Angels and Saints of that Heavenly Court are perpetually Singing Praises and Hallelujahs to God Almighty and to the Lamb that sits on the Throne and are daily Embracing each other For that there 's such a thing as Friendship among Angels I do not question for Love each other undoubtedly they must and Love more intensely they may such as have the most beautiful Characters of the Divine Power and Goodness upon them And that there is also a Communication of Angels and Souls in Heaven plainly appears from Rev. 7.9 10 11 12. 1 Cor. 13.1 Dan. 8.13 But I conceive this Communication to be chiefly in an ability of Insinuating their Thoughts to each other by a meer Act of their Wills just as we now speak to God or our selves in our Hearts when our Lips don't move or the least outward sign appear Whether there 's any other Converse I shall enquire at the end of this Essay but that there 's sufficient to know and be known I am fully satisfied But tho this may suffice as to our knowing the Angels Yet Secondly As to the Saints I shall never know them for certain I did know 'em on Earth 't is true but since they are gone to Heaven they are so hugely altered I shall not know one of 'em when I see 'em again Nay Phil. and I can't give an Instance will affect you more you 'l scarce know Eliza there The * See Dr. Sheldon of Mans Last End Glory of her Soul will be seen through her Body in such a sort that they 'l both shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of Heaven Neither can you tell me Philaret what kind of Matter our Bodies shall have in the other Life 'T is in the power of Microscopes to represent a Hair glittering and curious beyond Expression much more can a real Infinite Power effectively make it so Matter is all one to the Maker We have some light of our Resurrection by the first Fruits of it our Saviour who with that very same Body he was Crucified rose again and ascended into Heaven but was changed before he got there it being not a receptacle for Common Flesh and Blood I see no reason why Matter may not be changed to something else and only called so to our apprehension as well as form of Matter We have Instances of the different Forms our Saviour appear'd in after his Resurrection and once that with his Natural Body he appear'd to his Disciples when the doors were shut The Appearance our Bodies will have in Heaven will be shining and bright as may be gathered by Moses his Face shininig when he had seen the Glory of God as also the manner of Moses Enoch and Elias their Appearance to our Saviour in his Transfiguration the Description that St. John gives of our Saviour in the Revelations with many more places in Sacred Writ But to be express in my Definitions of this Matter 't is impossible since all reveal'd are only such Terms as are adapted to express what ever appears most Glorious and Dazling here not being yet capable to entertain greater manifestations and such as we shall really be fitted for hereafter The Mystery lies here when our Bodies shall be Immortalized at the last day we know not what Substance they will be of but I am satisfied the most refined Matter as it is now will be nothing like ' em All that can be said of it is this there will be new inexpressible somethings which will have the same proportion to one another as our place and Matter now have The Bodies of Christ Enoch and Elias are certainly in Heaven and the Sun Moon and Stars are certainly in the Firmament but what those bodies are and the Heaven they are in as also what those Stars are and the Firmament they are in I know not for it does not yet appear what we shall be that is we can give no full or exact account of the Future Condition either of our Bodies or Souls yet this in general we know that as our Souls shall be impeccable so our Bodies shall be incorruptable that they shall be glorified and therefore must be Glorious and Luminous like the Glorious Body of our Saviour at the Transfiguration It 's also probable that the Matter whereof they are composed shall be so refined in quality and perhaps so diminished in quantity that we shall as I mentioned before be in that Sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that our Bodies shall be no longer Clogs to our Souls but obey their Commands and indue the Nature of Spirits in their quick and imperceptible Motion from one Term to another However this is certain * Lessius de summo bono l. 3. c. 5. Our Bodies shall be fully possest with Glory and the Soul full of the Light of Glory shall be diffused through the whole Body and all the parts of it The Eyes those Windows in the Vpper-Story how lightsome shall they be They shall then be renewed and made more Bright and clear than the light of the Sun The very act of Seeing shall be most clear and perfect the Eye shall be able to bear the Brightest Splendor We may conceive that those that are in this place of