Heaven and Glory and of the Beatifical Vision for withouâ— holiness we shall never see God Let us therefore leave off sorrowing for petty Losses and Crosses and turn the whole Torrent of our Sorrow into this Channel even against our sins 4. Nay the mischief of Sin ends not here it also exposeth us to the wrath of God and makes him our Enemy that otherwise would be our closest surest and fastest Friend and did we â—now what it is to have God for our Enemy it â—ould send us trembling to our Grave for when â—is Fury is kindled it sets on fire the foundation of â—he mountains Deut. 32.22 'T is better have all â—he World to grapple with than with God if â—e frown upon us no Creature dare smile If â—e be for us who can be against us Rom. 8.31 â—f God have a Controversie with us who dare â—ake our part or move a Hand or Tongue in our Defence We cannot grapple with him he is â—oo strong for us we cannot flye from him as â—onah thought to do he will over-take us neiâ—her can we hide our selves from him Psal 136 â— c. We cannot struggle out of his hand â—or he is the Almighty and we but despicable Worms if he tread upon us he leaves us dead â—ehind him Before him the Holy Angels cover â—heir faces and all the Infernal Spirits tremble â—n his hand is the soul of every living thing and the â—reath of all mankind Job 12.10 If he with-hold â—ur breath we return to our Dust for we have â—o more than what he puts into us how then â—hall we contend with our Maker Can Chaff â—nd Stubble grapple with a devouring Flame One blast of his Displeasure can blow us into Hell yea Heaven and Hell and All into nothing â—nd how are we like to make our Party good â—gainst him when we cannot move a Finger â—wag a Tongue or fetch a Breath without his â—ssistance Well but let us well consider whether our Cause be good What cause hath God given us to take up Arms against him Hath he â—een a hard Master to us Or with-held our Wages Jonah thought he did well to be angry but was soon convinc'd Job had a mind to quarrel him and seems of any other to have the best Cause but when the Contest began hâ— soon threw down the Cudgels and lays his hand upon his Mouth Hath not God been our greateâ—â— Benefactor and done more for us than all the World ever did or can do Is not he our beâ—â— Friend and shall we become his profest Enemies Many good works have I done among you saith Christ for which of those do you stone me John 10.32 God gave us our Being when we had none and shall we hate him for it We were tâ—â— Clay and he was the Potter and might have dash'd us into pieces with his foot He gave us Reason when he might have made us bruit Beasts as Dogs or Swine or more contemptible Creatures He hath given us Limbs and Senses when otherâ— want them Peace and Plenty yea Life and Liberty and hath made our Lives comfortable to us when we deserve not the Ground we tread upon or the Air we breath in and shall we flye at the Face of God and thus requite the Lord our Maker Nay hath not Christ suffered more for us than any other hath or can do We had sold our selves Bond-slaves to Satan and neither Man nor Angel could have redeemed us out of our Slavery or have paid a Ransom sufficient for us but Christ laid down his Life to free us from the guilt of sin from the filth of sin from the Punishment due for sin from the Curse of the Law the Wrath of God the Slavery of Satan and from Everlasting Damnation And hath he for all this deserved our Malice and Hatred He hath bestowed more upon us than the World hath to bestow 't is he that sends us so many Ambassages for Peace and rains Heavenly Manna so plentifully about our Tents he gives us Promises such as the greatest Kings upon Earth cannot make and make good to their greatest Favourites as of his Spirit his Graces his Son and his Glory And is all this nothing Shall we foster sin in our Bosom that hinders us in the Enjoyment of those promised Blessings and expose us to the wrath of God and the everlasting Destruction of Soul and Body and expose us also to all Miserie 's Temporal Spiritual and Eternal God forbid Well we cannot make our Peace with God till we break our League with Sin and if God be our Enemy and our Enemy he will be if we are at Peace with Sin then we may expect he will treat us as Enemies Well may we fear that every bit of Bread we eat will choak us and every drop of Drink we drink may be our bane and that every Creature may wait for a Commission to end our days that the Floods may drown us as they did the Old World or the Fire consume us as Sodom or the Earth swallow us up as Korah and his Complices or the greatest Judgments that ever we read fell upon Mortal Man may be our Portion Oh what need had we then to leave sorrowing for other things and turn all our Tears into the right Channel that it may drown our sins that expose us to these Miseries and Mischiefs 5. Nay but this is not all for Eternal Death as well as Spiritual and Temporal is the Reward of Sin the everlasting separation of Soul and Body from God which is called The second Death and this is far greater than all the Miseries before mentioned for if the sinner be not reconciled to God which cannot be before sin be mortified he shall be cast into the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21.8 This is the Natural Fruit and Effect of