Heaven be that it shall be alwayes present with thee and yet thou never satiated for if I shall say Thou shalt not be satisfied there shall be an hunger and thirst if I shall say Thou shalt be satiated thou wilt fear a cloying there where shall be neither famine hunger nor thirst nor any tedious cloying to the same purpose Cyprian saith Cyprian de laude Martyrii the Saints shall not onely taste how sweet God is but they shall be filled with a wonderful sweetness nothing shall be wanting to them In Heaven there is no more desire for Christ as a thing absent the thirst being swallowed up in Christ the Soul thirsteth no more Christ being present their desires are satisfied God shall be all in all his presence shall fill and satisfie all the powers and faculties of their Souls Holy David having here tasted of God's sweetness cries out Whom have I in Heaven but thee there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee Psal 73.25 intimating to us that he that hath God hath enough in God The Soul that possesseth God in this life hath recovered that great loss that fell upon Adam and all Man-kind by fin Man by sin lost God now he that hath God in Christ hath recovered this great loss Man in his first estate had enough by enjoying God now he that recovereth this loss wanteth nothing for he findeth enough in God And although Adam in innocence enjoyed many other things besides God as perfect health possession of the Garden of Eden and full authority over the Creatures and albeit these things were comfortable in a degree in their kind yet man's happiness in that state did not consist in possessing these things but in enjoying God and all the glory and sweetness and any thing that was desirable in all these things was derived meerly and wholly from God Now whatever God doth here give to man by the Creature he will supply in Heaven without the Creature viz. immediately by himself if the streams be sweet how much better is water in the Spring and purer there In Heaven the Saints shall want nothing yet shall they enjoy nothing there but God he will be all to them their drink their food their rest their joy their pleasure the height of all their honour he will be all and more than all unto them Which consideration made a devout man meditating hereupon to cry out Deus meus omnia ah one refreshing of thine Drexel Consider de Aeternit one enjoyment of thee is a sweet refreshing indeed for to enjoy thee is to enjoy the quintessence of all good Thou art unto me O my good God goodness it self rest in my labours pleasure in my grief security in my cares and the only true riches in my poverty thou art my strong Bulwark against all the furious assaults of men thou art my refuge whatsoever evil doth oppress me and finally Thou art all unto me whatsoever I can wish for or desire wherefore then when we come to Heaven we shall not need to seek to quench our thirst with any stream when we have so chrystal a Spring-head or fountain as this where we may lye down and drink our fills in having and enjoying God we shall have whatsoever we can desire then the Lord will wholly frame the hearts of his Children according to his own mind that whatsoever is pleasing to him shall be delightful to them the heart shall then be kept in from wandring any more after vain and sensual delights and the Soul being wholly conformed to God it hath whatever it can desire SECT II. ANd as for the affections of fear and sorrow and anger they shall have no place in Heaven for then they shall be set far above the fear of all evil the Saints being possessed of an infinite good which is God himself for their portion they shall have no cause then to fear any evil there is no evil can hurt them for no evil shall be able to reach them that are in possession of him that is an infinite good they are also possessed of God the infinite good in perpetuity they have him in everlasting possession for otherwise although they need not fear any evil while they are possessed of him yet they might fear the loss of him and their woful separation from him and then they should lye open to all sorts of evils therefore to prevent this fear the Lord hath betrothed them to himself for ever and hath given himself to them in Marriage and that in an everlasting covenant and will never be divorced from them but be theirs for ever and ever The graces of Repentance Mortification Self-denial shall have no place in Heaven which are of great use here in the way to Heaven there shall be no sense of evil to be sorrowed for nor sin to be repented of nothing distasteful to provoke their anger or to discompose those blessed Spirits that are above there shall be a perfect harmony between God and them Neither shall there be any use of those graces of Faith and Hope in Heaven S. Paul tells us Now abideth faith hope and charity these three but the greatest of these is charity why greater than the other but because this abideth immortal for ever In Heaven instead of believing we shall see here the object of faith is things not seen the thing promised but not yet performed now in the life to come when all things that are promised are fully performed to us and possessed by us there is no use of faith in relation to these things So for Hope when