_The chief Employment of the Millennium, DEVOTION and
CONTEMPLATION._
We have now done with the Substance of our Discourse; which is
comprehended in these three Propositions:
I. _After the Conflagration of this World, there will be new Heavens
and a new Earth, and that Earth will be inhabited._
II. _That there is an happy millennial-State, or a future Kingdom of
Christ and his Saints, prophesied of and promis’d in the Old and New
Testament; and receiv’d by the Primitive Church, as a Christian and
Catholick Doctrine._
III. _That this blessed millennial-State, according as it is
describ’d in Scripture, cannot take place in the present Earth, nor
under the present Constitution of Nature and Providence; But is to
be celebrated in the new Heavens and new Earth, after the
Conflagration._
These three Propositions support this Work, and if any of them be
broken, I confess my Design is broken, and this Treatise is of no
Effect: But what remains to be spoken to in these last Chapters, is more
circumstantial or modal; and an Error or Mistake in such things, does
not wound any vital Part of the Argument. You must not therefore lay
aside your Severity and rigorous Censures; we are very happy, if, in
this Life, we can attain to the Substance of Truth; and make rational
Conjectures concerning Modes and Circumstances, where every one hath
Right to offer his Sense, with Modesty and Submission. Revelations made
to us from Heaven in this present State, are often incompleat, and do
not tell us all; as if it was on purpose to set our Thoughts a-work to
supply the rest; which we may lawfully do, provided it be according to
the Analogy of Scripture and Reason.
To proceed therefore; we suppose, as you see, the _new Heavens_ and the
_new Earth_ to be the Seat of the _Millennium_, and that new Creation to
be _Paradisiacal_: Its Inhabitants also to be righteous Persons, the
Saints of the most High. And seeing the ordinary Employments of our
present Life will then be needless and superseded, as Military-Affairs,
Sea-Affairs, most Trades and Manufactures, Law, Physick, and the
laborious part of Agriculture; it may be wonder’d, how this happy People
will bestow their Time; what Entertainment they will find in a State of
so much Ease, and so little Action. To this one might answer in short,
by another Question, _How_ would they have entertain’d themselves in
Paradise, if Man had continued in Innocency? This is a Revolution of the
same State, and therefore they may pass Time as well now as they could
have done then. But to answer more particularly, besides all innocent
Diversions, ingenuous Conversations, and Entertainments of Friendship,
the greatest part of their Time will be spent in _Devotion_ and
_Contemplation_. O happy Employment, and next to that of Heaven it self!
What do the Saints Above, but sing Praises unto God, and contemplate his
Perfections! And how mean and despicable, for the most part, are the
Employments of this present Life, if compar’d with those intellectual
Actions! If Mankind was divided into ten Parts, nine of those ten employ
their Time to get Bread to their Belly, and Cloaths to their Back; and
what Impertinences are these to a reasonable Soul, if she was free from
the Clog of a mortal Body, or if that could be provided for, without
Trouble or lots of Time? Corporeal Labour is from Need and Necessity,
but intellectual Exercises are matter of Choice, that please and perfect
at the same Time.
Devotion warms and opens the Soul, and disposes it to receive divine
Influences. It sometimes raises the Mind into an heavenly Ecstasy, and
fills it with a Joy that is not to be express’d. When it is pure, it
leaves a strong Impression upon the Heart, of Love to God; and inspires
us with a Contempt of this World, having tasted the Pleasures of the
World to come. In the State which we speak of, seeing the _Tabernacle of
God will be with Men_, _Apoc. xxi. 3_. we may reasonably suppose that
there will be greater Effusions and Irradiations of the Holy Spirit,
than we have or can expect in this Region of Darkness; and consequently,
all the Strength and Comfort that can arise from private Devotion.
And as to their publick Devotions, all Beauties of Holiness, all
Perfection of divine Worship, will shine in their Assemblies. Whatsoever
_David_ says of _Sion_ and _Jerusalem_, _Psal. lxxxiv._ are but Shadows
of this _New Jerusalem_, and of the Glory that will be in those
Solemnities, _Psal. lxxxvii._ Imagine what a Congregation will be there
of Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Christian Martyrs, and Saints of the
first Rank, throughout all Ages: And these all known to one another by
their Names and History. This very meeting together of such Persons,
must needs create a Joy unspeakable: But when they unite in their
Praises to God and to the Lamb, with pure Hearts full of divine Love;
when they sing their Hallelujahs to him that sits upon the Throne, that
hath wash’d them in his Blood, and redeem’d them out of every Kingdom,
and Tongue, and People, and Nation: When, with their Palms in their
Hands, they triumph over Sin and Death, and Hell, and all the Powers of
Darkness; can there be any thing, on this side Heaven, and a Choir of
Angels, more glorious or more joyful?
