present immediate Exercise of Faith For I have elsewhere handled at large the State of the Church above or that of present glory giving an account of the Administration of the Office of Christ in Heaven his Presence among the glorified Souls and the Adoration of God under his Conduct I have also declared the Advantage which they have by being with him and the Prospect they have of his glory Therefore these things must here be only touched on THESE Differences may be referred unto two heads 1. Those which arise from the different Natures and Actings of those Means and Instruments whereby we apprehend this glory of Christ namely Faith and Vision And 2. Those that arise from the different Effects produced by them Instances in each kind shall be given 1. THE View which we have of the glory of Christ by Faith in this World is obscure dark inevident reflexive So the Apostle declares 1 Cor. 13. 12. Now we see through a Glass darkly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Through or by a Glass in a Riddle a Parable a dark Saying There is a double figurative Limitation put upon our View of the glory of Christ taken from the two ways of our Perception of what we apprehend namely the Sight of things and the hearing of Words THE first is that we have this View not directly but reflexively and by way of a Representation as in a Glass For I take the Glass here not to be Optical or a Prospective which helps the Sight but a Speculum or a Glass which reflects an Image of what we do behold It is a Sight like that which we have of a Man in a Glass when we see not his Person or Substance but an Image or Representation of them only which is imperfect The Shadow or Image of this glory of Christ is drawn in the Gospel and therein we behold it as the Likeness of a Man represented unto us in a Glass and although it be obscure and imperfect in comparison of his own real substantial glory which is the Object of Vision in Heaven yet is it the only Image and Representation of himself which he hath left and given unto us in this World That woful cursed Invention of framing Images of him out of Stocks and Stones however adorned or Representations of him by the Art of painting are so far from presenting unto the Minds of Men any thing of his real glory that nothing can be more effectual to divert their Thoughts and Apprehensions from it But by this figurative Expression of seeing in a Glass the Apostle declares the comparative Imperfection of our present View of the glory of Christ. BUT the Allusion may be taken from an Optick Glass or Tube also whereby the sight of the Eye is helped in beholding things at a great distance By the aid of such Glasses Men will discover Stars or heavenly Lights which by reason of their distance from us the Eye of it self is no way able to discern And those which we do fee are more fully represented though remote enough from being so perfectly Such a Glass is the Gospel without which we can make no discovery of Christ at all but in the use of it we are far enough from beholding him in the just dimensions of his glory AND he adds another intimation of this Imperfection in an Allusion unto the way whereby things are proposed and conveyed unto the Minds and Apprehensions of Men Now this is by Words And these are either plain proper and direct or dark figurative and parabolical And this latter way makes the Conception of things to be difficult and imperfect and by reason of the imperfection of our View of the glory of Christ by Faith in this World the Apostle saith it is in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a Riddle These 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Psalmist calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 darksaying Psal. 78. 2. BUT here it must be observed that the description and Representation of the Lord Christ and his glory in the Gospel is not absolutely or in it self either dark or obscure Yea it is perspicuous plain and direct Christ is therein evidently set forth crucified exalted glorified But the Apostle doth not here discourse concerning the Way or Means of the Revelation of it unto us but of the Means or Instrument whereby we comprehend that Revelation This is our Faith which as it is in us being weak and imperfect we comprehend the Representation that is made unto us of the Glory of Christ as Men do the sence of a dark Saying a Riddle a Parable that is imperfectly and with difficulty ON the account hereof we may say at present How little a portion is it that we know of him as Job speaks of God Chap. 26. 14. How imperfect are our Conceptions of him How weak are our Minds in their Management There is no part of his glory that we can fully comprehend And what we do comprehend as there is a Comprehension in Faith Eph. 3. 18. we cannot abide in the steady contemplation of For ever blessed be that Soveraign Grace whence it is that he who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined into our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of his own Glory in the face of Jesus Christ and therein of the glory of Christ himself that he hath so revealed him unto us as that we may love him admire him and obey him but constantly steadily and clearly to behold his glory in this life we are not able for we walk by Faith and not by Sight HENCE our sight of him here is as it were by Glances liable to be clouded by many interpositions Behold he standeth behind the wall he looketh forth at the windows shewing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 flourishing himself at the lattess Cant. 2. 9. Thâ—re is a great Interposition between him and us as a Wall and the means of the discovery of himself unto us as through a Window and Lattess include a great instability and imperfection in our view and Apprehension of him There is a Wall between him and us which yet he standeth behind Our present mortal state is this Wall which must be demolished before we can see him as he is In the mean time he looketh through the Windows of the ordinances of the Gospel He gives us sometimes when he is pleased to stand in those Windows a view of himself but it is imperfect as is our sight of a man through a Window The appearances of him at these Windows are full of refreshment unto the souls of them that do believe But our view of them is imperfect transient and doth not abide We are for the most part quickly left to bemoan what we have lost And then our best is but to cry As the hart panteth after the water-brook so panteth my soul after thee O God my soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before thee When wilt thou again give
