can have any Knowledge of them without great Extension of Presence is beyond all Imagination or possibility of Conception 14. Great is the Mystery of Godliness and certainly even the Man Christ Jesus is a far more Glorious Person than the most of Christians yea or of Christian Divines do conceive or apprehend He is called the Sun of Righteousness and compared to Light snd doth Enlighten all the Intellectual World He is the Express Image of his Father's Person That is perhaps the most Lively Character and Expression of the Deity that is among Created Beings He is Sat down on the Right Hand of the Majesty on High That is He is next the Pure Godhead the most Illustrious Essence in the World His Power Wisdom Goodness Presence and other Attributes are far Superiour to those of any other Creatures and they approach so near those of God himself as to be an Apt and Fair Resemblance of them 15. Let no Man misunderstand me in what I have said concerning the Humane Nature of Christ Jesus I do not assert the Vbiquity of it nor do I deny his Divine or the Vnion thereof to the Humane I Extend the Presence of his Humane Nature no farther than the Nature of his Mediatory Office doth require it He is the Great Prophet Priest and King of Humane Race And as far as the Exercise of these several Offices do require his Presence so far I Extend it and no farther Though I will not determine that these are the Bounds or Limits of it And touching the Doctrine of the Trinity and the Vmon of the Eternal Word with the Humane Nature I esteem it the Great Essential as well as the Great Mystery of the Christian Religion and do very heartily believe it 16. If any Man shall doubt the Truth of what I have said concerning the Presence of Christ's Humane Nature because he is not able to comprehend or imagine the Manner of it I answer The Existence of Multitudes of things is Certain though the manner thereof may be Incomprehensible The Existence of the Humane Soul in the Body is Certain and that it gives Life and Motion to it but how 't is Vnited and by what Ties and Ligaments 't is fastened there and how it gives Life and Motion to it no Man can tell That Children are Formed in their Mother's Wombs and that Birds and Fouls are Formed of Eggs is Vndenyable but how these things are done no Man is able to inform us 17. Besides we are ignorant of the Nature of Humane Minds and what Improvements they are capable of being advanced unto aster they are freed from their Gross and Heavy Bodies And we know as little of the Nature of those Spiritual Bodies where-withal we shall be invested at the Resurrection and which Christ Jesus is already cloathed withal in the Heavens Peradventure the Soul of our Saviour may be so far advanced and perfected as to be able to actuate a Spiritual Body of very vast Dimensions And this Body may penetrate all Gross and Material Bodies even as Light doth the Purest Christal So that to deny the Presence of Christ's Humane Nature because we cannot comprehend the manner of it especially since we know so little of the Capacity of a Humane Mind and such was that of Christ Jesus or of the Nature of that Spiritual and Glorious Body which is the Tabernacle and Habitation of it is I think Unreasonable 18. But after all that I have said on this Subject I shall add thus much I do not confidently affirm it I only propose it to the Consideration of Free and Vnprejudiced Minds and leave them fully the Liberty to Embrace or Reject it as they see caâ—se Only I would desire them well to consider how many and great things the Scripture speaks of the Man Christ Jesus In Him Dwells alâ— the Fulness of the Godbead He is filled with the Holy Spirit that he may be a Head of Vital Influence to all his Members He is the Universal Law-giver and Light of all Men and will be the Universal Judge of all the World Which doth imply great Largeness of Knowledge Wisdom and Power and by consequence a very Extensive Presence 19. But what means all this long Discourse Why this If Extension of Presence be Reconcileable and Consistent with the Humane Nature of our Saviour in his Glorified Estate it may be Reconcileable with it in the Blessed If he be a True Man notwithstanding his Presence is Extended to very vast Distances The Blessed may be so though their Presence be Extended in some Good Degree and Measure And if the Humane Nature in the Holy Jesus be capable of these Extensions and this Amplitude the same Nature is capable of it in the Blessed in their Degree and Proportion 20. And this Extension of Presence will very much increase their Intuitive Knowledge they will be able to see and observe at one View much of the Works of God and many of the Productions of his Infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness By it they will be able to observe the Connexion and Dependance of things on each other and consequently the Beauty and Harmony of them which will very much Affect Delight them He that beholds one Piece or Part of a Curious Picture or Statue is not Moved or Delighted by it but he that beholds it altogether and observes the Relation and Symmetry of its Parts to and with each other is even transported with the Admiration of it He that Views only one Part of a Landskip finds peradventure but little Pleasure in the Prospect of it but he that Sees it altogether and in its whole Extent and Dimensions finds a Marvellous Complaisance therein 21. Though this Extension of Presence in the Future State should be doubted and consequently the Increase of Intuitive Knowledge thereby yet it may be very much increased by Facility of Motion from Place to Place which almost all Divines and Christians do acknowledge a Power of Property Inherent in the Blessed All confess a Power of removing themselves from one determinate Spot of the Vniverse to another with Incredible Swiftness For amongst other Properties of the Glorious Bodies where-with they will be invested at the Resurrection they reckon Quickness and Agility for Motion and Action And surely Spiritual Bodies are in their own Nature more Agile and Fit for Motion than these Gross and Earthly Bodies that we now bear about with us 22. The Blessed being thus Agile and Fit for Motion they may as easily pass from World to World or from One part of the Vniverse to Another as we do from Village to Village in the Country or from Street to Street in a vast and populous City Some Philosophers have imagined the Sun Moon and Stars with other Planetary Bodies to be so many Habitable Worlds and the Learned Hevelius hath lately given us a Map of the Moon in which he hath described and distinguished the several Seas and Countreys in it 23. And if
Diameter and 't is not done without some Toyl and Labour And much more must be imployed to view a Circumference or Space whose Diameter is Many Miles and of Large Extension 4. Two things will very much augment and increase the Intuitive Knowledge of the Blessed and those are the Extension of their Presence and a Facility of moving from Place to Place These I do humbly conceive will be very Great Advantages unto them therein Peradventure their Presence may be so Extensive that by Means thereof they may inspect and behold more things at One View than we can Successively and one after another in Many Years And it may be their Motion may be almost as quick as the Beams of Light and they may pass the Immense Spaces of the Universe in the Twinkling of an Eye or at least with Incredible Swiftness and in a Very Small Space of time But these things must be spoken to something More at large and something More particularly that they may appear a Little Probable if not Vndoubtedly Certain 5. Tho' the Presence of the Blessed in the Future World will be certainly Definite and Limited for their Advancement to Bliss and Glory will not make them so Many Gods their proper Natures will still remain They will be Men in Heaven as truly as they were on Earth But tho' they continue Men yet I do with Submission conceive that their Presence will be much more Extensive and Large than now it is And in all likelihood the Extension of their Presence may be Varied There according to the Variety of their Graces and Virtues their Faith and their Obedience Here. 6. Our Lord Jesus remains a True Man in his Glorified Estate and yet certainly his Presence is much More Extensive than when he dwelt upon Earth When he was upon Earth 't was as much Limited and Confined as that of Other Men But it seems to me utterly Improbable that it should continue or remain so now he is in Heaven Then he was able to inspect and view by