your mafter hath, that you shall enter into and live Cap. 49. in. It is faid of Saint Fohn, in Rev. 1. that he was on the Lords day in the Spirit; it is not faid that the Spirit was in him, but it is faid, he was in the Spirit; that was as a beginning of the glorious condition of the Saints of God, that they shall be in the Spirit of God, not onely God in them, but they in God, as a drop of water in the Sea, fwallowed up in it. Put a drop of wine into the Sea, it is changed into the nature of the Sea; and fo though we cannot be changed into the Divine Nature, yet we shall be fwallowed up in God,fo as we fhal not any further minde our felves, our own good as a created thing, nor our felves as creatures, but altogether God: our mindes fhall be fo wholly upon God, as if they were wholly emptyed of any created good, and had nothing to do but with an increated good, it shall not will any thing to it felf, nor to any other creature,but all to God, and fo wholly taken upon with God, and upon that ground, because they have that likeness unto God, and partake of the Divine Nature: Here we do good to others, because of their likeness to our felves; But the Saints fhall will all good to God, not because God is like them, but because they are like to God, fo that they fball love themselves for God.

covery

our love

to God.

of

There are three degrees of love to God, loving The difof God for our felves, and loving God for himself, and loving our felves for God: the one is but a natural love, the fecond is a gracious love, the third is a love of the glorified Saints: First, to love God for our felves, fo an hypocrite may love God, becaufe he hath gifts and many bleffings from God,

Cap. 49. this is but a natural love. But grace goes further then nature, that is to love God for himself, though we should never have any thing, yet if we be gracious, we love God for himself: but the glorified Saints go further then grace, and that is to love themselves for God, whereas heretofore we did onely love God for our felves, or for himself, now we come to loye our felves for God and in this kinde of love of God, and enjoyment of our selves in him, the foul fhall be ravished with God, and be in a kinde of extafie eternally.

Spiritual

extafie,

how dif

cerned.

Now there is a twofold extafie,one that is through the weakness of the inferior faculties of the foul; when the minde of a man is taken up about an high object serioully, the other faculties being weak they fail, and fo men come to be in a trance and extafie'; many have had great joy, that they have even dyed with it; the heart hath fo dilated it felf, as the vital fpirits have flown out. But there is an extafie comes from the excellency of the object, that the minde is bufied about, but without any weariness of any inferior faculty. If then we put all together, that hath been faid about God, and the enjoyment of God, and having God to be the portion of the Saints, you fee the principal part of Heaven, and the fpiritual part of the glory of the Saints. Here is faith called for, and why should not our faith go beyond reafon to rectifie reafon, as reafon rectifies fenfe thefe things be high, and great myfteries. When as reafon fays, How can this be? as when Chrift was speaking of the new birth, fays Nicodemus, How can this be? let but faith get as far above reafon, as reafon hath got above fenfe, and we may cafily fee how they can be by fenfe.

If

If a man look up to the Firmament, and fee the Cap.49. Sun fhine, he would think it were little bigger then. a Bufhel, or the like, now reason will tell men otherwife, reason that tells men that this creature, that appears to be but in this bignefs, it is many hundred times bigger then the Earth, now if reason can rectifie fense so far, Why fhould not faith go beyond reafon as far? Now reafon will tell us of much happiness that may be had: We may conceive by reason, by understanding, that the rational creature is capable of abundance of glory: but when you hear things delivered by the word, which are more then reason can conceive, let us get faith to rectifie reafon, and we shall not call thofe truths into queftion, and yet know that our glory will be beyond our faith, as our faith is beyond our reafon.

The great

mistake of Heaven,&

Here you may fee that most people in the world mistake Heaven, and look at Heaven in a fenfual maner: when we fpeak of Heaven, where have we whence it a man or woman that looks at Heaven, in these fpi- arifes. ritual excellencies,about enjoying God in this maner? As the Jews looked for a carnal Meffiah, whofe Kingdom should be in the earth, and whofe glory fhould be external, not confidering the Spiritual Kingdom of Chrift: fo moft in the world look but for a carnal Heaven. It is a good evidence of the truth of grace, if you can look to Heaven with a right eye, in a right maner, to look at the fpiritual part, and fpiritual excellency in Heaven. But that which makes people to call these things in queftion, is; first, because they are not acquainted with God, but are fenfual, their hearts are acquainted

PP

2.

Cap.49. quainted with nothing but sensual and earthly things, and therefore their hearts are not raised to these things, but they look at them as notions; but that foul that is acquainted with God, and the counsels of God, and knows the minde of God, that foul can know how to favor these things, and know the reality of them. Again, another reason why these things are above the reach of moft people,is, becaufe they are not acquainted with the mysteries of the Gofpel,and what in them is revealed concerning mankinde: If we were acquainted with the mysteries of the Gospel, we would not think these things ftrange that are revealed. Thirdly, becaufe mens hearts are not enlarged with Gods image for the prefent, therefore they cannot favor any thing, but that which hath fome favor of the creature. Fourthly, because they are not acquainted with the first-fruits of Heaven; whereas those that are godly, have some beginnings of eternal life wrought in them here, and upon that, these things are not fo ftrange to them, their hearts can close with them,and fuck out abundance of comfort from them. And thus we have finished the fourth thing of the reward, namely, To have God for their portion.

3.

4.

CHAP.

CHAP. L.

The Saints happiness in Communion with Christ.

N

de

Cap.50.

5.

Ow the fifth particular in the reward of the Saints, is the communion that they fhall have with Jefus Chrift, God and Man: there are divers things in which the happiness of the Saints consists in having communion with Christ, God and Man. It was one of Saint Augustines three wishes, To fee Chrift in the flesh: It would be a great light to you to fee Chrift in the flesh. Many make much of the Picture of Chrift, and if they had it right, they would make more of it; but if Chrift fhould come to any of your houses, as he did when he lived upon the Earth, in his mean condition, would it not greatly delight you? but when we come to enjoy communion with Chrift in Heaven, it will be another maner of communion, then that upon Earth: We accounted the Apostles bleffed men, that lived with Chrift upon the Earth; what a bleffed condition will it be, to live with Chrift in Heaven? If there were fuch vertue in Christ upon Earth, that there came fuch vertue from the hem of garment, what glory will there be in Chrift, in his full glory? If Chrift were fo glorious when he was in his transfiguration, how glorious is he, being glorified before men and Angels eternally in Heaven, With the glory that he had with his Father, John 17. before the beginning of the World! If there was fo much vertue in the Apoftles of Chrift, in regard of the reference they had to Chrift, as from the shadow of Peter,and the Napkins that were taken from Pp 2

his

Pauls