that place and state into which we shall be admitted then they call the Highest Heaven the Inner Altar above the Altar the House of God the Seat of Christ the Celestial Kingdom the Heavenly Inheritance the goods of the Kingdom the consummation of glory the reward of immortality the distribution of royal donatives perfect joy the expected reward the end of all good the intire reward of deserts the time of Crowns the kingdom of fruition the perfect participation of good things with other names of the like import which signifie something much beyond what we shall enjoy before our Lords appearing I shall conclude what they say of both these states with the words of St. Austin Tract xlix in his exposition upon St. John All souls saith he when they go out of this world have their different receptions the good have joy and the evil have torment But when there shall be a resurrection the joy of the good shall be more ample and the torment of the bad more grievous The holy Patriarchs are received in peace and so are Prophets Apostles Martyrs and the good Faithful but all these are still in the end to receive that which God hath promised For even the resurrection of the flesh is promised the consumption of death and eternal life with the Angels This we shall all receive together But as for the Rest which is given presently after death every man receives it if he be worthy of it when he departs from hence The Patriarchs received it first afterwards the Prophets and more lately the Apostles and still more lately the holy Martyrs and every day the good Faithful c. And with these more ancient words of Irenaeus who discourses in this manner Since our Lord went away in the midst of the shadow of death to that place where the souls of the dead are and afterward was raised corporally and after his resurrection was taken up into Heaven It is manifest that the souls of his Disciples also for whom the Lord wrought these things shall go into the invisible place appointed to them by God and shall stay there till the Resurrection expecting the Resurrection Afterward receiving their bodies and rising again perfectly that is corporally as our Lord also rose again so they shall come to the sight of God For no Disciple is above his Master but every one that is perfect shall be as his Master As our Lord therefore did not straightway flying from hence depart to Heaven but expecting the time of the Resurrection appointed of the Father which was fore-signified in Jonas after three days rising again was taken up into Heaven even so we also ought to wait with patience the time appointed by God for our Resurrection fore-told by the Prophets and so rising again be taken up as many of us as the Lord shall account worthy of it And whosoever shall be thought worthy of that world as our Lord speaks and of the resurrection of the dead they will be filled no doubt with inconceivable joy to meet so many pious souls and so many Friends who will be all assembled at that time to receive the reward they have so long waited for For if all the Faithful be one body as St. In xi Heb. 40. Chrysostom or the Author of the Commentary on the Hebrews * under his name speaks it will be a greater pleasure to this body to be Crowned all together than if it should be done by parts For the righteous even in this are admirable that they rejoyce in the good of their Brethren as well as their own and therefore this will be according to their hearts desire that they shall be Crowned with their fellow members For it is a great satisfaction to be glorified together Of which since we have so sure an expectation and the just as St. Ambrose speaks in the place fore-mentioned have such a recompense that they shall see the face of God and behold that light which inlightens every man what should we all do from hence forward but as he says put on this resolution and study that our souls may draw near to God that our prayer may draw near to him that our desire may cleave unto him and we may never be separated from him Even while we remain here let us be fast knit to God by meditating by reading by seeking and endeavour to know him as we are able For we know here but in part because all things here are imperfect there in their perfection Here we are little Children there we shall be strong men We see here saith St. Paul as in a glass darkly but there face to face There with open face we shall behold the glory of God which here our souls being involved in flesh and blood and sullied with their spots cannot behold sincere For who saith he can see my face and live How should we since our eyes cannot endure so much as the rayes of the Sun which would put them out if we should fix them on so great a light How can we behold then the shining Countenance of our Creator while we are wrapt up in the rags of this flesh We must stay for so glorious a sight till that happy day when we shall be unclothed or rather clothed upon with the garments of celestial light That 's the time and not till then when he designs to do us the great honour of setting the Crown of righteousness upon our heads Now is the time of toils as he speaks in another place of agonies of combates of conflicts of strife for Victory then is the time of refreshments of crowns of retributions of rewards of resurrection and of the restitution of all things Which ought to make all serious Believers look for that day with carnest longings and lift up their heads above this visible world as men desirous to receive this glorious Diadem In comparison with which the most goodly fillets that ever bound any Imperial brow are not worthy so much as to be named O that glorious