Intuition no more than others that were of Humane Race for He was in all things made like unto them Sin only excepted But now perhaps he may as easily inspect the Whole Globe of this Earth and the Heavens that Encompass and Surround it as any of us can view a Globe or Circumference of an Inch Diameter 7. For he is the Soveraign of Mankind He is the Prince of the Kings of the Earth He is the Governour of the World The Laws by which they ought to Live and by which they must be Judged are his Laws Sentence will pass upon all Men at the Great Day of Accounts according to their Obedience or Disobedience to them 8. Besides He is our Great Intercessor with God Almighty But how can he Hear our Prayers and Vnderstand our Needs and Wants unless he be Present with us and do Inspect and Observe them Can he Intercede for what he Knows not Or can he Know what he doth not Hear Or can he Hear where he is not Present Or can he be Present with all those that call upon him unless his Presence be of Large and Extensive Nature Is not his Name called upon from the Rising of the Sun to the Going down of the same And can all those Prayers come before him unless his Presence be very Diffusive and extended with the Fabrick of Earth and Heaven 9. In the mean time I am not about to affirm the Vbiquity of Christ's Bodily Presence nor to determine the Manner of it I suppose his Presence of no greater Extension than his Government and his Government no larger than the Extent of his Redemption and what else may be Necessary for the Protection and Preservation of his Church and People And as to what concerns the Manner of his Presence I determine nothing 'T is but little that we know of the Nature of our Own Souls whil'st they are in the Body and therefore can pretend to know little of the Soul of our Saviour since it is cloathed with a Glorious Body What is the Nature of that Body and what are its Extensions how the Soul is Joyned to it and doth Actuate and Enliven it and by what Tubes and Opticks it doth View and take Cognizance of the Affairs of Men I cannot tell but that Jesus Christ even in his Humane Nature hath some Knowledge of them I think cannot be doubted 10. To say of Christ as the Papists do of the Saints and Angels to whom they address their Prayers gives me no Satisfaction They tell us That God Hears the Prayers that they present unto them and acquaints them with them that they may Again Offer and Present them to him This and some other Improbable Accounts do they give of their Praying to Saints and Angels when Protestants do tell them That they cannot possibly take Cognizance of them by reason that their Presence is of Limited and Determinate Nature 11. For what is the Advantage of the Man Christ Jesus above Angels and Saints if he Possess and enjoy no Greater Perfections than they do It cannot be doubted but that They may understand the Needs and Wants of Men if God will Reveal them unto them And if Christ Jesus come no otherwise by the Knowledge of them what is his Excellency and what are his Advantages at least in that Kind greater than Theirs And how hath he a Name above every Name not only in This World but also in That which is To come And how hath He in all things the Preheminence Surely these Expressions of Scripture do import Some Excellencies and Advantages Peculiar to the Human Nature of Christ Jesus which Saints and Angels are uncapable of 12. Moreover Christ Jesus is the Head of his Church even in his Humane Nature and from Him the Holy Spirit is communicated by the Means of his Ordinances to all the Members of it But how can this be without Knowledge Or how can he know the Vsefulness and Necessity of it to the Several and Single Members of His Body without Largeness of Presence The Reason of the Divine Omniscience is derived from his Omnipresence God knows all things because he is Present Every Where And I do humbly think that the Extensiveness of our Saviour's Knowledge bears proportion with the Extent of his Presence 13. In brief Christ Jesus considered as Man and as Mediator is the great and general Administrator of all the Affairs of this Humane World Whatsoever is done in it he does it for all Power in Heaven and Earth is given to him and God hath given him Power Over all Flesh all things are made Subject to Him and he is the Head over all things to the Church These things with many more of like importance the Holy Scriptures do assert concerning Him But how the Power thus given to Christ can be exercised without Knowledge of the Affairs of the World and of the Church I mean an Intuitive Knowledge of them nor how he
perfectly Free from all Sin both of Inclination Habit and Act the Plague of the Heart is perfectly cured there remains not any thing of the Old Nature upon their Souls yea they are freed of all Sinful Ignorance they know all that is Their Duty to know and all that is Necessary for the Performance of it But whether they Know all that ever they shall Know or are Capable of Knowing is Another Question God made Man upright Eccles 7. ult That is He made him without Sinful Imperfection But that they knew as much the first Day of their Creation as they would have Known had they lived a Thousand Years in their Innocent State I do not believe Our Lord Jesus was Perfect with respect to Sin at his Birth yet He had not then Attained all attainable Excellencies for He increased in Wisdom and Stature and in Favour with God and Men Luk 2.52 And if our Blessed Saviour and our First Parents were Perfect before they had attained all the Wisdom and Knowledge they were capable of so may the Blessed in the Future State 6. 4. Those very Persons that do assert the Perfection of the Blessed immediately upon their Departure hence and Admission into the Kingdom of Glory do yet acknowledge that the Resurrection will add something to the Increase of their Knowledge yea and of their Happiness also And 't is a thing so plain that it cannot be denyed Will the Saints in Heaven know no more after the Resurrection than they did before Will those Works of Wonder add nothing to the Enlargement of their Vnderstandings Will their Knowledge receive no Advange thereby This were a manifest Contradiction in any Man that should affirm it So then I hope I may conclude That if Perfection be reconcileable with an Increase of Knowledge before the Resurrection it may be reconcileable with it afterwards 7. 5. To what hath been said I may add That the Angels of Heaven without doubt were made Perfect Yet surely the Creation Government and Affairs ot This World hath Added much to their Knowledge That they have been Imployed in them and consequently have had Knowledge of them the Scriptures do assure us and I am past all Scruple concerning it Yea I am inclin'd to think that this Inferior World was made for the Use of Angels as well as Men and in it they behold the Glory of God and the most Illustrious Perfections of their Maker an have Learned very many Things from the Contemplation of it Yea 't is my Opinion that they have ascribed much more of the Praise thereof to God than ever was done by Mortals The Creation and Providence of God are a very Clear Glass in which are discovered the Attributes and Perfections of God But since the Fall Man's Eyes have been so Impaired that they could not discern them nor give him the Praise of them But that which I would infer from this Paragraph is this If an Increase of Knowledge be consistent with Perfection in Angels it may be consistent with it in the Blessed Saints If the one were Perfect before they had obtained much of that Knowledge that now they are possessed with the other may be Perfect in the same Sense though they want much of that Knowledge that they may and certainly will obtain 8. 2. Object The Future State is a State of Rest and Fruition The Blessed are there said to rest from their Labours and their Works to follow them Rev. 14.13 which seems inconsistent with an Increase of Knowledge forasmuch as Knowledge is not obtained without Labour especially that which comes by Ratiocination and the Exercise of our Reason on such Beings as are presented to us To this Objection I reply as followeth 9. 1. The Soul of Man is a very Active Being Action is of the very Essence of it and can no more in my Apprehension be Separated from it than Heat from Fire or Extension from Natural Bodies If you separate Action from Humane Minds you Destroy them If they do Nothing they are Nothing Not to Act and not to Be are the same thing with them The Cessation of their Being is equipollent to the Cessation of their Action and Operation God is a Pure Act Souls are his Image and in the Activity of their Nature they are a Representation of Him 10. 