you in Heaven let not pleasures hinder thee of the least degree of glory for to have but one pearle added to thy Crown is more than the whole World commit therefore no sinne that might hinder your attaining of glory for what though God pardon thy sin yet thou loosest glory thou mightest have gotten whilest thou wast in committing it the least shred of which glory transcends all the glory of the World Now wee come to the subject of this glory the Materia in qua the Vessell which shall receive this infinite masse of glory and that is the soule it is called the salvation of our soules the soule which will hold so much is the vessels of this glory the body shall be exceeding glorious but the soule is the receptacle which must receive this glory Rom. 9. 23. And that hee might make knowne the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which hee had before prepared unto glory And S. Peter calleth Christ the salvation of our soules the end of your faith the salvation of your soules My brethren your soule howsoever you value it is capeable of more glory than this world can afford the pleasures of which will fill your soule no more than one droppe will fill a Cisterne or a little shower the place where the Ocean stands Eccles 3. 11. Now it is said that in this life God will put a World into the heart of man and yet all that World will not fill it why my brethren your soules are narrow in this life in respect of that they shall bee hereafter they hold but little in respect of that they shall hold in Heayen they are but little bladders which there shall bee blowne up they are but dunge bladders in respect of that they shall be in Heaven hereafter which may appeare in this Salomon had a very large heart he had as many notions in him as the sands of the sea shore for number and yet the soule of the least child in heaven happily but new come out of his mothers wombe exceedes all the knowledge which Salomon had on earth our soules are capeable of more joyes than the senses can give they are not able to satisfie it it will drinke up more glory even in one houre than the senses can provide in many hundred yeeres it will drinke them all up at one draught My beloved your senses cannot let in the King of glory such narrow gates cannot receive such infinite great glory Psal 24. In Heaven the doores of your hearts shal be opened and when those dores are open I say the everlasting dores of your hearts are open they cannot containe this glory you must bee contained in it Enter saith Christ into thy masters ioy If the joy of the holy Ghost in this life passe all understanding and beleeving wee reioyce with joy unspeakeable and full of glory how much more in the world to come shal our joyes passe all understanding when wee shall have fruition of Gods presence which is life it selfe My brethren your soules have two great gulphs viz. the understanding and the wil which must and shall bee satisfied Now saith Salomon The eye of the body is not satisfied with seeing it can comprize halfe the World in it and if the eye of the body be so hard to be satisfied much more the eye of the soule and yet in Heaven this shall be satisfied this gulph shall be satisfied Psal 17. 15. I shall bee satisfied when I awake with thy likenesse hee was to lay his head in the grave for a while but hee should arise when the Heavens shall bee no more As Iob said I shall see him againe so David I shall awake and then I shall bee satisfied with thy likenesse Iohn 14. 18. Show us the Father saith Philip and it sufficeth us you will say if you could but see God it would suffice and indeed you may well say so for the sight of God will suffice you why you shall see God Iohn 17. 24. for Christ doth desire this especially those that are his to make thē happy to be with him to behold his face Father I will that they also that thou hast given me to bee with mee where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me So Math. 5. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God they shall bee able to behold him If the Queen of Sheba who had seene so much glory before and being a Queene had partaken of so much glory in her selfe if she I say was so astonished so amazed that shee had no spirit in her even to see Salomons wisedome and to see his magnificency in honour and riches how much more shall the glory of God ravish us part of which wee never saw no not the glimpse of it oh how wilt thou bee amazed with joy when thou shalt see his glory and see him as hee is when wee shall know as we are knowne and GOD knowes us as farre as can bee 1 Corinthians 13. 12. For now wee see through a glasse darkely but then face to face now wee know but in part but then we shall know even as we are knowne all our sight of him here it is but as in a glasse Now what a great difference is it to looke upon a man who is behinde us and to turne our face and to looke truely and sted fastly upon him why there is infinitely more difference betwixt that light wee have of God by faith on earth and that perfect light of him and fruition of his glory which wee shall have in heaven why as I said before the eye of a mans body as it is but a small thing and the apple of it much smaller and yet by the helpe of the sunne it is able to take halfe the World into it at once how much more shall the eye of our understanding conceive infinite joys pastour apprehension here when it hath the light of Gods glory shining about it Psal 36. 