Divine essence being an Arbitrary and voluntary Glass he may according to his good pleasure manifest more or less of such a visible glory to the Eyes of Saints in Heaven And why may there not be such a corporeal Vision or ocular Veiw of the Face of God in this sense seeing Jacob had it though in a lower degree because his mortal state would not bear such a sight as is proper to a state immortal upon Earth Gen. 33.30 I have seen saith he God Face to Face though it was not God's Essence that was discernable at that time yet besides that humane form and shape that God appeared in and which at first might make him think it was but a man before he left Jacob besides his solemn blessing him it 's very probable he gave some demonstration of his Divinity which it's likely was by some glorious appearance or resplendent and bright manifestation of himself so much as he was then capable of bearing to his Eye sight this made him say I have seen God Face to Face and yet my life is preserved Such a sight Moses and Aaron c had of God in the Exod. 24. v. 10. And they saw the God of Israel how by the effulgency and shining forth of some glory and brightness which was obvious to their sense by which they might perceive that God was present in an especial and extraordinary manner this appears by what follows And there was under his Feet as it were a paved work of a Saphir Stone which is a Stone of a very clear Sky colour and as it were the body of Heaven in it's clearness or in it's brightness Exod. 33.18 Moses supplicates God that he would shew him his glory shew me thy glory which is not to be understood of God's essence which no doubt he knew to be invisible but his divine glory While God was speaking with him by a sensible Voice his presence was over-shadowed with some Cloud or darkness so that this glory did not appear and therefore now he desired either the removal of the interposing Cloud or that his glory might break through it to be objected to his sense God in the 19. verse replies to this Petition thus I will make my goodness pass before thee that is I my self will pass before thee and with my self all my goodness and glory but seeing it is too much for thee to comprehend it shall therefore pass and not stay for thee to gaze upon it shall pass before or by thee that thou mayest see a shadow of it behind That which Moses was so desirous to see was the Divine glory fully manifested and displayed now God tells him that this state of defiled infirmity and mortallity was not capable of 〈◊〉 therefore God promiseth to help the imperfection and dimness of sight by the â—tion of his Ear as followeth I will proclaim my name i. e. my nature Now that Moses might know that God was not unkind to him while he denied to gratify his request he tells him plainly in the 20. v. He could not see his Face without the peril and hazard of his life And he said thou canst not see my Face which is not only to be understood of God's spiritual Majesty which is altogether invisible but likewise if not principally in this place of that brightness and glory which accompanieth his presence and that he is cloathed with as with a Garment For there shall none see me and live From these words the principal objection may be raised against any ocular views or corporeal Visions of God in Heaven For seeing in Heaven the Saints shall have their humane nature and not cease to be men how can they see any thing of him there more than here and live To which it may be replied that either such a Vision of God is not in this life but in the other that if a man would see God he must first die and then he shall see as it were face to face and so the sence of the words is this No man while he lives in a mortal condition here upon earth can see my face which interpretation I do not approve of because it contradicts other Scriptures already spoken to and explain'd without another which is That the full manifestations of my glory are too much for mans infirmity to bear and apprehend Thus for man to see me would so astonish him as to make him a dead man Rev. 1.16 17. Dan. 10.8 9. This is that glory which Moses desired to see which God tells him he was not capable of beholding as he was a meer mortal man But yet it 's clear from vers 23. that God did manifest so much of his glory to him as was sufficient for his discerning and for his desire When he saith thou shalt see my back-parts he speaks here as if he appeared in humane shape at this time who though he hid his glory from Moses his eyes as if an hand had been spread over his face to cover him while he passed before him yet was he priviledged with a glimpse of his glory coming after behind he might see him as in a shadow And it 's probable when Moses came down from Mount Sinai where he had been forty days and forty nights without food with God with a shining lustre upon his face it was from a reflexion of a divine glory and splendor upon it which he was in some considerable degree enabled and strengthened to behold Exod. 34.28 29 30. We find that in the Mount when Christ was transfigur'd Matth. 