VIII What sure ground we have to believe this change is nigh and that many things must first come to passe Chap. IX Whether we may not expect a glorious rest before the finall appearing and what rest it will be Chap. X. A taste of divine joy and what it is CHAP. I. What a Saint Practicall is KNowledge of the Mysteries and hidden Properties of naturall things is for the most part the study and delight of the earthly man Knowledge of the divine and glorious Mysteries of God in the Gospell is the study and delight of the holy and heavenly man Mr. Venning in ingenuous and godly man hath of late in a small book of his set forth a Saint in the Theoreticall and Practicall Part in seeming contradictions yet very lively and truly I shall cast in my Mite into this Treasury though it be not worth the looking on yet it may challenge to be of the same coin though small 1. He dwells in love and love dwells in him he loves all that bear his Fathers Image a spark or a flame where he beholds his Fathers stamp he receives the person he that loveth not his brother abideth in darknesse 1 Joh. 2.11 2. He is more inwardly holy then outwardly holy he had rather be that which he seems not to be then seem to be what he is not he desires not the face of Ianus but the heart of Jesus 3. He abstaines from evill not because men may see him but God he speaks like Ioseph Gen. 39.9 How can I do this great wickednesse and sin against God The sight of God is more in his eye to affect him then the sweetnesse of sin is to allure him As I remember a Monk being tempted to Adultery the Harlot brought him into a secret place and told him none could see them there He answers her who is God is he nothing bring me to a place where God seeth not and I will commit it 4. He estimates himselfe the least of all Saints as Iohn I am but a voice and no more Mar. 1.3 he prefers all men before him yet he aspires to live above the highest Saint he would be more holy then they and yet more humble 4. He walks so exactly as if there was no Gospell yet he dies so comfortably as if there was nothing but Gospell Or thus he so strictly lives as if he were to be saved by his own works yet dies as if there was no Law his language is Pauls Phil. 3.14 I presse forward toward the marke as men run in a race striving for the mastery so doth he 6. He is never satisfied with grace but soon filled with the world Ioh. 6.34 Lord evermore give us this bread not now and then but alwayes he knowes there is more in God then can be desired and yet he desires more then he can attain to Lord feed me with the crums that fall from thy table rather then let me want if I may not tast the finest of the wheat let me have the courser so it be bread it will nourish me Davids language is his As the Hart pants after the water brooks so doth my soule after the living God not a dead letter but a quickning spirit not the title or term of a God but the living Lord nothing below himself will serve his turne unlesse I injoy God in all I want every thing 7. He is more afraid of sin then hell for he knowes where sin reigns not hell hath no dominion and yet he can say 1 Cor. 15.55 O death where is thy sting Death came in by sin take the cause away and the effect will cease 8. He respects Gods glory more then his owne profit and he will pluck out his right eye and cut off his right hand rather then God shall be dishonoured nothing is dearer to me then him who makes me deare to himselfe 1 Pet. 2.7 to such as believe he is precious or honourable 9. He is more afraid he shall not suffer for Christ then afraid to suffer for him I must saith a gracious heart tread his steps follow him to his foot injoy the Crosse and then I shall know how to weare the Crowne we must fill up the measure of his sufferings behind in the body gold is not pure till it be fire-proof all things must be tried by fire I count all things but losse and dung or dogs meat not worth the looking on my owne righteousnesse must be burnt up that where in I formerly boasted must now suffer losse I am ready not to be bound only but to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus self and legall righteousnesse would pull me back from this suffering but die I must to all such carnall interests I am to be lost to the flesh that I may be found in the spirit as for outward sufferings he expects them also the ashes of holy men are the best compost to manure the Church if I die in fire God will make me out of the ashes he saith to dry bones live 10. He loves all truth for the Authors sake not for him that speaks it that truth which strikes at his sin as well as that which shewes him a Saviour Lord lead me into all truth cut out my dead flesh let not sin rule over me rebuke them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sharply or cuttingly that they may be found in the Faith Tit. 1.3 if God doth wound him he knowes it is for his good 11. He counts the highest life in the creature to be the greatest death and knowes he can never live well untill he be out of the world Psal 119.96 I have seen an end of