it is of grace and bounty and with what unwearied kindness it delights to communicate its blessings to us And what is there that we would see which is comparable to this What can we desire to see but more of this even when we are made perfect in love And what thanks do we owe to God that we see so much It ought to stir up all that is within us to bless his holy name We ought to say every day will I bless thee and praise thy name for ever and ever But for this also we must be beholden to love For it is that which indites all our Hymns and meditates the Divine Praises It puts the songs of joy into our mouth and fills our hearts with thanksgiving Our tongues are tyed without this or we do but babble not speak our Saviours praises It is love that bursts out into such effusions as these O praise the Lord of love who humbled himself do dwell among us Praise him in the beauties of his holiness praise him in his super-excellent wisdom Let all his works praise him who came to us with his hands full of Miracles and every miracle full of mercy O praise him in his almighty and most merciful kindness which made the lame to leap like a Kid and the tongue of the dumb to sing for joy which opened the eyes of the blind to see his wonders and the ears of the deaf to hear the wisdom where by he spake which restored the sick to health and the dead to life which published the Gospel to the poor and instructed the ignorant in the mysteries of the Kingdom of God O praise him before whom the Devils fled and confessed him to be the Lord. Praise him in his incomparable love which thought it not enough to do all this but also gave himself to dye for us Let all Nations praise him who are the purchase of his blood Let them mark every step of his dying love from the time he was betrayed and sold like a slave till he finished his sufferings on the Cross O the greatness of that love which endured such scorn such reproach such a bitter agony and shameful death even for all those who have little sense of this wondrous love But let no Christian soul be insensible how the hands which wrought so many Miracles and the feet which travelled up and down to do men good were cruelly nailed by them to an ignominious Gibbet Let them remember how his head was crowned with thorns and his body cloathed in a fools coat How they spit in his face blinded his eyes and then rudely buffeted him to make them sport O what love was that which made him submit to be mocked and reviled to be accounted worse than a seditious murderer and numbred among the greatest transgressors And above all let it never be forgotten how he sweat in our service as it had been drops of blood and at last bled to death after three hours shame and anguish on the Cross Praised be that incomparable Charity Praised be his inimitable meekness and humilitie Let all the world extol and praise his Lamb-like patience and innocence Let them celebrate his admirable kindness in forgiving such implacable enemies and his intire confidence and faith in God whereby he offered up himself to him and obtained an eternal redemption for us O the wonderful vertue of that sacrifice which hath taken away the sins of the world Praised be the tender mercies of our God which have forgiven us so many trespasses Praised be his mercies which have not only forgiven us but restored us to life and glory again by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead Let us rejoyce and be glad in that great salvation Let us bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by that resurrection of his from the dead Let us lift up our heads and look to Heaven our ancient Country for there he is exalted And let us thank our God who hath set him at his own right hand and made him most glorious for ever See how all the Angels welcomed him thither and falling at his feet most humbly worshipped his Majesty See how they all now wait upon him and constantly attend his pleasure And let us worship him too with the devoutest and most lowly reverence Let us praise him in his Sanctuary where he appears before God for us from whence he sends down the gracious influences of his spirit on us and commands his Angels to minister unto us Let us praise him the glorious King of Angels and men Who hath conquered death and triumphed over all the powers of darkness and opening the Kingdom of Heaven to all the faithful hath promised that they shall reign in glory together with him Let all the Angelical Ministers praise him Let the Apostles Prophets and Martyrs praise him Let all those who are departed in the true faith and fear of him praise him And let all the living who partake of the daily fruit of his bounteous love continually praise him Let them praise the name of the Lord for his name alone is excellent his glory is above the Earth and Heaven Let them praise him in the greatness of his Power in the Wisdom of his Counsels in the carefulness of his Providence in the riches the exceeding riches of his Grace in the stedfastness of his word and the faithfulness of all his promises And let them all joyn together and beseech him to come again that he may both accomplish our hopes and perfect his own praises O let him come that we may give him better praises in one body for ever CHAP. XIX More expressions of this devout affection towards our Lords Appearing and the way whereby we may excite