17.2.9.2 and his face and countenance irradiated with coelestial glory yet those Disciples which were with him had ocular views of it though in respect of their mortal condition they could scarce bear and endure the sparkling rayes thereof but seem to be astonished while wonderfully ravished and delighted with the same Now if the eye of God's Saints have had such glympses of Divine Glory upon earth what clearer and fuller view will they have thereof in heaven when their visible faculty and organ of sight shall be unspeakably invigorated and made a thousand degrees more pure and piercing more acute and quick than now it is And if a small beam or glympse thereof was so delectable to Peter John and James that were with Christ in the Mount that they were loath to leave it but were very desirous to take up their abode there how infinitely more pleasant and ravishing will those more open and ample manifestations of Glory be and though we cannot determine what the measures thereof will be yet we may conclude it will infinitely more surpass the most amiable and Loves-most powerful attractive objects upon earth than either the Morning or Meridian Sun that minute and little light that acts the part of an Hypocrite in a Glow-worm We may rationally suppose likewise that the sight of Christ as he is man with all the inherent coelestial qualities of his most glorious body will render heaven a place full
be either â—â—â—vided for at all or better than when they had their publick Maintenance If it be said that they hoped to find many Friends it must be said of them as of Abraham in another case Rom. 4.18 that against hope they believed in hope That God hath raised them on many Friends is certainly true what doth this prove but that though they be ejected and cast out by imcompassionate men yet they are not rejected cast out by God and if it be not an infallible Demonstration yet it 's a good Argument to prove that their cause is well-pleasing unto and approved of by God that it hath the strength of Divinity in it What shall we think of that Religion that flourishes in the midst of flames and the highest oppositions that the more feâ—ere Laws be multiplyed against it the more it lifts up its head with Triumph the more it dilates and spreads it self Long and great Persecutions have at last discomfeited and supprest Errours and Heresies but Truth after all hath prevailed and appeared to the opposing world and like the Sun after a short Eclipse or some black Vizard and dark vailing cloud cast over his Face hath effulg'd and shin'd forth with greater Beauty and Glory and pouâ—ed forth more plentifully his brightest Beams We know that in the late times Prelatism and a Ceremonial Religion could not stand before Humane Power and Penal Laws though nothing so severe nor so many as are now made against that Thing and that Religion which hath been branded and stigmatized with the most odious Nick-Names how did they fall before them like Dagon before the Ark how quickly did they shrink into nothing and disappear seem'd to be annihilated or at least exanimated and like some smaller Animals that lye as dead in the Winter till they feel the power of the Vernal Sun and its vivifying and enlivening heat did those things lye dead in the cold winter of Adversity and so continued till the benign Raies and Influences of Regal Authority at his Majesties happy Restauration did reanimate and inspire them with a new life which if they were but once suspended we should quickly see them dye again They can only live in the warm Sun-shine of his Majesties Royal Favour Let that be withdrawn and the Civil Power set against them and they will soon be liveless and so deeply buried in the Grave of Oblivion and Contempt as never to have a Resurrection to any Grandeur or Glory more Though it 's Confess'd that many Nonconformists are bountifully provided for especially such as live in Wealthy and Populous Cities Corporations and Towns where they have larg Congregations to Preach to or if they be debarr'd from this yet lose not their hearts and respects and I wish such may not too little Sympathize with others and have too few slender compassionate resentments of their low conditions look too loftily and superciliously and disdainfully upon them be of too Magisterial a de-deportment towards them or grudg too much their Neighborhood and coming to live when necessitated thereunto where they do If God see such Ambition Pride and Selfishness among and so much of Prelatical Spirit pearking up in Nonconformists he may make them yet pass through a hotter fire to refine them and prepare a narrower and finer sieve to fist them with I say though this be so yet there are many and Men of great Worth both for Learning and Piety that have been and yet are much pincht with poverty are reduced to great Straits and dolorous wants exposed unto which yet blessed be God they stoutly and resolutely endure great hardships and yet the sewieâ— complain not so much as many Conformists who have some of them â—00 〈◊〉 300 l. per Annum c. who as they say run into Debt cannot make both ends meet and some of them are now and then jogging along unto and taking up their residence in some Goal for not paying to a very man what they ow him Sometâ—â—â— they are haunted as with evil Spirits and Frends of Hell with the â—â—de and boisterous Bayliffs which affright them more than Hobgoblings in the night who make them sober and good Husbands and perhaps keep them in their studies against their wills and for a long time by reason of those Diligent and Hawk-ey'd Attendants they are made so happy as not to go to Gods House and not so miserable as not to go to an Ale-house that Joan may fill them the other Jugg But these afflictions and troubles I do not here the poorest Nonconformists meet with Sometimes not only the inferiour but the dignified Clergy complain they want money notwithstanding their great Revenues and large In-comes while the poorest Nonconformists are not querulous but still and silent being contented with thankful unto God for that modicum that little which they have