every beloved sin even the everlasting Damnation of Body and Soul a thousand thousand rentings of the Soul from the Body is not comparable to one renting of the Soul from Christ Sin doth that for us that all the Men on Earth and Devils in Hell could never do even pull us out of the Arms of God This threw Angels out of Heaven Adam out of Paradice and Millions of Souls into Hell This brought Death into the World and is the very Sting of Death and if this Sting be not taken out it will sting the Soul to Eternity This imbitters our Lives as you have heard while we are in the World and opens the Door to let us out of the World and will open Hell it self to let us in and is the only bar to keep us from coming out But if Sin were mortified we might with Old Simeon depart in Peace and with Ambrose say I am not ashamed to live nor afraid to dye And with Paul I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Death without his Sting is like Samson without his Hair or like the Drone-Bee without a Sting not
farther objected It was a good Woman And what then must not good Women dye If Death would spare the Gracious Heaven would be empty for no other shall go thither Was she too good to be the Child of God the Spouse of Christ an Inhabitant in Heaven a Companion for Angels and Glorified Saints But was not her Goodness freely given her by her Husband She had it not by Nature she was beautiful with the comeliness he put upon her and all this was in order to fit her for her Marriage But was not her Goodness your Comfort as well as her Reward Had that been wanting there had been more cause of Sorrow than now there is But she could not be spared For that it is best to let God alone with the Government of the World which he hath so wisely managed for above Five Thousand Years and never was yet put to a strait for want of Instruments for he that of stones can raise children to Abraham never wants Instruments to do his Work 'T is he that took her hence best knows whom he can spare doubtless he can raise Instruments as well as in former times and qualifie whom he pleaseth for the Work his Vineyard shall be drest or he will send Labourers in at the eleventh hour she is call'd out by the Owner of the Vineyard to receive her Wages who can send in more if he want Had she had more Work to do she had had more time to do it in her Father that loves her knows the World is infectious and he hath taken her out of the Corrupt Air lest she should take the Infection But she was in the Prime and Flower of her Age and 't is pity such Blossoms should be nipt but God best knows when his Roses are ripe and when they should be pluckt and when 't is the best Season to gather his Flowers and if he pluck this Rose in the bud to put into his Bosom what need this Complaint He takes not his People hence till they are ripe for Glory Though we know not the reason of his doings doubtless he hath wise and gracious ends in all his Actions 't is not necessary for us to be of his Counsel yet he condescends so far to us as to tell us All things shall work together for good to those that love God Rom. 8.28 And why may nor this dark Providence do you good Sometimes the righteous are taken away from the evil to come Isa 57.1 And this may be the present case and haply you may have more cause to mourn that you are alive than that she is dead we know not what Cup may be put into our hands haply such as you would not desire to see her drink However Troubles and Afflictions are so common to Men of all Ranks and Conditions that the Holy Ghost tells us That blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their works follow them Rev. 14.13 To dye in the Lord is a Happiness to dye for the Lord saith Latimer is such a Priviledge that is not granted to the Angels in Heaven Mors privare potest opibus non operibus Death may deprive us of our Wealth except we have sent it before us to Heaven but not our good Works But this your Daughter was your first-born and was it not fit she should have the Precedency in her Death as well as in her Birth The first-born hath no Priviledge against Death more than the rest When Death knocks all must open yea God seems to claim a greater Interest in the first-born than in the rest Exod. 13.2 Our Saviour Christ was the first-born yea the only Son of his Father and as well beloved as your Daughter could be yet suffered Death for us And shall we think a Son or Daughter or our own Lives too good for him Abraham did not deny his Son his only Son when God required him yea was content to kill him with his own hands And till there be a through resignation of us and ours and all we enjoy to God's dispose till we are content to be what he would have us be and do and suffer what his Will is we are not in a Christian Posture and God if he love us will bring us to this and if one blow will not do it more shall Our stout Stomacks must stoop and we must bend or break the best way to get from under the Rod is Submission for we can neither grapple with God nor struggle out of his hands Let us now sum up all that is in Controversie between God and you and let us see whether it will be a considerable Charge God took away your Daughter without your consent and against your will laying more claim to her than you can and brought her out of a state of Misery which