they knew not what Luk. 9. 30 33. And the reason hereof was because no man in this life can have a Visive Power either spiritual or corporeal directly and immediately to behold the real Glory of Christ. SHOULD the Lord Jesus appear now to any of us in his Majesty and Glory it would not be unto our edification nor consolation For we are not meet nor able by the Power of any Light or Grace that we have received or can receive to bear the immediate appearance and representation of them His beloved Apostle John had leaned on his bosom probably many a time in this life in the intimate familiarities of love But when he afterwards appeared unto him in his Glory he fell at his feet as dead Rev. 1. 17. And when he appeared unto Paul all the account he could give thereof was that he saw a light from Heaven above the brightness of the Sun whereon he and all that were with him fell to the ground Act. 26. 13 14. AND this was one Reason why in the days of his Ministry here on earth his Glory was vailed with the infirmities of the flesh and all sorts of sufferings as we have before related The Church in this life is no way meet by the Grace which it can be made partaker of to converse with him in the immediate manifestations of his Glory AND therefore those who dream of his Personal Reign on the earth before the day of Judgment unless they suppose that all the Saints shall be perfectly glorified also which is only to bring down Heaven to the Earth for a while to no purpose provide not at all for the edification or consolation of the Church For no present grace advanced unto the highest degree whereof in this World it is capable can make us meet for an immediate converse with Christ in his unvailed Glory How much more abominable is the folly of men who would represent the Lord Christ in his present Glory by Pictures and Images of him When they have done their utmost with their burnished Glass and Guildings an eye of flesh cannot only behold it but if it be guided by reason see it contemptible and foolish But the true Glory of Christ neither inward nor outward sight can bear the rays of in this life THE dispensation which we are meet for is only that of his presence with us by his Spirit We know him now no more after the flesh 2 Cor. 5. 16. We are advanced above that way and means of the knowledge of him by the fleshly carnal Ordinances of the Old Testament And we know him not according unto that bodily presence of his which his Disciples enjoyed in the days of his flesh We have attained somewhat above that also For such was the nature of his Ministry here on earth that there could not be the promised dispensation of the spirit until that was finished Therefore he tells his Disciples that it was expedient for them that he should go away and send the spirit to them John 16. 7. Hereon they had a clearer view of the Glory of Christ than they could have by beholding him in the flesh This is our spiritual posture and condition We are past the knowledge of him according to the flesh we cannot attain nor receive the sight of him in Glory but the life which we now lead is by the Faith of the Son of God I SHALL not here enquire into the nature of this vision or the power and ability which we shall have in Heaven to behold the Glory of Christ. Some few things may be mentioned as it relates unto our Minds and our Bodies also after the Resurrection 1. FOR the Mind it shall be perfectly freed from all that Darkness Unsteadiness and other Incapacities which here it is accompanied with and whereby it is weakened hindred and obstructed in the Exercise of Faith And they are of two sorts First such as are the remainders of that depravation of our Natures which came upon us by sin Hereby our Minds became wholly vain dark and corrupt as the Scripture testifieth utterly unable to discern spiritual things in a due manner This is so far cured and removed in this Life by Grace as that those who were darkness do become light in the Lord or are enabled to live unto God under the Conduct of a new spiritual Light communicated unto them But it is so cured and removed in part only it is not perfectly abolished Hence are all our remaining Weaknesses and Incapacities in discerning things spiritual and eternal which we yet groan under and long for deliverance from No Footsteps no Scars or Marks that ever it had place in our Minds shall abide in glory Ephes. 5. 27. Nothing shall weaken disturb or incapacitate our Souls in acting all their Powers unimpeded by Vanity Diversions Weakness Inability upon their proper Objects The Excellency hereof in universal Liberty and Power we cannot here comprehend Nor can we yet conceive the Glory and Beauty of those immixed spiritual actings of our Minds which shall have no Clog upon them no Encumbrance in them no Alloy of Dross accompanying of them One pure Act of spiritual Sight in discerning the Glory of Christ one pure Act of Love in cleaving unto God will bring in more Blessedness and Satisfaction into our Minds than in this World we are capable of 2. THERE is an Incapacity in our Minds as unto their Actings on things spiritual and eternal that is meerly natural from the Posture wherein they are and the Figure which they are to make in this Life For they are here cloathed with Flesh and that debased and corrupted Now in this State though the Mind act its Conceptions by the Body as its Organ and Instrument Yet is it variously streightned encumbred and impeded in the exercise of its native Powers especially towards things heavenly by this Prison of the Flesh wherein it is immured There is an Angelical Excellency in the pure Actings of the Soul when delivered from all material Instruments of them or when they are all glorified and made suitable helps in its utmost spiritual Activity How and by what degrees our Minds shall be freed from these Obstructions in their beholding the glory of Christ shall be afterwards declared 2. AGAIN a new light the light of Glory shall be implanted in them There is a Light in Nature which is the Power of a Man to discern the things of Man An Ability to know perceive and judge of things natural It is that Spirit of a Man which is the Candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly Prov. 20. 27. BUT by the light hereof no man can discern spiritual things in a due manner as the Apostle declares 1 Cor. 2. 11 12 13 14 15. Wherefore God gives a superior a supernatural Light the Light of Faith and Grace unto them whom he effectually calls unto the knowledge of himself by Jesus Christ. He shines into their hearts to give
invisible God Col. 1. 1◠I do here only mention these things because I have handled them at large in my Discourse of the Mistery of 〈◊〉 or the Person of Christ whereunto I refer the Readers for their full Declaration and Vindication Herein is he glorious in that he is the great Representative of the Nature of God and his Will unto us which without him would have been eternally hid from us or been invisible unto us we should never have seen God at any time here nor hereafter Joh. 1. 18. IN his Divine Person absolutely considered he is the Essential Image of God even the Father He is in the Father and the Father in him in the Unity of the same Divine Essence Joh. 14. 10. Now he is with the Father John 1. 1. In the Distinction of his Person so is he his Essential Image Col. 1. 15. Heb. 1. ◠In his Incarnation he becomes the Representative Image of God unto the Church 2 Cor. 4. 