8 9. They shall bee abundantly satisfied with the fulnesse of thy house and thou shalt make them drink of the rivers of thy pleasures for with thee is the fountaine of life in thy light shall wee see light when as the Sunne of glory comes to shine about us we shall even draw God into our soules and thus you see the first gulph shall be filled The second gulph of mans soule is the will thou hast a will and amongst all the affections of it love is most comfortable now that shall be fully satisfied wee shall be satisfied with Gods loving kindnesse for Psal 73. all other affections bring paine with them but love is alwaies comfortable Phil. 2. 1. If there bee any consolation of Christ if any comfort of love Wee love things here on earth that cannot love us againe as money riches and the like how much more shall wee love love it selfe Indeed as Salomon saith The love of friends is very delectable Pro. 27. 9.
THE HAPPINESSE OF THE SAINTS in Glory OR A Treatise of Heaven On ROM 8. 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us By THO. GOODWIN B. D. LONDON Printed by E. Griffin for Robert Dunscomb in Lillipot-lane 1638. The scope of the Treatise IS to open and describe Heaven and the glory of the Saints therein pag. 2 1. Comparatively in foure respects 1. By comparing it with all the good things which this World affords as pleasures honours riches beauty p. 4 2. By comparing it with all the aflictions which we suffer in this life p. 7. 3. By comparing it to that joy of the Holy Ghost which Gods children are capeable of in this World p. 8 4. By comparing it with those joyes and that glory which the Saints now in Heaven enjoy before the day of Judgment p. 15 2. Simply as it is in it selfe and that first by the causes of it 1. The efficient cause the great God of Heaven and Earth p. 19 2. The materiall cause Christ Iesus the Lord of glory p. 25 3. The exemplary cause the glory of the Lord Jesus p. 33 The Object of this glory is God himselfe p. 37 The Subject of this glory or the vessell which shall receive it is the soule of man p. 53 4. The finall cause in which First the persons for whom God hath prepared this glory viz. his Saints p. 66 Secondly the end for which to manifest his owne glory p. 70 Secondly by the properties of it 1. It is an inheritance and that of every beleever p. 75 2. An eternall inheritance p. 78 3. An inheritance incorruptible undefiled p. 83 Imprimatur Iohan. Oliver Reverend in Ch. patri Dom. Arch. Cant. Cap. Dom. Decemb. 11. 1637. THE HAPPINESSE Of the SAINTS in Glory ROM 8. 18. For I reckon that the sufferings this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us MY scope is to raise up your hearts to heaven and to consider that great glory which God hath prepared for them that love him to open and describe heaven whereof there are many uses both to those that are in the state of nature and those that are in the state of grace There is nothing more powerfull with the wicked for to bring them to Christ nothing more proportionable to a principle of selfelove and likewise to the godly that they may willingly and with cheerefulnesse passe through the afflictions of this life that they may passe through the evill world with their hearts raised up to heaven The Apostle from the 17. verse to the end of this chapter sends it in beating this upon the hearts of Gods people in steeling their hearts and raising them up against tribulations and among the rest this is one incouragement to consider the joy which shall not onely be revealed to us but in us which we shall be made partakers of Brethren the consideration of Heaven which is so little thought on by us Christians this I would lay open to you the excellency of which glory that we may more clearely behold man may looke upon many things but I will onely name two First comparatively and this the Text leades us unto For I reckon not the sufferings c. Secondly simply as it is in it selfe First of all to know this great glory let us compare it with all other things with all the goods the creature can afford with all the things here below which our hearts dote so much upon as pleasures honours riches beauty c. they are not to be compared to it it transcends all the glory of this world all the good things wee are capeable of one leafe of this Tree of Life I say one leafe of it better than all the fruits that grow in this world Revel 22. Out of the bowels of this earth are raised gold silver pearles and precious stones which serve but for the materials of the wals of this City and for paveing the streetes of it The most glorious things this World hath serve I say for the gates of the Temple If the outside be so glorious consider how glorious must the inside be how beautifull must it be within why no creature this world hath is worthy so much as to shadow it all the creatures be swallowed up with this