2. The Rest of the Humane Soul therefore as I do humbly conceive consists very much in the Performance of such Actions and the Use of such Imployments as are congruous and suitable to its Nature and to the End and Intent for which it was made Man's Inferior Faculties and Senses have their proper Ends Actions and Operations and in the Exercise and Use of them on their own peculiar Objects they find and experience all the Content and Satisfaction that they are capable of And surely the Rest and Happiness of the Rational Soul must likewise Consist in the Exercise of its Active Powers upon Congruous and Suitable Objects And the Philosopher some where places Humane Felicity in Action and not in a Dull Inactive Stupor 11. 3. There is nothing more Suitable and Agreeable to the Humane Soul than the Exercise of its Intellectual Faculty on the Being Nature and Properties of things This is Wonderfully Congruous and therefore Pleasant to it It delights to consider the Nature of things and from those things that are more evident to Infer those that are less and also from the Effect to Infer the Cause and from the Intermediate Causes to Ascend by several Steps and Progressions to the First Primitive and Original Cause of all things This Labour is its Rest this Work is its Reward this Vse of its Powers is their Felicity and their Glory This is the Imployment which they do desire in which they are pleased and in which they will find Repose yea Ravishment and Extasies for ever 12. 4. Though the Mind of Man finds some Difficulty in the obtaining of Knowledge here Below and though it costs It much Painful Study to attain any considerable Degree or Measure of it yet I see no Reason to conclude or suspect any such thing in the Kingdom of Heaven It will receive so much Inlargement Perfection and Advantage by its Ascent thither that 't will be no more Trouble to advance in Knowledge than 't is for us to turn Our Eyes from one Object to another and to observe the Beauty and Proportions of them 13. 5. A Diseased Eye cannot behold the Light without some Trouble and Offence though it be the Proper Object thereof and the Medium by which all other things become Visible yet if it be Sore it becomes very Offensive unto it and if you can but cure or remove that Distemper Light becomes Pleasant unto it again Since Man became Sinful his Understanding Faculty hath suffered great Diminution 't is Indisposed and Vncapable in great degree of obtaining Knowledge though that were the End for which it was created and what it doth obtain is not without
Ways or Methods they may be Communicated unto it unless you will suppose it of very Large and Extensive Presence and Capacity 9. So that if the Humane Nature of Christ Jesus have any Knowledge of the State and Condition of the Church which is his Body as I think can't reasonably be doubted whether Mediately or Immediately in my Apprehension an Extension of Presence must be granted thereunto And if it be granted to Christ Jesus I know nothing that will hinder the same Concession to the Blessed tho not in the same Degree for in all things he must have a Supremacy and Advantage 10. But besides all this Christ Jesus is the Head of his Church and as an Vniversal Cause under God conveys his Grace and Spirit to all the Members of it As the Sun is the Vniversal Cause of Light Heat and Motion in Sublunary Bodies so is Christ of all Grace and Spiritual Influences and Virtues to the Souls of Men and there is no other means or way of Conveyance but by Him 11. The Humane Nature of Christ Jesus by its being Personally united to the Divine and exalted to God's Right Hand is by the Office of Mediator Authorized and by a Participation of the Fulness of the Spirit enabled for the Communication of this Spiritual Influx and Benediction to Humane Minds 12. Yet it is not to be imagined or do I affirm That the Humane Nature of Christ Jesus is any Cause of any Immanent Act of the Divine Spirit but He is the Cause of the Spirits Operation as that Operation signifies the Effect upon the Mind of Man And of this He is no Superiour but only a Ministerial Cause as a Prince rewards the Valour of his Souldiers as the General doth determine it 13. Christ Jesus is the Political Cause of this Spiritual Influence He as Mediator is authorized to determine of the Measure Time Conditions and Persons that shall partake therein Whether He be also a Physical Head and Cause of this Influence and Grace and by proper Efficiency do Communicate of this Spirit and by any Physical Operation of his Humane Soul He operate upon Our Minds is a Controversie that I am not obliged to determine my Cause not requiring it For if He be only the Political Cause of this Grace and Spirit He must have Knowledge of the State Case and Condition of Mankind and that in my Opinion will infer a Large and Extensive Presence which is all that I am concerned to prove AND now having annexed thus much to the Book in regard to one Particular Point I shall superadd no less in regard to the General Subject for the obviating some Objections and preventing Misunderstandings in what I have Asserted or rather Proposed to indifferent Consideration 1. I would not be thought to Place the Happiness of the Blessed in the Knowledge of Creatures Whoever should Thus understand me would Very much mistake and misapprehend me I Place the Happiness of Saints and Angels in the Knowledge and Love of God and being Beloved by Him The Knowledge of Creatures is only the Medium by which we come to the Knowledge of the Creator and by the Knowledge of Him we become capable of Loving Him and Rejoycing and Delighting in Him God is Vltimately the Object of Man's Felicity and Love Delight and Joy are the Great Felicitating Acts and both these Compleat and make it Perfect 2. One great Reason that inclines me to believe that Knowledge will be Progressive in the World to come is because I do suppose that Man will remain a Limited and Finite Essence There yea and Limited to that degree that he will not be Able at one Grasp to comprehend the Nature Qualities and Perfections of the Vniverse A great Enlargement of Capacity Immediately upon his Departure hence I do readily concede and if any shall please to call it Supernatural I will have no Contest with him about it But this Enlargement I conceive will not make his Capacity of Equal Extent with the Vniverse and consequently his Knowledge of it cannot be Simul and Semel but Successive 3. How Various the Limitations of the Essences and Capacities of the Blessed will be I will not affirm Peradventure they may be as Various and Different as their Rewards will be Those that have Loved and Served God in This World with the Greatest Sincerity and Vigour of Affection and Endeavour will have the Largest Capacities in the Other they will be capable of knowing Most of God and consequently of loving Him Most and being Most beloved of Him It seems to me I say probable that the Remunerating Grace of God will Diversify Men's Capacities in the Kingdom of Heaven according to their Works Here on Earth 4. If any Man should think that because I affirm an Alteration for the better in the Future State that therefore there may be an Alteration for the worse and to the Disadvantage of the Blessed I answer That I see Nothing in what I have Said that may give any Reason for Such an Inference or Conclusion For why Confirming Grace may not secure the Blessed from Any Defection on Supposition that Knowledge and consequently Happiness be Increasing and Progressive as well as on supposition that it be Instantaneously Compleat and Perfect I confess I do not understand 5. St. Paul I do acknowledge doth assure us That Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor hath it entred into the Heart of Man to conceive what God hath laid up for those that love Him 1 Cor. 2.9 Which words he transcribes from Isaiah the Prophet But how they are any Prejudice to the Doctrine that I have proposed I do not find For besides that the Words were spoken by the Prophet with respect to the State of the Gospel and the great Revelations and Discoveries that were to be made of the Divine Grace and Mercy at That time and in That State I shall readily grant that no Eye hath seen nor Ear heard nor hath the Heart of any Man conceived what and how Various how Great and Stupendious those Objects will be that the Future State will present unto our Thoughts and Contemplations Who can tell what Variety of