6. without whom our Understandings can make no such Approach unto the Divine Excellencies but that God continues to be unto us what he is in himself the Invisible God In the Face of Jesus Christ we see his Glory THIS is the Original Glory of Christ given him by his Father and which by Faith we may behold He and he alone declares represents and makes known unto Angels and Men the Essential Glory of the Invisible God his Attributes and his Will without which a perpetual comparative Darkness would have been on the whole Creation especially that part of it here below THIS is the Foundation of our Religion the Rock whereon the Church is built the Ground of all our Hopes of Salvation of Life and Immortality All is resolved into this namely the Representation that is made of the Nature and Will of God in the Person and Office of Christ If this fail us we are lost for ever if this Rock stand firm the Church is safe here and shall be triumphant hereafter HEREIN then is the Lord Christ exceedingly glorious Those who cannot beheld this Glory of his by Faith namely as he is the great Divine Ordinance to represent God unto us they know him not In their Worship of him they worship but an Image of their own devising YEA in the Ignorance and Neglect hereof consists the formal Nature of Vnbelief even that which is inevitably ruinous unto the Souls of Men. He that discerns not the Representation of the Glory of God in the Person of Christ unto the Souls of Men is an Unbeliever Such was the State of the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles of old They did not they would not they could not behold the Glory of God in him nor how he did represent him That this was both the Cause and the Formal Nature of their Unbelief the Apostle declares at large 1 Cor. 1. 21 22 23 24 25. Not to see the Wisdom of God and the Power of God and consequently all the other holy Properties of his Nature in Christ is to be an Unbeliever THE Essence of Faith consists in a due Ascription of Glory to God Rom. 4. 20. This we cannot attain unto without the Manifestation of those Divine Excellencies unto us wherein he is Glorious This is done in Christ alone so as that we may glorifie God in a saving and acceptable Manner He who discerns not the Glory of Divine Wisdom Power Goodness Love and Grace in the Person and Office of Christ with the way of the Salvation of Sinners by him is an Unbeliever HENCE the great Design of the Devil in the beginning of the Preaching of the Gospel was to blind the Eyes of Men and fill their Minds with Prejudices that they might not behold this Glory of his So the Apostle gives an Account of his Success in this Design 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. If our Gospel be hid it is hid unto them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the Minds of them that believe not lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them By various Ways and Methods of Deceit to secure the Reputation he had got of being God of this World by Pretences and Appearances of supernatural Power and Wisdom he laboured to blind the Eyes of Men with Prejudices against that glorious Light of the Gospel which proposed the Lord Christ as the only Image of God This Blindness this Darkness is cured in them that believe by the mighty Power of God For God who commanded the Light to shine out of Darkness hath irradiated our Hearts with the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ v. 6. wherein true saving Faith doth consist Under this Darkness perished the unbelieving World of Jews and Gentiles and such is the present Condition of all by whom the Divine Person of Christ is denied for no mere Creature can ever make a perfect Representation of God unto us But we must a little further enquire into this Mystery SINCE Men fell from God by sin it is no small part of their Misery and Punishment that they are covered with thick Darkness and Ignorance of the Nature of God They know him not they have not seen him at any time Hence is that Promise to the Church in Christ Isa. 60. 1 2. For behold the Darkness shall cover the Earth and gross Darkness the People but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his Glory shall be seen upon thee THE Antient Philosophers made great Enquiries into and obtained many Notions of the Divine Being its Existence and Excellencies And these Notions they adorned with great Elegancy of Speech to allure others unto the Admiration of them Hereon they boasted themselves to be the only Wise Men in the World Rom. 1. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they boasted that they were the Wise But we must abide in the Judgment of the Apostles concerning them in their Enquiries He assures us that the World in its Wisdom that is these wise Men in it by their Wisdom knew not God 1 Cor. 1. 21. And he calls the Authors of their best Notions Atheists or Men without God in the Word Ephes. 2. 12. For 1. THEY had no certain Guide Rule nor Light which being attended unto might lead them infallibly into the Knowledge of the Divine Nature All they had of this Kind was their own 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their Reasonings or Imaginations whereby they commenced 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the great Disputers of the World but in them they maxed vain and their foolish Heart was darkned Rom. 1. 21. They did at best but endeavour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to feel after God as Men do in the Dark after what they cannot clearly discern Acts 17. 27. Among others Cicero's Book De Natura Deorum gives us an exact Account of the Intention of the Apostle in that Expression And it is at this Day not Want of Wit but Hatred of the Mysteries
Contrivance Constitution and efficacious Accomplishment of the great Work of our Redemption and Salvation This gives as unto us an unutterable Lustre unto the Native Amiableness of the Divine Excellencies The Wisdom and Love of God are in themselves infinitely Glorious infinitely Amiable nothing can be added unto them there can be no encrease of their essential Glory Howbeit as they are eternally resident in the Divine Nature and absolutely the same with it we cannot so comprehend them as to have an endearing satiating View of their Glory But as they are exerted in the Work of the Redemption and Salvation of the Church as they are expressed communicating their blessed Effects unto the Souls of them that do believe which is done only in Christ so the Beams of their Glory shine unto us with unspeakable Refreshment and Joy 2 Cor. 4. 6. Hence the Apostle on the Consideration of the Actings of the Holy Properties of God in this blessed Work falls into that Contemplation O the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out For who hath not known the Mind of the Lord or who hath been his Counsellor or who hath first given unto him and it shall be recompensed unto him again For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be Glory for ever Amen Rom 11. 33 34 35 36. 2. IN and through Christ we do believe in God 1 Pet. 1. 24. This is the Life of our Souls God himself in the infinite Perfections of his Divine Nature is the ultimate Object of our Faith but he is not here the immediate Object of it but the Divine Way and Means of the Manifestation of himself and them unto us are so Through Christ we believe in God By our Belief in him we come to place our Faith ultimately in God himself and this we can no otherwise do but by beholding the Glory of God in him as hath been declared 3. THIS is the only way whereby we may attain the saving sanctifying Knowledge of God Without this every Beam of Divine Light that shines on us or gleans from without as the Light shineth into Darkness when the Darkness comprehendeth it not Joh. 1. 5. Every Spark that ariseth from the Remainders of the Light of Nature within do rather amaze the Minds of Men than lead them into the saving Knowledge of God So a Glance of Light in a dark Night giving a transient View of various Objects and passing away doth rather amaze than direct a Traveller and leave him more exposed unto wandring than before Such were all those Notions of the Divine Being and its Excellencies which those who boasted themselves to be wise among the Heathen embraced and improved They did but fluctuate in their Minds they did not transform them into the Image and Likeness of God as the saving Knowledge of him doth Col. 3. 