them THis is some of the language of Love which wishes every knee would bow to Jesus and every tongue confess that he is the Lord to the glory of God the Father who hath thus highly exalted him For its desires are unlimited and its kindness like the fountain of it is inexhaustible and infinite It is the brightest image of Jesus There is nothing represents him so lively to the world He now appears most in those who love most and who long and wait with pure and ardent desires to see him come in all his glory For they will keep his commandment without spot unrebukeable until his appearing which in his times he will shew who is the blessed and only Potentate the King of kings and Lord of lords who only hath immortality dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see to whom be honour and power everlasting Amen Why then O my soul do we not let this blessed guest be lodged in our heart Or why do we not entertain it so that it may stay with us and we may feel it stirring there in restless motions towards Jesus What
mighty Power was the Author of it There are two places I know alledged by a Great Man which he thinks sound this way 1 Pet. i. 7. and 1 Tim. vj. 14. But it is far more agreeable to the coherence of those places to expound them of the Appearing we still expect Of which we may look upon his coming to destroy his Crucifiers and save his Servants as an Emblem and as a Pledg For it demonstrated both the Power of our Lord Jesus and his Faithfulness to his word assuring us that He will one day crown the patience and constancy of all his Friends with Eternal Life and punish the insolence of his Enemies with everlasting Fire However it is past all doubt that in this place I am treating of the Apostle speaks of the last and greatest appearing of our Saviour to finish the work of our Redemption and bestow the Crown of Righteousness which is laid up in Heaven for all that love him Which part of our Christian Faith I have shewn is to be understood in this manner That our Lord will in person present himself once more to the World and be seen at the last day to be what he is the King of Angels and Men and all Creatures For as at his first coming into the World He appeared in our likeness which the Ancients called his Epiphany a name that still sticks to the last day of the Feast of his Nativity and as He appeared in the same likeness when He rose from the dead and in that form and nature of a man went up into Heaven and still keeps it there as several have seen since his Ascension so he will in like manner appear in the end of the world only in greater Majesty and Glory as becomes Him who is over all God blessed for ever Amen ix Rom. 5. CHAP. III. A further Illustration of the APPEARING of our Lord Jesus Christ THERE is nothing to be added to what hath been said but only this That the word Epiphany or APPEARING denotes not meerly the presenting of himself in Person to the view of all the World but the whole SHOW as we call it that will accompany his coming from Heaven and all the things that shall be done by him as the Lord and Judge of the World He sits now on the Throne of his Glory and there shines in the splendor of the Divine Majesty and in that Majesty will one day descend from thence into this Air which the King of Heaven will never suffer his Son to do without a most Royal and Glorious Attendance sutable to the quality of his Person and to the dignity of his Office which is to judge the quick and the dead This illustrious SHOW is described by our Apostle in the 1 Thes iv 16. where he tells us that first of all He shall descend from Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a SHOVT That is with great Acclamations such as use to be made when a mighty Conqueror appears and rides in Triumph Thus we learn to understand it from xlvij Psal 5. where God is said to be gone up with a SHOVT the Lord with the sound of a Trumpet That is the Ark which was the token of Gods Presence among them returned to Mount Sion with great and joyful Ovations of all the people after the conquest they got by the Divine aid over their powerful enemies In such a manner will our Saviour descend as being about to compleat his Victories by conquering Death it self the last enemy that shall be destroyed For all the Heavenly Hosts we may well conceive will be wonderfully pleased to see him go forth upon this design and calling upon each other to perform to him the most cheerful service upon that great day will rejoyce to wait upon him in that most glorious Action and triumph before-hand in the assured Victory which he will get over Hell and the Grave 2. For then saith the Apostle will be heard the voice of the Archangel that is one of the chief Leaders and Commanders of the Coelestial Hosts MICHAEL I suppose the Protector of the Christian Church shall march before his Majesty calling aloud to all the rest of that Heavenly company to follow after in their order 3. And then will the Trump of God sound which the Apostle adds to signifie after the manner of men the powerful summons which will be issued forth to alarm all the World to attend at this great solemnity For the gathering of the Congregation of Israel together was by the sound of a Trumpet as we find among other places in iv Jer. 5. Blow ye the Trumpet in the land cry gather together and say Assemble your selves To which