Wonders the House of the Living God may set before us Who can imagine the Lustre and Glory of the Heavenly Jerusalem and what are the Beings that do Embellish and Adorn the Palace of the Great King Who can tell or who can conceive what Species or Kinds of Beings may be comprehended in the Whole Universe and of what Various and Amazing Natures Qualifications and Perfections 6. And as we cannot Vnderstand what will be the Number Kinds Nature nor Perfections of these things so we cannot Tell what will be the Joy Pleasure Satisfaction yea Extasies and Ravishments that we shall Conceive and have Experience of in the Contemplation and Knowledge of them Who can imagine what Joy he shall feel at the Sight and First Aspect of the Magnificent Structure of the Heavenly Palace At the Vision of those Holy Myriads that encompass the Throne of God At the Vision of the Holy Jesus that Prince of the Kings of the Earth At the Sight of all the Holy Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles At the View of all the Holy Confessors and Martyrs together with all the Holy and Good Men of all Generations Who can imagine what Pleasure and Joy every Object that is offered to our Meditation may Raise and Awaken in our Souls Who can Think what Joy we shall Conceive from our Exercise of Love to God and 〈◊〉 the Sense and Apprehension of our 〈◊〉 Beloved of Him and of the Eternal Dâ—â—ation of it 7. But though we cannot Conceive nor have not Seen nor Heard what are the Beings and Objects that the Future State will furnish to our View and Consideration and though we cannot Imagine what will be the Joys and Pleasures that they will introduce upon our Minds Yet we may know that there will be Objects of Various and Illustrious Qualities and that the Knowledge of them will make Very Great and Pleasant Emotions and Affections upon our Souls and that This Knowledge and These Affections may be of Progressive Nature and Increase to All Durations Which is all that I have Asserted and I think Sufficiently consistent with the Words of the Apostle in the Text above-mentioned 8. I know nothing Momentous that may be objected against what I have Said on this Subject which I have not Answered or Obviated in Some Place or Other of This Discourse Nevertheless 't is no Article of my Faith nor am I zealous to Proselyte any Man to the Belief of it I will Conclude with those Words where-with Cartesius concludes his Principia At nihilominus memor meae tenuitatis nihil affirmo sed haec omnia tum Ecclesiae Catholicae Anglicanae Authoritati tum Prudentiorum Judiciis submitto nihilque ab ullo credi velim nisi quod ipsi evidens invicta ratio persuadebit FINIS
could not pass the Mouth of the Streights of Gibralter at one Point of Time but in a Continued space of Time it might certainly do it supposing nothing else did hinder it There is no Mathematician that at one view of his Mind beholds all the Propositions in Euclid Apollonius and Archimedes with their several Demonstrations but many have done it Successively and indeed all that are Masters in that Pleasant and Ingenious Science 7. Infinite Perfections and such are those of God can never be exhausted As Infinite Duration cannot be measured so Infinite Perfections cannot be drained Whatsoever is exhaustible is Finite whatsoever may be sathomed by Humane Understandings is of Limited Nature and Perfection That which is Infinite contains those Depths that can Never be sounded And such are the Properties and Excellencies of God The Days of Eternity will never Fully and Perfectly reveal and expose them After all our Search into them we shall never Find them out unto Perfection 8. Therefore they may furnish Matter and Subject for Eternal Contemplation They may Perpetually exercise our Minds and minister new Occasion for our Speculations There will be no defect of Matter for our Thoughts nor Subject for our Meditations An Object of Vnlimited Excellency may well afford Reason Occasion and Foundation for everlasting Thoughts and Considerations Where the Object is Inexhaustible in its Virtues the Thoughts may be Eternal in their Inquiries and Search concerning them 9. Whatsoever is known of God in the Future State will be either by Natural or Supernatural Revelation God will be known by the Illustrious Works of his Hands The Objects that adorn the New Jerusalem will declare the Glorious Perfections of their Maker every thing There will speak forth his Praise unveile his Glory and render it Conspicuous to those that shall be admitted to behold it There And peradventure there may be some Supernatural Ways of Revelation which may uncover something of the Divine Excellencies even There as well as Here. 10. The Objects or Works that reveal and discover the Attributes and Perfections of God to the Blessed in the World to come will be Very great and Many and how great and Many they may be can neither be determined nor imagined Those that reveal him Here are Many and some of them Very great and magnificent And surely it cannot be justly thought but that the Things that shall reveal God in the Other State will be as numerous and much More great and Glorious it being designed to illustrate and set forth the Glory of God in a most Resplendent manner He will there be Glorified in his Saints and admired in those that believe And he cannot attain this Glory unless there be something Very great to reveal and lay him open before us 11. The Mind of Man is Fitted and Adapted to the Use of Knowing and 't is pleased therein This is true in the Experience of Most if not of All Men. There are very Few if Any that are not delighted in Knowledge and Vnderstanding Some Brutish Sensualists and Covetous Earth-Worms may be so swallowed up among Secular and Sensual Things that they may have lost almost All Desire of Knowledge and all Taste and Sense of Pleasure in it But 't is Apparently otherwise in Multitudes of others and in all of Free and Ingenuous Minds and in the most Profligate and Brutish at sometimes 12. God imploys all things to their Proper Ends and Uses in This World and I see no cause to doubt but he will do so in the Other He Made the Sun to heat warm and enlighten the World and so he Vses and Imploys it He Made the Earth that it might bring forth Grass and Trees and Fruits for the Vse of Man and Beast And to that end he Hath and Doth imploy it And the like may be said and is Abundantly visible in All the Works of his Hands they All serve the Ends and Purposes to which by their Nature and Constitution they are fitted and prepared 13. The Humane Soul is not only adapted to the Vse of Knowing but it hath a very Vigorous and Passionate Desire after it and that Desire is Natural and Essential to it Hunger and Thirst are not More Natural to our Bodies in their present State and Constitution than the Desire of Knowledge is unto our Minds and they can no more put off the One than the Other 14. This Desire will not only be Continued but Perfected Enlarged and Increased in the Paradise of God It will receive no Abatement much less an Annihilation There but it will become much more eager sharp and earnest 'T is very much dead in all Men though not equally here Below But it proceeds from the Sinful Depravations and Diseases of the Soul when it shall return to Health and Soundness that Dsiere will Revive and become Vigorous Brisk and Active In Bodily Diseases the Appetites of Hunger and Thirst do sometimes Languish and almost Dye but when Health returns those Appetites return with it and become as Quick and Pressing as ever 15. This Inclination must have Satisfaction or else Heaven will be Mans Torment not his Happiness Eager Appetites without Suitable Objects for their Satisfaction are an Insupportable Misery and peradventure they may be much of the Torment of the Damned Whether that be so yea or no I will not determine But sure I am and the Experience of all Mankind confirms it that Vnsatisfied Desires are a great Vexation and Anguish They are like Hunger and Thirst where there is no Bread or Water or any Congruous Object to Quiet or take off their Fury and their Rage 16. Nothing can satisfie This Appetite and Desire but such things as are Agreeable unto it Desires of Knowledge must be satisfied by Intelligible Objects as that of Seeing is quieted with things Visible and Congruous to the Visive Faculty and that of Hearing with things Audible and Analogous to that Sense So that of Knowing is appeased by Objects Agreeable thereunto 17. The Soul of Man is an Active Essence We find it so Here and 't is more than probable 't will be so Hereafter When 't is loosened from this gross and heavy Body 't will be More active and and not Less And yet even Here some think 't is Never Idle when the Body Rests the Mind is Imployed as is Obvious in our Dreams And though we have no Memory of them yet it may well be thought that we never sleep without them 18. An Active Essence without Objects whereon to imploy its Faculties and Powers must needs be a very Great Burthen to it self Hence it is that Here below we are so Impatient of Idleness and that 't is so burdensom to Men to have Nothing to do nothing almost being more Irksome and Intolerable And thence Men. that are not pressed by Necessity to use Bodily Labours nor have no great Taste or Savour in Reading and Meditation have invented Play and Divertisements to exercise the Active Powers of