Crown purer than the finest Gold is a pious heart inclined to say that Crown of righteousness and of life which my Lord hath so dearly purchased for me with his pretious blood how do I covet it how desirous am I how do I long to be partaker of it My head beats and akes and cannot be at rest till this Crown by his royal hand be set upon it It is in pain till in stead of these clouds wherewith it is surrounded it be incompassed in a circle of purer and brighter thoughts It is sorely oppressed till these vain dreams and frivolous imaginations which gather about it fly away and it be infolded in a wreath of nobler contemplations O how heavy is it till this giddiness of mind wherein I am whirl'd be exchanged for a steady Orb of light wherein my soul I hope one day shall be unmoveably centred I long to have these ashes blown away wherein the sparks of divinity lye raked up
endeavour to render our selves as a beautiful body without any spot and blemish and thereby be found acceptable in His sight at His appearing And if you would know what Commandments they were which He would have Timothy in consideration of this appearing of Christ and the certainty thereof to keep without spot you need but look back to the eleventh and twelfth verses and there you may find them Follow after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness Fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called c. That is Shun Covetousness and all the vices that issue from it ever rendring to every man what is his due Have God always before thine eyes and put thy trust and confidence in him Deceive no man that relies on thy word exercise mercy and charity to all suffer wrongs rather than do them and suffer them with a patient humble mind bridle anger repress all Cholerick motions and use such gentleness to others as thou wouldst desire thy self in the like cases And for this end contend earnestly for the Christian faith that is suffer not thy faith in Christ to be shaken much less overthrown by any persecution pain or death it self As thou hast begun to show thy self a good Christian so continue Remember thy Calling and Profession and resolve to quit all thou hast rather than fall short of Eternal Life And this I give thee in charge v. 13. as thou wilt answer it before God who raises even the dead and before our Lord Jesus Christ who constantly professed the truth before Pontius Pilate that thou keep these things inviolable and endeavour to be found pure and holy when Christ shall appear again As certainly He will for we have his word for it and God the blessed and only Potentate the King of kings and Lord of lords c. is able and lives for ever to make it good These two Uses you see the Apostle plainly directs us to make of the Doctrine here delivered And there is a Third which he teaches us in the place I am now treating of when he describes all good Christians who keep the faith by the Name of those who LOVE this APPEARING of Christ Jesus All they who observe the Commandments of our Lord and Saviour with seriousness and care ought to set their hearts upon this glorious appearing which they expect as the most goodly sight the most blessed spectacle that eyes can behold This is the very Character you see that St. Paul gives of the faithful and so it hath ever since been esteemed by all those who understood our Religion Which disposes and inclines all those that heartily embrace it and live according to it to have a great affection for that happy day which so many pious souls through so many Ages have most passionately longed to see So Andreas Caesariensis hath most excellently expressed the sense of all right Christians when he sets this down for the Contents of the last Chapter of the Revelation according to the old division * Chap. lxxii 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. How the Church and that Spirit which is in it wishes for and desires the glorious appearing of Christ Which will bring with it so transcendent a bliss that they have little faith or little goodness who do not only wait for it but rejoyce in hope of it before it come For when the Apostle calls this appearing of Christ his Revelation saith an ancient Writer in Oecumenius * In 2 Thes i. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He bids them look for the greatest things and please themselves in the very thoughts of his coming before they receive the recompence of the reward For as his appearing will be infinitely affrighting to the wicked and they have reason to dread it before-hand so it will be no less comfortable to the godly who ought now to entertain themselves with delightful hopes of it and fetch great contentment and consolation from it because they shall then see and hear such things as will ravish their hearts with joy unconceivable That 's the chiefest thing of all and which is principally by me intended in these Papers Unto which therefore without any further evidence that might be produced of the certainty of this appearing I shall apply my self in the remaining Third Part of this Discourse CHAP. VI. Of the means to excite that LOVE in our hearts which we ought to have for Christs APPEARING I Have passed over the other two with the greater speed because I intend to take the more pains in this by endeavouring to show and to express as lively as I can what the LOVE is which we should bear to this Appearing if we hope to partake in the comforts of it And how to do this better than by describing the original and progress of this passion I cannot devise And therefore I shall use that Method for the conveying this Appearing of Christ into your minds under such