all perfection in seeing one thing in the world he hath seen all for all in the world is but the same earth appearing in various formes and figures the world to him is but as the track of a ship at Sea soon made and soon marr'd all its beauty is but skin-deep 't is a Tohu and Bohu in a comely garb 12. He prayes more to have sin cured then to have it covered Lord take away my sin rather then the affliction leave no sore unhealed though I suffer by it yet I would have no sore left running least the dogs of this world feed upon me I would not be meat for such cormorants as Paul 2 Cor. 12.8 besought the Lord thrice against his temptation so doth he he seeks to weare out sin by his warring against it 13. He knowes his happinesse consists not in knowing the nature of God but in being made partaker of the Divine Nature a bare knowing God to be cannot make me to be such as are joyned to the Lord are one spirit 't is spirit-work to know God I must be divine as well as speak so 1 Pet. 2.3 If ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gracious notes sweet profitable tast makes judgement I must tast God to be good sweet gracious and then I shall
conceives pleasant Divine joy moves in the same manner as earthly joy doth but onely pitcht upon a higher object These two wayes divine joy manifests it self to us First union is the principall conduit-pipe through which this joy proceeds A soul united to the Lord hath all from him What an ocean of joy coms into the soul with that appropriating title God is mine For all true joy flowes as naturally from this as the river runs from the Sea and indeed the cause of mans misery in earth ariseth from a not-knowing himself united to the Lord by one Spirit for this union is much more glorious then any relation on earth and carries all sweetnesse and delight with it The knot of union is tied so strong by divine love that what ever is Gods pleasure can never be a Saints paine propriety gives life to a cause when a soul can say God and all in him is mine and for me what joy do you think it will produce Then secondly possession adds much to a divine joy thus faith doth give the soul a possession of him who possesseth all things untill a man hath possession in his own lands he can never fully rejoyce for this aggravates my joy when I have so much as at my command Good old Simeon when he had imbraced Christ in the arms of faith then for joy desired to die that he might fully possesse him Thus a soul when injoying Christ in the arms of faith his sorrowes are gone what joy was there for the lost Prodigall when he was come to his Fathers house As in outward delights those of incorporation are better then those of adhesion so inward joyes they are strongest because they proceed from a fruition of good not a speculative apprehension Now God is such an infinite eternall good that the soul is united to him joy by this dilates and opens the heart whence it is called Latitia which signifies joy to be a spreading passion for the object is so universally good and sweet that divine joy cannot be bound but runs out freely to this glorious object and there can be no locking up of divine joy but it runs forth as the father to meet the lost Prodigall The nature of this joy as one saith is like the water of Esculapius his well which is not capable of putrifaction This I am sure of where the soule joyes in God there can no poison mix with it and there can be no excesse in this delight for heaven is its proper title which signifies a Kingdome of Joy At thy right hand are pleasures for evermore Now the excellency of divine joy further appears in two things 1. First it beholds life in eternity for in all naturall things joy doth arise from some kind of life or motion Eternall life is the womb of divine joy that first brought it forth and is the nurse that feeds it and strengthens it Therefore when the soule rightly understands that it shall live with the Lord the spirit is exalted to satiate it self upon life on the contrary take a man that knowes not this life for the most part when he comes to die he is sad despairing for death naturally produceth sorrow as life doth joy Therefore there shall be more joy in heaven at the conversion of one sinner then of ninety nine that need no repentance to intimate unto us that the joy of a dead man raised to life is much increased by the difficulties it met with in conquering death 2. Secondly Divine joy transports the soul beyond a fear of suffering nay the soul thus set upon glory rejoyceth in tribulation it selfe Col. 1.11 Therefore the Saints of old rejoyced that they were counted worthy to suffer Now affliction is an evill not to be desired yet considering the event all sufferings that they make way for a greater glory thus a Saint in divine joy sees to the end of all sufferings And as a woman in travail forgets her pains for joy that a man-child is born into the world so divine joyes snatches up the soule above all earthly burthens As some Martyrs sung in the fire M. Philpot said the world wonders how we can be so merry in