they deserve and yet are insensible of it and unthankful for it but he that is least in the Kingdom of God knows so much happiness in that state that he neither aspires to be happier nor envies those that are The same Light that makes happy le ts them see it and as the blind eye enjoys not the comfort of the day but is benighted at Noon and in utter darkness when the Sun shines clearest So the Glory of God which is the Light of Heaven would be no Joy to those that live within its shine if they did not see the illustrious splendor of it But the Saints in Light are happy so happy that they know it and own it and ever praise and glorify the Father Son and Holy Ghost their blessed Benefactors for it Secondly The Blessed in Heaven know one another Whether personally or no hath been matter of dispute though our Saviour seems to have determin'd it telling the Jews Luk. 13.28 That they should see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and what is there in reason that should hinder it Why may not Abraham and Isaac once so nearly related be again acquainted and with Joy repeat the History of the intended Sacrifice Why may not Moses and Aaron meet and discourse their old Adventures Why may not the Blessed Apostles and Holy Martyrs be known to one another and entertain themselves with gladsome relations of what they did and what they suffer'd together Why may not Friends that lived like brethren in the Lord that help't forward each others Salvation whose souls were mutually dear who were wont to pray and advise and serve God together and who went to Heaven as it were hand in hand why I say may not they embrace and return each other thanks for those Friendly and Christian Offices Holy David chear'd up his thoughts after the death of his Child with this Meditation I shall go to him but he shall not return to me 2 Sam. 12.23 Which had been little comfort if he had thought never to have known him more So St. Augustine comforted Italica an afflicted Widow who sadly bewail'd the loss of her Husband assuring her That as one day she saw him with her bodily Eyes but discerned no more then his outward shape and Lineaments so she should see him again and in that sight discern the very thoughts of his heart and be intimate to all his Counsels And that 's the next thing I am going to say That the Saints shall be acquainted with each others Thoughts the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed and every man shall read his Brothers soul There shall be no subtile reservation no laying of heads together no packing of thoughts no clubbing and combining amongst a few to provoke the jealousie of all the rest but every mans breast shall be clear and open as free from reserve as it is from design or guile Now none but such ingenuous Minds as understand the sacred Charms of trusty Friendship the Foundation whereof is laid in Vertue and Goodness are able to conceive what a wonderful ravishment and comfort it is for Saints thus freely and securely to unbosome themselves to one another to think in common to mingle souls and to affect and communicate each others joys But Thirdly The fundamental happiness of the Blessed the glorious Light through which they see and know all things else is the Knowledge of God We know him by Hear-say but they by sight by near intimacy and acquaintance but perpetual correspondence and familiarity they are ever with him and he never withdraws himself from their observation Neither doth he appear to them vail'd and vizarded in Mystery and Darkness but his nature is explained to their understandings And all those difficulties that so much puzzle and intricat our thoughts are made easie and familiar The great problem of the Trinity the eternal generation of the Son of God and the procession of the Holy Spirit such Paradoxes as reason can never unriddle they are abundantly satisfied in Those unsoundable depths which turn the Brain and make some Atheists and others Mad to look into they are made infinitely happy and wise in the discovery of They know that which it is a sin for us to look into and would be our ruin to discover For can a man see God and Live No we must die before we can see him as they do and as he is And certainly this must needs be a prospect infinitely transporting Did you ever see any thing that pleased you Did you ever consider any thing that delighted you Did you ever know any thing that you were glad to know Or had you ever any rude conceptions of any good thing above your understanding that you desired to know more of Why sum up all together and this sight is more than all more then ever was in the Eye or Imagination of man enough to fulfill all our desires and to consummate all our Joyes The Eye shall be satisfied with seeing the Contemplation ravish'd with considering and the unsatiable thirst of the soul after Knowledge shall be gratified in the highest and most unsearchable curiosities In him we shall behold such a sufficiency of all things that we shall desire to know and enjoy no more