a notion and character as shall not fail to stir up in your heart the devoutest affection for it I. Let it then in the first place be remembred that there cannot be the least beginning of this love unless we look upon the appearing of our Saviour as a GOOD and that of the greatest size For else it will be so far from touching us with any inclinations towards it that it will excite either our hatred or our contempt of it It is the GOOD which we discern in any thing that charms our souls and attracts our desires Though an object be never so near us and present it self to our very hands and would thrust it self upon us yet if we see no good in it we either hate it for disturbing our quiet or at least are perfectly cold to it as feeling no power it hath to stir up any passion for it Nay though we do perceive a thing to be good for us and defirable to be enjoyed yet if it stand at such a great distance and seem so very far off as the Appearing of Jesus Christ for any thing we know may be it will not sensibly affect our hearts nor move us to bear much regard to it unless it have the face of a very great happiness and promise us exceeding much contentment This Appearing therefore of our Lord is called by this Apostle in another place li. Tit. 13. that BLESSED HOPE to express the incomparable happiness and bliss which it will bring along with it He would have us look upon it as a thing that far more imports us than all our present enjoyments or all that is possible to be here enjoyed For there is nothing in this world that is worthy to be spoken of with such an Emphasis as to be called that blessed thing that happy possession This is a peculiar respect belonging only to the appearing of Christ which is the summ of all a Christians Hopes and those Hopes the great treasure of his soul
and sensless heart as this of mine With what thanks ought I to receive the smallest testimony of thine inestimable love Which is so sweet that it makes us sigh because we can enjoy no more of it Ah! that this vessel should be so narrow and strait as to contain so little of thy love Ah the dulness of this heart which entertains thee so poorly that it is no wonder thou makest so short a stay so exceeding short a stay with me How sad is it to think of this heavy clog which will never let me follow thee far when I have the strongest attractions from thee Fain would my soul climb up unto thee but when I have got a little way down I come and have lost that glorious sight I had of thee And if thou art pleased to lift me up as high as Heaven how soon is the mind weighed down again while it museth upon those celestial things O the constant joyes which I hoped to have how are they vanished O the satisfaction which began to be in this heart which now lyes groveling in the dust filled with nothing but sighings after thee And blessed be thy Goodness that it doth sigh after thee I thank thee that I feel such love such vehement desire there as makes it long for more of thee I will never cease to sigh after thee I will still long for that time when thou Lord wilt be pleased to appear and make all sighing fly away by a constant sight and enjoyment of thee For this I will groan that I may be so happy as to see thee and that thou wilt make me as strong as sometime thou makest me desirous to accompany thee I will pray for this that thou wouldest come and heal those wounds which love hath made by making me perfect in thy love O come therefore Dearest Lord and turn my desires into enjoyment my sickness into health my weakness into strength these flutterings of my soul into a flight into a flight I say from this earth into the air where I may no sooner wish to be with thee but I may feel my soul snatcht away and leap for joy to find it self in thy embraces Come O my Lord come thou lover of Souls and let me not languish in these longings any more Come and leave no place for any fears that I shall lose thy company Come and give me the full satisfaction I promise my self in thy sweetest society I am content to suffer one pain that I may thereby put an end to all Death is no longer dreadful to me when I think it will bring me something nearer to thee Thou maiest rend my soul when thou pleasest from this flesh that it may be torn no more as it uses to be when it is pulled back by other things and would gladly follow thee O joyn me perfectly most perfectly to thee that I may love thee as much as the most enlarged spirit is capable to love thee Happy should I be if I could do nothing else but love thee and feel that thou lovest me O hasten the day when my time shall be divided between these two sweetest employments of expressing my most ardent love to thee and rejoycing in the full satisfaction of thy love to me CHAP. XIII Two other Reasons why if we love our selves we must needs love this Appearing IV. SO we ought to wish if we seriously believe there will be such a day because we naturally love Life and Immortality which till then cannot be perfectly bestowed on us Our Lord indeed hath brought these to light and given us an assured hope that none of those who believe in him shall perish But as the everlasting Life he puts us in possession of when we depart from hence I shall show in the next Chapter is not presently compleated so it is out of all question that we must stay till the last day before he perform his so frequently repeated promise vi Joh. 40.54 c. of raising our bodys out of the dust and making them incorruptible that they may live for ever Which is a thing we so much desire that we are prone to please our selves with the meer shadow of it studying when we dye to make our memory