such misery but they consider not that God turneth our miseries into felicitie So Vincentius laughing at the tortures laid upon him said they were his Jocularia Ludicra matters of sport and pastine to him Now another reason why Saints joy in suffering is Christ went as a patterne before us Heb. 12.2 Who for the joy that was set before him indured the Crosse despised the shame Old Latimer tells us that it 's the greatest promotion God gives in this world thus a soul in divine joy calls death no more Marah but Naomi A man in heavenly joy we may ask him quid agis but may as well draw in all the breath of the world as tell what a Saint is about not that there is want of words but want in words to expresse it Therefore it is called unspeakable joy 1 Pet. 1.8 not but that we may speak of it but we cannot describe the dimensions of this joy Thus far of the nature of divine joy An incouragement to joy in the Lord. AS a bird while prisoned in a cage sings little and dolefully but when set at liberty in the open aire it sings sweetly so a Saint is in a cage of an uncleane world where his joy is but sparkling but when in the open aire of Gods sweet Kingdome then the soule will sing sweetly as the singers of Israel Rejoyce then in hope O my soule let thy winter seasons be past over with delight For thy summer is nigh Art thou afraid of death Look into the land of the living and tell me is not death swallowed up in victory Art thou afraid of men why behold Collos 3.3 thy life is hid with Christ in God lock'd up as a Jewell in a Casket Art thou afraid of finne doth that hinder joy The sting of death which is sinne is taken away Christ hath fully satisfied the father for thee death is but life growing out of it sorrow is joy in its seed budding forth sufferings are but so many lesser Crownes breaking forth into greater glories Why should not a Saint rejoyce in all states look on thy Saviour hast thou not cause to joy in him While I thus beheld the God of Love alas what 's the world to me In its smiles frownes deaths contradictions I compare it thus It is as a picture drawne out by a curious Artist where it is not one colour makes the image comely but all the colours the black as well as the white line the red as well as the blew that makes it delectable Thus all in the world is but a connexion of colours take all together they make a sweet harmony then O soul rejoyce and know that all things work for thy good the dark part as well as the bright part of things whilest thy joy is in the Lord then in every thing thou meetest with thou meetest with a pleasure for thy God doth all things well delight thy heart in the Lord if Satan hurt thy soule vvith his bloud-hounds fly to the rock of Gods love thou art safe fly in all thy distresse by this wing of love to love A Saint filled vvith joy flies to heaven aforehand and hath the svveet fellowship of Gods Angells spirits of just men in this blessed work of joy Paul was thus rapt up to the third heaven O the sweet glorious divine everlasting surpassing viveficating soul-filling spirit-strengthning unknown yet well known joys of glory thy joy O earth is but as the crackling of thorns thou art drossy frothy frenzy in thy joy all thine is but imaginary conceited joy A Christian sees that every thing is but borrowed in the world time will challenge all suddenly the great man rich man noble man voluptuous man covetous man time will challenge you all then whose are your honours riches pleasure profits all die with you but blessed are such as partake of divine Joys I onely can point at this joy but cannot paint it out to you Therefore rejoyce in the Lord alway and again I say rejoyce Phil. 4.4 FINIS
stranger as the countreyman The Law shall be plaine easie let corrupt men seek what they can to hinder it the stranger shall know it he that hath no learning as well as he that hath the same to the poor as to the rich So from all this I say not that the Saints shall have only an earthly glory grow high and they onely possesse the high places of the earth but my judgement is that there shall be a sweet moderation in Government and though we cannot expect all in Authority should be Saints yet man though carnall shall have a spirit for the liberties of the People and shall deal justly Now when God will accomplish this worke he hath promised I may not fully conclude but say it shall be wrought within these few yeares for I see God is coming to throw downe oppression injustice tyranny in all powers on earth and he hath already laid the way and foundation for this worke in these last eight years therefore rejoyce O ye people for God is delivering you from those outward bondages CHAP. X. A test of divine Joy and what that joy is DIvine Joy ariseth from a sight of and affection to the most glorious object Now in the working of joy it is necessary that there be a union to and with the object for no man can delight in that which he neither knows nor affects and indeed these two are the wings of the soule that heighten this joy Now in the order of joy these two things much