glory even as a drop is swallowed up with the Ocean Take Salomon in all his royalty the most magnificent rich and glorious Prince the World ever had he lived indeed at the best rate he had the very quintessence of them all in so much that a Queen her selfe was amazed to see his great glory yet let me tell you this Salomon which is now in heaven 10 thousand times exceeds all the glory and pompe hee had on earth I say the glory hee hath now exceeds it infinitely I say the glory he hath now in heaven excels that glory hee had on earth being on his Throne in all his royalty even as much as he did then excell himselfe when hee was in his mothers womb we see then the good things of this life are not worth talking of they come farre short they are not worthy to be compared together In the second place compare this glory with the afflictions we suffer here and it doth as the Apostle saith waigh them all downe not onely the afflictions which befall one man but all men I say all of thē be they what they will be and lay them in one ballance Heaven its glory in another it will waigh them all down even as a grain of sand will bee weighed downe of the whole World There is no reckoning to bee made of them in respect of heaven and yet one of these afflictions will eclipse all the good we enjoy here being afflicted we take no pleasure in all our worldly contentments Therefore wee see that the afflictions of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us In the third place to 3. Com. make a further demonstration of this to you There is a joy which Gods people are capeable of in this life the joy of the holy Ghost which is unspeakeable and glorious one drop of which transcends infinitely all the joy the creatures can afford us my brethren have you ever heard of this joy have you ever tasted of it hath God ever raised your hearts to see it and his glory if you have but tasted as the Apostle saith how good the Lord is you shall say with David Psal 4. Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me Thou hast put gladnesse into my heart more than in the time when Corne and Wine and Oyle increased This is the joy which comes fresh from the fountaine My brethren marke well what I say the Divell himselfe when he transformes himselfe into an Angell of light affords more
comfort to the heart of an hypocrite than the World can doe why then how much more doth the joy of the holy Ghost which comes from a true fountaines if it be shed abroad in your hearts And hence it was that the Martyrs suffered so willingly ran through so many persecutions and yet the glory which is in Heaven if it be compared to this infinitely transcends it The joy which shall be revealed swallowes up all these joyes which we have here even as the sea swallowes up mole-hils it is nothing in comparison of Heaven it is but as a drop to the Ocean and yet one drop of this joy of the Holy Ghost is more excellent than Oceans of worldly comforts All the joyes of this world is but as a drop to the Ocean for infinite drops will make a Sea but infinite worlds will not make heaven but indeed infinite drops of this joy will make heaven because it is of the same nature yet this I say is not comparable to the joyes in heaven why its but the earnest penny of our inheritance 2 Cor. 5. 5. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfe same thing is God who hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit GOD doth fashon and prepare his people here at the revenewes of their joyes which shall come in hereafter all that the Holy Ghost makes us partakers of in this life is but as a sixe pence in respect of the whole payment of glory wee shall have in Heaven Phil. 1. 14. Which is the earnest of our inheritance untill the redemption of our purchased possession unto the praise of his glory This my brethren is but as a penny to the dowry of the Queene of Heaven which the Saints the Bride of Heaven are to enjoy The Scriptures calls it no more but the sealing of the holy Ghost the earnest of our inheritance Indeed it is of the same nature with the great summe of which it is an earnest for you know an earnest differs from a pledge in this a pledge is of another kinde but the earnest of the same kinde with the payment And so the joy of the holy Ghost is of the same kinde with that which is layd up for us but it is but an earnest and there is difference in the manner of producing it whatsoever we have here as our earnest is but from the light of faith we cannot see Christ from whom we have it we only beleeve on him as hee is absent wee never saw him and yet this workes a joy unspeakeable and glorious 1 Pet 8. Whilst we apprehend him by faith it is but as absent from him Therefore wee are alwaies confident 2 Cor. 5. 