the Apostle seems to allude and calls it the Trump of GOD to distinguish it from all other and to express such a mighty and penetrating sound as shall be heard every where Such an one as is fit to precede none but GOD the Father Almighty himself or Him that holds his place his only begotten Son when he comes to judge the World In short this seems to be an expression borrowed from the appearance of God at Mount * So Thenphylact other Greek Interpreters Sinai whither all Israel being to be gathered together they were summoned thither by Thunders and Lightnings and a thick cloud and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud which made all the people tremble xix Exod. 16. So that the meaning of the Apostle is that our Lord shall come as the Great King of the World in a most venerable Majesty which shall make all Mankind stand in awe of him and tremble before him as the Israelites did at the Appearance of the Divine Majesty on Mount Sinai And a great deal more For 4. When he appears it will be as I have intimated already with innumerable glittering troops of Angels all clothed in very bright and shining Clouds as his Guard or Retinue to attend upon him So we are informed in several other places For the Son of Man saith our Lord himself xvj Mat. 27. shall come in the glory of his Father with his Angels and then he shall reward every man according to his works Which Saint Luke expresses thus more fully ix Luk. 26. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He shall come in his own glory and in his Father's and of the holy Angels Some of which glorious Creatures appeared to the Apostles and told them as much when they stood gazing after our Saviour as He ascended up into Heaven i. Act. 11. This same Jesus say they which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven Now he went thither in a most illustrious manner in the bright Clouds of Heaven attended by the Coelestial Ministers who came to conduct him into his Glory For that is the meaning it were easie to shew if this place were
When we so esteem it and look upon it with such a regard as it is presented to us in the glass of Gods Word immediately we shall feel our hearts begin to draw towards it This is the first business of a devout Christian who would love the appearing of his Saviour to perswade his heart to have a respect to it far above all other things That blessed day all pious hearts who have any hope of his favour should think of and look for as the brightest that ever shone The Coronation of a King the Triumph of a Conquerour the publick applause in the Olympick Games the most famous Showes that have ever been or can be made are all they must remember but as so many little Puppet-plays in comparison with that grand spectacle When all the world shall be in a gaze when Angels as well as men shall wonder and admire when the Sun shall blush to see it self out-shone and overcome in brightness when the hosts of blessed Spirits shall be the only Stars and our great Lord the only Sun that appears in the firmament when the righteous themselves shall shine in the same splendor by the reflection of his rayes upon them Thus we must discourse with our selves continually if we would be sensible of our happiness as St. Chrysostome * Tom. V. Orat. 1. in Pentecost p. 608. advises those who would understand their high birth and nobility We must look unto Heaven to the very Throne the Royal Throne for there sits says He the first-Fruit of mankind Who will come again will certainly come again leading all his Hosts along with Him the Legions of Angels the several Squadrons of Arch-Angels the Societies of the Martyrs the Quires of the Righteous the Tribes of the Prophets and Apostles and in the midst of these immaterial Camps the King Himself will appear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a certain unutterable and inexpressible glory O Dark House or cave of Earth will every one who believes this heartily be apt to say How willingly would I leave thee if I might be transported to meet our blessed Lord thus royally incamped in the air O poor world How come I so far to value thee as to suffer thee to captivate this heart How glad should I rather be to see thee no more if I might but behold him whom my soul loveth appear Nay it ought not to grieve me to see this earth and all things in it in a flame if that coelestial glory would but show it self There is nothing here so dear which I should not chuse to part withal most chearfully for the sake of so great a Blessedness Come my Friends and my Relations the dearest goods in this world let us set our hearts on this and desire to meet together with our Lord. Let our hearts be united in this love as much as they are in all things else There is nothing we enjoy of such esteem but we ought to be content to see it vanish and disappear before that illustrious sight Happy will that time be which shall eclipse all that beauty which now presents it self unto us with so much address Blessed will be the day that shall put out the luster of the whole world which now so strangely dazzles our eyes A great deal better will that moment be which shall dissolve if God think good all our stately Palaces than that which reared them and built them up Away away you trifling Vanities Why do you thus bewitch our eyes and inchant our ears and draw aside our