but shall ever rest satisfi'd and at peace in the fruition not of a force't and artificial contentment but of a plenary satisfaction of all our hopes and wishes For we shall not onely see God but we shall see him ours we shall see our selves in the possession and embraces of him We shall foresee a long Eternity before us in all which we shall never be depriv'd of that Blessed Vision no not for a moment We shall see God and nothing in him but what shall wonderfully please us His Justice shall not startle us when we shall not only have escap't it but shall be rewarded by it His Pow'r sholl not make us tremble for we shall be no otherwise concern'd in it then to consider how happily it shall have brought us thither and how infallibly it shall maintain and eternize our happiness His Omniscience shall not daunt us for we shall be capable of doing nothing we can be asham'd of but the glorious attributes of his Goodness and Mercy of his Love and Tenderness of his Bounty and Good VVill shall ever shine upon us in the greatest manifestations No Frown no Anger no Displeasure shall ever darken or beeloud his serene Countenance unto us And this it is and more then I can tell you to be Saints in Light to see God face to face and to see him as he is For God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all 1 John 1.8 But 2. This Light discovers to the Saints not only the Essence of God but also his Will with undoubted certainty and clearness We shall not only hear his Voice but we shall see his Thoughts and be acquainted with all his Mind The Divine
THE STATE OF BLESSEDNESS By W. W. M. A. and Chaplain to a Person of Honour Published at the request of a Person of Quality LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst and are to be sold at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers Chappel and at the Bible on London Bridge under the Gate 1681. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL Sir John Roberts BARONETT SIR HEre is your Request and I wish that you do not Repent you of it That you do not discover greater failings by deliberate Reading then you did in the transient Hearing of this discourse It hath received some enlargement and alteration since I Preach'd it and not without need for the Truth is the Subject was too great for me and handled in too much hast The Sermon being the immature conception of those few hours which that weeks exercise afforded me Sir I am much afraid it will never answer that esteem you was pleased to express for it but if it may be in any degree serviceable toward your attainment of the Glory it treats of I shall be abundantly honoured and recompensed for thus exposing my self The hopes whereof is the greatest motive and encouragement to this bold attempt of Sir Your most humble and most obliged Servant W. W. COLOSSIANS 1.12 The Saints in Light NOT to trouble you with more then barely my Thoughts upon this expression we shall consider the Saints in a double capacity 1. As they are the sincere members of the Militant Church here on Earth And 2. As they are the glorified members of the Church Triumphant in Heaven The Light in which the Saints Militant dwell and by which they steer and direct their lives is the Gospel of our Saviour whereof Light is a proper Character for it's plainness and perspicuity in all things necessary to be known For the discoveries it hath made of Life and immortality which were either hidden from foregoing ages or but obscurely and mystically revealed for unvailing Moses's face both explaining the designed difficulties of the Law and unfolding it from those thicker shrouds of darkness wherein humane Tradition and the false glosses of the Scribes and Pharisees had enwrapt it For opening to us a prospect and insight into some parts and perfections of Religion and Vertue which Nature and the Law were ignorant of For delivering the History of the Son of God who is that true Essential Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World And lastly For the concurrence sake of the Holy Spirit which always attends the Gospel to enlighten and direct the understandings of those that by a modest and conscientious diligence and enquiry search and labour after saving knowledge But secondly The Saints considered in a higher capacity Triumphant with God in Heaven I purpose for my present Theme as I suppose them to have been design'd by the Apostle in the Words before us Whereupon I shall not attempt to Landskip Heaven or describe that inaccessible light which neither eye hath seen nor the thoughts of man conceiv'd but only sum up to you what God hath reveal'd what the understanding of man is able to think of it and what conclusions we may reasonably gather of our future happiness by reflecting upon our present wants Still keeping within the bounds of the Text and the metaphorical importance of the expression and as 't is counterposed to that figurative darkness which in Scripture we so often read of Light then as 't is used for that State of Blessedness which the