10. SO the Apostle expresseth this Truth Where is the Wise Where is the Scribe Where is the Disputer of this World Hath not God made foolish the Wisdom of this World For after that in the Wisdom of God the World by Wisdom knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of Preaching to save them that believe For the Jews require a sign and the Gentiles seek after Wisdom but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a Stumbling-block and unto the Greeks Foolishness but unto them that are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God 1 Cor 1. 20 21 22 23 24. AFTER it was evident unto all that the World the Wise the Studious the Contemplative Part of it in the Wisdom of God disposing them into that Condition wherein they were left unto themselves in their own Wisdom their Natural Light and Reason did not could not come to the saving Knowledge of God but were pusâ—ed up into a Contempt of the only way of the Revelation of himself as Weakness and Folly it pleased God then to manifest all their Wisdom to be Folly and to establish the only Means of the Knowledge of himself in Christ Jesus CHAP. III. The Glory of Christ in the Mysterious Constitution of his Person THE Second Thing wherein we may behold the Glory of Christ given him of his Father is in the Mysterious Constitution of his Person as he is God and Man in one and the same Person There are in him in his one single individual Person two distinct Natures The one Eternal Infinite Immense Almighty the Form and Essence of God The other having a beginning in Time Finite Limited Confined unto a certain Place which is our Nature which he took on him when he was made Flesh and dwelt among us The Declaration of the Nature of this Glory is a Part of my Discourse of the Person of Christ whereunto I refer the Reader My present Design is of another Nature THIS is that Glory whose Beams are so illustrious as that the blind World cannot bear the Light and Beauty of them Multitudes begin openly to deny this Incarnation of the Son of God this Personal Union of God and Man in their distinct Natures They deny that there is either Glory or Truth in it and it will ere long appear it begins already to evidence it self what greater Multitudes there are who yet do not who yet dare not openly reject the Doctrine of it who in Truth believe it not nor see any Glory in it Howbeit this Glory is the Glory of our Religion the Glory of the Church the sole Rock whereon it is built the only Spring of present Grace and future Glory THIS is that Glory which the Angels themselves desire to behold the Mystery whereof they bow down to look into 1 Pet. 1. 12. So was their Desire represented by the Cherubims in the most holy Place of the Tabernacle for they were a Shadow of the Ministry of Angels in the Church The Ark and Mercy Seat were a Type of Christ in the Discharge of his Office and these Cherubims were made standing over them as being in Heaven above but earnestly looking down upon them in a Posture of Reverence and Adoration So they did of Old and in their present Contemplation of it consists no small part of their Eternal Blessedness HEREON depends the Ruine of Satan and his Kingdom His Sin so far as we can conceive consisted of two Parts 1. His Pride against the Person of the Son of God by whom he was created For by him were all things created that are or were when first created in Heaven whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers Col. 1. 16. Against him he lifted up himself which was the Beginning of his Transgression 2. Envy against Mankind made in the Image of God of the Son of God the First-born This compleated his Sin nothing was now left whereon to act his Pride and Malice Unto his Eternal Confusion and Ruine God in infinite
true Believers and have mixed the Word with Faith and so it exhibiteth Christ and all the Benefits of his Mediation unto us If therefore this Word is in our Hearts Christ is nigh unto us If we turn at any time into our selves to converse with the Word that abideth in us there we shall find him ready to receive us into Communion with himself that is in the Light of the Knowledge of Christ which we have by the Word we may have sudden occasional Thoughts of him continually and where our Minds and Affections are so filled with other things that we are not ready for converse with him who is thus nigh unto us by the Word we are spiritually indisposed SO to manifest how nigh he is unto us it is said that he stands at the door and knocks Rev. 3. 20. in the continual tender that he makes of himself and his Grace unto our Souls For he is always accompanied with the glorious Train of his Graces and if they are not received he himself is not so It is to no purpose to boast of Christ if we have not an Evidence of his Graces in our Hearts and Lives But unto whom he is the Hope of Future Glory unto them he is the Life of present grace SOMETIMES it may be that he is withdrawn from us so as that we cannot hear his Voice nor behold his Countenance nor obtain any sence of his Love though we seek him with diligence In this state all our thoughts and Meditations concerning him will be barren and fruitless bringing in no spiritual Refreshment into our Souls And if we learn to be content with such lifeless in affecting thoughts of him as bring in no experience of his Love nor give us a real View of the Glory of his Person we shall wither away as unto all the power of Religion WHAT is our Duty in this Case is so fully expressed by the Spouse in the Canticles as represents it plainly unto the Minds of Believers who have any Experience of these things Chap. 3. 1 2 3 4 5. By night on my Bed I sought him whom my Soul loveth I sought him but I found him not I will rise now and go about the City in the Streets and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth I sought him but I found him not The Watch-men that go about the City found me to whom I said saw ye him whom my soul loveth It was but a little I passed from them but I found him whom my soul loveth I held him and would not let him go The like account she gives of her self and of her Behaviour on the like Occasion Chap. 5. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. THIS is the substance of what by this Example we are instructed unto The Lord Christ is pleased sometimes to withdraw himself from the spiritual Experience of Believers as unto any refreshing sense of his Love or the fresh communications of consolatory Graces Those who never had Experience of any such thing who never had any refreshing communion with him cannot be sensible of his Absence they never were so of his Presence But those whom he hath visited to whom he hath given of his Loves with whom he hath made his Abode whom he hath refreshed relieved and comforted in whom he hath lived in the Power of his Grace they know what it is to be forsaken by him though but for a moment And their Trouble is increased when they seek him with diligence in the wonted ways of obtaining his presence and cannot find him Our Duty in this case is to presevere in our Enquiries after him in Prayer Meditation Mourning Reading and Hearing of the Word in all Ordinances of Divine Worship private and publick in diligent Obedience until we find him or he return unto us as in former Days IT were well if all Churches and Possessors now would manifest the same Diligence herein as did the Church of old in this Example Many of them if they are not hardened by the Deceitfulness of Sin cannot but be sensible that the Lord Christ is variously withdrawn from them if ever they had experience of the Power of his Presence Yet are the generality of them far from the frame of heart here described in the Spouse for they are slothful careless negligent and stir not up themselves to enquire after him or his return unto their Souls So was it with Laodicea of old so was it with Sardis and so it is to be feared that it is with many at present But to return GENERALLY Christ is nigh unto Believers and of a ready Access and the principal Actings of the Life of Faith consists in the frequency of our Thoughts concerning him for hereby Christ liveth in us as he is said to do Gal. 2. 20. This we cannot do unless we have frequent thoughts of him and converse with him It is often said among Men that one lives in another this cannot be but where the Affections of one are so ingaged unto another that night and day he thinks of him and is thereby as it were present with him So ought it to be between Christ and Believers He dwells in them by Faith but the Actings of this Life in them as where-ever Life is it will be in act and exercise are proportionable unto their Thoughts of him and Delight in him IF therefore we would behold the Glory of Christ the present direction is That on all occasions and frequently when there are no occasions for it by the performance of other Duties we would abound in thoughts of Him and his Glory I intend not at present fixed and stated Meditations which were spoken unto before but such Thoughts as are more transient according as our opportunities are And a great Rebuke it ought to be unto us when Christ hath at any time in a day been long out of our Minds The Spouse affirms That ere she was aware her soul made her as the Chariots of Amminadab Cant. 7. 12. It so fell out that when she had no thoughts no design or purpose for attendance or communion with Christ that she was surprised into a readiness and willingness unto it So will it be with them that love him in sincerity Their own Souls without previous designs or outward occasions will frequently engage them in holy thoughts of him which is the most eminent character of a truly spiritual Christian. 4. THE next Direction is That all our Thoughts concerning Christ and his Glory should be accompanied with Admiration Adoration and Thanksgiving For this is such an Object of our Thoughts and Affections as in this Life we can never fully comprehend an Ocean whose Depths we cannot look into If we are spiritually renewed all the Faculties of our Souls are enabled by Grace to exert their respective powers towards this glorious Object This must be done in various Duties by the Exercise of various Graces as they are to be acted by the distinct powers of the
thing as rejoycing upon Believing with joy unspeakable and full of Glory no such thing as Christs shewing and manifesting himself unto us supping with us and giving us of his loves that the divine promises of a fâ—ast of fat things and Wine well refined in Gospel-Mercies are empty and insignificant words that all those ravishing joys and exultations of spirit that multitudes of faithful Martyrs of old and in later ages have enjoyed by a view of the Glory of God in Christ and a sense of his love whereunto they gave testimony unto their last moments in the midst of their torments were but fancies and Imaginations But it is the height of impudence in these profane scoffers that they proclaim their own Ignorance of those things which are the real powers of our Religion OTHERS there are who will not deny the truth of these things They dare not rise up in contradiction unto those express Testimonies of the Scripture wherewith they are confirmed And they do suppose that some are partakers of them at least they were so formerly but as for their parts they have no experience of them nor do judge it their duty to endeavour after it They can make a shift to live on hopes of Heaven and future Glory As unto what is present they desire no more but to be found in the performance of some duties in answer unto their convictions which gives them that sorry peace which they do enjoy So do many countenance themselves in their spiritual sloth and unbelief keeping themselves at liberty to seek for refreshment and satisfaction in other things whilst those of the Gospel are despised And these things are inconsistent While men look for their chief refreshment and satisfaction in temporal things it is impossible they should seek after those that are spiritual in a due manner And it must be confessed that when we have a due regard unto spiritual evangelical Consolations and Joys it will abate and take off our affections unto and satisfaction in present enjoyments Phil. 3 8 9. BUT there is no more sacred truth than this That where Christ is present with Believers where he is not withdrawn for a season from them where they live in the view of his Glory by faith as it is proposed unto them in the Gospel he will give unto them at his own seasons such intimations of his love such supplies of his spirit such holy joys and rejoycings such repose of soul in assurance as shall refresh their souls fill them with joy satisfie them with spiritual delight and quicken them unto all acts of holy Communion with himself LET no such dishonour be reflected on the Gospel that whereas the faith of it and obedience unto it are usually accompanied with outward Troubles Afflictions Persecution and Reproaches as we are foretold they should be that it doth not by its inward consolations and divine refreshments outballance all those evils which we may undergo upon the account of it So to suppose is expresly contrary to the promise of Christ himself who hath assured that even 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even now in this life in this world distinct from eternal life in the world to come we shall receive an hundred-fold recompence for all that we can lose or sufâ—er for his his sake Mat. 10. 30. as also unto the experience of them who in all ages have taken joyfully the spoiling of their goods as knowing in themselves by the experience which they have of its first fruits that they have in heaven a better and more abiding substance Heb. 10. 