what 's the Reason of this but besides that which is natural their toping their exhausting and emptying of Bottles of Sack Claret till 10 or 12 a Clock at Night and sometimes longer their ingurgitating and swallowing down so much Wine and strong Liquors too frequently to Ebriation their Luxury and Profuseness their Courting now and then a Madam who must be generously and nobly treated and who because she is Morally light must be made Physically heavy their Complementing in a private recess some pretty Miss who though a beautiful yet a chargeable Creature for these are the Insatiably voracious Barathrams the deep Ditches and Pits that absorp and swallow up all the Idols that devour whatever is sacrificed to them whose flaming lust consumes more treasure and wealth than all especially the late most violent eruptions of Aetna's fiery subterranean Furnace or all the fires that have wasted and destroyed Houses Ships and Cities since the Creation of the World or fire was first kindled upon Earth Their only close and comfortable importance I say besides that which is natural the want of the secret blessing of the Almighty that sacred Text in Job 20.22 being verified and fulfill'd signally in them In the fulness of their sufficiency they are in straits while the others by the Danation of his blessing in the midst of straits have what is sufficient for them As the Apostle saith in 2 Cor. 6.10 As having nothing yet possessing all things No doubt those that talk so much of the Non-Conformists living so well grudg them the bread they eat and some of them are fill'd with malice and madness that they are not starv'd An eminent instance hereof we have in a Bishop who when he went his Visitation in his Diocess was very inquisitive to know how the Non-Conformists were maintain'd and who supply'd them In pursuance of his end he employed several to search it out One of them when he was upon the scent not being able to understand where the Game did lie comes to a Minister whose learning and parts are sufficiently known in the Country where he lives to be informed of
dejectedness of mind or any inward perturbations of spirit neither were they the Index of any passionate concussions and commotions or disorders in their souls Such was their holy and spiritual gallantry that for these losses they could not undergo and suffer such a debasement as to admit of violent inquietudes to possess and tyranize over them nor to be set upon a rack of torturing diffident fears corroding and gnawing cares how they their Wives and Children should be provided for and subsist for the future in the world They were not blear-ey'd with weeping No drops did distil much less did floods and cataracts of brinish and beauty-withering tears gush and fall from their eyes unless issuing and streaming from an inward fountain of sweetest joy There was no wayling nor wringing of hands crying out Wo is us We are undone we are undone Such Exclamations and Lamentations the serene sedate composed temper of their spirits would not admit of The Heavens are not more clear nor their Aspect and face more amiable and beautiful to behold when the Sun shines forth in its Altitude and greatest strength and displays all its lofty and supereminent Glory and Majesty thereby disipating and scattering the mists chasing away and putting to flight the envious clouds which would diminish and darken the same than their hearts and faces were free from all contracting and wrinkling discontent Such sufferings could not be causative of one Paralysis or Convulsion in their Spirits They were so strengthned Neh. 8.10 expanded and dilated with joy that such trepidations and shakings such Spasms and contractions they were not capable of It would have caused an extasy and no doubt was very astonishing to their Enemies to behold how the inward unseen joy of their hearts was demonstrated by most visible pleasant smiles a clear evidence of a holy scorn and contempt of the malicious oppression of persecuting Enemies wherewith their faces did shine and an admirable lustre was set upon them while there was a Cannabal devoration of their Estates The Apostle here speaks of their joy as if all sorrow were excluded Certainly if they had or did conceive any they scarce felt it their joy was so great that it did swallow it up and over-top it Saith Calvin upon the word Non dubium est quin ut homines erant affectibus obnoxijs moerorem illis attulerit bonorum suorum jactura Verum talis fuit corum tristitia quae gaudium hoc de quo loquitur Apostolus non impediret quia paupertas inter res adversus censetur bonorum direptio in se considerata dolore eos tangebat sed cum altius respicirent gaudij materiam concipiebant quo illud quic quid erat doloris leniebatur Sic enim sensus nostros coelestis remuneraâ—aâ—irnis aspectu a mundo obduci convenit Neque aliud dico quam quod experinatur pij omnes certe laeti amplectimâ—r quod persuasi sumus cessurum nobis in salutem Hunc autem proeuldub to sensum habent filij Dei de certaminibus quae pro Christi gloria suscipiunt Itaque nunquam in illis dolore obruendis ita praevalet carnis affectus quin erectis in Caelum mentibus emergant in spirituale gaudium They were like to the Apostles in Act. 5.40 41. that when they were beaten rejoyced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the Name of Christ Or like Paul himself in 2 Cor. 7.4 they were filled with joy they were exceeding joyful or did according to the Orig. superabound with joy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they had a Pleonism thereof They answered that Command of our