuperlative conceptions. Can we ſpan the heavens, and give in the true dimenſions of them, count the ſtars, and ſet down their number how many individuals they amount to; or tell how many drops the vaſt Ocean is compoſed of; how many waves the Sea is curled with; or can we give the exact number of all the atomes that are in all the beams of the Sun? And yet if all theſe impoſſibilities of knowledge, fell within the verge of our underſtandings; the myſteries of eternity were ſtill wiſedomes riddle, the diſgrace of all intellectuall capacities. Ariſtotle ſaith, Ariſt. Ethic.that the Will can velle impoſſibilia, will and deſire impoſſibles, which how true foreign. Greg. Nyſ.that is I ſhall not diſpute; but of this I am ſure, and God himſelf hath affirmed, that the underſtanding cannot intelligere aeternalia, underſtand the things of eternity, (I ſpeak of a full and accurate knowledge). But the mind dreſſed with all ornaments of accumulative learning, and let holineſſe be the Pilot of it, muſt ſtrike ſail, when eternity is the theam of it; God in this particular hath by his own word put a ſtop to mans curioſity.
That eternity cannot be fully conceived and comprehended by us, doth not only ariſe from the myſteriouſneſſe and ſuperlativeneſſe of that ſtate, Eccleſ. 1. 8.the joyes and griefs of it being beyond our ſuppoſitions, but likewiſe that we only have a ſuperficiall knowledge of it, ariſeth from the weakneſſe and obſcurity of mans underſtanding. Our poor purblind underſtandings cannot fadome ſuch a depth. This candle of the Lord, Prov. 20. 27.as the wiſe man cals it, burns in the ſock et, Adams fal hath put a theef in this candle, and our continuall ſins dampe the light of it. Our intellectuals are like a ſtar in a cloud, or a taper burning De illa ineffabili laetitia, & manſione aeterna, nunc ex parte narrantes tanto nobis evangelizavtmus, tanquam ſi quis ex pelago maris aquae guſtum digito ſuo poteſt auferre. Ephrem.behind the curtaines. What we might have done, had not Adams fall cauſed a perpetuall eclipſe in our underſtandings by the interpoſition of it, is uncertain; but what a faint and fallacious knowledge our minds are now poſſeſſed with, is ſadly viſible; the light of our underſtandings being but as the light of a gloworme: the Apoſtle ſaith, 1 Cor. 13. 12. We ſee but through a glaſſe, and darkely too, what a dimneſſe, and duskiſhneſſe ſurpriſeth, and in a catarix upon the choyſeſt underſtanding? So that the mind of man is masked with miſtake and imperfection. That eternity fals not within the view of our knowledg, is not only ſo objectivè, objectively, from the tranſcendency of it; but ſubjectivè, ſubjectively, from our own inability, there is a wearineſſe in our intellectuals. Our underſtandings are to be conſidered in reference to eternity, as our eye in reference to the ſiars; that we ſee not thoſe glorious Job 8. 9.bodies more clearly and according to their vaſte proportion: this ariſeth not from any diſappearance of, or cloud before them, but from the weakneſſe and faintneſſe of our ſight, there is an ocular inability. Eternity receives the greateſt cloud from our ſhattered knowledge. Let us but conſider our underſtandings;
1. As being darke, clouded and veiled with much ignorance.
2. As being fallacious, eaſie to be ſeduced, and miſcarry in their apprehenſions.Prov. 3 5.
3. As being imperfect, falling ſhort of that glorious ſight, they were created with.
4. As being capable of receiving continuall ſhadows, and being overcaſt with the commiſſion of new ſins, and laſtly as being finite, and ſo crowded into a ſmall room: How impoſſible then can theſe darke-lanthornes guide us to the full knowledge of eternity? No more then we can ſee the whole world, uno intuitu, in one view by the helpe of a perſpective. Indeed grace and induſtry are the 2 Pet. 3. 18.beſt cure for our weak, and faint underſtandings; but while grace here is of ſo low a ſtature, how can knowledge be gigantique? grace and knowledge alwayes bearing a proportion.