But why did I except Angels? Why may not they be thought to be present
at these Assemblies? In a Society of Saints and purified Spirits, why
should we think their Converse impossible? In the Golden Age, the Gods
were always represented, as having freer Intercourse with Men; and
before the Flood, we may reasonably believe it so. I cannot think,
_Enoch_ was translated into Heaven without any Converse with its
Inhabitants before he went thither: And seeing the Angels vouchsafed
often, in former Ages, to visit the Patriarchs upon Earth, we may with
Reason judge, that they will much more converse with the same Patriarchs
and holy Prophets, now they are risen from the Dead, and cleans’d from
their Sins, and seated in the _New Jerusalem_. I cannot but call to
mind, upon this Occasion, that Representation which St. _Paul_ makes to
us, of a glorious State and a glorious Assembly, too high for this
present Earth: ’Tis, (_Hebr. xii. 22_, _&c._) in these Words: _But you
are come unto Mount 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._ This, I know, several apply to the Times and State of the
Gospel, in Opposition to that of the Law; and it is introduc’d in that
manner; but here are several Expressions too high for any present State
of Things; they must respect a future State, either of Heaven, or of the
Millennial Kingdom of Christ: And to the latter of these Expressions
agree, and have a peculiar Fitness and Applicability to it. And what
follows in the Context, _ver. 26, 27, 28_. _About shaking the Heavens
and the Earth once more_; removing the former Scenes, and bringing on a
new Kingdom that cannot be shaken: All this, I say, answers to the
Kingdom of Christ, which is to be establish’d in the new Heavens and new
Earth.
But to proceed in their publick Devotions; Suppose this August Assembly,
inflam’d with all divine Passions, met together to celebrate the Name of
God, with Angels intermixt, to bear a Part in this holy Exercise: And
let this Concourse be, not in any Temple made with Hands, but under the
great Roof Heaven, (the true Temple of the most High,) so as all the Air
may be fill’d with the chearful Harmony of their Hymns and Hallelujahs:
Then, in the height of their Devotion, as they sing Praises to the Lamb,
and to him that sits upon the Throne, suppose the Heavens to open, and
the Son of God to appear in his Glory, _Apoc. v. 11._ with thousands and
ten thousands of Angels round about him; that their Eyes may see him,
who, for their Sakes was crucified upon Earth, now encircled with Light
and Majesty. This will raise them into as great Transports as human
Nature can bear: They will wish to be dissolv’d, they will strive to fly
up to him in the Clouds, or to breathe out their Souls in repeated
Doxologies of _Blessing, Ch. v. 13. and Honour, and Glory, and Power, to
him that sits upon the Throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever_.
But we cannot live always in the Flames of Devotion; the Weakness of our
Nature will not suffer us to continue long under such strong Passions,
and such Intenseness of Mind. The Question is therefore, What will be
the ordinary Employment of that Life? How will they entertain their
Thoughts, or spend their Time? For we suppose they will not have that
multiplicity of frivolous Business that we have now; about our Bodies,
about our Children; in Trades and Mechanicks; in Traffick and
Navigation; or Wars by Sea or Land. These things being swept away
wholly, or in a great Measure, what will come in their Place? How will
they find Work or Entertainment for a long Life? If we consider, who
they are that will have a Part in this first Resurrection, and be
Inhabitants of that World that is to come, we may easily believe that
the most constant Employment of their Life will be CONTEMPLATION. Not
that I exclude any innocent Diversions, as I said before; the
Entertainments of Friendship, or ingenuous Conversation; but the great
Business and Design of that Life is Contemplation, as preparatory to
Heaven and eternal Glory. _Ut paulatim assueseant capere Deum, L. 5. c.
32._ as _Irenæus_ says, that they may, by Degrees, enlarge their
Capacities, fit and _accustom themselves to receive God_. Or, as he says
in another Place, _That they may become capable of the Glory of the
Father_; that is, capable of bearing the Glory and Presence of God;
capable of the highest Enjoyment of him, which is usually call’d the
_Beatifical Vision_; and is the Condition of the Blessed in Heaven.