Saviour Mat. 5.11 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the former word signifies simply to rejoyce but the latter is more Emphatical and therefore render'd be exceeding glad Ex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vald◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 salio ex ulto gestio tripudio It signifies such a joy as we use to express by outward signs in the body as skipping leaping dancing or as if they were resolved the temper of their minds and their deportment should be consonant to our Saviours Command Luke 6.22 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Leap for joy let your hearts leap ond spring within you for joy like the Babe in Elizabeths womb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 proprie dicuntur lascivientes pecades translatitie ijs tribnitur qui prae gaudij abundantia non possunt se continere quin varios gestus edant hinc illinc subsilientes Beza Brugen in Har. Evang. It signifieth such a leaping as wanton Cattel use and thence is taken to express such a rejoycing as so affecteth one that he cannot but leap for joy Thus they were like men surprized with abundance of joy at some suddain and unexpected glad tiding that makes them to dance and leap again They were like to the Wise men in the East who when they saw the Star that directed them to Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 2.10 which is an Attick Elegancy rejoyced with exceeding great joy Thus much for the manner of their suffering Oh! that Christians could suffer the spoiling of their goods so now 2. In the ground and reason of their so suffering Translated knowing in your selves that you have in Heaven a better and and an enduring Substance but it is according to the Orig. knowing that you have in your selves a better substance in the heavens and abiding or a better and abiding substance in the heavens So the Dutch Translation So Calv. Beza Piscator and others we have 1. An act which is Intellectual Knowing The highest greatest good in the world is productive of joy no farther than it is known There is a natural and necessary connection betwixt these two and therefore it was requisite that the good here spoken of should be known by them for had they been ignorant of it they could not possibly have derived any comfor or consolation from it 2. We have the object of this Act. Not any toy or trifle not any minute and inconsiderable good but grand and magnificent most momentous and weighty it 's a substance a better substance one in heaven and abiding Such a Rhetorical climax and gradation is here It 's a substance as if the goods they lost were but shadows if compared herewith A substance therefore better than they It 's a substance in heaven which is not without its Emphasis of which more hereafter it 's likewise permanent and in this respect also better than the other which is fleeting and fading This exact and curious description of the object is given by the Apostle you see 1. Absolutely a Substance This it must be we cannot rationally supose they could part joyfully with what is counted Substance in and by the world like the Dog in the Fable for that which is but a shadow and hath no reality in it or is but an insignificant image of a real good Sensual Souls and earthly-minded men who are most concern'd to please
rest and happiness whatsoever If Divine Grace in its imperfect measures and degrees give so great and solid satisfaction to an immortal spirit that is principled with it in this world that it shall never thirst more John 4.14 neither through Necessity not for variety as one saith S. S. in his Immanuel after any other thing shall not rove and rang up and down in the world in unfixedness and suspence to seek for satisfaction and rest if such a soul never be uncertain or unsatisfied more as to its supreme object and main happiness if hereby all its restless fluctuations and aestuations all its tossings and ragings for want of a chief Good shall cease so much How sedate and calm must it be to what a complacential rest must it be brought when it 's put into the full enjoyment of this Substance which a perfection of Grace is so great a part of This is that it shall ultimately and unchangeably acquiesce in 2. It 's a Substance in Heaven This is not any visible Heaven whose influences reach our bodies and other creatures here upon earth but the Heaven that 's invisible to a corporeal eye though assisted with the help of all Mathematical Telescopes It 's the Heaven where God is most eminenntly present where there is the most conspicuous effulgency of his Glory where as it were he keeps his Imperial Court and hath his special Favourites about him Isa 66.1 Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my foot-stool It 's that Heaven where Christ Reigneth The Angels shine in Glory and all the Saints are Crowned and Enthron'd Such a Heaven there is where God more especially dwells though in respect of the Immensity of his Essence he is present in all places and bounded or circumscribed with none and where all the Saints shall be congregated together to receive the reward of their faithful service to God and all their sufferings for him It is called in 1 King 8.27 the Heaven of Heavens the most vast expanded Heaven which environs and compasseth about all the other Heavens and is the most spacious place that ever was Created It s called therefore the Heaven of Heavens for amplification sake and to set forth the Imensity of God which it cannot contain * The Third Heaven is a simple and shining body Created immediately of God to be the Tâ—â—one of his special Presence and of the gracious manifestations of his Peâ—â—â—tions and the Habitation of the Blessed both Angels and Men. It 's called the Third Heaven in 2 Cor. 12.2 which is the * Not from its heat but from its resplendency and most pleasant light The Third Heaven we have only from the Scripture Heathenish Philosophers were ignorant of it Empyreal Heaven far above the Aereal in which the Fowls flying are called the Fowls of Heaven Mat. 6.26 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and above the Siderial in which the Lights are called Stars of Heaven Gen. 15.5 It 's that which is uppermost of all in which the Angels residing are called the Angels in Heaven Mat. 24.36 This is that then which in Scripture is called the Highest Heaven Luke 2.