Saints enjoy is a term of infinite comprehension and concludes in it all the good all the joy all the perfection that go to the making up of Heaven For 1. Sight is the most delicate and pleasurable of the sences as Solomon testifies Prov. 15.30 The Light of the Eyes rejoyceth the Heart And so the same Author Ecclesiast 11.7 Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the Eyes to behold the Sun That to describe Heaven by Vision intimates it to be a state of exquisite delights and pleasures and those pleasures like light are pure and refined and such undoubtedly they are being purged from the gross mixtures of lust and sensuality and adapted to the chast desires of sanctified Spirits and the Holy appetites of unvitiaed Reason They are quite of another nature then those fordid and unmanly pleasures wherewith the carnal world entertain their degenerous inclinations nay they are abstracted from those defects and imperfections drawn off from those dregs that in this life taint and imbitter the most â—ational delights of the wisest and best of men They are under no restraints of size and measure but infinitely abound they are not checkt by the fears of excess in the enjoyment for they are as innocent as delightful They are not such luscious sweets as satiate the appetites of those that tast them but at the fame time both fulfil their desires and enlarge them these are ingenuous and heroick pleasures consisting in the perfection of Wisedom and Love and Holiness those charms and graces of glorified souls in the vision and inseperable enjoyment of God their cheifest and most desirable object in the acquaintance and fellowship of the glorious company of the Apostles the goodly society of the Prophets the noble Army of Martyrs and of all the bravest Worthies of the World Oh! What an eternal rapture of Joy must it needs prove for these Blessed Souls These dearest Friends to meet in the same place to be concentred in the same happiness to be link'd together in mutual affections and embraces never to know sorrow nor discord nor parting again These are harmless but most charming pleasures pleasures fit to entertain great and generous minds that favour not of Earth and sensuality Pleasures that unconceivably delight and ravish but leave neither guilt nor sting behind them Pleasures so constant and successive that they shall leave no room for a moments unhappiness to interpose and so endless and immortal that they shall never expire nor give place to a worse succession Such vast advantages have they of those foulsome and nauseous Lusts which carnal Dotards rate above their souls and for which they barter them that it is their great perfection to be nothing like them For the joy of Heaven the felicity of Saints is without measure without allay without sin without intermission and without end Even the innocent Pleasures of good men are in this World subject to be baw'kt and daunted and the great care and pains whereby they are first obtained and then secur'd is a mighty abatement to them but it is not the least happiness of Saints that when they dye in the Lord they rest from their Labours Those sick and short lived joys that the world affords are so inconsiderable that the cost and travail of acquiring them generally exceed the purchase But those that the Saints enjoy are as cheap as day-light and come freely in without their seeking all pains and forecasts are there
superseded by the fatisfactory provisions that God hath prepared and the reposed contentment of their own minds They have no hungry importunate appetites to care and purvey for they have no shameful nakedness to cloath and cover they are many degrees above the scorchings of the Sun by day and the pale and chilly influences of the Moon by Night and therefore they need not be at the trouble to raise Fortifications against extremity of Weather to erect Booths and plant gourds to shelter from the heat nor to Build Repair and Alter to guard the tender sences from the injurious Elements quibus sollicitis fervet Respublica curis for at this rate the world purchase and ensure their Health and Ease and Pleasure But the Blessed are advanced to those calm and pleasant Regions where none of those Storms and Troubles none of those straights and extremities none of those changes and uncertainties which discompose this lower world and so busie the hands and thoughts of men to prevent or remove them can make their approaches but they inhabit those mansions of eternal rest that are exempted from all disturbance and uneasiness and even the very fears of any where Fortune and inconstancy have nought to do And what need can there be of their labour or thoughtfulness when there is nothing wanting which they have not neither any wast or decay of what they have but all things they enjoy are like the house in which they dwell made to their hands nay made without hands eternal in the Heavens And then for those spiritual joys which the Righteous in this Life Tast and yet they do but tast them how