all the glory of Heaven is fully enjoyed that the Saints hope for there is an end of Hope in reference to the same things the affection of Hope ceaseth not until the good that is desired and hoped for be obtained and made present but that good thing being had and attained unto then the affection of Hope ceaseth for what we have and enjoy we hope not for Visibile non est objectum Spei Rom. 8.24 25. Therefore saith August Hope is a Child of Faith by which man hopeth from him whom he knoweth for that which yet he hath not Now when the good that we hoped for is obtained Hope doth end and cease Yet notwithstanding although Faith Hope and Patience shall cease in respect of their objects yet they are eternal in respect of their fruits Heb. 6.12 The Apostle stirring up the Hebrews to walk after the examples of those that are now in glory speaks thus Be ye followers of them who through faith and patience have inherited the promises Those things that heretofore were not seen by them but by an eye of Faith they are now in full possession of they do inherit the promises on the other side they have no more sufferings to endure therefore there is no more use of patience but the fruit of those graces which they sought for that they now inherit and enjoy S. Paul tells
torments have not power to destroy our souls they can never have power to deprive us of Heaven 2. That which can never separate us from God can never shut us out of Heaven let us be sure that God is ours and we may be sure that Heaven is ours our sins may separate us from God Isa 59.2 but our sufferings our afflictions shall never separate us from him you may remember that heroical challenge of S. Paul Rom. 8.35 What shall separate us from the love of Christ There be three things to be noted in that challenge 1. That the godly are subject to all those evils that the Apostle there reckons up he reckons up seven in all and still that which cometh after aggravateth that which went before Tribulation or trouble that 's the first but to be in trouble and in anguish too in anguish to be driven into persecution and banishment in banishment to suffer hunger and nakedness with these to be in continual peril and danger after all to dye violently by the sword these are great evils all of them and all of them exceeding one another and yet it is certain the godly are subject to all of them 2. That in these evils the main end that the Devil aims at is to separate God from us and us from God as may plainly be seen in Job's case where the Devil laid all the load he could upon him and all to set God and him at variance to make him to blaspheme God and God to forsake him 3. That yet the anchor of our safety is so firmly cast as that no such tempests as these shall ever cause such a Shipwrack in vain shall the Devil ever labour by any of these cords to pull God and us asunder they shall not make the faithful for their parts to shrink any whit from him nay they will rather stick the closer to him as wind puts not out the fire but rather kindleth it so that same wind of affliction which is sent out to blow upon them it shall not be a means to put out but rather to kindle the fire of their love God on the other side for his part will never the sooner forsake them nay he is so far from forsaking his Children in afflictions as he doth then draw the nearer to them Perhaps they are not alwayes so sensible of his presence but afraid that he hideth his face away yet certain it is he is then ever at hand and near unto them ready to do by them as Christ did by Peter in the storm as soon as they begin to sink to put his hand under them and to save them from drowning David saith God hath compassion on us as a Father hath compassion on his Children now Fathers have most compassion on their Children when they see them in most trouble and distress if natural Fathers have so God our Heavenly Father cannot then be void of the bowels of affection when he seeth us in affliction and distress God doth then pity us and those are infallible arguments of his love toward us now if troubles and afflictions cannot separate God's love from us sure they cannot shut up God's Kingdom against us but notwithstanding all the hardships they make us to suffer for the time yet when we have been tryed we shall receive the crown of life CHAP. XXXI Setteth down a cordial to them that are in affliction and a Preparative to them that are not A Twofold use may be made of what was laid down in the precedent Chapter and it concerns them that are in affliction and them that are not for them that are in affliction a cordial of unspeakable comfort for what can more comfort an afflicted soul when he seeth how all earthly joyes have forsaken him and that he is every day fain to eat the bread of sorrow and to mingle his drink with tears what can more comfort him than to know and to be assured that yet for all this he is never the farther from God never the farther from Heaven the world powreth contempt upon him but God hath not cast him out of his favour his outward man peradventure is weakened and decayed but his inner man is safe and untouch'd Earth hath denyed him peace and comfort but in Heaven there 's laid up for him a crown of blessedness This was it that gave