the Moon be an Habitable World as it is not altogether Improbable I see no reason why we may not think the same of all the other Luminous Bodies that are placed in the Expanded Heavens If that Planet be a World much like our Earth the Sun may be a World something advanced above it in Lustre and in Glory And the Inhabitants thereof may be Illustrious in proportion to their Countrey and excel Us who live upon This Earth as much as the Lustre and Brightness of the One surmounts the Shadows and Darkness of the Other 24. And the Blessed being of a Very Active Nature and capable of moving with Velocity and Swiftness may step from Star to Star and Intuitively observe what-ever is Wonderful and Worthy of Observation there They may observe what-ever in them is fit to Exalt the Honour and Advance the Praâ—â—ens of their Great Creatour And it needs not to be doubted but they will find Sufficient Reasons and Occasions for it There is something Great in all the Works of God upon the Surface of this Earth and in the Seas and Rivers that run within the Banks and Shores thereof And surely the more Illustrious Worlds and Parts of the Creation will produce things vastly Greater than any that are found Here below and more Worthy of Admiration 25. But no Part of the Vniverse will produce things so Great as will the Court of Heaven There shall we see and behold the Bravest the most Stately and most Magnificent Effects of the Divine Power Wisdom and Goodness And how Great is the Extent of that Glorious Palace and what great Variety of Beings may be found There who can determine If the Earth compared with the Heavens be but a Point the Heavens compared with the Heaven of Heavens may be much more so the Extent thereof may be almost Infinite And though there should be no Other Worlds either Past Present or to Come yet even That alone might employ Eternal Ages to view and behold the Wonders and the Glories of it 26. There may be various Kinds of Rational and Intellectual Essences or Beings There may be Pure Minds and such as are utterly Immaterial and there may be Several Gradual Differences amongst them There may be Angels Incorporate and furnished with Material Organs much of the same Nature with those where-with the Blessed will be endued at the Resurrection And among these there may be very many Gradations and Modal Differences and Distinctions and among the Saints the Gradual Differences may be very great and many and so may be the Reasons of them And all these will lie open to our View and Meditation 27. What Kinds of Beings may be designed and prepared for the Ornament of the New Jerusalem that City of the Living God I cannot say or determine But forasmuch as there are many things Here below which besides the Illustration of the Divine Perfections seem to be of little or no use unless it be to Embellish and Adorn the World and render it Pleasant to our View so 't is probable that in the House and Kingdom of God many things may be placed There to make it Beautiful and Pleasant to those that shall be thought Worthy of Admission Thither And these Beings may be of Several Kinds and Natures and may minister Matter to our Contemplation as well as Pleasure to the Bodily Senses where-withall we shall be endued There 28. But the most Amazing Wonder that will be proposed to the Intuition and Contemplation of the Blessed will be our Lord Christ Jesus He that was sometimes the most Despised of Mortal Men is There the Prince of the Kings of the Earth He that was the Contempt of Men is the Object even of Angel's Admiration He that sometimes stood before the Tribunal of Pontius Pilate is already Appointed Judge of the Living and the Dead and all must come before his Judgment-Seat and receive their Sentence from Him And how great the Excellencies and Perfections of this Jesus are who will undertake to Characterize or Describe 29. A God indeed in the Humane Nature He cannot be but certainly He is and will remain the most Glorious and Resplendent Image of God in the Whole Creation He had never been Exalted far above all Principalities and Powers Angels and Authorities had never been made Subject to Him if He had not greatly surpassed them in his Personal and Essential Perfections and Advantages His Power Wisdom and Goodness his Presence his Providence his Government and Empire is much more Large and Perfect than that of any other Created Essence And therefore He hath obtained a more Excellent Name than any of them and is advanced and set before them 30. Of this Jesus the Blessed will have a present Intuition not only in his Personal but Politick Capacity They will behold him as Head of Saints and Angels the Captain-General of all the Hosts of Heaven the most Illustrious Being that presides over them and under the Pure Deity Directs and Governs them and Communicates Vital Influences unto them For although the Scripture doth assure us That the Work of Man's Restauration and Salvation beign accomplished He shall Give up the Kingdom to God the Father yet I do conceive that He will always retain the Honour and Title of the Saviour and Redeemer of Men and that as the Sun doth Illustrate this Inferiour World so that Son of Righteousness will Illustrate the Supreme and Heavenly Jerusalem The Lamb is the Light of it And the Blessed shall Eternally Behold and Dwell in his Light to their incredible Pleasure and Satisfaction But of the â—ncrease of Knowledge by Intuition I have said enough and therefore here I 'le put a Period to This Chapter CHAP. V. Of the Increase of Knowledge by Revelation 1. WHen God made Man he endued him with Reasonable Faculties and made him capable of Moral Government He was able to understand his Duty and by the Prospect of Rewards and Punishments he could chuse the Observance and refuse the Neglect and Contempt thereof He was able to See and Discern the Meaning and Importance of the Divine Commandments and he could upon consideration of its Advantages chuse Obedience and on the Prevision of its Mischiefs refuse Disobedience and Sin 2. The Laws by which God intended to Govern Mankind were written in the Nature of Things and from thence they were to derive the Knowledge of them The several Beings in the World considered with Relation to God and one Another are the Signs of the Divine Will and Divine Laws are nothing else but the Significations of God's Will concerning Man's Duty Reward and Punishment and the Whole Creation at least as far as Man is capable of observing it are the Revealing Signs thereof 3. God did not Reveal all his Will concerning Man's Duty even whil'st Innocent in the Nature of Things but some Part of it He made known even then by Supernatural Revelation Such was the Prohibition of Eating of the Fruit of the
