Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

amongst the joys of Heaven, and adds exceedingly to the greatness thereof, that as the number of Saints is great, and their joys many, so are the joys of each particular Saint even as many and blissful as the joys of all and this because each one shall rejoice as much in the felicity of others, as if it were his own peculiar happiness.

Happy and for ever happy were I, if with a flood of tears and incessant prayers, if with the devout surrender of all that I am, and all that I have, to the love and service of God, I might be admitted into this celestial society: "To come unto Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant P."

[ocr errors]

ed: whilst my charity both towards God and His Saints is too cold and benumbed.

I do profess to love God, and to desire that my heart may be every day more and more inflamed with the sacred fire of divine charity: but doubtless, I must have withal a due regard and veneration for His Saints: for as God is praised in His Saints, so is He dishonoured in their disrespect; "He that toucheth them toucheth the apple of His eye."

Qui derogat alicui sanctorum-"Who detracts from any of the Saints of God, detracts from Christ Himself, Who is the Saint of all Saints, and detracts also from all the Saints in Heaven; for all are united in the sacred bonds of charity, all think the same thing, all do will alike, and all do love both themselves and all in

oner."

If the zeal of some persons towards the Saints in Heaven exceed its due bounds and limits, I must not therefore throw off that devout respect which is due unto them; remembering that it is the end of my

All this I believe as a Christian; but my hope to be admitted into this blessed society, is too weakly ground-faith, the sum of my hope,

P Heb. xii. 22-24.

9 Psalm cl. 1; Zech. ii. 8.

Thos. à Kemp. de Imit. Christ., lib. iii. c. 58.

to be by holy charity joined with them in the same Mystical Body of Christ our common Lord and Redeemer, and with them to love and to praise the Lord: yea, to praise and love Him for ever, which is the happiness of the Saints in Heaven: for, "blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, they will always be praising Thee."

But I am unworthy, too much unworthy, sinful dust and ashes, to be admitted into the blissful presence of my dear Redeemer: but I will not despair, since He hath, 1. purchased this happiness for me'; since, 2. He hath promised to receive me thereinto"; and, 3. He hath prayed also for my actual possession thereof, saying, "Father, I will, that they whom Thou hast given Me, may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me."

O sweetest Saviour, Who to save and redeem man, vouchsafedst to be made man, and to appear in the likeness of sinful flesh; O when, when will that happy hour come, wherein I shall be admitted to behold Thy blessed face, which the Angels in Heaven behold with joy and wonder? "When I shall awake up after Thy likeness, I shall be satisfied with it," satisfied to the greatest height and fulness of content, when I shall

And further, the greatness of the joys of Heaven may be in some degree esteemed by the greatness of their purchase it is not doubted but the Blood of the Son of God is of so great value, that the least drop thereof was of sufficient dignity to redeem ten thousand worlds; and yet our blessed Redeemer, Who only knows how to value all things according to their worth, gave every drop of His precious Blood, accompanied with unspeakable torments, pangs and sufferings, to purchase this celestial inheritance: hence all truly religious have Heaven their desire, and the earth their patience," behold that glory Thou being of the same mind hadst with the Father before with St. Paul, Cupio dissol- the world was:" even so vi-"I desire to be dissolv- come, Lord Jesus, come ed, and to be with Christ." quickly.

Psalm 1xxxiv. 4.
Jolm xvii. 24.

Heb. ix. 12, 15, 24. y Psalm xvii. 16.

"John xiv. 3. John xvii. 5.

MEDITATION IV.

Of the Perpetuity of
Heavenly Joys.

to

THE most full enjoyment of all the good things this world affords, is not to be called or accounted happiness; because they are not only vain and empty of true satisfaction, but also not permanent and lasting: every purpose under the sun," tending towards satisfaction and happiness, "there is a time and judgment;" a time limited for its prosecution and enjoyment, and judgment also shall pass upon the actions relating thereunto: it must needs follow," therefore the misery of man is great upon him."

ment is enjoyed the joys of perpetuity; not increasing by degrees, or protracted by delays, nor yet augmented by several spaces of time, but wholly and altogether, and in the same moment, is enjoyed and received the same glory in its height and fulness, and this never to be diminished or decayed, forfeited or lost.