survive our ashes We would fain record our Names in the Legend of fame by the performance of some remarkable exploit Or by some memorable work we contrive that the world may speak of us when we are gone down into silence And for fear it should not we teach Marble-stones and Pillars to tell what we were and by this means we fancy we shall live as long as the world shall last But alas this is no better than an imaginary life which we cannot secure neither but must leave the World without any assurance of that for which we are so solicitous and imploy such serious pains No mans Name can be so loudly sounded by the trumpet of fame but it may chance that succeeding ages shall not hear the least whisper of him Or if they do it may fare with him as it doth with Hercules and Bacchus who were as great Souldiers and Conquerers it is likely as Alexander and Caesar and yet now their notable atchievements do but serve to fill up the number of Fables Epitaphs and Escutchions Books and Monuments do all dye as well as men Our Names in all likelihood will at last be buried and perish as well as our selves For this world is the place where death reigns and plays the Rex not only over us but over all the reliques that we leave behind us What should we wish for then what should be the ardent desire of all Nations if they were believers but the time of our Lords appearing when this mortality as the Apostle speaks shall be swallowed up of life and we shall receive from his hands Laurels and Crowns that are incorruptible and never fade away a Name that shall never dye a Glory that shall live and continue in its splendor as long as God himself For as this is the time wherein Death hath dominion so that will be the time of abolishing its Kingdom and putting an end to all its tyranny by setting up Life and Immortality in its stead O welcome time sayes the heavenly minded soul when this great devourer of the world shall have nothing left to feed upon unless it be the Grave which shall dye eternally and never be heard of more O what a joyful name is this of Life and of life for evermore How sweetly doth even the word IMMORTALITY sound in this land of death and destruction What is it that makes our hearts so cold and to feel so few desires to see the Prince of Life appear To see Him who shall raise up that in glory and power which was put into the earth in dishonour and weakness and shall turn this natural this corruptible body into one that is spiritual and incorruptible Are we afraid this world will be burnt up by the
to give me some tasts of their incomparable sweetness May I relish no joys so much as those May I always have the remembrance of them fresh upon my soul And may I be so happy as to be preserved by the savour of them from the sinful allurements of all other pleasures Hence hence all you beggerly delights which would have me forget my happiness Stand aside you Images of true joy and hinder not my prospect of that heavenly Paradise Lend me your help or else get you gone and trouble me no more Assist my benighted thoughts and represent that blissful place to them or else I desire not your company I have eaten of all your dainties but still am empty and void of satisfaction I know what you have to say the very utmost you can offer me therefore follow me with no further importunities For my heart is set on that fair that delicious place where the Great Lord keeps his Court and entertains his Friends with endless pleasures O holy City of God what glorious things are spoken of thee How free how sprightly and how full of joy are all thy happy Inhabitants What heart is there that is so dull as not to long to dwell in that blessed place where every head wears a Crown of Life and every hand carries a Palm of Victory Where every eye overflows with joy and every tongue with Psalms of praise Where light shines in every face and love smiles in every Countenance Where every heart is perfectly satisfied in the fulness of its own bliss and satisfied again with the pleasure it hath to see the felicity of others It is too much trouble to me that I am not there O let me not lose the thought of it too I sigh to think that I stand at such a distance from my Fathers House and shall I suffer a further remove by turning away my eyes from thence Go O my soul go thither in thy thoughts and daily meditations Send a thousand wishes before thee thither to tell thy Lord that thou art coming to him Say whom have I in Heaven but thee who wentest thither to open it to all thy faithful Followers What have I on Earth but my hope by following thee to arrive at last where thou art gone before me Whither should I look but unto Heaven now that thou my Dearest Lord art ascended thither to prepare a place for me A place of rest and secure peace a place of joy and constant enjoyment a place from whence I am loth my thoughts or my heart should descend to return to this poor earth again for there they grow so dull that it is hard to lift them up to look to thee O keep them with thee keep them with thee thou King of Heaven Settle and fix them there where I my self expect to be where thou also expectest me where they shall find ease for every grief and joy in the midst of the greatest tribulation O fix them unmoveably in this quiet place this eternal Rest And when they must attend the affairs of this lower life may they only look not come down to them and still remain and stay with thee IX And when these things shall be fulfilled the Apostle tells us in the place before named 1 Thess iv 17. that we shall be ALWAYS WITH THE LORD who passed his promise to his Disciples a little before he left the world