God leaves eternity not fully viſible here, to excite and inflame grace in a believer: that faith and love might ſhine in a greater flouriſh. The be 1 Joh. 3. 2.liever in this life ſhall never know how great the Summer of his felicity ſhall be; there is more behind the curtain, then that Saint which is moſt acquainted with God can diſcern. Thoſe that dig in a mine, their hopes of wealth Bona regni caeleſtis, dicere, vel cogitare, vel intelligere ut ſunt, nullus poteſt carne veſtitus; multo et majora & meliora ſunt, quam cogitentur, vel intelligantur. Regnum nam que dei omni fama majus, omni laude melius, omni ſcientia iunumerabilius, omni gloria, quae putatur, excellentius. Aug de trip. habit.and leaſure whet and fleet their induſtry. And there are many reſerves in eternity, which are magnetick, to draw out the orient graces of the Saint; and theſe inflame the Saints inquiſitions. Faith and hope ſail to eternity with a full carreer, as to rich, but yet not fully known beatitude; that which remains in the darke is but graces noble incentive. The deſire after naturall knowledge ſo inflamed that ingenuous Roman, that he loſt his life in ſearching after the cauſe of Veſuvius his ſulphureous vomits, why that hill ſhould be the wombe of ſuch flaming ejections; and how doth this animate even grace it ſelf, and ſupply it with more vigorous conqueſts and ſtrength, that the believer cannot ſee the end of his happineſſe, cannot ſum up how much the intereſt of his glory comes to? This portion behind which our underſtandings cannot ſee to tell out, is a rare incouragement, and puts life Heb. 11. 1.into our vivacious grace; this plumes and inflames grace, and this makes faith to ſwell, to conſider what eternity will bee, what felicities it will be the fruitfull wombe of. And ſo inconceivable Hujus poenae potentiam, nulla vox exponerè, nullus poterit ſermo explanare; nihil eſt in…ebus corruptibilibus quod conferri poſſit incorruptibilibus ſive bonis, ſive malis. Non eſt dubium quin id quod nulla temporis menſura circumſcribitur, nulla etiam creata mente comprehenditur. Aug.miſeries which the damned ſhall be overwhelmed with, naturally and genuinely, they are like beacons upon a hill, or lanthornes upon a watchtower, for caution and prevention; but however they aggravate the feares and amazements of wicked men, ſinners here cannot fadome the torments of their execution; how ſharpe and ſmarting and penetrative their miſeries ſhall be, they know not the worſt of their puniſhment; this is a worme to the wicked here; there are bitter, but yet concealed calamities behind. Unbelievers in this life, cannot imagine, or in their moſt ſorrowfull conceptions apprehend, what wounds, how ſore, how deep, how intolerable the ſcorpions of Gods eternall wrath ſhall make, when twiſted into his ſcourge. There is more calamity reſerved for the reprobate, then either he will believe, or can conceive.
This is one of thoſe arcana divini imperii, thoſe ſecrets which God hath lockt up in his own knowledge, nor will communicate to inferiour beings. As the day of judgment is one Rom. 8. 18.of the times and ſeaſons, which is not given us to know. Some things there Sicut infans in utero matris concluſus, de pulcritudine hujus lucis nihil novit; ſic & in hujus vitae tenebris de aeternitate nil poſſumus perfecti, aut ſolidi ſcire.are, the knowledge whereof is ſhut up in the breaſt of God, nor ſhall his mind therein be opened, untill the accompliſhment and fulfilling of all things at the great and laſt day, wheraof the full knowledge of eternity is one great conſiderable counſell. Nor doth God in this caſt a diſrepute, or diſreſpect upon his people here below, as if they ſhould wholly be ſhut out of his counſels, for this the Pſalmiſt contradicts: Pſal. 25. 14.But there are three reaſons, why God is pleaſed to conceal ſome things from his people here.
