Cap.41 the world. Gal.1.4. It is faid, that Chrift hath given himself to deliver us from this prefent evil world; it is a part of the purchase of Chrift, to be wholly freed from all the evils of this prefent world; and this purchase of Chrift we fhall have. Under the highest regions are the tempefts and storms, but above there are none; fo in this world the Saints meet with tempefts and ftorms, but above are none. As the Pfalmift fays, In thy light O God we fhall fee light fo in the light of God we shall fee nothing but light: now when Gods light does thine into us, it does discover darkness, but time will come, though Gods light fhall fhine never fo brightly, we shall see no darkness, but altogether light. We read concerning Mofes and Elias in Luke 9. in the tranffiguration of Chrift, the Text fays, They did confer about his decease that should be accomplished at Ferufalem: the Saints of God fhall meet together, and Mofes, and Elias, and the Patriarchs, and shall confer no more about deceases, about troubles and fufferings that shall be accomplished, all those evils shall be done away. We may fay of evils all, as Mofes did to the people of Ifrael concerning the Egyptians, Thofe your enemies that now you fee, you Shall never fee any more: So we may fay to Gods people that go out of the world to partake of the recompence of reward; be quiet, be still thofe evils of fin, of forrow that now you fee, and feel, you shall never fee, never feel any more; that is fomething though it be negatively. 2. Secondly, comparatively, and herein are three things. Firft,to compare the good, the happiness that fhall be hereafter, with all the good and happiness that that we have here. Secondly, compare it with the Cap. 42. condition of Adam in the eftate of innocency. Thirdly, compare it with the happiness of the Angels. CHAP. XLII. The differences between that good we receive here from F Irft, we will compare that we have here, with that we fhall have hereafter: Brethren, though we receive many mercies from God, yet look what difference there is between that clofe place of the womb, that the infant is in before it be born, and this space of the world that the childe comes into when it is born; fuch difference is between all this world, and any good and happiness here, and the world that is to come; this, and much more then this. First, here we receive good from without: First unto our outward fenfes, and by them it comes into the foul; but now hereafter God shall first let out good unto the foul, unto the rational part, and from the redundancy of that good and glory that God fhall communicate unto the rational foul, there fhall flow glory, and fweetness, and good to the body, and outward fenfes: whereas here we fee from without, and fo it comes in; there shall be a fpring, and a fountain of good within the foul; the kingdom of heaven fhall be within, and more good thall be in the heart, and flow from Kk 3 thence 1 I. I. Cap.42. thence outwardly, then to be received from without, and fo to come inwardly, for us to receive fomething in our fences, and fo to convey it to the foul, this is but a low way; but to have a spring and fountain of all good and happiness to be within the foul, and fo fpread it felf and flow out, this fhews wonderfully the bleffedness of Gods people, when God fhall communicate himself to them in that way. .2. 3. Secondly, here the excellency and eminency of an object does destroy the faculty, if the faculties of our fouls be exercised about objects, that are very high above us, that are full of excellency and glory, they deftroyed the faculty; as now though light be the most pleafing to the eye of all things in the world, yet the excellency and glory of light deftroys the eye; fo found is the proper object of the ear, but if the found be too great, it makes one deaf, but it is otherwise in heaven, the more excellent the object is, the more perfect will the faculty be; the object fhall not onely delight the faculty, but perfect and ftrengthen the faculty. Thirdly, here we look abroad, and see God in the Creature; but there in heaven we fhall fee the creature in God, there God fhall be the primary object of our knowledge, and in the knowing the power of God, and the wisdom of God, and the will of God, and the ways of the working of the power, and the wisdom, and the will of God, we shall come to know the creature, more then by looking into the creature, and seeing the creature it felf. I do not fay (as I know fome of the School-men go fo far) that we shall fee all things in the Divine nature nature as in a glass, but thus far, that as we fee good Cap.42. in the creature now, then we fhall fee them by knowing God himself, more then by knowing the creature. And the reafon is, because all excellency and good that is in the creature is eminently in God; for all the good of the effects must needs be eminently in all the principles, and the good of all principles in the first principle: If all good in the creature be eminently in God, and the fouls of the blessed shall come perfectly to know God, fo far as their created understandings fhall be capable of,then they must needs fee the excellency of the creature in God. We shall know as we are known, 1 Cor. 13. 12. Upon this a learned man hath this note, We shall know as we are known; now God knows all his works, by knowing himself, by knowing his own power, and will, and nature, and fo we shall know as we are known, because we shall know the creatures by knowing God. Fourthly, here the mercies and good that we have from God are sweetned unto us by the sense of our wants: But hereafter we shall prize them, and have the sweetness of them in regard of their own fulnefs: not from fuch a low relation, as our wants and our neceffities; when God would have us prize any mercy here, he first makes us fenfible of the want of the mercy, and fo it comes to be sweet to us, and fcarce any mercy comes to be fweet, unless we feel the want of it first, for elfe we would prize the mercy at any time, but in that we do not prize all mercies always alike, it appears the great commendation of Gods mercy is from our wants: but hereafter the prizings, and the relish, and the fweet of all fhall be from the fulness of the goodness that we finde Kk 4 in Cap.42. in God: Gods goodness to us here, is but the fupplying of fome defect, but hereafter Gods goodness thall be the glorifying of perfect nature. 5. 6. Fifthly, here when we do enjoy any comfort from God, we are much fenfible of it at the prefent enjoyment, but after we have had it a little while, we grow to be lefs fenfible, we begin to be cloyed with it: as the most beautiful fight that we did admire at firft, if we fee it every day, it does not affect us ; as who is affected at the fight of the Sun, because he fees it every day? but fuppofe we had lived all our days in a dark dungeon, and this had been the first day we were brought out of the dungeon, and now fee the Sun, and the Earths and Seas, how mightily would we be taken with the fights that we fee but now it is not fo with us, because we have the Sun every day and fo the melodious found to the ear, firft we are ravished with it, but when we are ufed to it, it is nothing: and fo for the taste; the tafte of fweet things is mightily pleasant to us at first, but afterward it is no more pleafing to us, then the taste of ordinary mean fare is to poor people, who have as much content in their mean fare, as rich men in their delicious fare, because rich men are used to fuch delicious things, but this is the excellency of Gods maner of communication of himfelf to his people hereafter, they shall be to all eternity as exactly and fully fenfible of the glory of heaven, as they were in the first moment they came into it. The fixth difference between Gods communication of himself to us here and hereafter, is, here we have much good from God,but much good is in the habits, and |