the manner But now see the curious zeal of the Soul it will not only have a Body again but in a precise society it will have only its own again not any other new created Bodies but the same numerical and substantial Bodies shall rise again and be re-united to their proper Souls 1 Cor. 15.53 54. Phil. 3.21 Job 19.26 27. St. Paul saith This corruptible shall put on incorruption and Christ shall change our vile Bodies And Job saith in his flesh he should see God whom I shall see for my self and mine eyes shall behold and not another though my reins be consumed within me There may be some general alteration in respect of their stature deformities superfluities c. to a glorified perfection but still it shall remain the same essential Body and good reason there is for it 1. The justice of God requireth that the same Body which hath been instrumental in the actions of righteousness or unrighteousness should be rewarded or punished The Godly must receive their rewards according to what good they have done in these Bodies 2 Cor. 5.10 It were injustice that this flesh should be killed and that should be crowned that the same Body in which we served God wherein God was glorified Absurdum Deo indignum ut haec caro lanietur illa vero coronetur ut corpora quae in via sacta fuerint membra Christi in patria aliis suffectis in eorum locum arcerentur Tertul. de Resurrect cap. 56. which suffered for God and was for Christ exposed to all the injuries indignities and torments of wicked Persecutors should be eternally laid up in the dust and another Body should be created to receive the reward due to the Body in the grave 2. Because if God should not raise the very same Bodies of his People in which they lived and served God in their generation then God shall not deal so honourably with the dead Saints as with those that shall be found alive at Christ's coming for their very same Bodies shall be delivered from the bondage of mortality and corruption into incorruption and immortality 3. Because Christ who is the pattern of the resurrection did not rise in another Body but in that in which he was fastened to the Cross in which also after his death appeared the prints of the nails in his hands and the holes in his side John 20.27 Therefore Christ after his resurrection for the cure of Thomas his unbelief whose faith lay in his fingers bids him put his finger into his hands and side and not be faithless but believing It seems those scars remained in Christ's Body after his resurrection Vulnerum signa virtutum insignia Aquinas else how could Thomas see and feel them as he is willed to do But these scars were no blemishes in his Body then they were no signs of defect but ensigns of Victory For as that worthy and renowned Captain Caius Marius being on a time accused of Treason in the Senate tore his clothes and shewed his wounds and scars and slashes he had received in the Wars in the service and for the safety of his Country saying Quid opus est Verbis Vulnera clamant What need is there of my Words my Wounds cry loud enough So Christ might shew his pierced Side goared Hands and Feet not only to shew that it was the very same organical Body of his that was crucified on the Cross but also to shew his love to his People and what he did and suffered for them And when the eleven Disciples were gathered together at Jerusalem Jesus appeared to them and they being affrighted supposing they had seen a Spirit he said unto them Why are ye troubled and why do thoughts arise in your hearts Behold my hands and my feet it is I my self a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me to have Luke 24.39 40. A Spirit hath not parts members and dimensions as I have therefore you may be sure being infallibly taught by your sense that it is my very Body which you see in which I long conversed with you suffered and was buried which is now truly risen again Whence as Theodoret saith he proveth it was his true Body that was crucified on the Cross that was now raised from the dead 4. Should not the Saints rise with the same Bodies it were no resurrection but a new creation Moreover the same Souls do rise unto Grace from the death of Sin to the life of Righteousness which is called in Scripture the first Resurrection Rev. 20.6 therefore the same Body shall rise unto Glory in the second Resurrection 5 Consider that Death in Scripture is called a Sleep a Dream and the Resurrection an awaking from Sleep Psalm 17. ult therefore as the same Body that lies down to sleep at night awaketh in the morning so the same Body that lies down to sleep in the dust shall awake and rise again in the morning of the Resurrection Hence we see that the Soul will have its own numerical Body again for the preserving of such numerical identity there shall be wonderfully restored the substantial union which is but formally distinguished from the parts united there shall be restored a personality and lastly the native temperament which doth contain the individuating dispositions whereby such a matter hath a peculiar appetite to such a form which matter by vertue of such inclination remains as formerly the same though it may be varied by extension as when the Infant shall be raised into a Man the person shall be enlarged but not multiplied Object But that of the Apostle may be objected who saith That flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 15.50 Resp St. Paul speaks of corruptible qualities of flesh and blood not of the substance of it Identitas formae in quacunque materia consistit q. ex identitate formae consequitur identitas materiae cum materia nullam per se habeat actualitatem sed esse suum accipit à forma Numerica identitas non continetur in sola identitate primae materiae nudae sed etiam identitate corporis humani Durand sent 4. distinct 44. plura de resurrectione Vide Synops purior theol disput de resurrect as is manifest in the last clause of the verse neither doth corruption inherit incorruption But flesh and blood by the Almighty power of God may be without corruption as the Body of Christ was after his Resurrection incorruptible immortal and spiritual not converted into a spirit but to the distinction of a living body that must be maintained by food Luke 24.39 This then may confute those that deny the identical resurrection of the Body and affirm that our Bodies at the resurrection must be aerial of a more subtil nature not consisting of flesh and members such were divers of the Anabaptists of Germany and Socinus with his Followers who call into question this Article of our Creed Credo resurrectionem carnis I
for one of Fabritius it is all spoken that you might sooner have turn'd the Sun out of his course than him from his integrity and uprightness Yet the best of them were but guilded potsherds and the fairest vertues they talkt of were but painted rags they never knew what God or Christ was what Heaven or Hell were Blessedness is a thing that every man hath in his eye it is the mark that every one shoots at a thing that every man desireth blessedness is that estate that every man coveteth boni mali both good and bad men saith S. Augustine August in Psal 119. Serm. 1. Good men do therefore labour to be good yet that is no wonder but even wicked men also do therefore labour to be wicked that they may be happy there is some appearance of good in it unto them they aim at a kind of blessedness even in the pursuit of wickedness and many there are that have Heaven and happiness at their tongues end that have the earth continually at their fingers end O curas hominum O quantum est in rebus inane Alas Mans cares how full of pain Alas Mans wayes how vile and vain But though blessedness be in every man's heart yet many men are strangers to it Many things are subject to the eye but of blessedness we may say eye hath not seen it other comforts and good things are taken in by the ear but we may say of blessedness ear hath not heard it nor is it possible to enter into the heart of man to conceive how great that good is that is comprised in blessedness The blessed man is defined by some to be one Qui habet omnia quae vult nihil patitur quae non vult that hath every thing he would have and suffereth nothing he would not suffer so that it is an estate to be considered privatively and positively Privatively in respect of what must be wanting Positively in respect of what must be had 1. There must be an absence of all that is evil whatsoever is in any degree evil or whatsoever a man in his own understanding doth apprehend to be evil or conceit to be evil that he must want and be without for if there be any evil at all that he either feels or feareth so long as he is in that estate he cannot be in a blessed estate yea though it be but an imaginary evil his own fears imaginations and apprehensions are to him a kind of unhappiness while man is under the apprehension fear or imagination of any evil he is vexed disquieted tormented and cannot be truly happy 2. On the other side as there must be an absence of all that is evil so there must be an affluence of whatsoever things are good every good thing the heart can wish a man must enjoy for look how much of any good thing he wanteth so much of his blessedness he wanteth Therefore the word in the Hebrew that signifies blessedness is a plurall word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and never found in the singular number Some give this reason for it because it is not hoc aut illud unum aut aliud it is not this or that one or the other good thing that can make a man's estate blessed but he that will be in a blessed estate must omnibus bonis affluere abound with all good things and no good that he can desire must be wanting to him Blessedness is the enjoyment of good correspondent to all the desires of a Christian it is both the first and last good of a Christian the first and last of things to be desired the first for excellency the last for enjoyment it is the spring of all good when blessedness cometh all good cometh along with it it comprehendeth all good whatsoever Moreover blessedness is the Crown and remuneration of all good though God doth endue men with several gifts and graces and albeit as there are several gifts and employments of men so there shall be several rewards yet the reward of all is but one blessedness And hereunto I will add one thing more viz. that blessedness hath ever perpetuity annexed to it and that same perpetuity of happiness addeth all in all to the perfection of it Non est ista beatitudo de cujus aeternitate dubitatur for there is no perfection of felicity where there is no assurance of perpetuity which perpetuity doth neither depend upon the nature of the thing it self nor proceed from any natural necessity that our souls should so exercise themselves for ever in beholding and loving God but from the will of God which doth freely perfect our nature in so high a degree and continue it so perfected From hence this conclusion will follow that the blessed estate being such an estate as we have spoken of it is not to be attained in this life The blessedness of man in this life is but like the girding on of the Sword before the fighting of the Battel till the battel be fought the victory cannot be judged nor the Crown given Alas in this life there are many good things wanting to us that our Souls do desire many evils present with us from which we would fain be delivered we have now health and anon sickness now plenty anon want now peace anon trouble but in Heaven there is all joy and no sorrow in the world there are reciprocal vicissitudes of joy and sorrow joy and sorrow be as it were the interchanging sails of the worlds wind-mill it is therefore the hand of death that must open the door for us to an happy life according to that of the Poet. ultima semper Expectanda dies homini dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet Ov. Mâ—â— lib. 3. Our lives last day must be expected when By death we shall be happy not till then Thus Epiphanius Epiphan Haeres 6â— brings in Methodius disputing against Proclus the Originist that God as the true Physitian hath appointed death as a Medicinable purgation for the utter rooting out and putting away of sin that we may be made happy and unblameable and that as a goodly golden Image sightly and seemly in all parts if it be broken and defaced by any means must be new cast and framed again for the taking away the blemishes and disgraces of it Even so Man the Image of God being maimed and disgraced by sin for the putting away these blemishes and the repairing his ruines and decayes must by death be dissolved into the earth thence to be raised up again in a state of perfection and blessedness How should the consideration hereof wean us from the love of this life why should our love be there set where no blessedness is to be had the things of this life are of that nature Quae possessa onerant amata inquinant amissa cruciant as Bernard speaketh things which while we possess they burthen us while we love they defile us