6 knowing that whilst wee are at home in the body wee are absent from the Lord and if we have such joy in his absence and seeing but a small glimpse or cranny of light comming to us by faith if this I say be so glorious what will it then be when to see him as he is to see him top to toe to be in the presence of him in which is fulnesse of joy By faith we see him but not all and this causeth joy unspeakeable and glorious what then to see him in perfection and have his presence the fulnesse of it whose presence in the least degree of it goeth farre beyond all the sight of him we have in the highest degree of faith yea in all the degrees of faith and yet the least degree of faith excells all the joy the World can give and therefore doe but thinke with your selves what Heaven is Compare it with those 4. Com. joyes and that glory the Saints that are in Heaven enjoy which infinitely transcends both the good things of this world the joy of the Holy Ghost and yet there is a glory to bee revealed after the day of Judgement that will transcend the joy of the Saints now mark the comparison The least drop of joy here that comes from the holy Ghost transcends the joy of the world the joy the Saints in Heaven now have as much transcends this joy of the holy Ghost as it doth that of the world yet after the day of Judgment there is a fuller treasure of joy to bee broken up And therefore let this raise up your hearts to conceive of the exceeding waight of glory laid up for the elect the Saints who are now in Heaven at the Well head of comforts who bathe themselves in these Rivers of pleasures why they have and are capeable of more joy than we can conceive of one Saint in heaven my Brethren hath more glory and joy in his heart than all the joy that is on earth and yet at the latter day their glory will as farre transcend that they have now even as it doth ours upon earth I may say of their condition as the Apostle doth Heb. 11. 40. God having provided some better things for us that they without us should not be made perfect while the Saints are without their fellowes they are not come to the highest degree of perfection Heb. 12. 23. To the generall assembly and Church of the first borne which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect There is a perfection to be given them which they yet have not when all their fellow Saints all their fellow brethren when the whole number of the faithfull are together then shall a new treasure of glory bee broken up 2 Thes 1. 10. Who shall come saith the text to bee glorified in his Saints and to bee admired of all those that beleeve we doe usually admire a thing whē our expectation is exceeded now the Angels and the soules of the glorified Saints in Heaven they have seene and enjoyed many glorious things already and they looke for farre more glorious things but yet he will bring forth a glory at that day beyond their expectations he will not onely be admired by wicked men but all that beleeve shall admire this he will then put them to a new amazement Let now the consideration of this glory raise up your hearts to seeke for it that so such an unvaluable and great price may not passe out of your hands even the exceeding great riches of glory layd up for us Againe stand agast at the love of God that hath prepared such glory for you thus much comparatively Now secondly let us consider it simply as it is in it selfe and because things are best knowne by their causes we will begin with them And first of all the efficient 1. Cause cause of this great glory that is the great God of Heaven Earth whose Greatnesse and Glory wee cannot comprehend but only by his works he is the efficient cause of Heaven and all its glory he built this great City and all his workes shall bee like himselfe If King Ahashuerus make a feast he will make it like a King much more the King
us he will be all things to us himselfe and therefore it is said 1 Cor. 14. 18. That at the day of Iudgement when Christ shall give up the kingdome then all things shall bee put under him that God may bee all in all which implies two things First that God himself will be our happinesse hee will be happinesse enough for he is all in all Secondly That hee will be all unto us in a more transcendent manner than the glory of the creatures I may compare these joyes of Heaven to those receipts which containe the very spirits of things the very life and quintessence of things extracted out a little quantity whereof as much as will lie on a knives point is of more vertue and efficacy to work upon a mans body because they are the spirits than a great quantity of all other drugs so now these contentments which God gives are the very spirits of comforts which will adde more happinesse than all the drugs of worldly pleasures can administer unto us for all the happinesse that could bee had here nay further all the happinesse God could create to men as men here on earth are but as one drop to the bottomlesse Ocean of Gods glory and yet this fals short this is too scant a comparison for I say infinite millions of drops will at length make an Ocean but ten thousand millions of the glories of this World cannot make up one drop of the glory which is in God Thus God will be all things to us and all things in a transcendent manner Againe thirdly God will poure out himselfe unto us he will give us cōmunication with himselfe of this his infinite happinesse he will poure out all his glory unto us Ephes 3. 