that he would come again and receive them to himself that where he is there they may be also xiv John 3. Of which promise he was so mindful after he went to Heaven that he further informs St. Paul who spake this by the word of the Lord that he will not part with us when he hath conducted us to his Fathers house but keep us ever with him there in joys and pleasures that never fade away A condition which we cannot but love and passionately long for if we have any love for him or for our selves For there are none of our enjoyments here but must be frequently intermitted and are too often interrupted even the enjoyment of our blessed Lord himself and the sense he gives us of celestial things we find to our sorrow suffers this inconvenience Neither are we diverted from them only by the troubles of this life or the violence of other worldly temptations which press too boldly and rudely upon us but by the most necessary occasions and the most innocent fruitions to which nature not only inclines us but requires our frequent attendance Of how much of our time doth sleep possess it self though we desire never so earnestly to continue awake How little do we live in the account of reason if we do but remember this Image of Death which hath us so many hours every night in its arms And yet besides this eating and drinking journeys and visits the businesses and cares of this life which challenge some of our thoughts devour no body knows how great a portion of every day To say nothing of those hours when we are fit for little or nothing but are forced to find as we significantly speak some pastime for the entertainment of our wearied minds O blessed Jesus how few are the minutes that these souls inclosed in flesh can spend in thy company Into what a little room are the thoughts of thee and of thy unmeasurable love most wretchedly crowded How soon are we weary and how often are we forced away when we have the greatest mind to thy sweet Society O the cares that not only divert but sometimes oppress us O the multitude of troubles which are wont to disquiet us the sicknesses and infirmities of our bodies which indispose us besides the great weakness and feebleness of these spirits which are not able long to bear thee company It is but a wish I see that I may always stay with thee I feel my self pulled away and cannot keep my soul above even when thou hast lifted it up unto thee And therefore I cannot but renew my desires that thou wouldest be pleased to hasten thy coming That 's the time I long to see because I would be ever with thee and always behold thy face and perpetually speak of thee and declare thy love without ceasing in the height of love and devotion to thee O what a change will that day make in me when I shall be all Life and see not so much as the image or shadow of death any more When I shall neither slumber nor sleep much less be sick or grow old and dye but always wake and enjoy a perfect health a vigorous youth and immortal life O the blessedness of that change when I shall be hungry no more nor have my head disturbed with the fumes and clouds of food When all my journeys will be at an end and I shall never lose nor leave the company I love When I shall neither be crost by others nor vext with the violence of my own passions When I shall be no more perplext
is the cause that we who are made to love should not let our love turn divine and address it most devoutly to him who best deserves the Love of all the world Or what may it be that keeps us from running with the whole current of our affections towards that heavenly Lover who sues so earnestly to us for our hearty love Hath he not loved us enough to make us love him Was he a cold and indifferent Lover that could not touch the heart with a sense of his kindness Was he perfectly frozen and careless in our concerns when the urgent wants of our souls called for his kind and compassionate relief Or did he pretend a great deal of kindness and made long protestations of his love but did just nothing to merit our affection There need no answer to such questions which serve only to reproach and confound our insensibleness and negligence who have nothing to say why we do not love him For so apparent is his love so confessedly great so costly and expensive so tender and obliging that as it had no example nor can be ever exactly imitated so it must needs attract all those and fill them with the greatest love who do not turn away their eyes and their ears and their hearts from this Lord of love Let us but listen a while to him and we shall hear him say was there any love like unto my love What is it that you would have had me done for you more than I have done without your desire to win your love Hath any man greater love than this that he lay down his life for his Friends But what were you for whom I died Herein God commended his love towards you in that while you were yet sinners I dyed for you And what was the purchase I made by that price which I laid down for you Who is it that hath the keys of Hell and death To whom is all power given in Heaven and in Earth Can any but I forgive your sins and open to you the Kingdom of Heaven and restore you to the joys of Paradise nay make you eat of the tree of life in the midst of the Paradise of God Where do you read of any King who at his Coronation gave such royal gifts to men From whom do you expect the Crown of righteousness and an eternal inheritance of which I gave the earnest so long ago Can you think of any thing comparable to the glory of my appearing Or is there any doubt whether I will come or no or whether you shall appear with me in that celestial