aggravate it First Contemplation in the mind of man fixed upon the object for every man by a serious and solid meditation of what the affects hath a various delight in him according to the nature of the object Therefore God by way of expression as to us did not so much rejoyce in his fiat as in his vidit not so much when he gave all creatures a being as when he saw their goodnesse and he had much delight in his works made because in them he beheld his own Image and glory A soul thus beholding God as one with him in Christ being taken with the object the thoughts of God are sweet to him as David I thought of thee in the night season and it was sweet to me for serious meditation carries this soul sometimes in a rapture above it self and when a Saint comes to apprehend their infinite good in God he is swallowed up in himself and all fears are vanquished in him and is as Paul whether in the body or out of the body he can not tell Paul had forgot his former state by the present pursuit of his desire and overflowing of his affections towards that immortall good he saw he had forgot himself and had a new self Thus the soule when filled with joy all its former fears are buried in the present joyes as Jacob when he heard his son Joseph was alive his great fear of the losse of Benjamin was at present overcome by that joy he had of Josephs safety Thus a soul when touched with the loadstone of the Spirit is drawn up into a greater joy and glory Joy in this sense makes death light and small in a Christians eye for suting of en object opposite to death which is life and by this beats out the dismall apprehensions of it and with Paul ' cries O death where is thy sting As Mariners when they come to land make a shout to note their joy of a safe arrivall so the soul by divine joy is carried from the sea of earthly confusion and arrives safe into the land of Canaan where his joy is unexpressible thus divine Joy comes through the understanding and works much upon the other faculties This we may observe in all men that according to their contemplation so commonly is their joy or delight for the mind of man feeds upon his delight as the Bee sucks sweetnesse from the flower as a worldly man his mind and consequently delight is most upon his riches 2. The second assistant to joy is hope or confidence in the mind whereby a man waits for the accomplishment of his desires as a man in prison inferrs joy to himself from that hope he hath of liberty for indeed hope doth enlarge joy by carrying us from our present fears to our future joys Rom. 12.12 Rejoycing in hope this quickens our present joy by hope of a more full joy for confidence addes strength to the weak and courage to the fearfull so hope drawes in joy as the loadstone doth thee needle Rom. 5.2 Rejoyce in hope of the glory of God it makes absent things present and we feed upon those joyes that are to come now besides those grounds of joy there are others that much widen it 1. First the sudden and unexpected appearance of any good to us surprizeth the soul with much joy as the long departure of a dear friend his return to us not looked for or expected causeth more joy then if he had given notice of his coming The reason of this is because they surprize us and so stir up that affection in us more earnestly Sudden joy hath so wrought upon some bodies that they have died pleasantly in the midst of their joyes I knew a man in Christ two years ago that was carried up in spirit into the heaven of joy that at present he wisht he might die instantly to go to that blessed fellowship Some have been so transported beyond themselves that they have forgot their worldly businesse and were as men lost to reason 2. The second is strength of desire For strong desires are never at rest untill they are satiated with the object of their desire For desire is like a woman with child never quieted till she obtains what she longs for When Darius in his flight drank muddy water he professed he never found greater pleasure in his drinking because the appetite of thirst being strong was much delighted where it met with a satisfaction Thus the soul of a Christian having strong desires in her she never rests till she in joyes the object of her desire For indeed a man can never rejoyce in that which he hath no desire after Proverbs 13.19 Desire accomplished is sweet to the soule it brings much joy and comfort to a Saint when his desires are fulfilled As the Hart pants after the water brooks so doth the soul after God And truly the ground why a Christian hath so little joy is because he hath not the strength of desire and is not yet drawn by a divine power to thirst after the living God 3. The third is imagination Imaginati-in in man is either the foundation of delight or sorrow Conception of any good in things moves delight in them Therefore when Diogenes in his melancholy fancie took more delight in his tub then other men do in their palaces For the fancie loves to feed upon some quaint thing distinct And as imagination works it binds the heart to a delight in whatever it