Blessedness at one single aspect may perfectly see from one end of the Heaven to the other there being no defect in the Objects Medium or Organ or any thing to intercept the sight The Objects being so Trasparent and Glorious What a pleasant sight is the out side of Heaven bedect with the Sun Moon and Stars What then is the inside where the Glory of a God is display'd Not through a Glass darkly but with Eyes enabled perfectly to behold it And as the EYES will be thus wonderfully altered from what they were so the EARS the Nostrils the Mouth the Hands the Lungs the Marrow the Bowels and every particular Member of the Body will be cast into a new Mold But 't is the Opinion of a Learned * See Mr. Colliers Ser. concerning the difference between the present and Future State of our Bodies Writer That though the Sences of Seeing Hearing and possibly that of Smelling too will accompaning the Bodies of the Saints to Heaven but for the other two grosser Sences they are too course and insignificant to have much Employment there And therefore he Judges they 'l be changed into Two-New-Ones of a more Spiritualized and more Refined Nature I may add to this that the Age wherein we shall Live again will so transform us that we can never be known in Heaven to our old Acquaintance for that which refers to the Kingdom of God in this World may in this case be very properly applied to that in the other There shall hencefoth be no more an Old Man neither an Infant of Days It seems not proper to say we shall be raised at Any Age I mean such a State as we were in at such an Age since undoubtedly we shall be endued with
concerned about parting for I hope we shall both meet where we shall never part That she dy'd in this Belief yet furthet appears by the Letter she writ about her Funeral which concludes with saying My Dear as to what you mention about our Funerals I like it well and am yet further pleased with our Ground Bedfellows I doubt not but dear O thee and I shall make as wholesome a Morsel for the Worms as any and as we sleep together in the same Grave so I hope we shall be happy hereafter in the Enjoyment of the Beatifick Vision and in the Knowledge of one another for adds she I agree with you that we shall know our Friends in Heaven Wise and Learned Men of all Ages and several Scriptures plainly shew it tho I verily believe was there none but God and one Saint in Heaven that Saint wou'd be perfectly happy so as to desire no more but whilst on Earth we may lawfully please our selves with Hopes of meeting hereafter and lying in the same Grave where we shall be happy hereafter if a Senseless Happiness can be call'd so You mention Writing your Thoughts of the Nature of the Soul and that other World we are hastening too but seeing you did not send them I shall wait with Patience till those things are no longer the Object of our Faith but Vision I shall only add my hearty Prayer that God wou'd bless you both in Soul and Body and that when you die you may be conveyed by the Angels into Abraham's Bosom where I hope you 'll find your constant Eliza. And as Eliza that part of my self now in Heaven believ'd she shou'd know me â—â—ere so I also find my Reverend Father of this Opinion as appears by the following Letter (*) This Letter was sent me during my Apprentiship in the City of London Viz. My Dear Child If you endeavour to please God and your Master I do not doubt but I shall meet thy Face in Heaven hereafter tho thro my Corporal Indisposition I fear I shall see thy Face no more on Earth and in that New-Jerusalem if thou diest in Christ I shall see thee not disfigured with Pockholes but dignified with Celestial Glory and there thou wilt see thine own Mothers Face who kill'd her self with Excess of Love to thee and who died praying so earnestly for thy Everlasting Salvation 'T is clear from hence that my Father thought he shou'd know my Face in Heaven and that I shou d see my Mother there so as to know her again My dear Mother was also of this Opinion as appears by the Letter to her Brother Jeremiah it concluding thus Pray Brother earnestly contend for the Faith once delivered to the Saints that you may follow the Lord fully in your Generation and that you and I with all our Relations may one day sit down in Heavenly Places together with Jesus Christ. And Cloris too for I can't speak of Heaven without her is of this Opinion where she says speaking of Mr. That Saints and Angels listen to his Song and knew him so very well that not an Angel Critick durst correct his Verse Dear Charmer shall we see thee too in Heaven Phil. Then Cloris know in Heaven I 'll be Your Friend and Guardian-Angel too And tho with more refined Society I 'll leave Elysium to converse with you Cloris But grant Sir Phil. you still are kind You cannot long continue so When I like you become all Thought and Mind By what Mark then shall we each other know