19. That yee might be filled with all the fulnesse of God which will give all comfort open thy mouth wide he is able to fill it for one drop of God will fill thee full I will fill thee with fulnesse fulnesse of the best kind oh what ineffable comfort will this be when the vessels of mercy shall be throwne into this bottomlesse sea of glory Therefore doe but thinke with your selves what a happinesse this will be when you shall be made partakers of Gods glory of all the blessednes that is in God for although he cannot giue us his glory essentially yet it shall as truly seeme to make us happy as it doth to make him glorious Fourthly we shall be made one with him they are Christs owne words Iohn 17. 21 22 23. That they all may bee one as thou O Father art in mee and I in thee even that they may bee also one in us that the world may beleeve that thou hast sent mee and the glory that thou gavest mee I have given them that they may be one as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me My brethren what is it that makes God happy but God himselfe and yet what is that which makes Christ so happy but that he is equall with God the Father Now if God make himselfe happy how happy shall wee be then when wee communicate with God in this his happinesse To bee one with him then must needs make us happy indeed wee cannot bee one with him as Christ is for hee is the brightnesse of his glory the expresse Image and character of his person he is the naturall Sonne of God and of the same nature with God but we shall be made one with him so far as the creature is capeable of and the next union to that which God and Christ have one with another we shall have that they may bee one even as wee are one And againe being made one with God we shall rejoyce in all that God rejoyceth in that God is so glorious a God it shall make thee glorious thou shalt have all those joyes by revenues of which hee now lives in Heaven thou shalt rejoyce more in Gods happinesse than in thine owne the more happinesse riseth to God the more riseth to thee that which is the matter of GODS glory shall bee the matter of ours it is the nature of love that it rejoyceth in the love of the person beloved Iohn 14. You are my friends if you doe whatsoever I command you Ioh. 3. And therfore saith Iohn in that he increaseth I must decrease in this my joy is fulfilled Our Saviour saith also to his Disciples If ye loved me you would have reioyced because I said I goe to the Father Now my brethren if wee shall rejoyce in the same God rejoyceth in both in that joy which is intrinsecus within him and in that joy which is extrinsecus whereby hee delights in all his workes and providence if both these I say shall be in us how glorious shall wee be Iohn 15. 11. Christ saith These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remaine in you and that your ioy might be full And this is not to be understood of our Saviours joy of the hopes he had of them but that the joy which is in Christ shall be in us that my ioy saith he may be in you 25. Matth. 25. We shall enter into our masters joy Rom. 5. 2. And reioyce in the hope of the glory of God and not onely so but we ioy also in God through our Lord Iesus Christ wee shall not onely rejoyce in a created glory which hee shall bestow upon us but further wee rejoyce in Gods owne glory I should come to shew you the subject of this glory namely the soule of man But my brethren I will first make some short use of this which hath beene spoken Let us therefore take God for our portion whatsoever else becomes of us whatsoever befals us let what will come what afflictions what throbs what miseries or crosses will come Heaven will make amends for all for thy pleasures of sinne and worldly contentments God will be better to thee than all put them all in one ballance and God with that glory he will bestow on you in another ballance and hee will over-waigh them all they are not worthy to be compared to this glory this was it that made the Martyrs runne through so many persecutions and tortures that with cheerfulnesse they tooke God for their portions so they had him they cared not what became of their bodies For saith Paul Wee looke not to things which are corruptible but to things which are eternall And because it is probable yea and more then probable that there are degrees of glory in Heaven that God will reward every one according to their workes why then doe not onely content your selves to goe to Heaven but endeavour to serve God more that you may have great glory in Heaven be abundant in good workes hoord up good works according to which glory shall bee waighed to