29 30. If we come short in a participation of these things if we are strangers unto them the blame is to be laid on our selves alone as it shall be immediately declared NOW the design of the Lord Christ in thus withdrawing himself from us and hiding his glory from our view being the exercise of our Graces and to stir us up unto diligence in our enquiries after him here lieth our guidance and direction in this case Do we find our selves lifeless in the spiritual duties of Religion Are we strangers unto the heavenly visits of consolation and joys those visitations of God whereby he preserves our souls Do we seldom enjoy a sense of the shedding abroad of his love in our hearts by the holy Ghost We have no way of Recovery but this alone To this strong Tower must we turn our selves as Prisoners of hope unto Christ must we look that we may be saved It is a steady view or contemplation of his Glory by faith alone that will bring in all these things in a lively experience in our hearts and souls AGAIN In the second place it is from our selves principally if we lose the views of the Glory of Christ and the exercise of faith be obstructed therein All our spiritual disadvantages do arise from our selves It is the remainder of lusts and corruptions in us either indulged by sloth and negligence or excited and inflamed by Satans Temptations that do obstruct us in this duty Whilst they are in any disorder or disturbance it is in vain for us to expect any clear view of this Glory THAT view of the Glory of Christ whereof we treat consists in two things namely its especial Nature and its necessary Adjunct or effect The first is a spiritual perception or understanding of it as revealed in the Scriptures For the revelation of the Glory of his Person Office and Grace is the Principal Subject of them and the principal Object of our Faith And the other consists in multiplied thoughts about him with actings of Faith in Love Trust Delight and longing after the the full enjoyment of him 1 Pet. 1. 8. If we satisfie our selves in meer notions and speculations about the Glory of Christ as doctrinally revealed unto us we shall find no transforming power or efficacy communicated unto us thereby But when under the conduct of that spiritual Light our affections do cleave unto him with full purpose of heart our minds are filled with thoughts of him and delight in him and faith is kept up unto its constant exercise in Trust and Affiance on him virtue will proceed from him to purifie our hearts increase our holiness strengthen our Graces and to fill us sometimes with joy unspeakable and full of Glory This is the just temperature of a state of spiritual health namely when our Light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in Christ doth answer the means of it which we enjoy and when our Affections unto Christ do hold proportion unto that light and this according unto the various degrees of it for some have more and some have less Where Light leaves the Affections behind it ends in Formality or Atheism And where Affections outrun Light they sink in the Bog of Superstition doting on Images and Pictures or the 〈◊〉 But where things go not into these excesses it is better that our affections exceed our light on the defect of our understandings than
of our Religion which makes so many prone to forgo all Supernatural Revelation and to betake themselves unto a Religion declared as they suppose by Reason and the Light of Nature like Bats and Owls who being not able to bear the Light of the Sun betake themselves unto the Twi-light to the Dawnings of Light and Darkness 2. WHATEVER they did attain as unto rational Notions about things invisible and incomprehensible yet could they never deliver themselves from such Principles and Practises in Idolatry and all manner of flagitious Sins as that they could be of any Benefit unto them This is so effectually demonstrated by the Apostle in the First Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans as that we need not to insist upon it MEN may talk what they please of a Light within them or of the Power of Reason to conduct them unto that Knowledge of God whereby they may live unto him But if they had nothing else if they did not boast themselves of that Light which hath its Foundation and Original in Divine Revelation alone they would not excel them who in the best Management of their own Reasonings knew not God but waxed vain in their Imaginations WITH respect unto this Vniversal Darkness that is Ignorance of God with horrid Confusion accompanying it in the Minds of Men Christ is called and is the Light of Men the Light of the World because in and by him alone this Darkness is dispelled as he is the Son of Righteousness 2. THIS Darkness in the Minds of Men this Ignorance of God his Nature and his Will was the Original of all Evil unto the World and yet continues so to be For 1. HEREON did Satan erect his Kingdom and Throne obtaining in his Design until he bare himself as the God of this World and was so esteemed by the most He exalted himself by Vertue of this Darkness as he is the Prince of Darkness into the Place and Room of God as the Object of the Religious Worship of Men. For the things which the Gentiles sacrificed they sacrificed unto Devils and not to God 1 Cor. 10. 21. Levit. 17. 7. Chap. 32. 17. Psal. 108. 27. Gal. 3. 8. This is the Territory of Satan yea the Power and Scepter of his Kingdom in the Minds of the Children of Disobedience Hereby he maintains his Dominion unto this Day in many and great Nations and with individual persons innumerable 2. THIS is the spring of all wickedness and confusion among men themselves Hence arose that flood of Abominations in the Old World which God took away with a Flood of Desolation Hence were the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah which he revenged with fire from Heaven In brief All the Rage Blood Confusion Desolations Cruelties Oppressions Villanies which the World hath been and is filled withal whereby the souls of men have been and are flouded into eternal destruction have all arisen from this corrupt Fountain of the Ignorance of God 3. OF such as those described we are the Posterity and Off-spring Our Fore-fathers in this Nation were given up unto as brutish a service of the Devil as any Nation under the Sun It is therefore an effect of infinite mercy that the day hath dawned on us poor Gentiles and that the day-spring from on high hath visited us See the glory of this Grace expressed Ephes. 3. 5 6 7 8 9 10. God might have left us to perish in the blindness and ignorance of our Fore-fathers but of his own accord and by his own powerful Grace alone he hath translated us out of darkness into his marvellous light But alas the horrible ingratitude of men for the glorious light of the Gospel and the abuse of it will issue in a fore revenge GOD was known under the Old Testament by the Revelation of his Word and the Institution of his Worship This was the glory and priviledge of Israel as the Psalmist declares Psal. 147. 19 20. He sheweth his word unto Jacob his statutes and his judgments unto Israel He hath not dealâ— so with any Nation The Church then knew him yet so as that they had an apprehension that he dwelt in thick darkness where they could not have any clear views of him Exod. 20. 21. Deut. 5. 22. 1 Kings 8. 12. 2 Chron. 6. 1. And the Reason why God so represented himself in darkness unto them was to instruct them in their imperfect state wherein they could not comprehend that glory which should afterwards be revealed For as he is now made known in Christ we see that he is light and in him there is no darkness at all 4. HITHERTOâ— darkness in general covered the Earth and gross darkness the people as unto the knowledge of God only there was a twilight in the Church The day did not yet dawn the shadows did not flee away nor the day-star shine in the hearts of men But when the Son of Righteousness did arise in his strength and beauty when the Son of God appeared in the flesh and in the discharge of his Office God himself as unto his Being and manner of Existence in three distinct persons with all the glorious properties of the Divine Nature were illustriously manifested unto them that did believe and the light of the knowledge of them dispelled all the shadows that were in the Church and shone into the darkness which was in the world so as that none continued ignorant of God but those who would not see See Job 1. 