Phil. With Care on your last Hour I wi l attend And least like Souls shou'd me deceive I closely will imbrace my new-born Friend And never after my dear Pithia leave You see Ignotus I am all Rapture when I talk of Cloris but 't is Excusable sure if not Phil Forgive Bright Maid this little Extasie Ah! who can be compos'd that thinks of thee Who can Pindarick Flights refuse Whilst thou doest lash the Fiery-foaming Muse I 'll curb her in and try if I can be As Grave as Sober and as Wise as thee Nor think dear Friend I ramble now from you for I never talk to the Purpose but when I bring in Cloris our Friendship both here and hereafter wou'd be imperfect without her It shou'd sweeten the Thoughts of Heaven to us both to think we shall one day see her there Which if we do with what Ardours shall we then caress one another With what Transports of Divine Affection as one expresses it shall we mutually embrace and vent those Innocent Flames which had so long lain smothering in the Grave How Passionately Rhetorical and Elegant will our Expressions be when our Tender Sentiments which an aged Father and Death had frozen up when he congeal'd our Blood shall now be thaw'd again in the warm Airs of Paradice like Men that have escaped a common Shipwreck and swim safe to the Shoar shall we there Congratulate each other with Joy and Wonder I need not tell you says the Ingenious Boyle Tha we shall be more justly Transported at this Meeting than was good old Jacob at that of his Son Joseph whom having long mourn'd for dead and lost he found not only Alive but a great Favourite ready to welcome him to an unknown Court For whereas the Patriarch said to his Son Now let me dye since I have seen thy Face the seeing of our Friends in Heaven will assure us that we shall for ever Live with them there Dear Ignotus wonder not at this Rapture for if Eliza whilest on Earth had Christian love enough to Embrace the whole World in Heaven she has not left her Nature but only its imperfections she has not changed her affections but only hightened and improved them and therefore judge how happy I shall be when I see her again and how much more happy in her Excellent friendship for my part I can imagine nothing but an Extacy when we shall Live in such great Hearts which are nothing else but LOVE and JOY Nay this seems to be the summ of what we can say of the happiness of that State that it consists in a rapturous Love of God and one another Where this is found that Place is Heaven * * See Mr. Foes Car. of Dr. Annesly Could I Reheatse to your Conception what is Heaven above t would be Concisely thus all Heauen is Love Sure I am we shall behold no narrow Conclusive Soul in Heaven habitually prefering their private before a publick good and on this Score had I no better Grounds I should hope to meet Eliza in Heaven as she preferred that and the pleasing her Husband to all the Baggs in the World Then surely if I meet her again my first Address to Eliza will be 'a Dialect of Interjectons and short Periods the most Pathetick Language of surprise and high wrought Joy and all our after Converse even to Eternity will be Couch'd in the highest Strains of Heavenly Oratory methinks
of a different splendor and as the Stars the Air and Water by their borrowed Lights do raise us to behold the Sun the Fountain of all that Light so wheresoever the Rays of Glory are cast whether on Angels or Men we cannot but behold God shining on each Nature and confess Him to be All in All. Moreover it is not a glance but a fixing on the Creature which in that state is not to be feared can endanger our Happiness otherwise neither God nor Angels are truly Blessed for the Divinity of former Ages would persuade us That God as it were cometh daily out of Himself to behold his own Image in the Angels and the Angels look upon the same Resemblance as cast from them and reflected by the Soul but neither God nor Angels are so ravished with those dimmer Beauties as to dwell upon them but do suddenly return back to the Fountain God to Himself and the Angels unto God Thus have I Answered two of the Objections Against knowing our Friends in Heaven and have proved we shall know 'em if we get thither since Heaven is a Place where since nothing requisite to happiness can be wanting we may well suppose that we shall not want so great a satisfaction as that of being knowingly happy in our other selves our Friends c. Object 3. But how can it be may some say that the Saints can know their Earthly Acquaintance again after so great an alteration by the Resurrection and so great an addition of Luster and Beauty to what they had before when many times we can hardly know a man again here after some Years absence or after the disfigurement of a Wound or sharp Disease Neither do I know one Angel in Heâ—ven or the Spirits of any Just men that are gone thither so that when I come there I