God would alwayes leave his people in a longing poſture, that the heat of their deſires, and the fervour of their induſtry might not be dampt. God keepeth and reſerves many myſteries, to give fire to the prayers, and animation to the graces of his people. God will not give in to his Saints a full hiſtory of all his intentions and decrees that he may finde work for his people. This life is a Place of appetite not ſatiety. Could the Saints fill and quiet their ambitions here, they would ſail no further to ſeek another coaſt; but here is no place of ſatisfaction. God hath many things written in ſuch a cypher and character, that here we may long to interpret, but cannot unriddle them.
To keep his Saints humble, God hath his reſerve of counſels: Could Quemadmodum imbecillior eſt viſus quam ut ad ſtellas pertingat, ſic intellectus noſter infirmior eſt, quam ut coeleſtia gaudia plene percipiat. Ger.the people of God ſee all with an open face, this would feed and foſter their pride and preſumption, as if they were the privy counſellours and ſecretaries of God himſelf: God covers many things in his own wiſdome, to teach man the leſſon of his own darkneſſe, and imperfection. The riddles of nature limit and keep down the boaſts of Philoſophy, and ſo God drawes the curtain in a great meaſure here, to fix mens eyes on the cloud of his own diſability. Paul, when he was 2 Cor. 12. 6.acquainted in his rapture with inexpreſſible revelations, God ſends him Satan, to be a thorne in the fleſh to ſtatuminate and confine his thoughts, that they might not exceed their due ſtation. Theſe myſteries which God keeps in his own breaſt doe but unravell mans weakneſſe, and they are a clear demonſtration, what an infant in knowledge our underſtanding is; God doth in this ſmother thoſe thoughts of man, which otherwiſe would prove immoderate and exorbitant.
God doth reſerve many things from the full knowledge of man, to ſet a gloſſe on, and to inhaunce the future glory of his Saints. That though here there may be a filme upon the 1 Cor. 13. 12.eye of their underſtanding; yet in heaven God ſhall be a ſun to chaſe away all clouds; and all Gods everlaſting decrees, ſecret counſels, and Tum juſti omnia ſcient, quae Deus fecit ſcienda, tam ea, quae praeterita, quā poſtmodum ſunt futura. Anſelm.ſacred determinations ſhall be in a fair print, and Jeſus Chriſt ſhall be the interpreter. This ſhall be one part of the Saints bleſſedneſſe hereafter, they ſhall be as free from the cloud of ignorance, as from the ſpot of impiety. And in Gods concealing many things, whereof the full knowledge of eternity is one, he doth but raiſe the market of glory it ſelfe.
And now at laſt, the imperfect Anatome of our eternall eſtate is finiſht, and in it hath been made good, what hath been aſſerted in this laſt concluſion; (to wit) that our knowledge of eternity here in this life is but faint and faltring; and the unskilfulneſſe of him that hath undertaken the deſcription hath but thickened the cloud, and encompaſſed the argument in hand with greater difficulties. But if any light hath broke forth from the weake diſcuſſion of this point, ſo that eternity may be any thing more apparent or viſible; his imperfections ſhall not wholly annihilate his happineſſe. But the ſum of all ſhall be this, Eternity is a ſuperlative, identicall, never-ending condition; whether it ſet us upon the throne of glory, or ſee us faſtned to the wracke of eternall calamity.
Applicat. And now leſt the picture of eternity may be raſed out of our thoughts, after it is drawn; let the memory of it be kept freſh and lively in a cloſe Application, which ſhall run in two ſtreams. The firſt part of the Application ſhall be more generall as taking in within its circuit the whole body and corporation of man; it ſhall be to all univerſally. But the ſecond part ſhall be more particular, either as relating to the Saints being the fulleſt argument of their joy and triumph; or elſe referring to ſinners, as being the ſaddeſt word in their doom. Eternity is the torture, and poyſon of their higheſt extremity.