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Coelis Altissimis as Eeza translates it or rather interprets it the Highest Heavens Mat. 21.9 We have the same for it 's usual with the Greeks to put Adjectives without their Substantives as one shall find in the most elegant Authors among them Xenephon and others and this is frequent in the New Testament Mat. 10.42 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where is understood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As the Heaven signifies that which is above us when it 's Local and carries in it a Notation of Altitude so this Heaven is not inferior to any but superior to all other Heavens Although God be Omnipotent and cannot be said to be in a place either Definitive as finite incorporeal Substances may or Circumscriptive as all corporeal Substances are yet seeing both according to reason and his own most sacred Revelations which are all most highly Rational though some of them be superior to our Reason there must be some peculiar place where there are most admirable ravishing Emications and beamings forth of his most bright shining Excellencies and absolute Perfection which are the great part of that Objective Glory the Angels behold and are united to and which all the Saints shall by the completion and perfection of Holiness be fitted to bear and also made capable of an union with and which is the ineffable and incomprehensible Beatifical Vision Mat. 5.8 1 John 3.2 Psal 17.15 And this place must have a Superiority to all other places which seeing it is called Heaven it must be above all other Heavens else it would hold no congruity nor sutableness to the Grandeur of his own Majesty inferior and subject to which is all other Majesty that 's but a very dark resemblance of the same We find that according to all Political order and Oeconomical disposure those persons that are of greatest Eminency and worth either by birth or discent or by true Virtue Education which doth most really nobilitate and dignify a person and Offices relating to their distinct and proper objects have still the highest places assigned them and deservedly challenge a precedency before and superiority to others And this is only Analogical unto and derivative from that God who is supereminent and likewise clearly demonstrative what is due to him as his most just Right and Prerogative Height is that which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by way of eminency is approprietated to God Isa 57.15 and therefore every finite created being the higher it is the more in that respect it resembles God and is denominated and accounted more excellent from thence than another creature or being of the same species and kind Hence in Scripture tall Trees and high Mountains are called Mountains of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. Psal 36.6 Thy Righteousness is like the great Mountains Heb. Mountains of God Psal 104.16 The Trees of the Lord are full of Sap that is the goodly and tall Trees such as the Cedars are that he immediately after speaks of The very Heathens by the light of Nature had a knowledg of this Truth so agreeable is it to the reason of Man as they did distinguish between their Gods as Majores and Minores so their greater Gods were supposed to inhabit an higher place or Court and the other to be below them And as Jupiter was their chiefest God so the highest Palace and Heaven was made proper and peculiar to him Thus he is spoken of by the Latine Poet * Ovid. lib. 1 Metamorph fab 6. Olympus by the Pâ—ets it being a very high hill was taken for Heaven vel quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tanta ejus altitudine ut pedes ascendentium non possunt conspâ—ci vel quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod illic oculi frigore vitiuntur vel quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
of delectableness This must be the next object to the Beatifical Vision it self To have the fulness of the Godhead that which dwelleth in him bodily Col. 2.9 radiating as it were through his transparent body must afford excessive delights to the beholder That Glory of the Manhood which is out of measure that is respectively in regard of us who are unable to measure it must be a most lovely object to behold To see that Christ whose visage was marred more than any man and his form more than the Sons of men Isa 52.14 whom the Jews could see no beauty in that they should desire him Isa 53.2 Who was despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and who was not esteemed by men Isa 53.3 Who hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities upon whom was the chastisement of our peace and with whose stripes we are healed Isa 53.4 5. Him who was spit upon and buffited Matth. 