still keeps its splendor but when the Cloud is gone we see it So Christ in regard of his Deity had this glory always it was hidden from him in regard of the infirmities which he took upon him as sufferings death c. Now Christ our Head being glorified all his Members that suffer with him shall also be glorified together they are now glorified in capite and when Christ hath prepared places for all his Members then he will take them home to his Father's house Christ is now preparing their glory and fitting their heavenly Mansions he is decking their Crowns of Righteousness he is trimming their Robes Christ is now in his own Person glorious but Christ mystical is not glorious it is in a suffering condition there are many of his Members that are not yet brought home to God Christ hath a care of his mystical Body as of his natural Body he gave his natural Body to redeem his mystical Body therefore as he is glorious in his natural Body so he will be glorious in his mystical Body for St. Paul saith he shall come to be glorified in his Saints The Son of God rose gloriously out of his Tomb and after he had given assurance of it to his Apostles he was taken up into Heaven to reign there eternally with his Father the Angels made a part of his Triumph his Body that was pierced with the nails rent with stripes torn with thorns was set at the right hand of his Father on a Throne whose Ornament was Justice and the Foundation Mercy as one well noteth His mystical Body shall receive the like glorious entertainment the Saints shall be admitted into the Society of the Blessed and reign in Heaven with the Angels Those Members that have suffered in the quarrel of Jesus Christ shall be freed from all miseries and reign in glory everlastingly with their Head that the blessedness of Jesus Christ may have its accomplishment and he may be as happy in his Members as in his Person Jesus Christ and his Members are united in their sufferings on earth and by a necessary consequence we may be assured they shall be so one day in their glory in Heaven To this end Christ prayed for his Church to his Father when himself was upon earth The glory which thou gavest me I have given them Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me John 17.22 24. It is observable that in other things when Jesus Christ speaks to his Father it is with so much respect that he seemeth rather a Servant then a Son but when he asks that his Members may reign with him in glory it is with so much liberty of speech that his Request is rather a determination then a Prayer Volo Pater Father I will that where I am there my Servants may be CHAP. V. Of the quality of the Saints glory NOw that I may set forth the nature of the Saints glory you are to know that there is no specisical or essential difference between our gracious and glorious estate as there is no specifical or essential difference between the Corn of the First-fruits and that of the whole Harvest only some accidental differences as there is no specifical difference between a Child and a grown Man they have both the same essential parts and principles there is only an alteration of degrees not of parts gradus non variat speciem Now our present estate is our Infancy our future estate is our Man-hood for the present the Children of God have glory given them godly Men are for the present glorious the Scripture calls them nothing else but blessed yea even then they are blessed when the world looks upon them as most miserable when shame reproach and trouble is cast upon them then doth the Spirit of glory rest upon them they having grace bestowed upon them have glory Glory is nothing else but the splendour the brightness of grace Vita gratiae nihil est aliud quam aetas infantilis gloriae he that is gracious is glorious We shall have the same individual Bodies and Souls after the Resurrection as we have in this life only some alteration in respect of some new qualities as in our first Resurrection from the death of Sin to the life of Righteousness there is no transmutation of the essence but an alteration of the qualities or a super-introduction of new qualities by which we are said to be new Creatures 2 Cor. 5.17 not in quantity but in quality so in Heaven we shall become new Creatures in respect of what we are now and those very qualities which do principally concur to the constitution of our happiness in Heaven are in some measure communicated to us in our first regeneration now we have drops then rivers of delights Psal 36.8 both the same in nature This will be the more evident if we examine wherein our happiness hereafter doth consist and compa ing it with our present estate Our spiritual and supernatural blessedness consisteth in the fruition of such an object as is perfectly all-sufficiently and principally good which is only God therefore it standeth in our perfect union to and communion with God the faculties of the soul being by the Almighty power of God dilated extended and enlarged so far as to be as it were capable of the fulness of God and by the perfect operations of the understanding will and affections united to God in all their actions and when these natural weak and vile Bodies of ours by the same hand of Omnipotency are transfigured and transformed into spiritual powerful and glorious Bodies and so united to the Soul then are we come to the perfection of our blessedness the properties of which blessedness are First That it is everlasting Secondly That we shall discern it so to be And thirdly That as it fulfilleth the largest desires of our hearts so we shall be extraordinarily affected with it and perpetually affected to it and incessantly desirous of it our glory consisteth not in having what our weak Souls can now wish for but what they can desire when they are gloriously corroborated and enlarged So that now you see there is no specifical or essential difference but only a gradual or circumstantial difference between the state of grace here and the state of glory hereafter for Regnum coeleste est Dei contemplatio glorificatio Gregor Nazianzâ—n Orat. contr Arrian celebratio cum Angelis communis saith one of the Fathers who commonly describeth the state of the blessed to be nothing else but the full and perfect accomplishment of such spiritual blessings as are already begun in us and in part already communicated to us when God shall by a most perfect and immediate irradiation of the understanding and sanctification of the will and affections to know love and delight in God and transformatâ—on of the Body into the likeness of Christ's effect
his Body after his resurrection but retained the essential as longitude latitude circumscription c. SECT IV. BUt will you see the manifold proofs of Christ's resurrection if you will turn over the notes of time you may believe that Pharaoh as about that time of the year when Christ rose from the dead was invaded by an host of waves which conquering his Charets made him without wheels to hurry faster into Hell while Moses led his Israel through the Wilderness of the Sea passing through the shadow of death in the monument of Waters Did not our Lord also leave his Tomb without an equal and contrary wonder then the Waters seemed to be firm rising into Alps as now the Earth was made to quake like the Waters and well might the Earth tremble when the Lord conquered it and forsook it The Angel too made a little Earthquake in the Grave when he removed the mighty Stone with which the senseless Jew tried to oppress our Saviour after death as if he would have sealed him up to an utter impossibility of rising again the Earth now moveth and danceth for his exaltation and the Stones give place to his omnipotency The Angel having opened the Tomb shall we look into the place whence Christ is risen but behold he is not there to be found an Angel supplieth his place which he had conquered to obedience as if he had meant to rest himself in triumph after the conflict of his miracle his rayment white as snow which he did imitate in purity his countenance was like lightning but more wonderful for that 's of so instant a terror that it 's rather the object of our memory then our eye but this with a courteous Majesty was patient to be beheld the terrified Women quickly behold this sight being encouraged by the Angel but first by their innocence the Souldiers beheld it too but with such guilty faintness that they seemed as much to disgrace their sex as their profession disarming themselves at once both of their weapons and souls together they became as breathless carcasses and were rather the Captives then the Keepers of the Grave But now the Women being comforted they receive a commission from the Angel to preach the Resurrection of our Saviour and out of the Tomb they hasten with the confused speed of fear and joy and while they seek the Disciples they find their Saviour himself who comforteth them with his presence and speech and again sendeth them to teach his own Disciples and to shew their obedience to be as quick as their love they depart from Christ to their duty and speedily find Peter and John for their Auditors who no sooner hear the news of Christ's resurrection but they run as fast to the Tomb as the Women ran from it where no sooner are they entered but they perceive Christ's victory over Death acknowledged by the Linnen cloathes his spoils of Death and these spoils too had been divided the Napkin off his head being laid up by it self It seems the Angel at our Saviour's resurrection attended to be a Witness of it to the Women and to leave a testimony of it to the Disciples Thus that he was not stoln away as was given out appears by the inconvenience and leisure of his undressing and by the method of the Linnen which the affrighted policy of the Souldiers did no more touch then observe and they no more observed it then the Women who after the sight of the Angel had their eyes as much amazed as their minds the Souldiers too did more tremble then watch but the Disciples had less fear and more time Besides they learnt somewhat which they were not taught and could now teach the Women this news of the Grave Lo here the Lion of the Tribe of Juda whose Almighty strength vouchsafed to couch under the power of the Grave and lo the greatness of his love hath raised him up from the sloth of the Grave Will ye behold how he was raised behold how the Potter worketh upon the wheel he taketh clay he maketh it a vessel and this vessel being made in the hands of the Potter he makes it again as he best pleaseth Christ was immortal Clay and Earth purer then Heaven when by the wonder of Omnipotency the Creator and Creature were made into one and of one matter did consist both the Potter and his Pot from this broken Clay there did arise the same and a renewed Christ Could any man in this point be yet an Infidel if any could see how he converts them he lets Thomas disgrace himself to a belief and by his distrust mercifully and miraculously encreaseth his faith Can any body doubt he was renewed in a Body of glory when he was full of God had he not a glorious Body whom the doors that were shut when he entered to his Disciples did obediently acknowledge to be the King of Glory though he were patient under Death three days yet since the first part of the first was spent before he died and the last part of the last after he revived there was the number but not the length of three days and thus he made so short a change as seemed rather a sleep then death He rose not sooner lest he might have been thought not to bâ— fâ—lly dead he lay no longer lest he might have been thought to have seen corruption This resurrection of Christ proved him to be true God as his birth life death burial proved him to be true Man It was his own Argument against the Jews Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up again John 2.19 And St. Paul among other things tells us He was declared mightily to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead Rom. 1.4 Methinks this might have stopt the black mouthes of the blasphemous Jews who at the time of his execution bade him come down from the Cross and save himself and they will believe on him Matth. 