hardly do they come by them What an host of difficulties must they break through e're they can attain them They must abjure the pleasures of the World sacrifice their most endeared interests stem the current of nature deny the cravings of sence and inclination repent and mourn Watch and Pray conquer Sin and Devils and and strictly tie themselves up to the rigorous observance of all the Laws of God that are so irksome to flesh and blood before they can tell what Peace of Conscience or Joy in the Holy Ghost mean For those Raptures and Transports those sudden flashes of Light and Joy which sometimes possess the minds of bad men who never paid so dear for them are but counterfeit and Enthusiastick But the joyes of Heaven tide themselves into the souls of the Blessed without their trouble and pains to dig a current for them There 's nothing lies in the way betwixt them and their happiness that may either hinder their enjoyment or be troublesome to remove They have no sins to repent of no headstrong Wills to break and subdue no wild unruly Passions to tame no evils no Temptations to Watch and Pray against ne voto opus erit all the difficulties of Religion are there made void and abrogated God abates them all the duties they owe to him but the chearful services of Thanksgiving and Praise and takes them off from all they owe to Men making void Relations and setting Kings and Subjects Fathers and Children Masters and Servants the Rich and Poor the Aged and the Infant upon the same level except the endearing and grateful duties of Love and Union Thus the Saints enjoy their Pleasures in perfect ease and rest and have nothing at all to do either for Souls or Bodies but to be happy But there 's one Thought more in the notion of rest which should not be omitted because it so raises and enlivens the pleasure of Saints and gives them an advantage of happiness above Angels themselves Rest presupposes labour labour that 's past and over and how will the sence and memory of what they did and endur'd add to the blisse they now enjoy What a new Heaven will it be to consider the World they went through and the Hell they escap't How will it enhance their Joy to recount their troubles How will it set off the state of Glory to compare it with the miseries of this sinful World Oh! How will they bless themselves to reflect by what narrow escapes through what hardships and dangers with what struglings and conflicts in what Agonies of despair and hope in what a deluge of sweat and tears with what bitter cries and strong desires their poor souls at last arrived safe into the Bosom of their rest and refuge never to return to know the like again 2. Light and Dominion are sometimes in Scripture promiscuously used for one another thus said Holy David in his last speech when the Spirit of the Lord was upon him He that Ruleth over men Shall be as the Light of the Morning 2 Sam. 23.3 4. So when Jeroboam wrested the ten Tribes out of the hands of Solomon God thus promised for Davids sake Vnto his Son will I give one Tribe that David my Servant may have a Light i. e. one to heir his Throne always before me in Jerusalem 1 Kings 11.36 And on the other hand the Psalmist says That God made great Lights the Sun to Rule by Day and the Moon to Rule by Night And I am sure the state of the Blessed is a State of Dominion and Sovereignty as well as Light whether the expression intend so much or no And therefore it is called a Kingdom and a Crown of Glory and the Saints are entitled Kings and are said to Reign with Christ Kings they are in the Rule and Government of that mighty Empire of their own Minds a Power greater then that of all the Kings of the Earth who are not able to give Laws to any one soul Now the Glory of a Kingdom is Peace to be secure from all invasions and encroachments from abroad and from Rebellions and Mutinies at home and this is the happy condition of Crowned Spirits Devils may roar and envy to see their greatness and glory which they cannot hinder nor deface bad men may spight them but they cannot hurt them Those damned Spirits that plagued and persecuted them in the World may vex and torment themselves and broyl in the heat of their own disappointed malice but though they curse and rage the gates of Hell cannot prevail There 's no access to any thing that 's Evil Lazarus is safe from Dives's revenge There 's a great Gulf the irreversible decree of God between them and that which confirms the Misery of the one secures the peace and happiness of the other And then in Heaven There 's an universal peace throughout the Roval Neighbourhood God is perfectly reconciled to every one of them and they to one another They are all united in an infringible League of eternal Friendship and Alliance and are so nearly concerned for each others VVelfare and Honour and their interests so mingled and combin'd that no one of them could be happy if any one of them should not be so That there 's no fear of a breach among themselves whose mutual dependencies make them infallibly