thoughts with your flattering inticements Trouble us no more you false or unsatisfying glories But leave our minds free to think of that great and solemn day when you must all be benighted not by the want but by an excess of light and brightness Awake awake and open thine eyes upon us O thou sweet morning of our happiness Arise shine forth O thou Sun of Righteousness and make us blessed with a sight of thy glory Nay it would content us more than if we had all the world if we might but see the clouds break if we could but behold the shadows of the night beginning to haste away if thou Lord wouldst but dissipate these dark vapours that now incompass us and cause the light of Divine Faith as the day-star to shine continually in our hearts II. But hitherto we have only laid the foundation of Love Which supposes moreover that we have some sympathy as I may call it with that which we apprehend to be so Good for us and that we take our selves to be very much concerned in it For there are some things that are excellent in themselves to which notwithstanding we find little or no inclination because they are not sutable to our dispositions necessities and desires The greatest Perfections and merits oftimes meet with more Admirers than they do Vassals and we see those every day who bow other hearts to their service but find us inflexible to their attractions As we have not an appetite to all sorts of meats even those which we judge to be wholesome and good so we have not an inclination to all persons and things even those which we hold to be well deserving We praise many things which we do not love We allow divers objects our approbation which we cannot much affect And that which in reason we needs must commend yet doth not always command our hearts and draw them to its embraces The Loadstone as is commonly observed which draws Iron to it finds Lead and Copper to have no perception of its touches and that face as I said before which bewitches some eyes leaves others insensible of its beauty The Love then which we contract with any Good arises from the convenience that is between us and it We perceive an agreeableness in it either to our needs or to our nature and thence affection springs The likeness and resemblance that there is between two beings is not the only cause of their readiness to embrace each the other but the correspondence also and proportion which the one bears to the others necessities is a sufficient ground of it A man that languishes under a dangerous sickness may conceive a great affection for an incomparable and very compassionate Physician though there be no similitude between them because he apprehends that sufficiency in him which is able to supply the great defects and wants that are at present in himself But when these two correspondence and similitude which several have such power over the affections shall both meet together in one thing so that what we want is that to which by nature we incline it cannot fail to produce a love exceeding all other in intire union ardency and perpetuity For how can we refuse to yield to that Good or what would we have more than that which our hearts feel at once to bear a great resemblance to them and to answer all or most of their needs a Good which is what we are
and what we would be too a Good wherein we see the image of our selves in that perfection to which we desire to be advanced All they therefore who would be truly disposed to love the appearing of our Lord must have a deep apprehension of the meanness and vileness of this present state They must be possessed with a serious sense of their many imperfections and great weakness in the best condition that this world affords of the poverty and emptiness of all earthly enjoyments yea and of the scantiness and narrowness of all those Divine participations which their Souls are here capable to be blessed withal And then the Appearing of our Lord will seem a Good so suitable to them that they cannot chuse but have the same affection for it that a crazy and diseased person hath to the most skilful Physician In hope that He will perfect their nature cure the disorders under which they labour supply their defects fill their appetites nay enlarge their capacities and raise them to a greater pitch of true goodness and bliss Let us suppose such persons to be so much in the favour of God as to have a liberal share even in the blessings of this World as well as of those which are more peculiarly in the gift of our Saviour Christ yet it is impossible one would think they should be so much pleased in the highest Dignities that can be conferred on them in the rarest Delicates that the bounty of Nature or curiosity of Art can provide for them in the society of the choicest and dearest Friends or I may add in their own secret joy though descending from heaven to them as not to think still that it is far more desirable to see the Lord Jesus come to promote them and all their pious Relations and Friends to an incomparably better condition in his Coelestial Kingdom It is their interest to have Him appear again and besides they have such a likeness and resemblance to Him that the bent and inclination of their Souls cannot but make them long after the sight of Him as a good more delightful and agreeable than any other For there is another Coming of Christ before that which we