5 14 17 18. 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. HEREIN is the Lord Christ glorious And this is that which I shall now speak unto namely How we may behold the glory of Christ in the Representation and Revelation that is made of God and his glory in his Person and Office unto all that do believe For it is not so much the declaration of the nature of the things themselves wherein the glory of Christ doth consist as our way and duty in the beholding of them which at present is designed HE calls unto us saying Behold me look unto me and be saved Isa. 45. 2. What is it that we see in Christ What do we behold in him He asketh that Question concerning his Church What will ye see in the Shulamite Whereto he answers as it were the company of two armies Cant. 6. 13. or the Two Churches of the Old and New Testament in order and beauty We may enquire What shall we what do we see in him Do we see him as the Image of the invisible God representing him his Nature Properties and Will unto us Do we see him as the Character the express Image of the Person of the Father so as that we have no need of Philip's Request Lord shew us the Father because having seen him we have seen the Father also John 14. 9. THIS is our first saving view of Christ the first instance of our beholding his glory by faith So to see him as to see God in him is to behold his glory for herein
them the knowledge of his Glory in the face of his dear Son Howbeit this new Light doth not abolish blot out or render useless the other Light of Nature as the Sun when it riseth extinguisheth the Light of the Stars But it directs it and rectifies it as unto its principle object and end Yet is it in its self a Light quite of another Nature But he who hath only the former Light can understand nothing of it because he hath no Taste or Experience of its Power and Operations He may talk of it and make Enquiries about it but he knows it not NOW we have received this Light of Faith and Grace whereby we discern spiritual things and behold the glory of Christ in the Imperfect manner before described But in Heaven there shall be a superadded light of Glory which shall make the Mind it self shine as the Firmament Dan. 12. 3. I shall only say three things of it 1. That as the Light of Grace doth not destroy or abolish the Light of Nature but rectifie and improve it so the Light of Glory shall not abolish or destroy the Light of Faith and Grace but by incorporating with it render it absolutely perfect 2. That as by the Light of Nature we cannot clearly comprehend the true Nature and Efficacy of the Light of Grace because it is of another Kind and is seen only in its own Light so by the Light of Grace we cannot absolutely comprehend this Light of Glory being of a peculiar Kind and Nature seen perfectly only by its own Light It doth not appear what we shall be 3. That this is the best Notion we can have of this Light of Glory that in the first Instance of its Operation it perfectly transforms the Soul into the Image and Likeness of Christ. THIS is the progress of our nature unto its Rest and Blessedness The principles remaining in it concerning Good and Evil with its practical convictions are not destroyed but improved by grace as its blindness darkness and enmity to God are in part taken away Being renewed by Grace what it receives here of spiritual Life and Light shall never be destroyed but be perfected in Glory Grace renews Nature Glory perfects Grace and so the whole Soul is brought unto its rest in God We have an Image of it in the blind Man whom our Saviour cured Mark 8. 22 23 24. He was absolutely blind born so no doubt Upon the first touch his Eyes were opened and he saw but very obscurely he saw men walking like Trees But on the second he saw all things clearly Our minds in themselves are absolutely blind The first visitation of them by Grace gives them a sight of things spiritual heavenly and eternal but it is obscure and unsteady The sight of Glory makes all things clear and evident 2ly THE body as glorified with its senses shall have its use and place herein After we are cloathed again with our flesh we shall see our Redeemer with our Eyes We know not here what power and spirituality there will be in the acts of our glorified Bodies Such they will be as shall bear a part in eternal Blessedness Holy Stephen the first Martyr took up somewhat of Glory by Anticipation before he died For when he was brought to his Tryal before the Council all that sate therein looking stedfastly on him saw his face as the face of an Angel Act. 6. 15. He had his Transfiguration according unto his measure answerable unto that of our Blessed Saviour in the Mount And by this initial Beam of Glory he received such a piercing vivacity and edge on his bodily eyes that through all those inconceivable distances between the earth and the residence of the Blessed he looked stedfastly into Heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God Act. 7. 55 56. Who then can declare what will be the power and acting of this sense of sight when perfectly glorified or what sweetness and refreshment may be admitted into our Souls thereby IT was a priviledge who would not have longed to partake of it to have seen him with our bodily eyes in the days of his flesh as did the Apostles and other his Disciples Howbeit he was not then glorified himself in the manifestation of his Glory nor they who saw him in the change or transformation of their nature How great this privilenge was himself declares unto those that so saw him Mat. 13. 17. Verily I say unto you that many Prophets and righteous Men have desired to see those things which ye see whereunto we shall speak immediately And if this were so excellent a priviledge as that we cannot but congratulate them by whom it was enjoyed how excellent how glorious will it be when with these eyes of ours gloriously purified and strengthned beyond those of Stephen we shall behold Christ himself immediately in the fulness of his Glory He alone perfectly understands the greatness and excellency hereof who prayed his Father that those who believe in him may be where he is so to behold his Glory THESE are some of the grounds of this first difference between our beholding the Glory of Christ by Faith here and by immediate Vision hereafter Hence the one is weak imperfect obscure reflexive the other direct immediate eaven and constant and we may stay a little in the contemplation of these things THIS view of the Glory of Christ which we have now spoken unto is that which we are breathing and panting after that which the Lord Christ prays that we may arrive unto that which the Apostle testifies to be our best the best thing or state which our nature is capable of that which brings eternal rest and satisfaction unto our Souls HERE our Souls are burthened with innumerable Infirmities and our Faith is clogged in its Operations by Ignorance and Darkness This makes our best estate and highest attainments to be accompanied with groans for deliverance We which have received the first fruits of the spirit even we our selves groan withing our selves waiting for the Adoption even the redemption of the body Rom. 8. 23. Yea whilst we are in this Tabernacle we groan earnestly as being burthened because we are not absent from the body and present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 2 4 8. The more we grow in Faith and Spiritual Light the more sensible are we of our present burthens and the more vehemently do we groan for deliverance into the perfect liberty of the Sons of God This is the posture of their minds who have received the first fruits of the Spirit in the most eminent degree The nearer any one is to Heaven the more earnestly he desires to be there because Christ is there For the more frequent and steady are our views of him by faith the more do we long and groan for the removal of all obstructions and interpositions in our so doing Now groaning is a vehement desire mixed with sorrow for the