that forbids such Opinions or Apprehensions Though it Teaches no such Doctrine nor do I affirm it Certainly True or Necessary yet I find not any thing in the Contents thereof which is Opposite unto it or Inconsistent with it I do not affirm There shall be a Succession of Worlds equally Wicked with This and consequently such as shall need a Saviour and Redeemer But what hinders that there may not be a World yea Many Worlds that may retain Their Primitive Integrity and State and that God may Govern them by Natural and Revealed Laws since Adam whil'st Innocent was so Governed and after such a Part of Time as shall seem good to the Pleasure of his Will remove the Inhabitants thereof to Better and more Glorious Habitations 23. Yea let me add That I am not very sure that God Governs the Saints and Angels in Heaven by no other but Natural Laws The Service the they do to God Almighty either in the Protecting of Kingdoms Churches and Particular Persons or in Punishing his Enemies may in my Apprehension by performed in Obedience to some Positive and Particular Commands and Revelations For although Rewards and Punishments be of the Law of Nature yet the Time and of Measure them is not so What Law of Nature doth determine when and in what Degree and Measure the Enemies of God and of his People shall be Punished and Chastised What Law of Nature doth appoint when Kingdoms and Churches shall be protected or delivered out of the Hands of their Oppressors and such as seek their Ruine These things seem to me to depend on the Wisdom and Will of God and that there is no Possibility of coming to the Knowledge of them but by Immediate Revelation 24. And if in Particular Instantaneous Cases they are Governed by Revealed Laws what hinders but that in some other Cases they may be Governed by them through the vast Durations of Eternity Who knows but that there may be some Positive Institutions by which they may worship God and exalt his Praise And who ean tell how Various and Great may be the Number of them Or whether some of them may not be Temporary and Expire and others Succeed them of new Appointment and Command 25. If Innocent Adam were Governed by both Natural and Revealed Laws if it be not altogether improbable that the Blessed Saints and Angels are so Governed it cannot fairly be doubted but that the Inhabitants of Other Worlds may receive from God Both sorts of Laws for their Direction and Conduct and that the Knowledge of them that are Supernatural may Increase and Advance the Vnderstandings of the Blessed It being altogether as possible that they may arrive at the Knowledge of them as it is that the Angels of Heaven should partake in the Knowledge of the Christian Mysteries and Laws of which we are assured from the Sacred Volumes 26. Whether all that I have said on this Subject will render it probable that the Knowledge of the Blessed may Increase Eternally by Revelation I leave to the Judgment of the Reader I have suggested such Probabilities as occurred to my Thoughts Those that shall peruse them may Accept or Refuse them as they shall judge convenient or as they please CHAP. VI. Of the Increase of Knowledge by Historical Narration or Tradition 1. THat the Holy Saints and Angels are capable of Communicating their Thoughts and Sentiments to each other is not doubted by Divines nor is there any reason for it Man is a Sociable Creature 'T is a Property that seems to be Essential unto him And we have reason to think the like of the Holy Angels They are Vnderstanding Beings as well as Men and I believe they are endowed with the same Essential Properties with them And that Sociableness is as agreeable to the Angelical as to the Humane Nature and from both Equally inseparable 2. How they do Communicate with each other I do not Vnderstand nor peradventure Any Man living on the Face of this Earth He that will tell you how they do it must intimately understand the Nature of Spirits and whether they be Imbodied yea or no and what is the Nature of those Bodies and Vehicles in which they lodge or dwell But these are such things that no Man of Sound Sense can pretend unto And by certain Consequence no Man doth know the Manner how Saints and Angels do mutually Converse together and Entertain each other For whil'st we are ignorant of the Nature of things we must needs be ignorant How they produce their Effects We are very much ignorant of the Nature of our Food and Physick and therefore can't tell how they do perform their Operations on our Bodies Physicians are not yet agreed whether Purgatives do operate by Pulsion or Traction or meerly by Provoking Nature and they are as little agreed how our Meat and Drink are Digested Distributed and Turned into Blood and Humours and also into Flesh and Bones 3. Though we know not How very many things are done yet we are much assured that they Are. We know not How a Tree grows from a Seed nor a Curious Variegated Flower from a Slip that seems Simple and without any Diversity We can't tell How Beasts and Fishes are Formed nor how Vermine are Bred in a Carkass nor how Froggs are made of Spawn or the Mudd and Slime of the River Nile The Truth and Existence of these things is Vndeniable but How they are Made and Generated no Man is able to explain 4. If many things be Really Existent the Manner of whose Existence we can give no Fair Account of I see nothing that can reasonably hinder us from granting that Saints and Angels do Converse together and Communicate their Knowledge and Conceptions to each other ' This certain that They do many other things which we cannot Vnderstand or Comprehend They do or at least have often Appeared in Humane Shape and Conversed with Men. Whether they have become Visible by forming unto themselves Extemporate Bodies of the Matter of the Air and other Elements or whether they have condensed their Own Proper Bodies and made them Visible by Conspissating the Matter of them who can inform us Granting either of these Suppositions who can teach us how they do effect it These are Inquiries that the Wisest cannot Answer these are Problems that they cannot reach or fathome 5. Supposing then that Saints and Angels can Communicate their Knowledge I do affirm That the Knowledge of the Blessed may be very greatly Increased thereby For if there be or have been Other Worlds Existent besides This in which we live the Blessed may receive Information concerning them by and from the Angels of Heaven that have superintended them and by the Appointment of God taken Cognizance of their Affairs For it must not be doubted but that God exercises a particular Care and Providence over all the Works of his Hands and 't is as likely that he should make the Holy Angels the Instruments and
ought that I know And from this Diversity may proceed very great Difference in their Powers Capacities and Perfections the Knowledge whereof may Increase perhaps to all Durations 13. The Science of Theology will not only Continue but be very much Inlarged Much more of God will be Revealed in the Future State than ever was Revealed in This and our Faculties will be much more Capable of considering and understanding those Discoveries and Revelations I do not doubt but that Heaven will present to the Blessed far more Illustrious Demonstrations of the Divine Perfections than any that have been made here below The Creation Providence and Word of God I do acknowledge have unfolded much of God yet I do believe that Heaven will discover Much more For Here we See through a Glass darkly but there Face to Face Here we see Him very Obscurely and Imperfectly but There we shall see Him as He is And as the Revelations of Him will be more Clear and Full so will our Minds be More Capable of receiving and entertaining them 14. And who can guess what Abysses there may be in the Theology of the Blessed Who can imagine what may be the Treasures thereof And what Time may be spent to Exhaust them And whether after Millions of Ages there may not remain much Vnexhausted The Inquiries that Job makes Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty to Perfection It is as high as Heaven What canst thou do Deeper than Hell What canst thou know The Measure thereof is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea may be as truly made in the Other World as in This And in my Apprehension the Perfections of God and the Knowledge and Theology of them are truly Inexhaustible in both 15. The Mysteries of the Sacred Trinity and Personal Vnion may afford Subject and Matter for Eternal Contemplations and it may be there may be those Depths in them which the Blessed may never be able to Fathome or Comprehend They are such things as in This World we cannot Vnderstand our Reason draws back at the Contemplation of them And had we not some Reverence for the Holy Scriptures that do Reveal and Propose them we should utterly refuse All Assent unto them They are Too Bigg for our Minds in the Present State and therefore we live under some Temptation to reject them and were we not awed by the Word of God we should certainly do it In the Other World these things will be more Clearly revealed and more fully Vnderstood But whether there be not something which after all Search and Inquiry will remain Vnknown even to the Blessed themselves I think very Probable if not absolutely Certain 16. The Perfections of the Person of our Saviour I mean of his Humane Nature are without all scruple exceeding Great and Large and there is not an Essence unless God himself Equal with it much less Superiour to it in the whole Vniverse of Beings The shining Lustre of his Body with the several Perfections