26.67 Who endured an eructation of all obloquies and evomition of all blasphemies upon him who was every way most opprobriously and contumiliously used Who was scourged and whipt Matth. 27.26 Who when he was in the prime and flower of his youth had his beauty so much withered and decayed and his body so much maceraâ—ed through want and poverty and variety of sorrows as if wrinckling and surrowing old age had overtaken and seized upon him or did very nearly approach him Joh. 8.57 Whose innocent and pure soul was put into so great an agony that he swear as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground Luk. 22.44 which made him say his soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death Matth. 26.38 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 encompassed and besieged round about beset with sorrows And to conclude this to see him after that most low state of his Humiliation having when he was born a Manger for his Cradle crown'd with thorns as a sign of the greatest contempt and after all this condemned and executed upon the Cross crucified for the greater contempt between two Thieves most scornfully there insulted over having his sides pierced with the spear to let forth a pure stream of his most precious blood and not only to endure that most shameful ignominious tormenting death of the Cross but the whole weight and burden of his Fathers wrath and displeasure and the severe strokes and lashes of vindictive punitive justice and the very pains of Hell to take hold of his soul I say after all this to see him exalted in glory and majesty at the right hand of his Father a sparkling Crown upon his head sitting upon a magnificent Throne to see his countenance as the Sun shineth in his strength Rev. 1.16 to see him exceeding all the glory of Angels to see him infinitely more beautiful in his whole body than his Spouse the Church when enamour'd of him most passionately and Rhetorically describes him to be Cant. 5.10 11 12 13 14 15 16. To see as much of the Creator and the Divine Nature in Christ as is possibly visible in the nature of man and not only to see Christ in all that eminency of his glory but if we be Saints to see Christ in it as ours as we are interested in this object will make it most delectable Joh. 17.24 We find this is the great happiness honour and priviledg that Christ Wills for all true Believers Father This proves his Divinity I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me Certainly Christ would never have Will'd this would it not afford ineffable joy to the beholder and fully prove that as much contentation as the creature can be made partaker of by the sight of any one visible object will be the portion of the Beholders of Christ as he is man The wise man tells us The eye is never satisfied with seeing Eccl. 1.8 Although it may be wearied with looking upon various objects yet it is not satisfied but still desires new ones and can drink them in without surfeiting so that though the acts of the eye be scant and finite yet the lusts of the eye seem to have a kind of infinity in them Now all this ariseth from the imperfection of all conspicable glory and beauty in this world for the sight cannot be quieted except in the most excellent of visible objects and this it only meets with in heaven Melancthon desired death for this very end that he might see Christ in glory Cupio ex hac vita migrare propter duas causas primum ut fruar desiderato conspectu filii Dei Coelestis Ecclesiae c. And if death be desirable by the Saints for this end certainly the object will be proportionably delightful We may likewise rationally conceive the glorified bodies of the Saints will be very delightful objects whose constantly flowring and radiant beauty shall never be incentives and baits to lust shall not beget unchast thoughts nor allure and tempt to unclean embraces There shall be no need of Ornaments to cover any deformities of the body or to add a grace and comliness to any of i'ts parts all meretricious Painting and Patching all the clouding Tooers as an addition to that sufficiency of hair which God and nature hath given to the female Sex shall be quite out of fashion and of no use Had man continued in the state of Innocency that beauty which is now composed of the most exact symmetry and complexion falls inconceivably short of what it would then have been and even that before sin darkned it's lustre and stain'd it's glory or in the least withered it's flower was not to be compared with this Then saith our Saviour shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father Which may very well be understood as one sense if not the chief of their corporeal brightness and it 's probable had there been a more splended creature in the whole visible Creation than the Sun our Saviour would have made use of it to express the formosity of the Saints bodies by in heaven To see then Heaven full of those bodies which perhaps were once cloathed with ulcerous soars with loathsome and nauceating deformities and liable to so great variety of diseases and though many of them were freed from these unamiable things yet at last their rarest Beauties were exposed to blasting Old age which planted deep Furrows in their smooth Brows shrunk and shriveld up their plump and comely Checks and causing their most straight and upright Bodies to bow themselves and uncomelily to stoop I say to see Heaven so full of those Bodies and every Body so perfectly beautiful that no addition can be made and al supplements are excluded what delight must this afford what a strange magnetick vertue is there in imperfect Beauty upon earth