Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A41090
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The eternal joys of God's presence a sermon / preach'd at the Temple Church upon All Saints Day by Henry Felton.
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Felton, Henry, 1656-1701.
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1699
(1699)
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Wing F664; ESTC R28626
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12,054
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31
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of Honour in Honour a want of Strength in Strength a want of Beauty in Beauty a want of Virtue in Virtue a want of Perfection But suppose all these or more than all these were united in one Person yet there is one thing wanting that makes them imperfect and unsatisfying and that is the want of Perpetuity and Eternity Now all Good things meet in God And so firm and immutable is all Good in him that it cannot be server'd from him so Eternal that even Eternity it self can never waste or wear out When Man's Heart therefore shall be enlarg'd to comprehend God and enjoy him then shall he have all Good whatsoever and a perfect Happiness made sure to him for all Eternity Our Reason then must conclude thus much That either Man hath no Fulness of Pleasure or of necessity this must be it To enjoy the Beatifical Vision or Presence of God Besides we may observe in Nature that the Rest of all things is no where else but in their proper place when they have attained to the Center of their Motion they rest and move no farther as if they were fully satisfied Now as gross and massy Bodies whose proper Motion is to descend have their Center below i. e. the Earth So pure and immaterial Spirits such as the Soul of Man is whose proper Motion is to ascend have their Center above which is God Beyond this Center they cannot move in this they rest When therefore the Souls and Spirits of Men shall have attained unto God and shall adhere and cleave unto him then and not elsewhere shall they have perfect Rest and full Contentment To this purpose is the Common but Excellent Saying of St. Austin Fecisti nos ad Te Domine inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in Te Thou hast made us O Lord for thy self and therefore our heart is never lodged at rest until it come to Thee and rest in Thee Since therefore Reason and Revelation Philosophy and Scripture do so well agree in establishing this great Fundamental Article of our Faith I need not trouble you or my self with any farther Proofs of it but shall briefly enquire what these Full Joys are and wherein they do consist In doing this I shall not pretend to give you an exact Idea or Description of them that 's a Task and Province fit only for an Angel or a glorified Spirit All I aim at is to give you such an account of them as God hath thought fit to impart to us Mortals in the Scripture which though it falls short of the Things themselves yet is doubtless the best and the utmost that our narrow Capacities can bear but such as may enflame our highest Endeavours after the Enjoyment of them and such as will satisfy our most extravagant Desires The Scripture leadeth us Two ways to some kind of Comprehension of our Future State of Happiness Per fiam Negationis per viam Eminentiae as the Schoolmen speak By the way of Negation and by the way of Eminence By the way of Negation i. e. by denying all such things to be in our Future State of Happiness which we find any ways troublesome or burthensome to us Thus they speak plainly That there shall be no Hunger or Thirst Rev. 7. 16. That there shall be no more Sorrow nor Tears God shall wipe away all tears v. 17. That there shall be no more Corruption no Mortality For this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality 1 Cor. 15. That there shall be no Power of a second Death Rev. 20. 6. No Death no Crying no Sorrowing no Pain shall accompany us in our Future State of Happiness Here like little Ants we crawl and creep up and down this Mole-hill of Earth each of us with our Burthen on our Shoulders but there all our Burthens shall be taken off Here Hunger and Thirst and Provision for these is one man's Burthen Here Sickness and Craziness Gout or Stone is another man's Burthen but there all these things shall be done away Here unruly Lust is another man's Burthen but there the Fuel and Life of it shall fail Here Sin and Death are the common Burthens of all Mankind but at God's Right hand there shall neither be Sin nor Death nor Fear of either In a word whatsoever here doth pain perplex hinder or any way discontent or vex us shall in the State of Full Joys be removed far from us This is one way by which the Scripture teacheth us to know something of our Future Happiness The other is by way of Eminence i. e. by comparing our Blessed State to the most eminent and glorious Things which by Sight or Experience we have ever known Thus to excite our Desires and Longings after it the Scripture sets it out to us by such glorious Metaphors as these Sometimes the Metaphor of shining like the Sun is made use of Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Matt. 13. Sometimes the Metaphor of a Kingdom Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you Matt. 25. Sometimes that of a Crown You shall receive a crown of glory 1 Pet. 5. Of sitting upon a Throne Ye also shall shall sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel Matt. 19. Of a Marriage-Feast Blessed are they that are call'd to the Marriage-supper of the Lamb Rev. 19. These are glorious Similitudes indeed and as expressive of the thing as our weak Natures are capable of For the greatest visible Brightness in Heaven is the shine of the Sun the greatest Lustre on Earth is the Honour of a Kingdom the Royalest Ornament of a King is his Crown the most Majestical Seat of a Crowned Head is his Throne the most exquisite Rejoycings are commonly at King's Marriage-Feasts Thus Heaven and our Future Joys are represented to us by such things as are in greatest Esteem and thought most desirable by us That our weak Understandings might raise themselves from thence to some high Thoughts of our future Perfection But after all we must own they are but poor and faint Resemblances of those Full Joys and Eternal Pleasures which are at God's Right hand Whereas then the greatest Brightness of Heaven and the highest Lustre of Glory Honour Majesty Mirth and Joy that is on Earth stand but as Shadows in Scripture to set forth the Eternal Pleasures of Heaven how shou'd we poor Mortals be able to conceive them rightly or express them fully St. Austin in one of his Epistles tells us That on the very day St. Jerom died he being in his Study with Pen Ink and Paper about to write to him concerning the Joys of Heaven suddenly he saw a Light breaking into his Study and this Voice he thought he heard O Austin what dost thou dost thou think to put the vast Sea into a small Vessel When the Heavens shall cease from their continued Motion then shalt thou be