glory What would you have me do to satisfie and assure you more than I have already done by my Word and by my Blood and by my Angels and by my Holy Spirit which I have sent down from Heaven to bear witness to me and to tell you that I will certainly come again and give you the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Believe it I will as surely come again as I died and rose from the dead and visibly ascended into Heaven and according to my promise poured out the Holy-Ghost upon my Apostles and inspired them to proclaim this in all tongues and languages that I still live and that because I live you shall live also And is it possible for us to think we hear him speaking to us in this manner as he doth in his blessed Gospel and not be provoked to summon all the powers of our soul to offer up themselves in devout and hearty love to him What hath the dearest friend whom we love with so much passion nay even our tenderest Parents done for us in comparison with this love Or what can the favour of all the Princes on earth should they unite all their powers to love and honour us bestow and heap upon us worthy to be named together with this miraculous love It ought to call us from all vain delights Our minds should continually study to comprehend the breadth and length the depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge Our wills ought to be more passionately bent towards him and grow every day stronger in his love Our memories should be a most faithful Treasury of the manifold tokens of his Love Our tongues and our hearts should never cease to meditate and sing the praises of his wondrous love For if we could speak to him as we may conceive him speaking to us and ask him what he did before the world he would tell us that He loved If we could ask him what moved his Almighty Wisdom to make the world he would tell you that he loved If we could further ask what he hath done ever since he would still say he loved And what brought him down from Heaven if we could ask again to be partaker of our miseries he would tell you again that he loved And could we ask again why he would humble himself so low as to take the form a servant and dye a base servile and ignominious death the death of the Cross he would again tell you that he loved And if you could still go on to ask what moved him to send the Holy Ghost and give such gifts to men you would still receive the same answer because he loved And could you beseech him not to be angry and you would inquire again what he hath been doing since those days and what he now does he would give you no new answer but that he loves And if you should pray him once more to tell you what he loves he would let you know it is nothing but love abundance of love This is the thing he would win by his love This is all that he asks and desires at our hands though he hath obliged us so much For this he solicites and beseeches having set his heart upon it as the fruit of his incomparable love He intreats for this as if it were for his life that we would be at last so sensible of all his kindness as to let him have our unfeigned love For he being Love himself loves nothing else but sincere and hearty love O blessed Jesus should all our hearts then say how much doth thy love differ from ours Love brought thee down from Heaven to us but how few of us and how slowly doth it carry up thither unto thee Love made thee dye the most shameful death but it doth not make us live the most glorious life It made thee endure the sorest pains but alas it doth not make mankind take the pleasure of following thy steps to the greatest happiness It made thee think perpetually on such poor wretches as we are but how seldom are our minds fixed or how small is the number whom love inclines to think upon so glorious a person as thy self It perswaded thee to come to us when there was nothing to call thee but only our great miseries but it doth not bring us all to thee when we are
dead shall be CAUGHT UP TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR v. 17. There he will shew himself and not upon this earth Thither they shall be carried up unto him and not he come down hither unto them And if you well observe it the Apostle teaches you to believe that this ascent of the Saints unto him will bein a very glorious manner Just as he comes from Heaven shall they go up thither For St. Paul saith we shall be caught up IN THE CLOUDS as so many triumphal chariots sent to fetch us from this earth and transport us to himself Who when he stood before his Judges to receive his sentence from them thus describes his own coming to judge them xxvj Matth. 64. Hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the CLOVDS of Heaven Though now that is I am arraigned and condemned by you as if I were the vilest of men you shall one day see that I am the Son of God by whom you shall be judged for with amazement you shall behold me clothed with Divine Majesty and coming as the Vicegerent of the supreme Lord of all to call you to an account For every one knows that clouds are called the Chariot of God civ Psal 3. and therefore his coming in the CLOVDS of Heaven can signifie nothing else but his appearing in the glory and with the Authority of his Father as Lord of the world that hath conquered all his enemies and is come to pronounce the sentence of God upon them In such a splendid manner with the like pomp and state shall we be carried up to him as so many Princes going to wait upon him and to receive the honour he will delight to confer upon us in the sight of all the world Nay it will be part of our honour to be conveighed to him just as Elias yea