of it will be exceeding Great but the Powers Excellencies and Capacities of his Soul will be much more Stupendious Admirable and Amazing And I see no reason why the Blessed may not obtain the Knowledge of them and other things before-mentioned by Ratiocination Why may not much of the Knowledge that they have there both of Bodies and Spirits be gotten by Inference and Deduction Why may they not argue from those things that are Plain to those that are Dark Why may they not argue from Causes to their Effects and from Effects to their Causes too 17. Here 't is the ordinary Method of proceeding Men argue from the Fabrick of Heaven and Earth and the several Creatures in it the Certainty of a First Cause of Infinâ—te Power Wisdom and Goodness and from the Immateriality of the Divine Essence its Incorruptibility and from its Spirituality its Simplicity with sundry other Inferences of like Nature And why the Blessed may not do the Same I cannot Vnderstand if their Reasonable Faculties Continue as Surely they do the Use of them may Continue If it be consistent with the Glory and Happiness of Heaven to Injoy them I see no Valid Reason why the Vse and Exercise of them may not consist with it 18. What hinders but that there may be such Effects and Images of a Trinity in Vnity and of an Hypostatical Vnion as may much Reveal the Nature of those Mysteries and make the Inference as Necessary and Easie as from an Effect to a Cause or from a Copy to an Original Some Images of them we do observe here In the Humane Mind there is a Trinity of Essential Principles and yet but One Soul In Man the Body and Soul do constitute but One Person But 't is not improbable but there may be more Perspicuous Images of them there and that those that here we do observe will be More fully understood And in consequence thereunto these Mysteries may be as Evident to the Blessed as that the Whole is bigger than any Part and that all the Parts taken together are equal to the Whole I do not mean they shall Fully understand them but they shall Clearly understand them and to the Satisfaction and Quiet of their Souls 19. The Reconcileableness of the Infallibility of God's Will with the Liberty of Man's is an Insuperable Difficulty Now but perchance it may be none Then The Blessed may possibly see and understand those Principles Premises and Suppositions from whence they may be easily deduced without any Inconsistency or Opposition The Difficulty of reconciling these things proceeds from our Ignorance of the Nature of God and Man and the Influence that the One and the Other hath upon Humane Actions Did we know what God and what Man is and what are the Operations Peculiar to One and the Other in the producing those Effects that are ascribed to Men probably much or all of this Difficulty would Disappear Now 't is not questioned but that the Blessed will very much Vnderstand all these and from them will argue and infer an easie and obvious Agreement between them 20. The Power Wisdom and Goodness of God are Infinite they are Oceans without either Bank or Bottom if I may so express it His Power is Omnipotent God can accomplish whatsoever he pleases No Opposition can be made to his Mighty Arm. If he will work none can hinder it His Wisdom is unsearchable the Depths thereof are unfathomable no Created Being can find them out unto Perfection His Goodness is of very vast Extension Who can take the just Measures of it 'T is wider than the Earth larger than the great Abyss yea more extensive than the Poles of Heaven And what vast Numbers of Inferences and Conclusions may be made from the Consideration of them How far may they be Propagated and where will they determine 21. From the Knowledg of the Divine Nature and Attributes the Blessed may 't is like infer and deduce the
Connexion among Beings and One follows upon and oftentimes derives from Another 't is very probable that such will be the Knowledge of them and that the Manner of understanding them will be such as is their Manner of Being i. e. One Thing will be inferred and deduced from Another which is an Exercise of the Discursive Faculty Besides if any thing be known by its Effects of which I think there is no doubt in the Future World there must be the Use of Ratiocination For from the Nature and Qualities of the Effects to determine the Nature and Properties of the Cause is to reason and argue from what is Obvious and Easie to that which is Dark and Difficult 29. Again Is it worthy or doth it become a Rational Creature to act or do any thing for which he can give no Account Is it congruous and decorous for Intellectual Essences to act like Natural Agents or like Brutes Such is their Manner of acting if they act without Ratiocination and Discourse Is that Obedience and Worship Worthy of God that is Irrational and performed without any Previous Exercise of the Reasonable Faculty Or is it possible that Worship Love and Obedience can be performed without it Is that Worship or Love is that Service or Obedience that hath no Consideration of the Excellency Goodness or Authority of God as the Cause and Foundation of it I know not what it may Seem or Appear to others but I must acknowledge I am of Contrary Apprehensions and do think that all Obedience and Love to God proceeds from Ratiocination and consequently that 't is of Use for the Increase of Knowledge as well as for the producing of Love and Obedience in the Other World 30. I have hitherunto supposed a Multiplicity of Worlds for the making an Eternal Increase of Knowledge among the Blessed a thing probable and such as hath some Appearance of Truth in it And I do confess I cannot possibly reconcile my Mind to an Opinion That from all Eternity nothing was made or produced by God till the Present World the Annals of whose Birth and Duration are left us by Moses and other Inspired Authors and since them by Others and the whole Period of its Continuation amounts not to Six Thousand Years 31. Nevertheless I will here add That I know not whether there be any Need of it Peradventure the History and Affairs of This VVorld together with the great Variety of Beings that are in it and that of the Kingdom of Heaven and the more Illustrious Creatures that are There may minister Matter for Eternal Contemplation and an Increase of Knowledge thereby For how Many and Numerous they are and what vast Systems of Science may be gathered from them who is able to inform us If the Conclusions that we make from some Few Principles in this State of Darkness and Imperfection be so Numerous and almost Infinite what may they be in that State of Light and very Great Perfection 32. For as I think it Probable that the Knowledge and Happiness of the Blessed is Progressive so I do easily and willingly grant that it Receives very great Advantage and Increase immediately upon their Admission into the Kingdom of Heaven And I do farther grant that their Powers and Capacities will be very much Enlarged and Perfected yea and made more Able and fit for Ratiocination They will much more Easily make Inferences from Principles and Premises than they would do as long as they were in this VVeak and Imperfect State and consequently enlarge the Bounds and Extent of Science exceedingly And how far they may be able to extend them I cannot conjecture but I think it may be done Indefinitely if not Eternally 33. These things I have suggested to make it fairly Probable that the Knowledge of the Blessed in the Future State may Increase by Ratiocination What Force or Weight there may be in them I must leave to the Judgment of the Reader and here Conclude This Chapter CHAP. VIII Objections against the Doctrine delivered in the Precedent Discourses briefly Answered 1. I Am not ignorant that the Opinion that I have asserted in the preceding Discourses is liable to sundry Objections And 't is no wonder for there is almost nothing in any Part of Science either Natural or Theological which hath not been assaulted by them Some Men have made Objections against the Being and Providence of God others against the Possibility of Motion and the Certainty of Sense And if Objections have been made against things so Plain to all the Reason and Sense of the World it may not be expected that a thing so much in the Dark as what I have discoursed should be Vtterly Free from them This Chapter therefore shall be imployed in making some Answer to them 2. 1. Object The Holy Scriptures speak of the Future State as a State of Great and Present Perfection and all Divines when they make mention of it represent it as a Glorious and Perfect State To which no Addition can be made but is at its utmost Exaltation as soon as ever we be admitted into it To this Objection I have sundry things to Answer 3. 