27.42 which though he would not do yet here he doth a greater matter Plus fuit ex Sepulchro resurgere quam de Cruce descendere Gregor to rise was more saith Gregory to rise again out of his Grave then to descend from the Cross This likewise declareth his dominion over Sin Death Hell and all Enemies Christ therefore died rose again and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and living if he had died and not risen again then had he at least seemed not to have conquered and overcome death but to have been foyled in the Field and overcome of Death and then how could he have been the death of Death and the destruction of the Grave and have delivered us from the power of Hell Hosea 13.14 This likewise sheweth us the sufficiency of his satisfaction and him to be an absolute and all-sufficient Saviour whereof we might have doubted had he only died for we think not a mans debts then paid when he or his Surety goes
are interested that look as the creature is said verse 19. earnesty to expect they do as it were put forth their heads to look for the glorious appearing of the Sons of God so all the Saints do earnestly expect their future promised glory saith Parisiensis Guilielm Parisiens their hopes are altogether taken up with Heaven they long for this eternal habitation the moments that stop them here below seem ages the diversions illusions the pleasures of the world seem torments to them the happiness of the world a dangerous temptation Now the Spirit of God inspires them with strong desires of Heaven points out the glory of the Blessed fills them with hope of the shortning of their exile they live always in their desire after Heaven comfort themselves with the expectation and by a certain hope taste the happiness they shall one day be satisfied with in an everlasting enjoyment Now the hope of a Christian is sure and being founded on the promises of God who cannot lye never deludes the Believer that listens to them Jesus Christ hath given to his People such favors as whereby he strengthens their hope for what happiness they yet enjoy not the death he suffered for us is an assurance of that life he prepares for us neither can we doubt saith Augustine Aug. that we shall not reign with him in glory seeing he was willing to die for us upon the Cross for what good things may we not expect when his death is a pledg of his love and an assurance of the happiness we look for he that hath this hope may boast himself happy before hand for Philo Philo Jud. the Jew calls it the fore-runner of joy a harbinger pleasure preceeding the eternal one an ante past of blessedness 3. God hath already given them the beginnings of glory they are sealed with the holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of their inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession c. Ephes 1.13 Here indeed the Saints are Sons but they are not Heirs invested into that blessed estate they have title to God reserves not all their happiness for the world to come but gives them somewhat here to bear up their spirits to mitigate and sweeten their troubles in their absence from their Husband and to render them happy in the midst of their miseries he sheds the graces of his Spirit into their spirits with so much complacency that conversing with men they may relish the bliss and happiness of Angels He gives them the Holy Ghost as a pledg of that glory which one day they shall receive with him you know an earnest is for security of a contract so the Holy Ghost doth secure us of that blessed estate we shall have hereafter in Heaven An earnest likewise is part of the bargain a part of the whole that is secured though it be never so little yet it is a part so it is in the operations of the Spirit upon us in that peace and joy that it worketh in the heart it is a part of that peace and joy the Saints shall for ever enjoy in Heaven Moreover an earnest is given rather for the security of the party that receives it then in regard of him that gives it so God by giving us this earnest of his Spirit gives us assurance of salvation he makes us thereby to read our Names written in the Book of Life he takes us into that Privy Chamber where the definitive sentence of our eternal happiness is pronounced he applieth to us the merits of Jesus Christ and himself interposeth the caution of his Promises he blots out those mortal discontents that labour to throw us into despair advancing our hope by a prelibation of glory and handles us with so much tenderness that he that hath this assurance cannot be made to believe that he can be miserable in the other world that hath been so happy in this The Saints also have glory here in primitiis they are said to have received the first fruits of the Spirit Rom. 8.23 to assure them that they shall have a rich harvest and a good crop Look as sometimes it falls out with wicked men in their merry sports God sends some horror of conscience into them that like an unwholesome damp choaketh all their pleasure which is the first fruits of Hell a taste of the cup of wrath which the damned drink of in Hell so when a godly man is in his sad dumps when he is almost buried in the gulf of troubles then God's Spirit doth as Jonathan take a little honey upon the top of his rod and gives it him to eat which comforteth his fainting spirit the Spirit of God then droppeth a little comfort upon an afflicted heart gives him a taste of the rivers of pleasures and secretly assureth him of the favor of God in Christ and that one day he shall enjoy communion with him to all eternity these are the very first fruits of Heaven The godly are already glorified in part because that wherein eternal life and glory do consist they have now in part they know God in part they do here enjoy God and Christ in part they have now communion with God in Christ and Christ is said to live in them and God is said to make his abode in them that Soul must needs be glorious wherein God and Christ do make their abode It is true what a holy Man said a Believer hath Coelum in se Christum in illo Coelo A Christian hath Heaven within him and Christ in that Heaven Where God and Christ is certainly there is Heaven 4. Because Christ their Head is glorified therefore must the Members also be glorified they are united to Christ he is their Husband they are his Spouse now where he is they must also be as he himself tells his Disciples John 14. Now is the time of contract only the time of the Marriage solemnity shall be at the appearing of Christ Now we are the Sons of God but it doth not appear what we shall be 1 John 3.2 But when he who is our life shall appear we shall also appear with him in glory Colos 3.4 Christ in his own Person is now glorious Ought not Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory Luke 24.26 This glory is given him by God his Father 1 Pet. 1.21 John 17.24 Now when it is said God the Father gave him glory it cannot be meant of essential glory because he had that from all eternity but by glory is meant the glory of his Mediatorship and the glory he had after his Resurrection wherein we shall be made like unto him sitting at the right hand of God Now real glory is given to Christ in regard of his Humane Nature so it was manifest in time but in respect of his Deity he had it with his Father before the world was John 17.5 As the Sun when there is a Cloud between us and it the Sun
came in the form of a Servant among the Jews who expected his coming in Princely pomp it was also the many troubles he endured for our sins because he was Crowned with a Crown of Thornes and had not a Crown of Glory upon his Head therefore his glory did not appear the carnal and blind Jews thought the promised Messiah when he came would not be thus miserable and so generally hated as Christ was thus when the wicked see godly men almost overwhelmed with troubles and even buried in the Gulf of outward calamities and look upon them as of all men the most miserable and despicable they presently think there is no glory in an holy life The miseries of the Saints are publique their advantages walk in the dark men see what they suffer but doubt of what they hope for and in the judgment of Infidels their Religion passeth for an imposture because the good things it promiseth are invisible but the evils it threatens are sensible and present We are saith August August Psal 36. like those great Trees which during the sharpness of the Winter are naked of all their leaves their life is enclosed in their roots their vigour is retired into their Sap and all their Soul and vegetation they have is hid from the eyes of the beholders but their death is conspicuous every branch publisheth it and all the mischiefs the Winter hath brought upon them are so many arguments to make us doubt of their life Thus it is with God's Children they are dead and they are alive but their Life is in a Cloud their Death manifest the persecutions they suffer the temptations they encounter the conflicts they undergo perswade wicked and unbelieving persons that their Life is but a languishing and doleful Death but their vigour is over-shadowed their glory is hid with Christ in God and as the Spring must needs return to convince the ignorant that a Tree that hath lost its leaves in the Winter is not dead so must the general Resurrection happen to assure the unbelieving World that the Life of a Christian persecuted by the World is hid with Christ in God 2. Because there is no outward excellency in grace therefore their glory cannot appear to wicked men nothing pleaseth a carnal eye but external excellency and grace hath little of that St. James Jam. 2. tells us That gay clothes and a gold Ring is in more esteem then Faith but Christ goes contrary to the World Cyrus in his speech to his Soldiers told them that were Footmen if they would follow him he would make them Horsemen he told them that were Horsemen if they would follow him he would set them over Chariots if they were Rulers of Villages he would give them Cities if of Cities he would make them Rulers of Provinces Christ Preached otherwise He that will be my Disciple let him deny himself and take up his Cross let him deny his honours and become base for my sake let him deny his riches and become poor for my sake let him deny his life and become miserable what happiness what glory is there will a wicked man say I can see no excellency in Piety if this be the portion of God's Children Grace indeed is like the Ark which within was over-laid with pure Gold and a pot of Manna was in it but the out-side was covered with Badgers-skins and Sheep-skins so grace is inwardly overlaid with pure Gold cloathed with glory and within it there is a pot of Manna even joy unspeakable Yet because the outside of grace is covered with Badgers skins and wicked men do judge according to the outward appearance therefore the inward excellency and glory thereof doth not appear to them 3. Because wicked men think that holy men because they are miserable in this life belong not to God and that their miseries here are but the fore-runners of eternal sorrows It is