A51846:739
A second volume of sermons preached by the late reverend and learned Thomas Manton…
A second volume of sermons preached by the late reverend and learned Thomas Manton in two parts : the first containing XXVII sermons on the twenty fifth chapter of St. Matthew, XLV on the seventeenth chapter of St. John, and XXIV on the sixth chapter of the Epistle of the Romans : Part II, containing XLV sermons on the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, and XL on the fifth chapter of the second Epistle to the Corinthians : with alphabetical tables to each chapter, of the principal matters therein contained.
London: printed by J. Astwood for Jonathan Robinson, 1684
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
3. The next Expression is, Enter into the Joy of thy Lord. Here Christ slideth into the thing signified by the Parable, as afterward in assigning Punishment unto the unfaithful Servant: Verse 30. Cast him into outer Darkness, where shall be Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth. Here is Joy, and the Joy of the Lord, and faithful Servants are said to enter into it.
First, The Estate of the blessed, is a State of Joy; which ariseth, partly, from the Beatifical Vision; partly, from their own Blessedness; and also the blessed Company.
(1.) The Beatifical Vision, or the Vision of God. Psal. 16.11. In thy presence is fullness of joy, and at thy right-hand Pleasures for evermore: There is a mighty complacency that we take now, in seeing, knowing, loving, and being beloved of God. What can be found in the Creature, is but a drop to the Ocean, in comparison of that a Believer findeth in God himself: God is to them an overflowing Fountain of all Felicity. But there is Gaudium Viae, and Gaudium Patriae: Here it admits of increase and decrease; but there the Soul is so filled, that it cannot receive any more; Psal. 17.15. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. God maketh out himself in the utmost latitude. As to the wicked, he stirreth up all his wrath: Here he punisheth by the Creature, and so doth not put forth all his power; as a Giant striking with a straw, cannot put forth his strength. In Heaven the Soul shall be filled with unspeakable joy and delight: What Delight is to the Sense, that Joy is to the Mind. Three things are necessary to Delight. A Faculty, or Power of the Soul capable of pleasure, and then the thing it self; which being brought to the Mind, doth stir up delight. As in bodily things, Colours, Fruits, Tastes, pleasure consists in the near Union, and Conjunction of these things. The more noble the Faculty, the more excellent the Object; the nearer the Conjunction, the greater the Delight and Pleasure. Now in Heaven our Faculties are perfected; God is the Subject, and there is a near Conjunction: Oh what embraces between him and the Soul!