you had involved her in out of the Devil's Slavery from under the Curse of the Law and the Wrath of God and Eternal Damnation and that by the precious Blood of his own Son and by Regenerating her and Adopting her for his Child changing her Nature and giving her the disposition of a Child cloathing her with the rich Robes of Christ's Righteousness and decking her with the Graces of his Spirit Espousing her to his Son providing an Inheritance for her and when she came to Age hath transported her thither and gave her Possession of the purchased Inheritance those Mansions of Glory provided for her from all Eternity wip'd all Tears from her Eyes and all Sorrow from her Heart and all Sin from her Soul married her to his Son who lodged her in his Bosom gave to her the largest Fountain even a Kingdom of Glory And for this you mourn and will mourn and think you do well to mourn and like Rachel refuse to be comforted because she is not This is the wrong that draws Tears from your Eyes and sorrowful Sighs and Sobs from your Heart And may not God call Heaven and Earth to Witness against you that your Complaints are causeless and your Tears needless Had he taken her in her sins and cast her into Hell he had wronged neither the one nor the other though her condition had been deplorable but now he may say of her as sometimes of his Vineyard Isa 5.3 What could I have done more for her than I have done And what Reason can you give why you sorrow as one without hope for one that sleeps in the Lord Were it a deed of Charity could you prevail to wish her out of those Coelestial Enjoyments back again into a World of Troubles Vexations and Dangers and that only to bear you Company Do you think that all the Glory Splendour and Magnificence all the Riches Honours and Promotions the World ever saw would be a Temptation to her to leave the Beatifical Vision and those Rivers of Pleasures which are at the right hand of God for evermore Alas these are no more to those Coelestial Enjoyments
take themselves wings and flye away and on whose Tree they will roost we know not We usually call Riches Substance when 't is but really a Shadow an empty Nothing if we look upon it through the Devil's bewitching Spectacles it seems gilded 't is like the Serpent Scytale of whom 't is said she allureth Beasts to her by her beautiful Colours and stings them to death This made Paul be crucified to the world and David as a weaned child The World is but a blaze at best but many times proves an Ignis Fatuus which leads most Men out of the way the best Account Solomon could give of it was 'T is vanity and vexation of spirit Yet many load themselves with thick Clay but Death will unload them and cover them with common Earth Great Men a while disturb the World and grasp at Crowns and Kingdoms but now Alexander's Ashes are contained in a little Urn they are in the World as a Guest in an Inn for a Night they sit at the upper end of the Table fare of the best lye in the best Bed but in the Morning they have most to pay We are in a Journey to Heaven let us not fall in Love with what we see in our way or sit down at the Stile or Bridge Let us use the world as a Traveller doth his Staff keep it or throw it away as it helps or hinders us If Riches increase let us not set our hearts upon them neither think our selves much the better or safer for them for we know not what World we may Lodge in the next Night or whether our Money there will be currant Coin 'T is all one at Death whether we have little or much the Poor are as nigh to Heaven then as the Rich and sometimes better prepared Riches are uncertain at the best to the Possessors like the Sea sometimes there is a Storm sometimes a Calm sometimes it ebbs and sometimes flows They are like Winter Weather very variable we see sometimes in the Clouds like Towers and Castles in the Air but a blast of Wind comes and they are dasht into another form for they wanted a Foundation and so do many Men for their great Hopes The Devil easily blows up such blubs in proud Men's hearts yea such Tumours are apt to rise of themselves 'T is observed that a Sick Man a Covetous Man and a Discontented Man cannot take Pleasure in their Enjoyments still there is something wanting to give content Job was a Rich Man but his Heart did not cling to his Riches we see how patiently he suffered the loss of all He made not gold his hope neither said unto the fine gold Thou art my confidence c. Job 31.24 c. Riches make no great difference among Men the Wether that bears the Bell haply may be a little better cloathed and fatter than the rest but is a Sheep still and little the better for the Bell. Should the Devil not only shew us but also give us all the Glory of the World 't is not much worth these are but Thorns that choak the Word and make it unfruitful the harder we grasp them the deeper they wound us and ere long will be wrung out of our Arms we can find little Honey but many Stings But in Heaven there is Pleasure without Pain and Treasure which cannot be exhausted A Heart in Heaven is one of our surest Evidences for Heaven and a Heart set upon the Earth the saddest Symptom of a Wicked Man For where your treasure is there will your hearts be also Those that are Friends to the World are Enemies to God James 4.4 And though we expect a Paradice it will prove but a Bochim a place of Lamentation 4. As the World can give little Content and Satisfaction to a Man so it can do us little or no good in our great concerns here or hereafter it can do little for the Body and less for the Soul I know the former especially will seem a Paradox to many who look upon Riches as the only Happiness and hate Poverty more than the Devil and fear it more than Hell But consider Gold cannot nourish us nor keep us warm both which are necessary to our well-being we have read of some that have been famished to Death amidst infinite Treasures But it will be objected it will buy us Food and Raiment 't is true but Food cannot nourish nor Cloathes keep warm without a Commission from God and he can do it without them as in Moses Elijah and our Saviour Christ neither can they prevent Pain nor support us under it If they could so many Rich Men would not labour under such Tormenting Distempers as the Gout Cholick Stone Strangury c. as they do and usually Rich Men groan under such Distempers most and Riches causes them more than cures them Yea the raging pain of an aking Tooth puts Rich Men as well as the Poor out of Humour and all their Riches cannot ease them the Oyl of Angels can do them no good against the Plague or Pestilence or Pestilentious Diseases Fevers Small-Pox Consumptions Surfeits and such like Riches are neither preventing removing or supporting Physick Yea Death enters into the Courts of Kings as well as the Cottages of Peasants or the Beggar 's Cell The Poor Man's Diet feeds him as well as the Rich Man's Dainties as Daniel's Pulse and Water did him and his Fellows as well as Court-Junkets did the other yea they are as warm in their Rags as others are in their Robes Yea we oft-times find that Surfeits and nauceating Stomacks are the Fruits and Effects of Plentiful Tables As to the true and Primitive use of Cloathes viz. to cover our Nakedness and to distinguish the Sex a Russet Coat may serve as well as a Velvet Gown or Sattin Suit The Poor Man sleeps as soundly upon his hard Bed as the Rich upon his Bed of Down The sleep of a labouring man is sweet whether he eat little or much Eccles 5.12 'T is true his Fare is not so costly neither are his Cares so great but he can take his Rest without Distemper or Distraction while his Rich Neighbour his restless Spirit and carking Cares read him nightly Lectures upon his Bed I have read of Anacron who when he was Poor was Merry and Jocund which was observed by a Rich Neighbour who sent him two Talents which when he had his care to keep it and his fears of losing it so distracted his Mind that he could not sleep which after a while he observed sent back the Money and was as Merry as before Solomon tells us He that maketh hast to be rich shall not be innocent And no wonder if with Gold Men get Guilt if God throws sometimes some handfuls of Hell-fire into their Consciences and spoils all the Sport In a word many that eat their Bread in the sweat of their brows and are clad in their comely Russet have their Health as well many times better
him to Hell Now though Sin have a Mortal Wound in the Regenerate which cannot be cured yet it will have a Being in them while they are in the Flesh and these Sons of Zeruiah are sometimes too strong for them but at Death these Anakims shall be overcome Death will give them their Deaths-wound the same stroak that separates the Soul from the Body shall divide between Sin and the Soul Now it sticks as close to us as the Skin to the Flesh or as the Flesh to the Bones or rather as one Bone to another and much closer for these may be separated but the other not 't is like as the spots of the Leopard not only in the Skin but in the Flesh also nay 't is in the very Heart and not only in the Body but in the Soul also yea in the very Power and Faculty of it yet at Death a separation will be made and this must needs be good News to a Believer when his deadly Wound is cured which is the cause of all his Maladies Oh happy day will it be to him when he shall shake hands with his Corruptions and give them a Bill of Divorce and bid them an Everlasting Adieu when he shall never have a proud vain sensual or ungodly thought more to trouble him or any that shall be unbeseeming God or Godliness Now he cannot serve God without distraction but then it will be otherwise no sin shall stand then as a Cloud to Eclipse the Sun of Righteousness or cloud him from us Now Sin makes a Godly Man a weary of his Life and causeth many a sad and sorrowful Sigh and many a Prayer it doth cost him and many a struggling for the Victory but then it will be had and the War will be ended and the Triumph obtained when all Tears shall be wip'd away and Sin and Sorrow shall be no more and for a Crown of Thorns they shall have a Crown of Glory There is nothing now but sin that hides God's Face from us when these Clouds are removed we shall see him as he is and shall never see one frown in his face nor one wrinkle in his brow for Sin and Corruption which are the only Make-bates shall be left behind for no unclean thing shall ever enter into Heaven for though the Serpent did wind himself into Paradice none of the Serpentine Race shall ever enter into Heaven their place shall no more be found there Rev. 12.8 And if he be cast out his Works shall follow him