a good saying of Mercer Hoc est ingenium Mundi ut quibus videt deum extrinsecus maledicere maledicit quibus extrinsecus benedicere benedicit Mercer This is the guise of the World that it thinks those to be cursed of God whom he seems to cross with outward troubles and to think that they are the only blessed men whom he seems to bless with outward things Wicked men think that the love and hatred of God appeareth in outward things and that because all things go well here and every thing succeeds according to the desires of their hearts they verily presume that God by these outward dispensations intends no less then their eternal happiness and because they see that very often trouble upon trouble falls upon the godly they think they are Hypocrites and so God will deal with them to all Eternity Alas the World is blind the God of this World hath blinded their eyes that the future glory of God's Children doth not appear to them they little think that where the godly man's misery endeth there the happinesâ— of the wicked endeth and where the wicked m◠〈◊〉 misery beginneth there the hapâ—â—◠〈◊〉 th◠〈◊〉 â—â—ginneth It is Peter Martyr's 〈…〉 â—icked are called the inhabitant◠〈…〉 therefore are compared to 〈…〉 â—odly are called So journers and 〈…〉 â—â—nderers in a strange land and 〈…〉 â—â—â—ared to the Planets the Pl◠〈…〉 West to East in a contrary moâ—◠〈…〉 â—â—rs do set where the Planets riâ—e 〈…〉 â—icked and the godly that move i◠〈…〉 the one riseth where the oâ—◠〈…〉 â—â—th the glory and happiness 〈…〉 then the glory of th◠〈…〉 â—appiness doth appear SECT II. .2 THE glory of the Saints doth not yet appear to themselves it is not yet manifest what they shall be the fullness and perfection of their glory and happiness cannot be comprehended by them they must enter into their Master's Joy before they can fully see what glory belongeth to them God must make them perfectly glorious before their glory will appear Josua might have spies from Canaan that might bring with them a bunch of Grapes but yet they could not shew him the abundance of Vineyards the Rivers of honey and milk till he came into Canaan to possess it so God's Spirit may bring joy and comfort from Heaven and make the Sons of God to taste of Heaven as Josua did of the delicacies of Canaan in the Wilderness or the Spirit of God may open a cranny that the Sons of God may peep through and behold a glimpse of their future glory but their eyes can never be so fully opened while they are in the flesh as to behold the greatness of their glory and the perfection of their happiness Gorran Our glory is like a candle held in our hands covered with our fingers through which but a little of the light can be seen Indeed in some sort our glory is revealed in the Gospel in that we know that it shall be but the fullness of it is sealed up to the day of Redemption then shall it appear what the
it not rather be said Count this a cause of weeping sighing wringing of hands No saith the Apostle count it all joy when trouble cometh upon trouble wave upon wave storm upon storm when the winds blow and the rain falls and the waves beat upon you then count it all joy call upon your souls to rejoyce call upon your hearts to Magnifie God clap your hands leap for joy 2. It informs us that they are the happy ones of the Earth who are the greatest sufferers for Righteousness sake thus St. James Chap. 1.2 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation or tribulation James 5.11 Behold we count them happy which endure saith the same Apostle What a paradox is this to a man that mindeth earthly things Call you him blessed that is imprisoned in fetters in a dungeon reviled mocked tortured persecuted hated of all count you him an happy man that is spoiled of his goods destitute of friends who is ready to perish through famine count you a man in misery an happy man Yes saith the Apostle he is a blessed man we count him happy whom all men hate who suffer hunger cold nakedness imprisonment death banishment for the name of Christ we count him happy who endures most misery with and for Christ we count him and him only a miserable man that can laugh and sing away care and sorrow who sits like a Queen and sees no sorrow who fares deliciously every day who can eat drink and play and so pass his time of life away he is a miserable man For 't is not what a man is for the present which makes him happy or miserable but what a man shall be to eternity he that is miserable for the present but shall be happy to eternity we count him happy and he that is happy for the present time but shall be miserable to eternity we count him a cursed man Lazarus in the depth of his misery was an happy man because he is glorious to all eternity the rich Glutton was a miserable wretch in the height of his jollity because he is miserable to eternity Hence I conclude that the glory that shall be revealed in us will make us perfectly blessed but our present sufferings cannot make us miserable for the Saints are happy in the thickest of them Math. 5.11 12. Then doth the Spirit of God and of glory rest upon them 1 Pet. 4.14 Our present miseries at the uttermost can but rob us of a temporal life which will come they or come they not fail us at length but glory bestows upon us and crowns us with an everlasting blissful life He that hath an interest in Christ may cry out with that great Apostle What shall separate us from the love of Christ and may say I am perswaded that neither Death with its terrours nor life with its charmes neither Angels with their beauties nor Devils with their deformities things present with their allurements things future with their promises or threatnings nor Hell with its torments can ever separate me from the love of God in Christ and indeed how should they saith St. Augustine because death though never so hideous leads us to him life is found in his possession Angels and Devils are the Ministers of his justice or his mercy things present are false things to come uncertain Hell with God would be our happiness and Heaven without him would be our torment or we may say again with the same Father that nothing can separate a Christian from Jesus Christ and make him miserable Not death because there is no Christian can be brought into so dismal an estate as to be deprived of his love not the Angels because being united to Christ we are stronger then all Spirits combined together against us not the vexations of life because they are sweet when undergone for his honour and serve only to give us a nearer conjunction to his person Not things to come because nothing can be bestowed nor promised which can countervail him Not Heaven because it is the recompence of them that serve him Not Hell because it is made for none but those that forsake him by all which we see that a man firmly united to Christ cannot by these outward things be removed from him Oh the solidity perspicuity and self-sufficiency of that Paradise and place of delights of that Celestial company and Crowned society who is able to express the comfort and contentment of that estate and condition where we shall have all blessedness Internal External and Eternal what can be done or suffered to answer so great a reward the diseased will endure the cutting and searing of their Members for the enjoyment of a short tedious life Heathens have suffered great things for a little vain glory if they prize the shadow so much at what rate should we value the substance what are a few drops of blood for the Kingdom of Heaven how may this comfort us under afflictions considering that the afflictions of this life are but small showers at the most but some short storms which are followed with an Eternal calm Isa 54.8 CHAP. XII Sect. I. I shall now in the next place by Divine assistance adventure to speak something of the excellency of Heavens glory though some there be that think silence and astonishment to be the best commendations we can give it I confess our understandings are too shallow to comprehend the greatness of it When the great Voice saith Come up hither come and see then we shall be best resolved concerning it If the Queen of Sheba confessed that the one half was not told her of the Wisdom Prosperity and Glory of Solomon which she had heard reported in her own Countrey when she came in person to his Court how much more shall the Saints confess when they come to Heaven that the Thousandth part was not told them of all the honour glory and blessedness which they shall find in that heavenly Jerusalem Here then let us consider The Circumstances of this glory The Substance of this glory The Adjuncts of this glory The Circumstances are two Time and Place as for the Time it shall be 1. In the day of the Creatures Restoration we read Act. 3.21 That the Heavens must conlain Christ until the time of the restitution of all things And St. Paul tells us That the Creature it self also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God Rom. 8.21 Here divers questions are to be propounded Quest 1. What Creatures are to be delivered into this glorious liberty Resp 1. Under this word Creature we are not to comprise the Elect Angels because never subject to vanity nor the reprobate Angels and Men because they are destroyed with an everlasting destruction from the presence of God 2. Neither are we to comprise the godly Elect men under this Word Creature in this place for although it be most true that all the godly shall be perfectly delivered from all
Men or Angels is able sufficiently to set forth the height of this blessedness III. It shall be at such a time when the Devil and all his Instruments the Enemies of God and his People shall be cast into outer Darkness and swallowed up of everlasting Destruction when their day shall wholly end their glory be finished and their prosperity be utterly extinguished and overthrown when they shall be for ever seperated from God the fountain of all blessedness of which Separation Chrysostome thus speaketh That if a thousand fires of Hell were joyned together in one they should never be so great a pain to the Soul as it is for the Soul to be separated in this wise for ever from Almighty God We read Isa 14.9 10. That the Kings and Potentates of the Earth seem to be brought into rejoycing at the fall of Lucifer viz. the King of Babilon when he was brought low it was matter of triumph to the Children of Israel that the Lord saved them from the hand of Pharaoh and the Aegyptians that pursued them to the red Sea and that Israel saw the Aegyptians dead on the Sea shore the Waters covering the Chariots the Horsemen and all the Host of Pharaoh that came into the Sea after them that there remained not so much as one of them the Children of Israel walking upon dry Land in the midst of the Sea the Waters being a wall to them on the right hand and on the left Exod. 14.28 29. Was it not a great priviledg for Noah to sit secure in the Ark above the Waters that covered the tops of the highest Mountains at the same time when the whole World of the Ungodly were drowned and buried in the Flood what then may we conceive the happiness of the Saints will be when they shall be advanced to the heigth of heavenly glory when their Enemies shall be overwhelmed with the depths of shame and misery what encouragement may this be to us to raise our hearts Heaven-ward and to have our affections set on things above while the hearts of Worldlings are rooted in the Earth that at the same time when their end shall be destruction we may be put into the possession of eternal glory should not we be as unwilling now to have fellowship with them in their unfruitful works of darkness as we are desirous to be in Heaven when they shall be cast into Hell fire IV. It shall be at a time when all the labours sorrows and sufferings of the Saints shall be at an end Write saith a Voice from Heaven to St. John Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their Works do follow them Rev. 14.13 They shall then be eased from the toilesome and troublesome travels of this Life being translated from this worlds vanity into Heavens felicity where