things will abound in us if we are not wanting unto the due exercise of Faith and intense inflamed Affections unto him will ensue thereon at least they will be active unto our own refreshing experience And where these things are not in reality though in some they may be only in a mean and low degree Men do but deceive their own Souls in hopes of any benefit by Christ or the Gospel THIS therefore is the present case Where there are prevailing sinful Distempers or inordinate Affections in the Mind such as those before mentioned as Self love love of the World cares and fears about it with an excessive valuation of relations and enjoyments they will so far cumber and perplex it with a multitude of thoughts about their own Objects as shall leave no place for sedate Meditations on Christ and his Glory And where the thoughts are engaged the Affections which partly excite them and partly are led by them will be fixed also Col. 3. 1 2. THIS is that which in the most greatly promoteth that imperfection which is in our View of the Glory of Christ by Faith in this Life According to the proportion and degree of the prevalency of Affections corrupt earthly selfish or sensual filling the Heads and Hearts of Men with a multitude of thoughts about what they are fixed on or inclined unto so is Faith obstructed and weakened in this Work and Duty WHEREFORE whereas there is a remainder of these Lusts as to the Seeds of them in us all tho more mortified in some than in others yet having the same effects in the minds of all according to the Degree of their remainder thence it is as from an Efficacious cause of it that our View of the Glory of Christ by Faith is in many so weak imperfect and unsteady THIRDLY We have interruption given unto the work of Faith herein by the Temptations of Satan His original great design wherever the Gospel is preached is to blind the Eyes of Men that the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should not shine into them or irradiate their Minds 2 Cor. 4. 4. And herein he prevails unto astonishment Let the Light of the Gospel in the preaching of the Word be never so glorious yet by various means and artifices he blinds the Minds of the most that they shall not behold any thing of the Glory of Christ therein By this means he continues his rule in the Children of Disobedience With respect unto the Elect God overpowers him herein He shines into their Hearts to give them the Knowledge of his Glory in the face of Christ Jesus vers 6. Yet will not Satan so give over He will endeavour by all ways and means to trouble discompose and darken the mind even of them that believe so as that they shall not be able to retain clear and distinct Views of this Glory And this he doth two ways 1. WITH some he imploys all his Engines useth all his Methods of Serpentine Subtilty and casts in his fiery Darts so to dâ—squiet discompose and deject them as that they can retain no comfortable Views of Christ or his Glory Hence arise fears doubts disputes uncertainties with various Disconsolations Hereon they cannot apprehend the Love of Christ nor be sensible of any Interest they have therein or any refreshing perswasions that they are accepted with him If such things sometimes shine and beam into their Minds yet they quickly vanish and disappear Fears that they are rejected and cast off by him that he will not receive them here nor hereafter do come in their place hence are they filled with Anxieties and Despondencies under which it is impossible they should have any clear View of his Glory I KNOW that Ignorance Atheism and Obstinate Security in sensual Sins do combine to despise all these things But it is no new thing in the World that Men outwardly professing Christian Religion when they find gain in that Godâ—iness should speak evil of the things which they know not and corrupt themselves in what they know naturally as bruit Beasts 2. WITH others he deals after another manner By various means he seduceth them into a careless Security wherein they promise Peace unto themselves without any diligent search into these things Hereon they live in a general presumption that they shall be saved by Christ although they know not how This makes the Apostle so earnest in pressing the Dury of self-examination on all Christians 2 Cor. 13. 5. Examine your selves whether you be in the Faith Prove your own selves know you not your own selves that Christ is in you except you be reprobates The Rule of Self-judging prescribed by him is whether Christ be in us or no and in us he cannot be unless he be received by that Faith wherewith we behold his Glory For by Faith we receive him and by Faith he dwelleth in our hearts Joh. 1. 12. Eph. 3. 17. THIS is the principal way of his prevailing in the World Multitudes by his Seduction live in great security under the utmost neglect of these things Security is granted to be an Evil destructive of the Souls of Men but then it is supposed to consist only in Impenitency for great and open Sins but to be neglective of endeavouring an experience of the Power and Grace of the Gospel in our own Souls under a Profession of Religion is no less destructive and pernicious than impeniâ—ency in any course of sin THESE and the like Obstructions unto Faith in its Operations being added unto its own imperfections are another cause whence our View of the Glory of Christ in this World is weak and unsteady so that for the most part it doth but transiently affect our Minds and not so fully transform them into his likeness as otherwise it would IT is now time to consider that sight which we shall have of the Glory of Christ in Heaven in comparison of that which we have herebelow Now this is equal stable always the same without interruption or diversion And this is evident both in the causes or means of it as also in our perfect Deliverance from every thing that might be an hindrance in it or an obstrunction unto it 1. WE may consider the state of our minds in Glory The faculties of our Souls shall then be made perfect Heb. 12. The Spirits of just Men made perfect 1. Freed from all the clogs of the flesh and all its influence upon them and restraint of their Powers in their Operations 2. Perfectly purified from all Principles of instability and variety of all Inclinations unto things Sensual and Carnal and all Contrivances of Self-preservation or Advancement being wholly transformed into the Image of God in spirituality and holiness And to take in the state of our Bodies after the Resurrection even they also in all their Powers and Senses shall be made entirely subservient unto the most spiritual actings of our Minds in their highest Elevation