Job comfort and made him Victor in stercore made him sing Songs of Triumph even when he was sitting on the dunghill his substance was gone his Children were slain his Wife tempted him his Servants scorned him his enemies insulted on him his Friends forsook him the Devil was a scourge to him God himself seemed to hide his face from him yet for all this saith he I know that my Redeemer liveth and that I shall see him at the last day there is no comfort in the world comparable to this so we may be sure to come to Heaven at the last no matter though we go thither in a a whirlwind and a fire no matter whether a smooth way or a rugged Better go a fowl way to a Banquet than a fair way to a Gibbet The reward we look for in Heaven is sometime compared to a reaping to a harvest now you know when the corn is sown once before we come to reap it it suffers a great deal of hard weather many dashing rains many nipping frosts many biting winds yet none of all these do hinder the harvest they make the corn never the worse either for ripening or reaping in due season we shall reap as the Apostle saith notwithstanding all these Afflictions are to us while we are living in the world as hard weather to the corn while it is growing in the field they nip us they pinch us they blow cold they beat hard upon us yet they shall not spoil us of the harvest we look for they shall not bereave us of the least of those sheaves of joy that lye a ripening for us but in due season we shall reap the full crop into our garners let this then be a cordial to all that are in affliction Let it be also a preparative for those that are not prepare your selves O Christians for the patient bearing of all trials that God shall send upon you by laying up before hand this comfort and assurance that no trials shall rob you of your crown Object Peradventure you will object that yet they have done so by some extremity of affliction hath driven them into extremity of despair so instead of receiving the Crown of life they have caused their portion in the second death Resp Affliction hath not caused this but the ill use that hath been made of affliction we are to judge of affliction as we are to judge of prosperity they are either of them good or evil according to the good or evil use that is made of them it 's certain that some that are in prosperity shall come to Heaven yet their prosperity is not the cause
the Gentiles and the rest What a ravishing sight will it be to see the glorious company of the Apostles to behold the goodly fellowship of the Prophets to set your eyes on that noble Army of Martyrs and Confessors that have shed their blood for the cause of Christ What a joyful sight will it be to see those holy Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel and the rest above the reach of their cruel Persecutors cloathed with long white garments with Palms in their hands and with the glorious ensigns of their victorious triumphs Will it not be a goodly sight to behold that glorious fore-runner of Christ who chose rather to lose his head then to dissemble the filthiness of an incestuous King and no less delightful will it be to see St. Stephen who was stoned to death for Christ and that holy Apostle St. James who was slain with the sword of Herod that cruel Tyrant now reigning with Christ in glory What an excellent sight shall it be to see those famous Lights of the Church of Christ Peter and Paul shining there very gloriously with the Trophies of their Martyrdom wherewith they were Crowned and this shall add to the perfection of this sight that the Saints shall all enjoy the glories of each other as if they were properly their own If the sight of the Saints in communion here be so sweet even an Heaven upon Earth what will it be when all the blessed Souls that have been from the beginning of the World and shall be to the end shall meet all together and they wholly freed from all corruptions and imperfections what a blessed sight will that be If there be such great pleasure in the sight of Flowers and Jewels what great delight will there be in the sight of the innumerable company of the Blessed who shall all shine as the Sun especially when all shall be dearer to their Parents Children Relations then now they are to behold multitude the beauty and excellency of the inhabitants of Heaven and their sweet familiarity with one another will be a most pleasant spectacle Their multitude will be innumerable God hath many Sons and Daughters that must be brought to glory Heb. 2.10 there are a numberless number that are to follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes Rev. 14.1 there shall be no empty places in Heaven nor any void of inhabitants Likewise the beauty of all shall be admirable they shall be like unto the Angels of God and be the most excellent images of their heavenly Father and how pleasant a thing will this be to behold In dignity all shall be the Citizens of Heaven and the Children of God all shall be triumphant Kings having had the victory over the World the Flesh and the Devil We count it an admirable sight if we could see one King among an hundred thousand persons in his glory Oh then what a sight shall this be when we shall see millions of glorious Kings and Christ the King of infinite glory in the midst of them All shall be Priests unto God offering the sacrifice of praise perpetually to him In brief the least Saint in Heaven shall be greater in dignity and glory then all the Kings of this World Moreover they shall be most delighted to behold that sweet converse they shall have together If it be a delightful thing in the Court of some great Prince to obtain the favour and good will of all what pleasure will it be to enjoy the friendship and familiarity of such an innumerable company of noble Persons Oh what a royal Feast and most magnificent Banquet will the Lord make for his Children when they shall all meet together in his holy Mountain let Worldlings get them to their gluttonous and carnal feasts let them even burst themselves with their superfluous excesses such a Feast as this where the choicest dainties are served in by the holy Angels where even Christ himself the Master and maker of the Feast will as it were gâ—rd himself and serve is convenient only for God and his chosen People SECT IX ANd as the eyes shall be freed from all dimness so the ears shall be freed from all defects of deafness the ears shall always hear that ravishing Musick sounding forth from the heavenly Quire where a consort of innumerable Angels and glorified Saints are singing Hallelujahs to their God and magnifying their glorious Redeemer for ever for the high praises of God shall be in the mouthes of all his Saints Psal 149.6 by reason of their ardent love to God who hath heaped so many good things upon them they shall break forth into praises and thanksgivings They shall praise him out of all his works and benefits from his works of Creation and Providence from his works of Redemption and Justification Adoption and Sanctification from his works of Mercy and Justice from the Rewards he bestoweth on the Righteous and the Punishments he inflicteth on the Wicked and from all his secret and revealed Judgements They shall have all these things before the eyes of their minds and shall clearly understand the counsel of God in them all and shall be filled with incredible consolation and by reason of the greatness of their joy shall praise him for all peculiarly blessing him and giving him immortal thanks they shall not want matter for everlasting praise and they shall not only praise him with their heart but also in their body with their tongues there shall be a most excellent harmony of voices incomparably surpassing the musick in the World this will be exceeding sweet and pleasant that one only sound of it were able to bring the whole World asleep Now as the Saints shall incessantly with vocal praises magnifie the Lord so without doubt their vocal Hallelujahs shall be heard and understood of one another what ravishing expressions of love shall they then hear from Christ and from each other what Songs of joy and triumph Upon the consideration whereof devout St. Augustine breaks forth into this meditation Omne opus sanctâ—rum leus Dei sine fiâ—e sine defectione sine labore faelix ergo vero in perpe tuum faelix si post resolutionem hujus corpusculi audivero iila cantica caelestis enelodiae quae cantantur ad laudem Regis aeterni ab illis superâ—ae petriae civibus beatorumque spirituum agminibus c. August medâ—t cap. 25. The whole work of the Saints in Heaven shall be to praise God without end without failing without labour happy therefore and truly happy am I for ever if after the resolution of my body I shall be counted worthy to hear those Songs of heavenly melody which are sung in praising the everlasting King by those Citizens of the Country that is above and by the Troops of those blessed Spirits which are there Oh how happy shall I account my self to be if I may be admitted to sing those songs and stand by my King my God the Captain of my salvation and behold
cleerly discerned But God is a good of infinite excellency containing all things which the Saints can desire and is cleerly discerned by them therefore he most strongly draws their affections to himself They shall in Heaven see so much excellency in God and be so fill'd with his love that their hearts shall be full of holy flames of love toward him there shall be nothing either within them or without them to draw away their love from God or lessen or cool their affections toward him all things that they shall see or hear or understand shall serve to fill them with his love and keep up and confirm their love in the height of it for ever they shall be so fully like to God that it shall be impossible for them not to love him perfectly God shall dwell in them and they shall wholly possess him and they shall dwell in God and he shall wholly possess them they shall be knit to each other in mutual love to all eternity The principal employment of the Saints in Heaven is to love God and all the vertues in Heaven are useless except charity and enjoyment which is the rest of love and is also its recompence saith S. Augustine for as desires do disquiet lovers when they possess not what they long for so being now in the possession of him whom they love they are satisfied The love of the Saints in Heaven is much perfecter than ours upon the earth whatever pains we take to love God on earth our