shall be neither labour in action nor pain in passion where they shall be neither annoyed with pinching cold nor parching heat and as sleep is a resting and refreshing to our weak frail and weary bodies so our bodies being laid down in the bed of our Graves they shall rest and be free from all sickness and sorrow weakness weariness and all work and whatsoever else are fruits and effects yea punishments of sin and attendants of this life yea the Saints after they have wearied themselves in striving against sin in subduing corruption after they have spent themselves in the work of the Lord and after the Enemies to piety have tyred out themselves with malice scoffs reproaches slaunders persecutions they shall rest from all their labours and sufferings in perfect peace and blessedness and the fruit comfort and reward of their works shall follow them and abide with them for ever They shall then arrive at a safe harbour after a dangerous passage through Shelves Storms Rocks and Pirates which then shall be so much the more welcome to them Read St. Pauls Catalogue 2 Cor. 11.23 And think how sweet Heaven will be to one that hath had such a hard passage thither Through labours more abundant stripes above measure many prisons chains fetters whippings scourgings shipwracks deaths journeyings perills of Waters Robberies by his own Countrey-men by the Heathen True it is he gives in a large bill of his charges as it were but when he cometh to speak of his wages he makes nothing of his labours and sufferings in comparison of the reward 2 Cor. 4.17 For these light and momentany afflictions do work out for us an exceeding eternal weight of glory The highest Mountain in the World is very light in comparison of the whole Earth even so are the greatest afflictions of the greatest sufferers in comparison of the glory of Heaven It is said of Isachar Gen. 49.15 That he saw that rest was good and that the Land was pleasant therefore he put his shoulders to labour and became servant to Tribute So I may say the rest and glory of the Saints is good but the Land that brings forth this rest will be best and most pleasant to them after all their labours and sufferings are fully ended then to receive this glorious rest will be most sweet unto them and most seasonable Were Heaven nothing else but an Haven of rest we know how welcome the one is to a Sea sick weather-beaten Traveller and by that we may conceive how welcome the other will be to a Soul that hath been long tossed in the Waves of this troublesom World sick of its own sinful imaginations and tyred out with outward temptations the happiest Soul that ever hath sailed over this Euripus in the best Ship in the most healthful body that ever was never had so calm a passage saith a good Divine but that it hath had cause enough often to wish it self on shoar Sa. Ward on the life of faith in death Is there any Palace or Tower here so high or strong that can keep diseases from the body or cares sorrows fears or Satan's assaults from the Soul were there but such an Island as some have dreamed of here on earth that might free mens bodies or minds from disquiet but for the time of this life how would people strive to dwell there Certainly in this heavenly Countrey there shall be perfect tranquillity to all the Inhabitants thereof Oh how will it ravish the hearts of the Saints when they have finished their course and are come to the end of their race oh how sweet will Heaven and how glorious will the Crown of Immortality be to them in the end If Seamen when they have been many moneths upon the Sea where they have encountred with many dreadful storms and boystrous tempests and have been often in danger of drowning and shipwracks when they shall at last descry but a Creek of Land do leap for joy and cry out Oh Land land we are nigh to such a Coast where we would be then much more those that have run
Parable would have out-climbed the Cedar they would perswade the World that they were created as the Sun to rule the Day that is over the Clergy and that Kings are but as the Moon to rule over the Night that is say they over the Laity But Popes are no Creatures of God's making Kings are the anointed of the Lord God himself hath given testimony sufficient of their magnificence in that it hath pleased him to change Names with them and taken their Name to himself he is called a King and gives them his own Name in exchange for therefore he hath said they are Gods I urge it the rather because of the inference that followeth for the greater Kings are the greater Christians are for Christians are said to be Kings Rev. 1.6 He hath made us all Kings and Priests unto God And to the meanest and most abject Christian a Crown shall be given infinitely far more excellent and glorious then the Crowns of all earthly Kings 1. In respect of the Soveraignty that belongs to it Crowns are Ensigns of Soveraignty as I hinted before and Soveraignty is a thing much accounted of to be but as the Centurion was would put a spirit of ambition into us that we might have those under us to whom when we say Go they should go when Come they should come when Do this they should do it If we could have not only Persons but Provinces under our subjection and could make our selves Commanders and Rulers over Countries and Kingdoms so that People should serve us and Nations should bow before us this would kindle a great fire of ambition in us it would make one that had the aspiring mind of Absalom to snatch the Crown from his Father's head If we could climb higher yet and get to be not only Soveraigns over divers Provinces as Ahasuerus was but also be Monarchs of the whole World as it is said Alexander was so that the Princes of all Nations should pay Tribute to our Coffers Si jus violandum regni causa violandum Caesar ex Euripide and the People of all Countries bow their knees before our foot-stool this if any thing would enflame our ambition and if at all for a Kingdom one would violate the bonds of Nature or Justice as one long ago was wont to say for such a Kingdom as this he would be provoked to the doing of it Alas Beloved all this is nothing in comparison of the Soveraignty belonging to the heavenly Crown and Kingdom the poorest Saint in Heaven shall be more glorious in Soveraignty then ever Ahasuerus or Alexander were or then ever Adam was when he was Lord of the whole World for look what was said of our Saviour Heb. 2.8 All things shall be subdued all things shall be brought in subjection to him and when it is said all things shall be subdued there 's nothing left out that shall not be subdued the same may be said of every faithful Member of Christ they shall every one have a share in this Rule and Dominion even all things shall be brought under their subjection the very Angels shall then be made subject to them where Christ sits they shall sit whom Christ judgeth they shall judg and as Christ reigneth they shall reign also 2. In respect of the safety that belongs to it there is no Crown so setled upon the head of any earthly Prince as that he can promise to himself perpetual safety under it either safety from sickness and diseases or safety from Adversaries and Enemies either domestical or forreign but that he is in danger of both Kings are as much in danger of sickness as other men for Chairs of State are not Castles of health nor can their Crowns keep their heads from aking they are as much in danger of Enemies as other men nay they more then others every railing Shimei hath a tongue to bark at them every traiterous Sheba will be blowing trumpets of rebellion against them but the Crown of glory shall sit sure upon the heads of the faithful even with as much safety as majesty no sickness shall be able to blast it no Enemy to endanger it St. Paul saith that all our Enemies shall be put under our feet 1 Cor. 15.27 And the Prophet saith All tears shall be wiped from our faces Isai 25.8 3. In respect of the peace and tranquility of it the Princes of the Earth though they have a great many more honours yet they have a great many more burthens then other men their Crowns are thicker stuck with cares then with gems That made one of the Emperours say when the Imperial Robe was brought him to put on Oh nobilem magis quam faelicem pannum Oh here 's a Robe saith he fuller of bravery then felicity 'T is otherwise with the Crown of glory this Crown is as free from troubles as from dangers they that are crowned with it are crowned with peace as well as with honour it shall not disquiet them with cares but give them rest from their labours rest and peace shall ever wait upon them whom God shall vouchsafe so to dignifie as to let their Temples be empall'd with this glorious Crown 4. In respect of perpetuity therefore the Apostle calls it a Crown of Life James 1.12 because they that are crowned with it shall never taste more of death Herein again it differs from all earthly Crowns and excells as much as it differs earthly Kingdoms and Crowns are subject to alteration to dissipation Job tells us that God sometimes looseth the collars of Kings Job 12.13 It was told Saul when he had been a while King over Israel that God had rent his Kingdom from him and given it to his Neighbour 1 Sam. 15.28 But howsoever though the Crown be not translated yet he that wears the Crown must be translated Death will translate the greatest Princes to another place though while they live their Crowns be not translated to other Persons but sit fast upon their own heads but 't is otherwise with this Crown of life there shall be no alteration nor removal at all either from it to us or from us to it when once we shall have it confer'd upon us Were the Kingdoms of the Earth never so full of glory and happiness yet what they want of perpetuity they want of perfect felicity there can be no perfection of blessedness but where there is perpetuity of continuance so there shall be here St. Paul calls it an immarcessible Crown St. Peter calls it an immortal inheritance that shall never fade away 1 Pet. 1.4 It is said of the Bread of life John 6. that he that eats of it shall hunger no more and of the Water of life John 4. he that drinketh thereof shall thirst no more so I may say of this Crown of life whosoever is crowned with it he shall die no more How should the consideration hereof make us to labour for this glorious Crown what a shame is it to see