then the Saints will be Saints indeed without spot or wrinkle or any such thing Ephes 5.27 Their robes will be wash'd in the blood of the Lamb and they shall no more delight to wallow in the Mire Heaven that spewed out the fallen Angels will not admit of any unclean thing sin to the Godly is their greatest Trouble here but what would it be should they be troubled with it to Eternity I have read of the Indians that enquired where the Spaniards would go after their Death And Answer being made To Heaven protested they would not come there among so Blood-thirsty and Cruel a People This was their Ignorance but this I say should a Godly Man know his sin should accompany him to Heaven it would be great cause of sorrow Anselm affirms he had rather go to Hell Innocent than to Heaven with a Guilty Conscience 'T is a greater Mercy to be freed from Sin than to be born Heir to a Kingdom but at Death they shall have the Priviledge of both now 't is their daily Complaint O this hard this proud this hypocritical Heart how shall I get it softned humbled and reformed But then it will be done it will then be better than now we can desire or expect here the Understanding is clouded with Ignorance there the scales will fall from our Eyes Many a Man would ride a Thousand Miles and give many Hundred of Pounds to have a clear insight into some of the Mysteries held forth in the Scripture as of the Trinity the Incarnation Predestination Redemption Free-will c. And of some obscure Passages Prophesies and Promises recorded in the Scripture But there all shall lye open and God's whole Contrivance in the work of our Redemption made apparent to his Glory and our Eternal Admiration In a word there shall no sin or any thing that implies a defect enter Heaven for no such Weeds grow in God's Garden there will be no imperfection of our love to God our desire after him or our delight in him neither any distempered Passion or Affection for the Affections that there shall remain shall be set upon right Objects and agreeable to the Will of God Oh happy time when shall it be when we shall be rid of all our sins that now keep us so low and God at such a distance from us 2. As at Death we shall be freed from all sin so likewise from all the Causes Occasions and Provocations to sin from the Temptations of Satan and Allurements of the World for as there will be no Natural Inclination to it within so there will be no Provocation to it from without for Temptation without now proves the Bellows to blow our Corruption up into a Flame it being as Tinder to the Fire ready to catch upon all occasions The Devil is a Powerful Politick Subtil and Malicious Enemy lying upon his lurches to betray us 1 Pet. 3.8 He is always fishing for Souls and suits his Baits according to our Inclinations he hath such an Enmity against God that he hates his Image where ever he sees it and though he cannot race it out yet he will always oppose it and seek to deface it he is like the Scorpion his sting is always out and what Opposition either he or his Instruments can make against it they will be sure to do it but at Death we shall be out of his reach and in a place of safety where he cannot throw one Dart at us nor shake his Chain to affright us Now he gives us many Alarms and if he finds us out of our Trenches or neglecting our Watch he is sure to surprize us and to make a Prey of us and were we not kept by the mighty power of God to Salvation we could not escape being devoured by him Now we have no quiet Day nor Night nay in our very Addresses to God but he molests us with his Temptations sometimes stops our Mouths and oft-times steals away the Heart in the time of Duty and lays Snares for us where ever we go or whatever we do but the more Spiritual the Duty is so much the greater is his Opposition He spoils our Duties purposely to make God hate them he takes great Advantage indeed by our own Corruption and we shall never be rid of the one till we are free from the other Our Senses are the Cinque-Ports that lets in the Occasions and Provocations to sin into the Soul and he sails in with the Tide
Blood and much ado to get with hard Labour Cloaths to their backs or Meat to their bellies or to redeem a little Time for their Souls good this must needs be an uneasie Life and many times all their pains cannot keep them out of Prisons or their Children from Beggery These Poor Men many times have when they go to Bed a bundle of Cares to lay under their Heads not much easier than a bush of Thorns and this is the Portion of many Godly Men. But Death will take this Burden from them for in Heaven there will be no racking of Rents no grinding of the faces of the Poor there will be Rest without Labour and Pleasure without Pain there is no domineering Tyrant no oppressing Neighbour these are gone another Road if Repentance prevent not to pay back those Tears with Interest they have drunk here so greedily Here is no Bond-slave or Servant to live in subjection no naked back nor hungry bellies to feed or cloath here is Nectar and Ambrosia God himself to feed upon Here in this World Fears and Cares keep Men working by Day and waking by Night but 't is not so in Heaven there neither Pains nor Cares are necessary they praise God for their Enjoyments not beg for a supply to their Wants Here the care of all