he himself ascended into Heaven For a Chariot of Fire appeared for the transportation of the one 2 Kings ij 11. and a cloud which is the same received the other out of the Apostles sight i. Act. 9. O blessed Day O happy Appearing doth an heavenly minded Christian often think with himself when a sight of my Saviour will draw me up to him to be where he is O most glorious most beautiful Spectacle when his beams which fall upon me shall make me ascend from this earth as the Vapors do before the rayes of the Sun O the joy that will fill my heart when I shall see those gilded Chariots sent from my Saviour to fetch me unto himself How shall I sing when I am uncooped and let out of this Cage wherein I am now confined to accompany the free people of the air in their heavenly melodies What a pleasure will it be to look behind me as I fly up unto Jesus and see what a poor spot this Earth is of which I shall then have taken my leave for ever O how glad shall I be that I am to return no more to a place so dull so dark and so full of miseries How happy shall I think my self that I am gone quite away from this vile Orb which will not seem then to my exalted soul so big as a pins-head Nay how joyful will it make me to find that I am at last ascended up so high as to have lost the sight of this little Globe and of all the Kingdoms and Empires that it contains O my Gracious Lord pardon me if I be sometime apt to think that thou stayest too long before thou comest to call me up unto those heavenly places This flesh is too unweildly a load when I think of that aerial state It hath made me groan ever since thou madest me believe that thou wilt bestow a lighter garment upon my soul Heretofore indeed I fancied nothing more than a body fresh and plump a tall and proper stature a fair face and beautiful features and I was prone to envy those who dwelt in such fine and goodly Palaces But ever since the time that I heard of going into the air to meet with thee my Lord all the love they excite in my heart makes such habitations seem no better than stately Prisons I have lookt upon my self and sweetest Friends in our most healthy estate and sighed to think that we were in Chains and Fetters Nay the best of these houses I tell them at certain seasons are but painted Sepulchres wherein the mind lies dead and buried It is thou therefore O most blessed Lord who hast made me to wish so earnestly for thine appearing I owe these longings to the discovery which thou hast made to me of another and better world whither thou intendest to transport me And if I have a mind to begin my journey thither presently if I would fain feel my wings so grown that they might be able to bear me up above this earth if my soul sometimes would willingly be released from these chains and have the freedom to leave this flesh and if I wish withal that this flesh may be changed and turned into a kind of spiritual being I must ascribe it unto thee who hast begot these desires in me by telling me of a building of God eternal in the Heavens when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved Thou hast revealed these things to me that I might desire them and who can desire them and not wish withal that he might presently enjoy them Let it not displease thee therefore I beseech thee again O my Dearest Lord if I say sometimes I am weary of being here Do not esteem me impatient if in the agonies and pangs of Love I long to come up higher and get as near as may be to thy self Suffer me to pray thee that these walls of flesh may not long immure me and exclude me from thy face At least open a window for my gasping soul that I may look into the purer air and please my self in the thoughts of the flight which I shall one day take to see thee and enjoy thee in unclouded Bliss VII But there is something beyond all this to draw our affections from all things here and to make us love and long for the coming of our Lord And that is the CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS which the Apostle tells us in this very place shall then be given to all those who are thus piously disposed for it I cannot tell you how much is contained in these two words unless I should make another Treatise little less than this For a CROWN denotes the highest degree of honour and RIGHTEOUSNESS signifies in the holy language not only freedom from all pain and punishment but the enjoyment of the greatest felicity that the most bounteous goodness of God will bestow upon his faithful servants No less than such a glory and happiness as our Lord himself hath received for a reward of his labours For we see Jesus saith the Apostle ij Heb. 9. who was made a little lower than the Angels
for the suffering of death CROWNED with glory and honour So St. John saw him in a vision as he tells us xiv Rev. 14. sitting upon a white i. e. a bright and shining cloud having on his head A GOLDEN CROWN And thus our Lord hath caused it to be proclaimed in the Gospel of his Grace it shall be done to all those whom God delights to honour He hath shown in our blessed Saviour what he will bestow upon his constant followers And in what he hath done for him he hath shown also that he is upright and that there is no unrighteousness in him They may depend upon his word and be confident he will not fail their expectation but crown their faith and patience with immortal glory I say their patience because he will have them wait long and stay a great while before they receive this Crown which cannot be set upon their heads till the day of his Appearing He will take up all pious Souls indeed into a state of joy and bliss surpassing all that we can now