It cannot be deny’d, that in such a Millennial State, where we shall be
freed from all the Incumbrances of this Life, and provided of better
Bodies and greater Light of Mind: It cannot be doubted, I say, but that
we shall then be in a Disposition to make greater Proficiency in the
Knowledge of all Things, divine and intellectual; and consequently of
making happy Preparations for our entring upon a further State of Glory:
For there is nothing certainly does more prepare the Mind of Man for the
highest Perfections, than Contemplation, with that Devotion which
naturally flows from it, as Heat follows Light. And this Contemplation
hath always a greater or less Effect upon the Mind according to the
Perfection of its Object; so as the Contemplation of the divine Nature
is, of all others, the most perfective in it self, and to us, according
to our Capacities and Decree of Abstraction. An _immense Being_ does
strangely fill the Soul; and Omnipotency, Omnisciency, and infinite
Goodness, do enlarge and dilate the Spirit, while it fixily looks upon
them. They raise strong Passions of Love and Admiration, which melt our
Nature, and transform it into the Mould and Image of that which we
contemplate: What the Scripture says of our _Transformation_ into the
divine Likeness; what St. _John_ and the _Platonists_ say of our _Union_
with God; and whatever is not cant in the _mystical Theology_, when they
tell us of being deified; all this must spring from these Sources of
Devotion and Contemplation: They will change and raise us from
Perfection to Perfection, as from Glory to Glory, into a greater
Similitude and nearer Station to the divine Nature.
The Contemplation of God and his Works comprehends all Things; for the
one makes the uncreated World, and the other the created: And as the
divine Essence and Attributes are the greatest Objects that the Mind of
Man can set before it self; so next to that are the Effects and
Emanations of the Divinity, or the Works of the divine Goodness, Wisdom
and Power in the created World. This hath a vast Extent and Variety, and
would be sufficient to entertain their Time, in that happy State, much
longer than a thousand Years; as you will easily grant, if you allow me
but to point at the several Heads of those Speculations.
The Contemplation of the _created World_ divides it self into three
Parts; that of the _intellectual_ World; that of the _corporeal_; and
the Government and Administration of both, which is usually call’d
_Providence_. These three, drawn into one Thought, with the Reasons and
Proportions that result from them, compose that GRAND IDEA, which is the
Treasury and Comprehension of all Knowledge; whereof we have spoken more
largely in the last Chapter of the second Book of this _Theory_, under
the Name of the _Mundane Idea_. But at present we shall only mention
such Particulars, as may be thought proper Subjects for the Meditations
and Enquiries of those who shall enjoy that happy State which we now
treat of.
As to the intellectual World, excepting our own Souls, we know little,
in this Region of Darkness where we are at present, more than bare
Names: We hear of Angels and Archangels, of Cherubins and Seraphins, of
Principalities and Powers, and Thrones, and Dominions: We hear the Sound
of these Words with Admiration, but we know little of their Natures;
wherein their general Notion, and wherein their Distinction consists;
what peculiar Excellencies they have, what Offices and Employments, of
all this we are ignorant; only in general, we cannot but suppose that
there are more Orders and Degrees of intellectual Beings, betwixt us and
the Almighty, than there are Kinds or Species of living Creatures upon
the Face of the Earth; betwixt Man their Lord and Master, and the least
Worm that creeps upon the Ground; nay, than there are Stars in Heaven,
or Sands upon the Sea-shore. For there is an infinite Distance and
Interval betwixt us and God Almighty, and all that is fill’d with
created Beings of different Degrees of Perfection, still approaching
nearer and nearer to their Maker. And when this invisible World shall be
open’d to us, when the Curtain is drawn, and the Celestial Hierarchy set
in order before our Eyes, we shall despise our selves, and all the petty
Glories of a mortal Life, as the Dirt under our Feet.
As to the corporeal Universe, we have some Share already in the
Contemplation and Knowledge of that; though little in Comparison of what
will be then discover’d. The Doctrine of the Heavens, fixed Stars,
Planets and Comets, both as to their Matter, Motion and Form, will be
then clearly demonstrated; and what are Mysteries to us now, will become
matter of ordinary Conversation: We shall be better acquainted with our
neighbouring Worlds, and make new Discoveries as to the State of their
Affairs. The Sun especially, the great Monarch of the planetary Worlds;
whose Dominion reaches from Pole to Pole, and the Greatness of his
Kingdom is under the whole Heaven: Who sends his bright Messengers every
Day through all the Regions of his vast Empire; throwing his Beams of
Light round about him, swifter and farther than a Thought can follow:
This noble Creature, I say, will make a good part of their Study in the
succeeding World. _Eudoxus_, the Philosopher, wish’d he might dye like
_Phaeton_, in approaching too near to the Sun, provided he could fly so
near it, and endure it so long, till he had discover’d its Beauty and
Perfection. Who can blame his Curiosity? Who would not venture far to
see the Court of so great a Prince, who hath more Worlds under his
Command than the Emperors of the Earth have Provinces or Principalities?
