CXLV expository sermons upon the whole 17th chapter of the Gospel according to St.…

JOH. 17.2. That he should give to them Eternal Life.

¹Eternal life in the nature and some properties of it hath been treated on; There remains one more, which I shall mention, viz. that in the Text Eternal; Therefore take the best wine at the last, That which crowneth all, and without which whatsoever happiness or glory might be had, it would in time fall as the leaf from the Tree, and this is Eternity; And here again we must be more in our acclamations and divine amazements at it then descriptions of it. The Schoolmen they tell us, that Eternity is like a fixed star now, whose whole is altogether; There is no succession, no former or latter in Eternity, but all is together: I shall not perplex you with such intricacies, Eternity it self being only a fit space to know what Eternity is This only take notice of, That a thing may be said to be eternal in a twofold sense, 1. Absolutely and simply, so that it hath neither beginning or ending, and thus only God is eternal. Thus Deut. 33.27. God is called the Eternal God: Or else Eternal is used for that which had a beginning but never shall have an end, this is called Eternum a posteriori; and so this blessed life is called eternal, for although it had a beginning, yet it shall never have an end, but after millions and millions of imaginary years, they are to continue in this life, as if it were the first moment; Let us then consider as much as we are able what an infinite and incomprehensible happiness this is, which shall be for ever, Then shall we be with the Lord for ever, saith Paul, 1 Thes. 4.17. Who is not put into ecstasies and raptures, while he seriously meditateth on these things? Alas in this life if we had the confluence of all desirable comforts, yet because our life is short and uncertain, our joy also can be no longer; But there, whatsoever glory thou dost once partake of, thou shalt never lose it; It will be thy Crown for ever, thy Kingdom for ever, thy glory is ever lasting glory; O the depth and unsearchableness of this grace and love of God: well might Christ say, he would give it, and Paul call Eternal Life the gift of God,