expect Quo per totum tempus in Ecclesia sua venit c. as St. Austin speaks * L. xx de Civ Dei Cap. v. by which He comes through all the time between his first appearing and the last in His Church that is his members particulatim atque paulatim working in every one of them by little and little according to his promise xiv Joh. 21 23. that if any man keep His Commandments He will look upon it as such a testimony of his love that He will love that man and the Father will love him and we will come saith He unto him and make our abode with him Now when we heartily entertain Him and He is so truly setled there that we are made partakers of his Blessed nature and disposition and all the lineaments of Him if I may so speak are drawn upon our hearts We shall find them inclined to wish for the day when he will compleat his work and fill up the whole image of Himself to the very life and not only make us glad with the light of His countenance but make us look perfectly like Him and intirely assimilate us to His own most Blessed nature Do you not see how the holy Scriptures represent this Appearing of Jesus as the most lovely of all other things and therefore apt to draw our hearts with an irresistible force towards it It is expressed there I observe under the character of that which is wont to touch the Soul with such an agreeable stroke that it ravishes it from it self I mean Beauty For as that is nothing else according to Plato but the splendor and glittering of that which is good so this appearing is set forth as exceeding bright splendid and glorious and as that which will make us so also to the end we may be affected with it as the most beautiful sight that ever was Read ij Tit. 13. xiij Mat. 43. And St. Luke I told you before mentions a threefold glory wherein He will appear His own His Fathers and His holy Angels ix 26. which is said I believe to make this day appear the more illustrious and amiable in our eyes The only visage of Scipio we read made him Master of some barbarous Nations he piercing further into their hearts by his countenance than by his sword And Heliogabalus as bad as he was was no sooner shown by his Mother to the Souldiers but from Priest of the Sun he became Emperour of the World Why then should not the beauty of that day when the Prince of all the Kings of the Earth shall appear in the most glorious splendor attended by the greatest Principalities of Heaven with all their shining Hosts in admirable order captivate the hearts of all those that love Him since there is none so powerful did they but behold His glory as the Apostles did and look upon Him as the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth to draw those to his Religion who love Him not How can they refuse to yield to do Him homage and suffer themselves to be carried after Him as the Conquerour of all Souls and above all desire to wait upon Him at his appearing which they discern will be so glorious and render them so amiable that they will become as I doubt not to show a considerable addition to his Triumphs The hearts of all the faithful cannot chuse but leap for joy at the very thought of so great a Good though widely distant from them and wish it would come nearer to make them happy by its presence with them They are apt to sigh and say when they deeply ponder these things with the Prophet David in another case ci Psal 2. O when wilt thou come unto me It is a long time O Lord since thou didst promise to come We have waited for thee and for thy salvation more than they that wait for the morning I say more than they that wait for the morning May I not pray thee to hasten thy desired coming O when wilt thou display thy self and show thy glory more openly before us O when wilt thou be pleased to impress thine own image more fairly on us When shall those little touches that we have received of thee be perfected and figured into a more exact resemblance of thy beauty We cannot refrain but we must long to have all our defects supplied out of thy fulness to have all spots wiped off our souls to be rendred clear as the Sun free as the Air and as unstained as the pure influences of heaven For how should we think O blessed Lord that we bear any love to thee if we can be content to remain as we are so much unlike thee There is none can see thee and not ardently love thee There is none
and sensless heart as this of mine With what thanks ought I to receive the smallest testimony of thine inestimable love Which is so sweet that it makes us sigh because we can enjoy no more of it Ah! that this vessel should be so narrow and strait as to contain so little of thy love Ah the dulness of this heart which entertains thee so poorly that it is no wonder thou makest so short a stay so exceeding short a stay with me How sad is it to think of this heavy clog which will never let me follow thee far when I have the strongest attractions from thee Fain would my soul climb up unto thee but when I have got a little way down I come and have lost that glorious sight I had of thee And if thou art pleased to lift me up as high as Heaven how soon is the mind weighed down again while it museth upon those celestial things O the constant joyes which I hoped to have how are they vanished O the satisfaction which began to be in this heart which now lyes groveling in the dust filled with nothing but sighings