1. I do easily grant that some yea many Divines may have spoken very much to the Sense of this Objection But among Protestants especially those that are of Free Judgments 't is not the Dogmatical Assertion of Divines but the Evidence and Proof of what they do affirm that doth Convince and make their Doctrine Worthy of Credit and Belief So that unless they have Proved as well as Asserted the Doctrine of this Objection I am not obliged to believe or give Assent unto it 4. 2. But I would distinguish of Perfection There is an Absolute and there is a Relative Perfection The Saints of God under the Gospel-Dispensation are Perfect in a Relative Sense and compared with those that lived under the Law and so are Grown Christians compared with those that are Weak and as the Apostle expresses it Babes in Christ And in one of these Comparative Senses must the word Perfect be meant 1 Cor. 2.6 Howbeit we speak Wisdom among them that are Perfect In an absolute Sense neither Christians compared with Jews nor Strong Christians compared with Weak ones are Perfect but in a Relative Sense they are so And so the Blessed as soon as they are admitted the Gates of the Kingdom of Heaven are Perfect in a Relative Sense and in comparison of those they have left Behind them in This World and of what they themselves were when they dwelt Here below And in this Relative Sense must we understand the word Perfect Heb. 12.23 And to the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect and others of like importance 5. 3. Perfection may be considered with Respect to Sin and it may be considered with Respect to all Attainable Excellencies that Humane Nature or Mankind are capable of In the first Sense the Blessed are Perfect as soon as they get to Heaven they are
and engraven upon it The First kind of Memory I think will be of Little or No Vse in this Case For though it should be granted that it should retain the Ideas of things There yet forasmuch as there is no Counterpart of them in the Things themselves all being obliterated by the Death and Dissolution of the Body and not restored by the Resurrection I do not see how the Blessed can thereby take any Cognizance or Knowledge of Each Other but the Intellectual Memory will be of Great Use in this Affair We shall There remember that we were born of Such and Such Parents and received Such and Such Instructions from them and lived under the Teaching of Such and Such Preachers and in the Neighbourhood and Society of Such Persons Friends and Acquaintance with many other things And the mention of any of them in the Mutual Society and Conversation of the Blessed will bring them to the Personal Knowledge of each other 19. But besides this Way of Knowing each other there may be several Other Ways of obtaining it such as the Tradition of Angels and Blessed Spirits they may possibly Inform such as shall come After them to the Kingdom of Heaven who have in the times Preceding been admitted Thither and where are their Proper Mansions and Places of Abode and Residence and perhaps Some Knowledge of each other may be impressed upon the Minds of the Blessed by Inspiration 20. But forasmuch as the Souls of the Blessed are carried hence and by the Ministration of Angels removed to Heaven and placed in Mansions There peradventure by the Will of God those that have been allyed either by Nature Neighbourhood or Conversation may be placed near together in That House of God and then a Little Discourse may Soon bring them to the Knowledge of each other or the Angels may openly and in the Presence of All declare Who they have brought Thither and joyned to their Society and Number 21. One thing more I will add to what I have already inferred from the Precedent Discourse Eternity will unfold all the Mysteries and Wonders of Divine Providence There are Many and great Labyrinths now in it and we cannot Search them out nor give any Account thereof But Eternity will unvail them and set them Open and Plain before us The Wisdom Holiness Justice Goodness and Truth of God will be Conspicuous in every thing He hath done All Objections will be Satisfied and 't will Appear that there was nothing of Iniquity or Vnrighteousness in any of them 22. What Troubled us to see and indure will be Pleasant to remember when we have understook the Reasons of it 'T was Grievous to us to have the Wicked prosper and the Righteous suffer by their Hands 'T was an Affliction to us to behold the Church of God under Persecution and the Enemies thereof bringing their Wicked Devices to pass But the Memory of these things will be Grateful when we shall be gloriously instructed in the Reasons and Effects of them 23. And thus I have said many things in favour of the Question that in the Beginning I undertood to defend But I am not Dogmatical in what I have said nor shall I be offended with any Man that is of Other Apprehensions In things of This Nature I am content that Men think as they please or according as their Reason shall direct them which I am sure is Sufficiently various I have taken the Liberty to suggest my Own Thoughts on this Subject and I have no desire to retrench to Other Men the Liberty of Theirs If any Man shall propose any thing Better either in favour of this Opinion or in Confutation of it it shall be Equally acceptable to me An Appendix 1. SInce what I have said in the Fourth Chapter concerning the Extensiveness of the Presence of Christ's Humane Nature looks like a Paradox and 't is possible that those that read it may be startled I shall add a few Paragraphs to a farther Explication of my Mind about it 2. 'T is certain that Prayers and Supplications have been made to Christ Jesus in all Ages of the Christian Church Christians have addressed themselves to Christ both in their Private and Publick Devotions In all their Needs and Wants they have applied themselves to Him 3. 'T is undeniable that the Holy Scriptures do give us very great Incouragement to pray before Him and make known our Requests unto Him They assure us that He is a Merciful High Priest and such a One As is touched with the Feeling of our Infirmities having been in all Points tempted as we are and that therefore we may come boldly to the Throne of Grace to obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in time of need Heb. 4.14 15. 4. He himself hath promised to hear the Prayers that we make before Him Whatsoever you shall ask in my Name that will I do and if you ask any thing in my Name I will do it Joh. 14.13 14. 5. 'T was the Humane Nature of our Lord Jesus that was Tempted in all things as we are and is therefore compassionate and hath a Sense and Feeling of our Infirmities The Divine Nature is Merciful but not because it was In all things Tempted as we are for it is not capable of Temptations 'T is only the Humane Nature that was tempted and in that Sense can be said to be Merciful 6. Therefore the Humane Nature of Christ Jesus nath Knowledge of our Prayers Wants and Temptations How else is He touched with a Feeling of our Infirmities How else doth He Minister Grace to help in time of need Or can these things be done without any Knowledge of our State our Needs or our Supplications 7. Either the Humane Nature of our Saviour hath an Immediate Knowledge of these things or else it partakes in the Knowledge of them by a Communication from the Divine Nature If it be said That the Humane Nature hath an Immediate Knowledge of them I infer from thence the Extensiveness of Christ 's Presence For that He should know them Immediately without a large and diffusive Presence is I think impossible and more than is asserted of the Deity it self the Omniscience and Vniversal Providence of God being founded in the Immensity and Vnboundedness of His Presence 8. If it be said That the Knowledge of our Infirmities and Prayers is communicated to the Humane Nature of our Saviour by the Divine I do not understand how Christ Jesus is capable of that Knowledge unless his Essence and consequently his Presence be of Large and Extensive Nature Quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis The Hills cannot be weighed in Scales nor the Mountains in a Pair of Ballances the Dust of the Earth cannot be comprehended in a Measure nor the Waters in the Hollow of a Man's Hand Nor can a Created Understanding and such is that of the Humane Nature in Christ Jesus comprehend all the Needs Wants and Infirmities of Christians by whatsoever