him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and believeth in him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day 2. Christ hath promised it Hosea 13.14 I will ransome them from the power of the grave I will redeem them from death O Death I will be thy plagues O grave I will be thy destruction John 6.54 Whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day Yea Christ hath considered it by his last will and testament John 17.22 24. 3. It is evident by the Saints profession Job confesseth thus much plainly Job 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my flesh worms destroy this body yet shall I see God in my flesh whom I myself shall see mine eyes shall behold and no other for me though my reins be consumed within me Our Saviour who called himself the resurrection and the life refutes the Sadduces and confirms the doctrine of the Pharisees as to that opinion producing a place out of the Law of Moses and using it as an argument for the proof thereof As touching the resurrection of the dead have ye not read that which was spoken to you by God saying I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the dead but of the living Matth. 22.32 with the weight of which argument he astonished the multitude and silenced the Sadduces And St. Paul also asserteth the doctrine of the resurrection being brought before the Councel the one part whereof were Sadduces the other Pharisees one denying the other asserting the resurrection Acts 23.6 SECT II. I Shall now prove the resurrection of the Saints bodies by arguments 1. Else why should the Saints in all ages crucifie themselves to the World suffer afflictions for faith in and hope of the resurrection 1 Cor. 15.19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable for the wicked esteem the godly as the most miserable men in the World and had they only hope of the things of this life they were then most miserable forasmuch as these temporal pleasures are not a sufficient reward of temporal afflictions 2. The bodies of the just are instruments and companions in the work of holiness therefore also in the reward of them in glory now if we be dead with Christ we also believe that we shall live with him Rom. 6.8 without this the bodies of the just were of all mens most miserable 3. If the bodies of the wicked shall rise again to receive the reward of condemnation then by the same rule must the bodies of the Saints rise to receive the reward of life and salvation Christ saith that the hour is coming when all that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation John 5.28 29. if it were not so then God should delight or exceed in justice more then in mercy 4. Because God is able to raise them out of their graves again As the Lord by the resurrection of dry bones revived the dead hope of Israel Ezek. 37.10 11 12. and made them to know that he would open their graves and cause them to come out of their graves and bring them into the Land of Israel so when the bodies of the Saints go down to the dust and their bones are dried there and their hope seems to be lost yet then doth their flesh rest in hope for God will not leave them in the grave nor suffer his holy ones always to see corruption Psal 16.9 10. 5. Otherwise the second Adam could not repair the loss of the first Adam and Christ were not so strong to save as Adam was to destroy for as in Adam all die even so in Christ all shall be made alive 1 Cor. 15.21 22. Adam was the Author of Death's strength and Christ of Death's resurrection 6. Christ is an eternal King and hath an everlasting Kingdom which cannot be unless his Subjects also be eternal for these are relatives and do sese mutuo ponere tollere Also his covenant is everlasting and that not with the dead but with the living sc such as live in soul Matth. 22.32 and shall at the end of the World live eternally both in soul and body and unless we make Christ's body a monster we must not seperate the head from the members which we shall do if we deny the resurrection of the just Luke 14.14 7. If we deny the resurrection of the Saints bodies we deny Christ to be risen upon which many absurdities gross heresies and all manner of impieties will ensue 1 Cor. 15. from 13. ad 19. verse If there be no resurrection of the dead then is Christ not risen and if Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain yea and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up if the dead rise not SECT III. BUt Christ is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. 15.20 let us therefore consider the personal types or figures of our Saviour's resurrection 1. Adam was a type of Christ among other things in this viz. that as he slept in the Garden so Christ died on the Cross and was buried in a Garden When Adam descended into a sleep there was a resurrection of his Rib which awaked into a Woman Adam's sleeping was a type of Christ's suffering and dying and his awaking of Christ's rising again yea this resurrection of the second Adam doth well resemble the nativity of the first Adam for in Genesis Chap. 2. you shall find Adam taken out of the ground and fashioned out of the dust of the earth so was it with our blessed Saviour at his resurrection he was as I may speak born again of the earth rose out of the dust of death the grave was in travail with him and Death it self was compelled to bring forth the Lord of life and so he is the first-born of the dead Colos 1.18 But see here the malice of the Jews towards our blessed Saviour which ended not upon the Cross but as they began with him in his cradle so they persecute him to his grave where as though they had not laid him up safe enough they invent bonds beyond death they watch and seal him up in the grave as if they could have held in him who had the keys of Hell and death but for all the great stone which they had brought with much heaving no doubt to lay upon the mouth of the grave for all their seal set upon the stone and a diligent watch set to
to prison for them and there abideth but when he cometh out again with a general discharge so that he dares bid defiance to all Bailiffs and Serjeants whatsoever or whosoever can pretend any thing to say to him thus much Christ declared to the World by his rising from the dead for though he discharged our debt by dying yet we have our acquittance by his rising again 1 Pet. 3.21 Rom. 4.25 SECT V. WIll ye consider the wonder of the resurrection as well as the change do but imagine that in the dawning birth of the morning you saw the revelation of a grave emulating the morning a Coarse rising with more comfort and glory then the Sun a winding-sheet falling away like an empty cloud the feet and the hands striving which shall first recover motion the hands helping to raise the body and the feet helping to bear the body and the hands the tongue so eloquent that it can tell you it can speak again the ears so pure that they can perceive the dull silence of the grave the eyes looking forth of their tombs as if they were glad to see their own resurrection Would you not be affrighted as well as instructed at the Divine power would you not be turn'd into very Coarses to see this living Coarse would you not be struck as pale as the very winding-sheet you lookt upon But when all this shall be done as well in mercy as in majesty as well to raise thee to an hope of eternal life as to strike thee with a remembrance of a temporal death as well to make thee like unto God as to make thee know that thou art not like him how then wilt thou dissolve into compassion as if thou wouldst hasten to the like resurrection how wilt thou then kiss those hands which before thou fearedst and then stedfastly examine and adore the resurrection of that Body which is the hope and cause of the resurrection of our Bodies for therefore did he raise himself that he might raise us Christ rose not as a private but as a publick Person as a Burgess in a Parliament representeth the whole Body of the Incorporation for which he is chosen so Christ as our Head represents the Persons of all them that are Heirs of Salvation Ephes 2.6 Christ as in his Passion so in his Resurrection sustained the Persons of the Elect and so we in him as in Capite rise with him St. Paul tells us that Christ standing in our stead representeth our persons Rom. 5.18 19. this appeareth in that he rose not alone but many bodies of the Saints rose with him and attended him Matth. 27.52 53. to shew that the vertue of him our Head diffused and extended it self unto all the Members of the Church his Body and his rising first shewed him to be the first-fruits of them that slept Christ rose by his own power and not as we by a borrowed power from Christ I have power to lay down my life saith he and power to take it up again John 10. â—8 it was prophesied of him Psal 110. ult therefore shall he lift up the head As in his Passion when he suffered he bowed down his head and gave up the ghost with a loud voice to note that his sufferings were voluntary John 19.30 so in his Resurrection he is said to lift up the head himself to note that he had life in himself and that it was impossible he should be holden under death who was the Lord of life SECT VI. NOw he that could raise up his own Body by his Divine power can much more raise up our Bodies also he it is that shall quicken our mortal Bodies Rom. 8.11 a privatione ad habitum non datur regressus and therefore however the Angels are instruments in respect of some antecedent and consequent cause of the Resurrection Matth. 24.31 yet the immediate cause is God alone Christ himself in respect of his Humane nature being excluded for howbeit the Resurrection is ascribed to his Person yet only according to his Divine nature yet in the communion of both natures we acknowledg Christum agere quod suum est verbo operante quod verbi est carne exequente quod carnis est Yet I grant as in the raising up Lazarus and the Widows Son of Naim Luke 7.14 so in the general resurrection Christ's Humane nature shall perform what belongs to it that is give some evident sign of his coming to Judgment which shall be as an instrument of his Divine power for the raising up of the dead which shall have its instrumental force as that voice in raising the Widows Son of Naim Luke 7.14 and that voice in raising Lazarus John 11.43 44. And this sign is exprest diversly in Scripture John 5.28 it is said all that are in the graves shall hear his voice In Matth. 24.31 He shall send his Angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his Elect from the four winds from the one end of Heaven to the other And St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 15.52 The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed And the same Apostle saith 1 Thes 4.16 The Lord shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Arch-angel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first By all which places I suppose may be gathered that the voice of Christ shall be used at that day as an instrument to awake all that sleep in the dust But what shall we rise too and shall this dust be taken up and breathed on shall every man by this second Adam be made as wonderful as the first Adam Beloved shall we want faith when God wanteth not power or shall we think it harder to unite the Body then to make it he that made us etantillo semine shall he not be able to raise us etantillo pulvere It were an impious discourtesie to deny that to God which God denied not to his own Servant Did not the Widow of Sareptah thus receive a Son by Elias who was neither the Father nor the God nay did not his Servant do more for the Shunamite to whom he promised a Son before he was conceived and restored him after he was dead nay did not the bones of this Elias give life to one that was as dead as themselves teaching him to confess the mercy of a grave It is an high act of mercy of the living God to give life to the dead yet by a greater mercy he makes it an act of justice freely binding himself to admit our boldness not so much to request as to claim a resurrection for shall the Bodies of the Saints be more remembred by their tombs then their labours or shall they be worse oppressed by death then they were by their torments shall those eyes that did still watch or mourn for ever want respect as much as sight shall those hands that have
