And (3.) it being in it self, when separate, as immediately capable of this Glory, as when it shall be again united to the Body: For what is the Essential of Glory, the Substance of that Life that swallows up all, but (as we said on v. 4.) God's immediate Presence, and our knowing him face to face, as we are known. Now of this the Apostle doth in these 6, 7, and 8 Verses, expressly inform us, That the separate Soul is not only capable thereof, but that it then begins to enjoy it: Therefore (says he) we are always confident, knowing, that whilst we are in the Body, we are absent from the Lord; (for we walk by Faith, not by Sight.) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the Body, and to be present with the Lord. Where to be present with the Lord, and to live by Sight, is expressly made the Privilege of a Soul absent from the Body; which can mean no other State, than that of the Soul between the Death of the Body, and the Resurrection. For whilst it is present in the Body afore Death, it is absent from the Lord; and when it shall be present with the Lord, after the Resurrection, it shall not then be any more absent from ⟨p. 282⟩the Body. This Conjunction therefore of absent from the Body, and present with the Lord, falls out in no State else, but only in that Interim or space of time between. Let us withal view this Place in the Light, (by bringing the one to the other) which that Passage, 1 Cor. 13. 12. doth cast upon it: For now we see through a Glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know, even as also I am known. [To see as in a Glass darkly] there, is to [walk by Faith] here: But to see face to face, and to know God as we are known, (so there) is all one; and to attain to sight, and be in Christ's presence (here.) And to be sure, the Body is in no estate whatever capable of knowing God, as we are known of him: None durst ever affirm that. For besides that, the Spiritual Knowledge of God is proper to an intellectual Nature: Further, so to know God, as God knows us, and so to be elevated to the Similitude of God's Understanding, is not communicable to the Body. We may as well dare to affirm God himself to be a Body, as that our Bodies are capable of ever being raised up thus to know God. Hence therefore whether the Soul be out of the Body, as after Death; or so in the Body, as it shall ⟨p. 283⟩be after the Resurrection;
And (3.) it being in it self, when separate, as immediatly capable of this Glory, as when it shall be again united to the Body: For what is the Essential of Glory, the Substance of that Life that swallows up all, but (as we said on v. 4.) God's immediate Presence, and our knowing him face to face, as we are known. Now of this the Apostle doth in these 6, 7, and 8 Verses, expresly inform us, That the separate Soul is not only capable thereof, but that it then begins to enjoy it: Therefore (says he) we are always confident, knowing, that whilst we are in the Body, we are absent from the Lord; (for we walk by Faith, not by Sight.) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the Body, and to be present with the Lord. Where to be present with the Lord, and to live by Sight, is expresly made the Privilege of a Soul absent from the Body; which can mean no other State, than that of the Soul between the Death of the Body, and the Resurrection. For whilst it is present in the Body afore Death, it is absent from the Lord; and when it shall be present with the Lord, after the Resurrection, it shall not then be any more absent from ⟨p. 282⟩the Body. This Conjunction therefore of absent from the Body, and present with the Lord, falls out in no State else, but only in that Interim or space of time between. Let us withal view this Place in the Light, (by bringing the one to the other) which that Passage, 1 Cor. 13. 12. doth cast upon it: For now we see through a Glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know, even as also I am known. [To see as in a Glass darkly] there, is to [walk by Faith] here: But to see face to face, and to know God as we are known, (so there) is all one; and to attain to sight, and be in Christ's presence (here.) And to be sure, the Body is in no estate whatever capable of knowing God, as we are known of him: None durst ever affirm that. For besides that, the Spiritual Knowledg of God is proper to an intellectual Nature: Further, so to know God, as God knows us, and so to be elevated to the Similitude of God's Understanding, is not communicable to the Body. We may as well dare to affirm God himself to be a Body, as that our Bodies are capable of ever being raised up thus to know God. Hence therefore whether the Soul be out of the Body, as after Death; or so in the Body, as it shall ⟨p. 283⟩be after the Resurrection;