conceive as soon as they depart this life but the perfection of it they must wait for till he have gathered the whole body of the faithful to him that he may crown them all together So the Ancients understand that place xi Heb. 39 40. as may be seen in Theodoret Oecumenius Theophylact and others And so the last named Writer discourses at large upon the xxiij Luke 43. according to the doctrine of St. Chrysostom whom he constantly follows Who pronounces that the soul lies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * In 1 Cor. xv 19. uncrowned till the resurrection of the dead which is the time when we shall all receive according to what we have done in the body whether it be good or whether it be evil Which was not his opinion alone or the sense of some few others but the current doctrine of the ancient Fathers Who look upon that invisible place and state wherein the souls of good men are before the Resurrection as so much inferiour to that wherein they shall be afterward that they have bestowed very different names upon them expressing the imperfect though very happy condition in which we must remain till our Lord will be pleased to appear for our consummation It will not be amiss to mention the descriptions they give of both The place and state before the Resurrection they call Paradise the Bosom of Abraham the feast of the Patriarchs the outward Altar below the Altar the Porch of the Sanctuary the Courts of the Lord the Custody and the storehouse of Souls secret receptacles the hidden seats or Tabernacles of the godly convenient or due places places meet for them or worthy of them the place of refreshment of Light of Peace a portion of the spiritual Rest the rest of security a certain retiring place of everlasting Rest the port of eternal security the bright the fragrant the royal Tabernacles the earnest or pledge of the Kingdom the White rayment a Chamber in the Palace Royal an Habitation with God the Asylum or place of refuge with other such like names which are so obvious that none can fail to be acquainted with them who read the ancient Doctors of our Religion Among whom St. Ambrose hath adventured to give us a very particular account of this state which I shall set down because it will be very pleasing to those who are desirous of some distinct conception of the happiness we hope for before the Resurrection in the celestial Tabernacles Where the joy of just souls L. de Bone Mortis c. xj saith he will be disposed per Ordines quosdam by certain orders ranks or degrees First there is the joy that they have overcome the flesh and were not crooked by its inticements Secondly that at the rate of their industry and innocence they enjoy security and are not intangled like the souls of the wicked in errors and perturbations and are neither tortured with the memory of their vices nor vexed with the rage of solicitude and cares Thirdly that they are supported with the Divine Testimony of their having observed the Law so that they are not in fear of the uncertain event of their deeds in the last judgement Fourthly because they begin to understand their Rest and Ease and to foresee their future glory and pleasing themselves with that consolation in their dwelling places they live at ease with great tranquillity invironed with the guards of Angels And the Fifth Order or Rank hath the sweetness of a most plentiful exultation or triumph that they are escaped out of the prison of this corruptible body into light and liberty and possess the promised inheritance For there is an order of the rest as there is of the resurrection We shall all rise but every one in his order Christ the first-fruits then they that are Christs who believe his coming and then is the end There shall be therefore a different order of dignity and glory as there will be an order of deserts So that in the sixth Order their Countenance will begin to shine as the Sun and to be compared to the lights of the stars but is such a brightness as cannot decay And the seventh Order will be that they may exult with confidence and full assurance and confide without any doubting and rejoyce without trembling making haste to see his Countenance to whom they have devoted the Obedience of a most diligent service From whence by the remembrance of an innocent Conscience they may presume a glorious reward of a small labour which they beginning to receive shall know that the sufferings of this present time are unworthy that so great a glory of an eternal recompense should be compared with them This is the Order wherein he places just souls before our Lord come to bring them into his heavenly Kingdom And some body under the name of St. Austin hath more briefly expressed it thus * L. de salutaribus Documentis c. xl Tom. 4. We believe that when our soul is freed from the bonds of the flesh if we have lived well and uprightly before God the Quire of Angels will presently come to meet us and troops of all the Saints will run into our embraces and bring us to supplicate the true Judge Then peace will incompass us and deep security We shall fear no more the fiery darts of the Devil nor any other enemy that desires to cast our souls into danger Not sword not fire not the cruel face of the Tormentor not hunger not thirst nor any sickness The flesh shall no longer be contrary to the spirit nor shall we fear any danger but having cast off the burden of the flesh the holy Spirit to whom we had before given a mansion in our body will give us a mansion in Heaven And so we shall joyfully and gladly expect the day of judgement in which the souls of all men shall receive rewards according to their deeds Now