love is never without some notable defect to enfeeble it iâ— is blind because faith that enlightens it is as one saith a candle whose lamp is alwayes surrounded with a cloud or smoak it is faint and drooping because we possess not the supream good we passionately affect and being separated from him we are as well his Martyrs as his Lovers Here our love is also divided because self-love is not yet extinguished and the greatest Saints if they mannage not their intentions well do rob God of all the love wherewith they indulge themselves In brief it is almost ever interested we love not God so purely as not to seek our own pleasure with it when we seek his glory and we are more earnest with God for riches and honours than for heavenly graces but the Saints in glory have not one of these imperfections in their love their love is not blind because they love him whom they see and the brightness of glory that illuminates them is a ray dispelling all the darkness of their understandings it languisheth not as ours doth nor spends it self in its longings because they possess what they love and being intimately united to God are eternally inseparable from him their love is not divided because self-love enters not into the celestial Jerusalem but is quenched by the flames of true charity finally it is not interested because God's glory is the end of their desires yea in Heaven it self they seek not so much their own happiness as his glory SECT II. 11. AS the Saints shall love God entirely so they shall love each other in the Lord they shall see the Image of God shining cleerly and gloriously in each other and so shall love God in each other and each other in God Peter shall admire Christ in the glory conferred on Paul and Paul shall admire Christ in the glory conferred on Peter The Saints shall find themselves all agreeing in God and so among themselves they shall see nothing in any of their brethren but what shall be most lovely nothing to estrange their hearts or damp their affections they shall not be capable of any touch of envy for every one of them shall be full of glory and blessedness And albeit some have higher degrees of glory than others yet this causeth no emulation or jealousie among them The variety of the world as one observeth is one of its rarest ornaments the flowers which checker a walk do embellish it the Stars which make an hundred several figures in the firmament do set a lustre upon its beauty neither doth any thing make a Countrey more pleasant than the diversity of the parts that compose it the riches and glory of a state dependeth upon its diversity if all subjects were of the same condition there would neither be diversion for strangers nor accommodation for the naturals The ornament and profit of the body politique appeareth in this agreeable mixture of rich and poor Artists and Husbandmen Souldiers and Merchants Magistrates and Ministers but here is the mischief that attends it that this variety of conditions which begets its beauty breeds envy and jealousie among the subjects for as their goods are not common because their conditions are different one is jealous of what another possesseth Great men are apt to be proud and to despise their inferiours Men of low degree are envious and murmure at those that are above them But in Heaven the difference of degrees produceth their beauty and giveth no occasion of envy or jealousie the Crowns of glorified Saints are proportionable to their labours and sufferings for Christ They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the Sun Dan. 12. Peace bears rule among all the Inhabitants of Heaven love which uniteth them renders their contentment common though the justice that rewardeth them maketh their condition gradually different Every one is glad of anothers happiness and without interesting in any one they find that the felicity of particulars contributeth to that of the publique In Heaven love is in its full perfection Ludovic granat Meditat. the property whereof is to cause all things to be common there all the elect shall be more straitly united to one another than the Members of one and the same Body because all shall participate of the same spirit which gives unto all one and the same being one and the same blessed life What is the cause why the members of one and the same body have so great an unity and love one to another is it not because they are all partakers of one and the same form one and the same Soul giveth the same being and life to them all Now if the spirit of a man hath power to cause so great an unity between the members that are so different in Offices and Natures is it any wonder if the Spirit of God Almighty by whom all the Elect do live which Spirit is as it were the common soul to them all should cause a greater and more perfect unity among them especially considering that the Spirit of God is a more noble cause and of a more excellent vertue and power and gives also a more noble being now if this manner of unity and love do cause all things to be common as we see in the members of one body who rejoyce every one at each others felicity as its own what delight then shall each one of the Elect take in the glory of all the rest considering that he shall entirely