after thee And blessed be thy Goodness that it doth sigh after thee I thank thee that I feel such love such vehement desire there as makes it long for more of thee I will never cease to sigh after thee I will still long for that time when thou Lord wilt be pleased to appear and make all sighing fly away by a constant sight and enjoyment of thee For this I will groan that I may be so happy as to see thee and that thou wilt make me as strong as sometime thou makest me desirous to accompany thee I will pray for this that thou wouldest come and heal those wounds which love hath made by making me perfect in thy love O come therefore Dearest Lord and turn my desires into enjoyment my sickness into health my weakness into strength these flutterings of my soul into a flight into a flight I say from this earth into the air where I may no sooner wish to be with thee but I may feel my soul snatcht away and leap for joy to find it self in thy embraces Come O my Lord come thou lover of Souls and let me not languish in these longings any more Come and leave no place for any fears that I shall lose thy company Come and give me the full satisfaction I promise my self in thy sweetest society I am content to suffer one pain that I may thereby put an end to all Death is no longer dreadful to me when I think it will bring me something nearer to thee Thou maiest rend my soul when thou pleasest from this flesh that it may be torn no more as it uses to be when it is pulled back by other things and would gladly follow thee O joyn me perfectly most perfectly to thee that I may love thee as much as the most enlarged spirit is capable to love thee Happy should I be if I could do nothing else but love thee and feel that thou lovest me O hasten the day when my time shall be divided between these two sweetest employments of expressing my most ardent love to thee and rejoycing in the full satisfaction of thy love to me CHAP. XIII Two other Reasons why if we love our selves we must needs love this Appearing IV. SO we ought to wish if we seriously believe there will be such a day because we naturally love Life and Immortality which till then cannot be perfectly bestowed on us Our Lord indeed hath brought these to light and given us an assured hope that none of those who believe in him shall perish But as the everlasting Life he puts us in possession of when we depart from hence I shall show in the next Chapter is not presently compleated so it is out of all question that we must stay till the last day before he perform his so frequently repeated promise vi Joh. 40.54 c. of raising our bodys out of the dust and making them incorruptible that they may live for ever Which is a thing we so much desire that we are prone to please our selves with the meer shadow of it studying when we dye to make our memory survive our ashes We would fain record our Names in the Legend of fame by the performance of some remarkable exploit Or by some memorable work we contrive that the world may speak of us when we are gone down into silence And for fear it should not we teach Marble-stones and Pillars to tell what we were and by this means we fancy we shall live as long as the world shall last But alas this is no better than an imaginary life which we cannot secure neither but must leave the World without any assurance of that for which we are so solicitous and imploy such serious pains No mans Name can be so loudly sounded by the trumpet of fame but it may chance that succeeding ages shall not hear the least whisper of him Or if they do it may fare with him as it doth with Hercules and Bacchus who were as great Souldiers and Conquerers it is likely as Alexander and Caesar and yet now their notable atchievements do but serve to fill up the number of Fables Epitaphs and Escutchions Books and Monuments do all dye as well as men Our Names in all likelihood will at last be buried and perish as well as our selves For this world is the place where death reigns and plays the Rex not only over us but over all the reliques that we leave behind us What should we wish for then what should be the ardent desire of all Nations if they were believers but the time of our Lords appearing when this mortality as the Apostle speaks shall be swallowed up of life and we shall receive from his hands Laurels and Crowns that are incorruptible and never fade away a Name that shall never dye a Glory that shall live and continue in its splendor as long as God himself For as this is the time wherein Death hath dominion so that will be the time of abolishing its Kingdom and putting an end to all its tyranny by setting up Life and Immortality in its stead O welcome time sayes the heavenly minded soul when this great devourer of the world shall have nothing left to feed upon unless it be the Grave which shall dye eternally and never be heard of more O what a joyful name is this of Life and of life for evermore How sweetly doth even the word IMMORTALITY sound in this land of death and destruction What is it that makes our hearts so cold and to feel so few desires to see the Prince of Life appear To see Him who shall raise up that in glory and power which was put into the earth in dishonour and weakness and shall turn this natural this corruptible body into one that is spiritual and incorruptible Are we afraid this world will be burnt up by the