Neither does he make his Subjects Slaves to his Pleasure, or Tributaries
to serve and supply his Wants: On the contrary, they live upon him, he
nourishes and preserves them; gives them Fruits every Year, Corn, and
Wine, and all the Comforts of Life: This glorious Body, which now we can
only gaze upon and admire, will be then better understood. A Mass of
Light and Flame, and ethereal Matter, ten thousand times bigger than
this Earth; enlightning and enlivening an Orb that exceeds the Bulk of
our Globe, as much as that does the least Sand upon the Sea-shore, may
reasonably be presum’d to have some great Being at the Centre of it; but
what that is we must leave to the Enquiries of another Life.
The _Theory of the Earth_ will be a common Lesson there; carried through
all its Vicissitudes and Periods from first to last, till its entire
Revolution be accomplish’d. I told you in the Preface, the _Revolution
of the World_ was one of the greatest Speculations that we are capable
of in this Life; and this little World where we are, will be the first
and easiest Instance of it, seeing we have Records, Historical, or
Prophetical, that reach from the Chaos to the End of the new Heavens and
new Earth; which course of Time makes up the greatest part of the Circle
or Revolution. And as what was before the Chaos, was but, in my Opinion,
the first Remove from a fixed Star, so what is after the thousand Years
Renovation, is but the last Step to it again.
The _Theory of human Nature_ is also an useful and necessary
Speculation, and will be carried on to Perfection in that State. Having
fix’d the true Distinction betwixt Matter and Spirit, betwixt the Soul
and the Body, and the true Nature and Laws of their Union, the original
Contract, and the Terms ratified by Providence at their first
Conjunction, it will not be hard to discover the Springs of Action and
Passion; how the Thoughts of our Mind and the Motions of our Body act in
dependance one upon another. What are the primary Differences of
Genius’s and Complexions, and how our Intellectuals or Morals depend
upon them? What is the Root of Fatality, and how far it extends? By
these Lights they will see into their own and every Man’s Breast, and
trace the Foot-steps of the divine Wisdom in that strange Composition of
Soul and Body.
This indeed is a mix’d Speculation, as most others are, and takes in
something of both Worlds, intellectual and corporeal; and may also
belong in part to the third Head we mention’d, _Providence_: But there
is no need of distinguishing these Heads so nicely, provided we take in,
under some or other of them, what may be thought best to deserve our
Knowledge now, or in another World. As to _Providence_, what we intend
chiefly by it here, is the general Oeconomy of our Religion, and what is
reveal’d to us in Scripture, concerning God, Angels, and Mankind. These
Revelations, as most in Sacred Writ, are short and incompleat; as being
design’d for Practice more than for Speculation, or to awaken and excite
our Thoughts rather than to satisfy them. Accordingly, we read in
Scripture of a Triune Deity; of God made Flesh in the Womb of a Virgin;
barbarously crucified by the _Jews_; descending into Hell; rising again
from the Dead; visibly ascending into Heaven; and sitting at the Right
Hand of God the Father, above Angels and Archangels. These great things
are imperfectly revealed to us in this Life; which we are to believe so
far as they are revealed, in hopes these Mysteries will be made more
intelligible in that happy State to come, where Prophets, Apostles and
Angels, will meet in Conversation together.
In like manner, how little is it we understand concerning the _Holy
Ghost_? that he descended like a _Dove_ upon our Saviour, _Mat. iii.
16._ Like cloven Tongues of Fire upon the Apostles the Place being
fill’d with a rushing mighty Wind, _Acts ii._ That he over shadow’d the
blessed Virgin, and begot the Holy Infant, _Mat. i. 18._ That he made
the Apostles speak all sorts of Tongues and Languages _ex tempore_, and
pour’d out strange Virtues and miraculous Gifts upon the Primitive
Christians, _Luke i. 35._ These things we know as bare Matter of Fact,
but the Method of these Operations we do not at all understand. Who can
tell us now, what that is which we call INSPIRATION? What Change is
wrought in the Brain, and what in the Soul, and how the Effect follows?
Who will give us the just Definition of a _Miracle_? What the proximate
Agent is above Man, and whether they are all from the same Power? How
the Manner and Process of those miraculous Changes in Matter may be
conceiv’d? These Things we see darkly, and hope they will be set in a
clearer Light, and the Doctrines of our Religion more fully expounded to
us, in that future World. For as several things obscurely express’d in
the Old Testament, are more clearly reveal’d in the New; so the same
Mysteries, in a succeeding State, may still receive a farther
Explication.