"The glory of them that die in grace, is immortal; their happiness immutable; their crown immarcessible their life everlasting; and their reign with God and the Lamb, for ever and ever. No day does pass with these blessed souls, without its fulness of joy and content : this joy shall be ever new, and yet ever the same: this glory shall never wither or decay, but flourish for per

But the good things of Heaven are durable, perma-petual eternities"." nent, and lasting; hereunto shall no time succeed, no judgment follow.

And this must needs be so; because celestial joy consists as in the blissful It is a maxim in divini- vision of God, so in an asty, that there is no successimilation to Him for just sion in the joys of Heaven; men made perfect, are imbecause what is eternal, ad- mutable in their perfection mits not of what is first and and felicity, by beholding what is last, but is both, Him Who is unchangeable: and all in the same mo- so the Apostle; "We all, ment, which renders those as in a glass, beholding the joys transcendently full and glory of the Lord, are changravishing, since in each mo-ed into the same image from

[blocks in formation]

glory to glory, even as by | the Spirit of the Lord."

66

The moon and the stars receive their light from the sun, and become like unto him, by being opposite, and in a sort beholding the sun's bright face: so the pure souls in Heaven, by seeing God, who is the Light of lights, are from Him enlightened and made like unto Him. So saith the beloved Apostle; Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know when He shall appear, we shall be made like Him, for we shall see Him as He isd" and that is not as now, "in a glass darkly, but face to facee;" i. e. as fully as our measure will contain, our proportion bear, and our degree in grace require.

"The joys of Heaven," saith Gran., "shall continue as many millions of years as there are stars in the firmament, and many more: they shall last as many hun. dred millions of years as there have been drops of rain fallen from Heaven since the beginning of the world, and more, much

2 Cor. iii. 18. Gen. xxviii. 12.

a Luke xv. 7.

more: in a word, they shall endure as long as there is a God in Heaven, and this God the same which was, which is, and which is to come, from everlasting to everlasting.”

Shall not, then, my heart be fixed where such lasting joys are to be found? And thither my heart must first be sent, by way of harbinger, before my person can arrive there: I must now have my conversation in Heaven, before I can have my consummation there: I must now be heavenly-minded, or else never hope to be admitted into the joys of Heaven.

But O the heavy burden of my sins! These do depress and weigh down the mind, and make her affections grovel in the dust: and yet even these shall not hinder thy ascent into Heaven, if thou tread them under thy feet: for every sin and vanity trodden down, subdued and mortified, is one step, one scale or round of that celestial ladder, which being set upon the earth reacheth up unto Heavens: which the Angels of Heaven rejoice to behold.

d 1 John iii. 2. e 1 Cor. xiii. 12. f Gran. Meditat. De vitiis nostris scalam facimus, dum vitia calcamus.

And may the right hand of God assist me to "lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset me, and to run with patience the race that is set before me.

"Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, and despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of Godi."

Blessed Lord, Who hast

made me after Thine own image, to attain the perfection and felicity of my being in the beatifical vision and fruition of Thy Majesty in Heaven, vouchsafe here to "guide me with Thy counsel, and after that to receive me with glory," through the merits and mediation of Thy blessed Son and my dearest Saviour Jesus Christ, &c.

Our Father, which art in Heaven, &c.

The XXIVth Psalm Paraphrased.

1. "The earth is the Lord's, and all that therein is, the compass of the world, and they that dwell therein:" the heavens are the Lord's chief dwelling-place; the earth, and all the nations thereof, He hath given to His Son Jesus, as He is Redeemer of the world: "desire of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for Thy possession."

[ocr errors]

2. "For He hath founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the floods:" as God hath so wisely ordered the earth and the

¡ Heb. xii. 1.

water, that the one may refresh, not overflow the other; so He hath founded His Church upon a rock, above the floods of secular cares and turmoils, and all the rising waves of this world's vast sea, which is signified by the situation of His temple on a hill: and,

3. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall rise up (or stand) in His holy place?" who is he that shall be qualified to appear and stand in the presence of God, and to join with His people in that solemn worship which in His holy temple is exhibited un

k Psalm ii. 8.

« EdellinenJatka »