us Gal. 6. that he that soweth to the Spirit shall reap life everlasting When the Husbandman soweth his seed in the Earth the seed dieth and is dissolved in the ground there it lies hid he sees no more seed till the harvest cometh but then he reapeth many Bushels for one so he that soweth to the spirit worketh in the strength of those graces shall reap life everlasting he shall have no use of those graces in the life to come but reap the fruit of it even life eternal when the Saints come to possess Heaven as a portion cast out by God's own lot for them from all eternity they shall for ever enjoy the fruit of their piety and the end of their Faith and Hope Oh how sweet shall the remembrance of their work of faith and labour of love and patience of Hope be to all eternity CHAP. XXVII Of the Adjuncts of the glory of Heaven HAving spoken of the Circumstances and substance of the glory of the Saints in Heaven in the next place I shall treat of the adjuncts thereof 1. The glorious state of the Sons of God is a state of liberty Rom. 8.21 I will shew in what respects it is a state of liberty I. A liberty from all subjection Natural Servile Magistratical in this state of liberty all yokes shall be broken to pieces Fathers shall no more exercise their paternal authority and Sons shall not be under their command men shall be no more servants to men the highest Potentates shall no more exercise authority over men as it is said of Marriage They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage so I may say of subjection they shall neither command nor obey in the resurrection 1 Cor. 15.24 He shall put down all rule and all authority and power Christ will put down all the authority which Fathers have over their Children which Masters have over their Servants which Princes have over their Subjects and Vassals all the authority which both the Enemies and Persecutors have over the Church then it shall have no more nursing Fathers and Mothers all Crowns and Scepters shall be cast down at the feet of Christ he will put them down the Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enervabit he will at the last day put them down not onely that they shall not prevail but that they shall be utterly abolished II. They shall be delivered even from that sweet and gracious subjection to Christ as King and Mediator Christ shall rule over his body not as Mediator but as God he himself will lay down the Crown of his Mediatorship and deliver up his whole government into the hands of God 1 Cor. 15.24 28. And when all things shall be subdued unto him then c. When Christ hath levelled all authority with the ground and shall have trodden down all his Enemies then he will rule no more as Mediator but give up the Kingdom to God the Father and God will be all in all he will immediately govern all his Saints III. A liberty from all spiritual Tyranny in divers respects 1. It is a liberty from the Tyranny of Sin Sin though it doth not rule in the Godly as a King yet as a Tyrant though the Saints do not and never will sell themselves to work evil yet while they are in this body they are sold under sin no slavery is more intollerable to a Holy man than this slavery to sin it is a Godly man's hell to be under the Tyrannical power of any lust Slavery to Pharaoh is liberty compared to slavery to pride to worldly-mindedness or to any lust whatsoever It was the doom of a Godly Martyr to have a dead man chained to him his eyes to the dead man's eyes his breast to the dead man's breast that he might perish by the stench of the dead Carcass Such is a Godly man's present condition to be tyed to the body of sin which is a very death to him in whom is the life of grace Now the state of glory will set all the Children of God at liberty from this thraldome sin will then be put off when glory is put on when the new man is perfectly renewed in respect of degrees and parts the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts shall be perfectly destroyed in respect of presence and operation in the state of glory they will not be afraid of sinning such will their liberty be from sin they shall be as free from all sin as the Sun from the least shadow 2. It is a state of liberty from all tokens effects yea fears of the wrath and displeasure of God Now and then God writes bitter things against his people in this life and makes them his mark to shoot the arrows of his displeasure into their very Consciences What doleful complaints have the Godly made and still do make of God's dealings with them some of them live in Bondage to the fear of God's wrath all the dayes of their lives Now there is no liberty from the fears of God's displeasure in this life so long as there is the remnant of sins within them while we have a body of sin within us we shall have a miserable body now in the state of glory they shall enjoy a perfect liberty from wrath and all their chains of fears shall be knockt off the glorified shall no more fear wrath than the glorified shall hope for favour they shall no more dread Hell than the damned truly desire Heaven their perfect sense of God's love toward them and their perfect love of God will cast out all these fears the state of glory is a fearless estate as far above fear as Heaven above earth the mountain of glory cannot be removed with the greatest tempest of the fears of any evil 3. It is a state of freedom from all afflictions now afflictions are compared in Scripture to Bonds Fetters Chains Yokes and such Engines and Instruments of miserable bondage The evil of sin and afflictions are twins born together and shall cease and dye together when the Soul takes her flight to the mountain of glory she casteth off the mantle of suffering Glory and misery are as inconsistent together as the most contrarious extreams sooner shall East and West meet in one point noon and midnight in one moment than perfection and glory and the least affliction Lazarus is now as great a stranger to afflictions as Dives to pleasures 4. It is a freedom from all temptations and rage of Satan it is impossible for the Devil to tempt a man in glory When man was in a perfect state of grace he tempted him to sin but when man is in a perfect state of glory he cannot tempt him the Devils are cast out of Heaven never to appear there to tempt any who have made their entrance into it the Church hath a promise that Satan shall be bound up a thousand years but then he is bound to eternity the Devils are now in chains of
utter darkness but through God's permission Satan's chain is sometimes lengthened but then no more lengthening now he walketh up and down assaying to devour and seeking whom he may devour but then he shall walk no longer the Saints shall follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth and shall not in all their walks meet with a Devil to tempt them to any sin whatsoever 5. The state of glory is liberty from death from the fears of it and from all things tending to mortality bondage to death will be swallowed up of this life of liberty glory is triumphant over Death Hell and the Grave bidding defiance to them O Grave where art thou O Hell where art thou O Death where art thou 1 Cor. 15.54 55. Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire Rev. 20.14 By Hell there we must understand the Grave Death and the Grave shall be damned as well as the wicked 6. The state of glory is a liberty from the rage wrath and persecution of all the wicked men in the world their rage and persecution is a bondage and captivity to the Saints hindring them from serving God with desired freedom they cannot put forth their godliness but they expose themselves to the scoffs hatred rage and persecutions of the world now the state of glory will put a great gulf between the Godly and the Wicked which will hinder them from all intercourse for know that if the damned could again be in company or in the place where the godly are they would persecute them again to the uttermost though they know they must be damned and therefore the Devils now hate and tempt them though they aggravate their own torments 7. It is a liberty from all imperfections of graces and weakness in their serving God 1. From all imperfections of their graces which in this present life are very imperfect we know but in part saith the Apostle so we believe but in part we love God but in part we are Holy but in part we are zealous for God but in part there is more doubts and ignorance than knowledge more unbelief than faith more want of love than love there is more sin than grace and holiness now the state of glory is a state of perfection we shall know as we are known our understandings will be enlarged that we shall know God fully and perfectly our faith will be turned into sight our hope into possession we shall then love God with all our hearts with all our souls c. The Angels are called Seraphims because as some say they burn in love and zeal toward God so shall all the Saints be filled with this Seraphical love we shall be as holy as our natures are capable The Church and people of God in this life are compared to the Moon because of those spots in her which are imperfections but in the state of glory they are compared to the Sun which hath no spots in it and as the Prophet speaks of the Sun and Moon that the light of the Sun shall be seven-fold more resplendent than now so the graces the holiness of the Saints shall be seven-fold more holy than now they are 2. It shall be a liberty from all weaknesses and infirmities in serving God this is the necessary consequent of the former for the more glorious and holy a man is the more able he is to serve God if perfectly sanctified then he serveth God perfectly the Angels fulfil the whole will of God because they are filled with grace they run yea they fly in the wayes of his commandements this liberty and enlargement shall all the Saints have in the state of glory while they are here they are in bondage to much spiritual deadness and slothfulness they pray they praise God acceptably though they cannot pray nor praise him perfectly they may pray and purpose to run the wayes of God's Commandements but cannot because they are too weak and are fettered with spiritual slothfulness and deadness glory will do away all this and make us as ready and able to do the whole will of God as Angels do 8. It is a liberty from all natural clogs which the body in this state of union fastens upon the soul insomuch that the body is animae ergastulum the prison of the soul it is pondus or onus animae the burden or weight of the soul the regenerate soul cannot act vigorously because the body is so unweildy the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak but when the soul and body shall be reunited and meet in a state of glory the body will be a nimble handmaid and pliable to all the motions and commands of the soul the body then which is now the souls prison will be the souls paradise and both soul and body will act most vigorously the soul will never tyre out the body nor will the body clog the soul they will both be unwearied in their glorious services the body then will be spiritual though not a spirit and become immortal incorruptible as the soul is 9. It is a liberty from many duties and services and spiritual exercises which are now required of us the Saints work shall be lessened in Heaven The Service of the Church and people of God under the Gospel is much less than it was under the Law hence the state of the Church under the pedagogy of the Law is by the Apostle called a state of bondage a state of subjection but the state of the Church under the Gospel is called a state of liberty but when the Church shall be taken up into glory then their services shall be far less than now they are many duties and graces shall be done away in Heaven we shall pray no more for any mercy for our selves all praying shall be turned into praising of God we shall not hear the Word nor receive the Sacraments any more nor fast and afflict our souls any more we shall no longer mourn for sin repentance will be done away yea faith it self as many Divines conceive shall be done away Pray we shall not because then we shall never be in want our souls shall be so abundantly satisfied with the fulness of God's house we shall mourn and repent no more because we shall sin no more Our service in the state of glory will be taken up in praising God in admiring God in loving God rejoycing in God giving him praise and glory for the riches of his grace toward us in Christ Jesus 10. In respect of the place it is a state of liberty indeed the vast Heaven of Heavens O ye Saints shall be the place of your habitation and delight what is the whole world compared to it it is but a narrow prison an house of correction an house of bondage to a gracious spirit it is but as a Cage to a bird so is the world to the soul of a Godly man 11. It is a liberty from all fears or dangers of everlosing their glory and blessedness