there shall be neither soule nor body sicke Isa 33. 24. And they in Heaven shall not say I am sicke the people that dwell therein shall bee forgiven their iniquity there shall be no thought of the pardon of sinne for the inhabitants that dwell therein shall bee forgiven their iniquities that is those sinnes which they have committed in this life shall bee forgiven there There is no thought of sinne in Heaven there they shall be everlastingly buried in oblivion Obiect But you will say this glory may wither and decay it may waxe old and decline Answ There is no fading in Heaven for with God there is no variablenesse no not so much as shadow of changing The glory of Kingdomes decay daily and Monarchies fall as the Roman Empire what a glorious Monarchy was it but now it is come almost unto a bare title But in Heaven there is no decaying no failing there is alwaies a full spring-tide without ebbe That infinite masse of glory which thou shalt receive at the last day thou shalt keepe for ever after as many millions of yeeres expired as there are haires on thy head it shall bee as bright as it was on the last day and the reason of it is because of Gods presence wee shall be present with him who is the fountaine of life whose streams of glory must needes issue to eternity for at his right hand is fulnesse of joy and rivers of pleasure slow from him for evermore so long as God fades not Heaven will never fade when God himselfe fades when that fountaine can be dryed up then those rivers of pleasures shall cease flowing but that is impossible for hee is the Well of life What is the reason that precious stones decay not but that there is no drosse or corruption in them as the Diamond being pure in it selfe fades not away but alwaies keepes a lustre and splendour in it whereas other base stones that have drosse in them soone decay and moulder away In like manner though this World have drosse in it and by reason of that perish yet in Heaven there is no drosse of sin or corruption and therfore it cannot fade Why now you will say againe grant all this you have said before yet I doubt I may be bereaved of it it may be taken away from me by violence for Kingdomes in this life are taken away Kings deprived of their dignities Why but there is no feare of this in heaven it is kept for you sure enough no mothes of corruption to make you sin no violence of Satans temptations to make you fall The divell and sinne crept into Paradise but neither of them shall come into Heaven Matth 6. 20. Lay up treasures for your selves in Heaven where neither moath nor rust doth corrupt nor theeves breake in and steale But you will say againe if I could once get thither I had no cause to feare I should never fall if I were once in heaven but I feare the vilenesse of my owne heart I feare I shall be defiled with my corruptions and by Satan and as David said I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul I am afraid I may perish hereafter though I now be in the state of grace I may fall and never come thither But looke further it is said It is reserved for you who are kept by the power of God to salvation you are kept for it Christ hath reserved it for you who saith further Of those which thou hast given mee I have not lost one If all the power of the Creatour lie for it you shall not lose it but it doth therefore you shall not lose it And lastly thou shalt not stay long for it thou shalt not bee a probationer but till thy death at the farthest it is laid up ready for thee a Crowne of glory waites and staies for thee but now all these things are shewed this is the misery that wee will not beleeve In my Fathers house saith he there are many mansions If it had not beene so I would have told you he will not deceive us beleeve him on his word we use to beleeve the promise of a man we judge saithfull much more let us credit God who is truth it selfe Therefore as ever we would be partakers of these joyes and have part and portion in these eternall comforts let the beleefe of them bee stedfast and though there be many uses to bee made of this yet this is the chiefe that wee would believe this truth Indeed you believe but I say unto you beleeve and againe beleeve those that entered not into the promised Land entered not because they did not beleeve This is the cause that men perish and enter not into Gods rest I say therefore believe God seeing hee hath fulfilled all his promises hee hath not failed in one promise since the beginning The Land of Canaan he gave according to his promise long before 1 King 8. 23. Lord thou keepest Covenant and mercy with thy servants verse 26. Blessed bee the Lord that hath given rest to his people Israel according to all that hee promised by the hand of his servant Moses If he hath promised that ten Kings shall destroy the whore as indeed hee did she shall be destroyed hee will not faile in his promise he hath spoken and hee will make it good he is abundant in mercy and truth yea hee will bee better than his word Let me speake therefore to you that are yet in the state of nature who still delight in your sins if you beleeved these things surely you would not dote on your sinnes as you doe it would make you utterly abandon them and also let mee say something to you whose eyes God hath opened who are in the state of grace surely if you laboured more and more to petswade your selves of this you youl l not bee so glued to the world as you are it would make you like men of another World you would be transformed and be even as if you were in heaven Let then all your carriage and manner of conversation bee here as if you were in your heritance let all your thoughts be in heaven let your hearts take possession of this incorruptible Crowne whilest your bodies are on earth FINIS