the Churches are upon us as upon Paul and we sympathize with others that are in Misery as Nehemiah did and hence we can scarce open our Eyes or Ears but we let some Grief into our Hearts some Persecution or other we hear of in one part of the World or other some suffering Saints some Massacre some Oppression or Persecution which adds still to our Trouble some Friend or other in Prison their Goods seized or they ruined or those that have yet escap'd are in continual fears and expectations that it will be their condition Wars and Rumours of Wars fill us with Distractions But there are no such Disturbances in Heaven Here sometimes we fear God is removing our Candlestick and taking away his Gospel from us and leaving us up to Egyptian Darkness but this fear never troubles the glorified Saints they matter not the Pipe that can go to the Fountain The consideration also of the Divisions Rents and Schisms that are among Christians yea the holiest Men cause many sad thoughts of Heart when Ephraim is against Manasseh and Manasseh against Ephraim and both against Judah when one Godly Man Speaks Disputes and Writes so bitterly against another and are ready to dis-robe each other of their Graces But in Heaven Luther and Calvin the like we may say of other Dissenting Parties will agree one Heaven will hold that that now one Church cannot There will be perfect Love and Unity and no disagreeing Person or Party Here likewise loss in our Estates and disappointment in our Expectations or in our Affairs whether by the immediate Hand of God want of Fore-sight the carelesness of Servants or the malice of Enemies may disturb our Peace Hardship and Trouble also in our several Callings and Employments This makes us think that Part we Act upon the Theatre of the World is the hardest and most uneasie The faithful Magistrate that sets himself against the sins of the Times finds sad disappointments and the desired Reformation not attained he is ready to despond under his Burden The faithful Minister after all his hard Labour and Study to bring Souls to Christ finds not the wished Effect is ready with the Prophet Isa 49.4 to despond The like we may say of Parents Masters of Families and other Governours that do what they can to bring those under their Charge to Christ and cannot do it are ready to faint under their Burden But in Heaven all these Troubles will be over there will be no Contention in the State nor Trouble in the Church no disorder in the Family and nothing amiss in the Soul These things and many more cause our Trouble here and will do while we live but Death will prove the Funeral of our Troubles and the Resurrection of our Joys It was the rejoycing of a good Woman that was a Martyr that her Stake was put into the same hole that holy Mr. Philpot's was before her and it may be some comfort to us that we are going the same way to Heaven that our betters have gone in before us and we hope shortly to overtake them But that which makes our Lives uneasie is when God hides his Face from the Soul as sometimes he doth but in Heaven we shall never fear losing him we shall never look into the Casket and miss the Jewel we shall never see a frown in his forehead nor a wrinkle in his brow Now we find it a hard matter to wind up our Affections to God then it will be impossible to draw them off him then we shall leave all these Clogs behind us as Elijah did his Mantle when he ascended into Heaven And this is the Lesson this Providence teacheth us That our Troubles here may be sharp they will be but short the Righteous Man hath not long to suffer 5. But the Saints Happiness at Death consists not only in freedom from Evil but in the enjoyment of Good also What they are freed from you have heard what they shall meet with at Death rests to be spoken to but who can sing the Songs of Sion in a strange Land Who can describe that which eye never saw ear never heard tell of neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive of viz. the Joys that are prepared for those that love God Yet this I should speak to but seeing I have treated of this in another Book I shall be the briefer Were their Happiness only in their freedom from Misery it were no other than what bruit Beasts shall have whose Misery ends with their Life but Christ hath promised the pure in heart shall see God Mat. 5.8 which cannot be in this Life for no man can see his face and live Moses indeed by faith saw him that is invisible and some Glimpse of him a Believer may have but a clear Vision is only reserved for Heaven and by seeing God is meant enjoying him for without that the sight will bring little comfort for ought we know the Devils and the Damned may see him as Dives did Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom to their greater Torment But to see him as he is 1 John 3.2 is to enjoy him and this is the Beatifical Vision as Divines call it Yea we shall have as much knowledge of him as finite Creatures are capable of we shall apprehend him though not comprehend him for we may as well think to comprehend all the Water in the Sea in a Cockle-shell for what is finite to infinite Yet shall our knowledge of him be much enlarged for here the Apostle saith we see but in a glass but then face to face But how God will communicate himself to us we know not yet will he let