torments have not power to destroy our souls they can never have power to deprive us of Heaven 2. That which can never separate us from God can never shut us out of Heaven let us be sure that God is ours and we may be sure that Heaven is ours our sins may separate us from God Isa 59.2 but our sufferings our afflictions shall never separate us from him you may remember that heroical challenge of S. Paul Rom. 8.35 What shall separate us from the love of Christ There be three things to be noted in that challenge 1. That the godly are subject to all those evils that the Apostle there reckons up he reckons up seven in all and still that which cometh after aggravateth that which went before Tribulation or trouble that 's the first but to be in trouble and in anguish too in anguish to be driven into persecution and banishment in banishment to suffer hunger and nakedness with these to be in continual peril and danger after all to dye violently by the sword these are great evils all of them and all of them exceeding one another and yet it is certain the godly are subject to all of them 2. That in these evils the main end that the Devil aims at is to separate God from us and us from God as may plainly be seen in Job's case where the Devil laid all the load he could upon him and all to set God and him at variance to make him to blaspheme God and God to forsake him 3. That yet the anchor of our safety is so firmly cast as that no such tempests as these shall ever cause such a Shipwrack in vain shall the Devil ever labour by any of these cords to pull God and us asunder they shall not make the faithful for their parts to shrink any whit from him nay they will rather stick the closer to him as wind puts not out the fire but rather kindleth it so that same wind of affliction which is sent out to blow upon them it shall not be a means to put out but rather to kindle the fire of their love God on the other side for his part will never the sooner forsake them nay he is so far from forsaking his Children in afflictions as he doth then draw the nearer to them Perhaps they are not alwayes so sensible of his presence but afraid that he hideth his face away yet certain it is he is then ever at hand and near unto them ready to do by them as Christ did by Peter in the storm as soon as they begin to sink to put his hand under them and to save them from drowning David saith God hath compassion on us as a Father hath compassion on his Children now Fathers have most compassion on their Children when they see them in most trouble and distress if natural Fathers have so God our Heavenly Father cannot then be void of the bowels of affection when he seeth us in affliction and distress God doth then pity us and those are infallible arguments of his love toward us now if troubles and afflictions cannot separate God's love from us sure they cannot shut up God's Kingdom against us but notwithstanding all the hardships they make us to suffer for the time yet when we have been tryed we shall receive the crown of life CHAP. XXXI Setteth down a cordial to them that are in affliction and a Preparative to them that are not A Twofold use may be made of what was laid down in the precedent Chapter and it concerns them that are in affliction and them that are not for them that are in affliction a cordial of unspeakable comfort for what can more comfort an afflicted soul when he seeth how all earthly joyes have forsaken him and that he is every day fain to eat the bread of sorrow and to mingle his drink with tears what can more comfort him than to know and to be assured that yet for all this he is never the farther from God never the farther from Heaven the world powreth contempt upon him but God hath not cast him out of his favour his outward man peradventure is weakened and decayed but his inner man is safe and untouch'd Earth hath denyed him peace and comfort but in Heaven there 's laid up for him a crown of blessedness This was it that gave Job comfort and made him Victor in stercore made him sing Songs of Triumph even when he was sitting on the dunghill his substance was gone his Children were slain his Wife tempted him his Servants scorned him his enemies insulted on him his Friends forsook him the Devil was a scourge to him God himself seemed to hide his face from him yet for all this saith he I know that my Redeemer liveth and that I shall see him at the last day there is no comfort in the world comparable to this so we may be sure to come to Heaven at the last no matter though we go thither in a a whirlwind and a fire no matter whether a smooth way or a rugged Better go a fowl way to a Banquet than a fair way to a Gibbet The reward we look for in Heaven is sometime compared to a reaping to a harvest now you know when the corn is sown once before we come to reap it it suffers a great deal of hard weather many dashing rains many nipping frosts many biting winds yet none of all these do hinder the harvest they make the corn never the worse either for ripening or reaping in due season we shall reap as the Apostle saith notwithstanding all these Afflictions are to us while we are living in the world as hard weather to the corn while it is growing in the field they nip us they pinch us they blow cold they beat hard upon us yet they shall not spoil us of the harvest we look for they shall not bereave us of the least of those sheaves of joy that lye a ripening for us but in due season we shall reap the full crop into our garners let this then be a cordial to all that are in affliction Let it be also a preparative for those that are not prepare your selves O Christians for the patient bearing of all trials that God shall send upon you by laying up before hand this comfort and assurance that no trials shall rob you of your crown Object Peradventure you will object that yet they have done so by some extremity of affliction hath driven them into extremity of despair so instead of receiving the Crown of life they have caused their portion in the second death Resp Affliction hath not caused this but the ill use that hath been made of affliction we are to judge of affliction as we are to judge of prosperity they are either of them good or evil according to the good or evil use that is made of them it 's certain that some that are in prosperity shall come to Heaven yet their prosperity is not the cause
made in mercy the performance thereof dependeth upon the fidelity of the promiser not upon the merit of the worker the promise is sure not according to our merits but according to his mercy therefore go to God and say Lord thou hast promised to bestow the Crown of glory upon all that come unto thee Lord we have thy word there is a promise wherein thou hast caused me to hope Be it to thy servant according to thy Word CHAP. XXXIII SECT I. Sheweth how a man may know whether he hath a title to Heaven Quest BVt here peradventure thou may'st demand how shall I know whether the promise of eternal life belongeth to me or not Sol. I answer first dost thou love God the promise of giving the crown of life is made to them that love him Jam. 1.12 He that is the best lover is the best and most accomplished Christian it is not so much what thou doest or what thou sufferest what thy actions or what thy sufferings are as what thy love to God is so then the greatest Saint is not barely he that hath done most or suffered most but he that loveth most as it was said of Mary Magdalen Luk 7.47 that many sins were forgiven her because she loved much If thou hast true saith it will be the fountain of thy love to God who believing God to be such and so merciful to to thee it swalloweth up thy affections and draweth out thy love and devotion toward him which is not unfelt in us but by the feeling thereof in our selves we gather a further confirmation and assurance to our selves that we are beloved of God both which S. Bernard well declareth saying that the love of God breedeth in the soul love toward God and by feeling it self to love it is also out of doubt that it self is beloved now if thou art one that lovest God thou maist conclude thou art beloved of him for we love him because he loved us first and therefore thou hast an interest in the crown of life which God hath promised to them that love him True it is sometimes it is said it shall be given to such as the Lord loveth his love to us that is it that shall set this glorious crown upon our heads The Apostle Eph. 2.4 speaking both of our Sanctification and Salvation makes God the Author of them both and in God the cause of both the riches of his mercy and the greatness of his love God who is rich in mercy through his great love wherewith he hath loved us hath raised us up together and made us to fit together in Heavenly places So S. John saith it was God's love to us that he sent his onely Son to us in him to give us life and salvation herein was the great love of God manifested towards us in that God sent his onely begotten Son into the world that we might live through him 1 Joh. 4.9 Yet S. James tells us the crown of life shall be given to them that love the Lord as if it were not so much his love to us as did graciously vouchsafe it as our love to him that did deservedly merit it But these may both stand together the promise of eternal life may be said to belong both to those whom the Lord loveth and to those that love the Lord for first this love of God to us and our love to him do alwayes go together like fountain and stream seed and fruit fire and light cause and effect whensoever his love takes hold upon us it generates and begets in us love toward him again We read of Solomon that he was named Jedidjah because he was the beloved of the Lord 2 Sam. 12.25 and we likewise read of him 1 Kings 3.3 that he loved the Lord he was the beloved of the Lord and he loved the Lord God's love working upon him it wrought in him again love toward God now they that are beloved of God and they that love God they have both of them the promise of eternal life God's love to them is properly the cause of it their love to him that 's onely the Seal of it What S. John saith of the love of our Brethren the same may we say of the love of God We know by it that we are translated from death to life 1 Joh. 3.14 which life is a token of assurance by which we know we shall be saved The cause of our salvation is in God's loving us our loving of God is a token only by which we know we are sealed up unto salvation SECT II. 2. ARt thou Holy thou hast hence good ground and reason to expect whatsoever reward God hath promised unto holiness Being made free from sin and become servants unto God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life Rom. 6.22 Are ye pure in heart they onely shall see God Math. 5.8 Are ye holy in life then shall you see the Lord Hebr. 12.14 Beware how thou dost go on in any sin answer thy lusts thy temptations thy wicked company that seduce and entice thee to sin as Solomon answered Bathsheba when she desired Abishag for Adonijah let him take my Kingdom too so say thou to thy lusts to thy temptations to thy wicked company if you beg my company then take away my Kingdom too take away my glory take away my happiness too take heed of laying down thy head in the lap of any lust as Sampson did in the lap of Dalilah What said she to him The Philistines be upon thee Sampson So if thou sufferest thy self to be deceived by thy lusts by thy sinful pleasures I will not say the Philistines be upon thee but all the Devils in Hell be upon thee it may be thou expectest Angels to carry thee like Lazarus into Abraham's bosome and the evil Angels will take thee and hurry thee into Belzebub's bosome nothing but sin will make thee uncapable of glory it is only Christ and interest in Christ by saving faith and grace and holiness that can fit thee for glory that can make thee capable of glory and happiness we must be gracious here otherwise we shall never be glorious hereafter consider the nature of this glory which God will communicate to his Saints it is pure glory therefore it is necessary that the subjects which must receive it be pure also God will put pure glory into pure vessels What ado had Queen Esther before she was brought to the King Est 2.12 She was to purifie her self a whole year before she could attain to be Queen six months with oyl of Myrrh and six moneths with sweet Odours then she was brought to the King shall an earthly Prince expect such exact purification before he will bestow his honours and shall not God expect our purifying our selves before we come and sit upon thrones of glory can we think that God will cloath our Bodies of sin with Robes of glory and that God will put the pure white