mâ—â—ike â—o be a meer stranger to that Blessed * As was hinted at the beginning of this Essay Company To this I Answer First as to the Angels What if thou knowest not one Angel in all the Heavens Is it not enough says a late Writer That many of 'em may know thee But how shall I know that How Thou hast been their special Charge ever since thou wast born to Jesus Christ Are they not all Ministring Spirits to all them that are Heirs of Glory How kindly did an Angel Comfort Mary Magdalen and the other Mary when they early came to visit the Holy Sepulchre of our Lord How well did he know their Persons and their business when he said Fear not I know that ye seek Jesus which was Crucified he is not here for he is Risen as he said come see the place where the Lord lay and go quickly and tell his Disciples that he is Risen from the Dead and behold he goeth before you into Galilee there shall ye see him Mat. 28.5 So as I have told you what Discourse could be more kind friendly and famliar So that the Ministration of Angels is certain but the manner how is the Knot to be untied 'T was generally believ'd by the Antient Philosophers That not only Kingdoms had their Tutelary Guardians but that every Person had his particular Genius or Good Angel to Protect and Admonish him by Dreams Visions c. We read that Origen Hierome Plato and Empedocles in Plutarch were also of this Opinion and the Jews themselves as appears by that Instance of Peter's Deliverance out of Prison who retreating to his Friend's House the unexpectedness of his Escape made 'em believe it could not be Peter but his Angel We are not without Examples of the Friendly Offices of Angels Witness Grinaeus his Admonition and Escape from Spires Vide Melancthon's Commentary upon Daniel Bodinus his Relation of his Friend 's Calestial Monitor with many more which would be too tedious to recount particularly We possitively affirm say the Athenians that every Infant has his particular Angel Matth. 18.10 and that it is a good Angel is deducible from Matth. 19.14 nor can we believe that good Angels cease to preside over Adult Persons thâ— never so Vicious Luke 15.10 Now if God has commissioned his Angels to minister to his Saints to defend and keep them to guard and shield them from Dangers and Mischiefs and if these glorious Harbingers bear so * See Mr. Steven's Sermons on Dives and Lazarus great Love to Men as has been plainly prov'd doubtless they are very ready to receive and carry the Souls of good Men into Heaven one of the Fathers calls the Angels Evocatores Animarum the Callers forth of Souls and such as shew them Paraturam Diversorii the Preparations of those Mansions they are going to which supposes a very particular Knowledge of them Hence we observe says the same Author when good Men die they are often in silent Raptures and express a kind of Impatience till they are dissolv'd and why because they Spiritually see what they cannot utter as did St. Paul when he was wrapt up into the third Heaven There is a kind of a draught presented to them by their Guardian Angels of those Transcendent Joys they are almost ready to enter in Possession of and therefore long and pine till they are convey'd into that place of unspeakable Felicity and these Heavenly Spirits adds this Author succour and support them under their Pain and Sickness and when their Souls are storm'd out of their Bodies they encompass and embrace them soaring through the Regions of evil Angels as the Text speaks concerning Lazarus till they are carry'd into Abraham 's Bosom And as the Angels shall know us so the Saints shall see and know the innumerable Company of Angels their Natures each of their Persons in particular As the Angels know every Elect Person because it is their work to gather the Elect from all the Corners of the Earth and to sepaparate them from the wicked Matth. 13.41 so the Glorified Saints shall know the Holy Angels whom the Lord sent forth to minister for them whom the Lord appointed for their Guard while they were upon Earth who encamped round about them while they were encompassed with so many Dangers Some Divines are of Opinion that the number of the Angels is so great that they exceed without comparison all Corporal and Material Things in the Earth Again If every one of the Angels yea tho it be the least Angel among them all be more beautiful and goodly to behold than alâ— this visible World what a Glorious Sight shall it then be to see and know such a number of beautiful Angels to see the Perfections and Offices that every one hath in that high and glorious City There do the Angels go as it were in Embassages are exercised in their Ministry there the Principalities and Thrones Triumph there do the Cherubims give Light and the Seraphims burn with Fervent Love to God Who all like Stars have Brightness from his Rays And they Reflect it back again in Praise Mr. Foe All the