The History of the Angels, good or bad, makes another Part of this
providential System. Christian Religion gives us some Notices of both
Kinds, but very imperfect; what Interest the good Angels have in the
Government of the World, and in ordering the Affairs of this Earth and
Mankind? What Subjection they have to our Saviour? And what Part in his
Ministry? Whether they are Guardians to particular Persons, to Kingdoms,
to Empires? All that we know at present, concerning these Things, is but
conjectural. And as to the bad Angels, who will give us an Account of
their Fall and of their former Condition? I had rather know the History
of _Lucifer_, than of all the _Babylonian_ and _Persian_ Kings; nay,
than of all the Kings of the Earth. What the Birth-right was of that
mighty Prince? What his Dominions? Where his Imperial Court and
Residence? How he was depos’d? For what Crime, and by what Power? How he
still wages War against Heaven, in his Exile? What Confederates he hath?
What is his Power over Mankind, and how limited? What Change or Damage
he suffer’d by the Coming of Christ, and how it alter’d the Posture of
his Affairs? Where he will be imprison’d in the _Millennium_; and what
will be his last Fate and final Doom? whether he may ever hope for a
Revolution or Restauration? These things lie hid in the secret Records
of Providence, which then, I hope, will be open’d to us.
With the Revolution of _Worlds_, we mention’d before the Revolution of
_Souls_; which is another great Circle of Providence, to be studied
hereafter: We know little here, either of the Pre-existence or
Post-existence of our Souls. We know not what they will be, till the
loud Trump awakes us, and calls us again into the corporeal World. Who
knows how many Turns he shall take upon this Stage of the Earth, and how
many Trials he shall have, before his Doom will be finally concluded?
Who knows where, or what, is the State of Hell? Where the Souls of the
Wicked are said to be for ever? What is the true State of Heaven? What
our celestial Bodies? and, what that sovereign Happiness that is call’d
the _Beatifical Vision_? Our Knowledge and Conceptions of these things
are, at present, very general and superficial; but in the future Kingdom
of Christ, which is introductory to Heaven it self, these Imperfections,
in a great measure, will be done away; and such Preparations wrought,
both in the Will and Understanding, as may fit us for the Life of
Angels, and the Enjoyment of God in eternal Glory.
Thus you see in general, what will be the Employment of the Saints in
the blessed _Millennium_: And tho’ they have few of the trifling
Businesses of this Life, they will not want the best and noblest of
Diversions. ’Tis an happy thing when a Man’s Pleasure is also his
Perfection; for most Men’s Pleasures are such as debase their Nature. We
commonly gratify our lower Faculties, our Passions, and our Appetites;
and these do not improve, but depress the Mind; and besides they are so
gross that the finest Tempers are surfeited in a little time. There is
no lasting Pleasure but _Contemplation_; all others grow flat and
insipid upon frequent Use; and when a Man hath run thorow a Set of
Vanities, in the Declension of his Age he knows not what to do with
himself, if he cannot Think; he saunters about, from one dull Business
to another to wear out time; and hath no Reason to value Life, but
because he is afraid of Death: But Contemplation is a continual Spring
of fresh Pleasures. Truth is inexhausted, and when once you are in the
right Way, the farther you go, the greater Discoveries you make, and
with the greater Joy. We are sometimes highly pleased, and even
transported, with little inventions in Mathematicks, or Mechanicks, or
natural Philosophy; all these things will make part of their Diversion
and Entertainment in that State, all the Doctrine of Sounds and Harmony,
of Light, Colours, and Perspective, will be known in Perfection: But
these I call Diversions, in comparison of their higher and more serious
Speculations, which will be the Business and Happiness of that Life.
Do but imagine, that they will have the Scheme of all humane Affairs
lying before them, from the Chaos to the last Period; the universal
History and Order of Times; the whole Oeconomy of the Christian
Religion, and of all the Religions in the World; the Plan of the
Undertaking of the Messiah, with all other Parts and Ingredients of the
Providence of this Earth: Do but imagine this, I say, and you will
easily allow, that when they contemplate the Beauty, Wisdom and Goodness
of the whole Design, it must needs raise great and noble Passions, and a
far richer Joy than either the Pleasures or Speculations of this Life
can exite in us; and this being the last Act and Close of all human
Affairs, it ought to be the more exquisite and elaborate, that it may
crown the Work, satisfy the Spectators, and end in a general Applause;
the whole Theatre resounding with the Praises of the great Dramatist,
and the wonderful Art and Order of the Composition.