234 God the Dwelling of Saints. This life laborious.
Job 3, assuredly that the strength of the flesh wax dull. Let ^^' — blessed Job, then, review the deep recesses of the hearts of the faithful, and consider the haven of inward peace that they find, while in advancing unto God they are enfeebled in their own strength, and let him say. There the weary in strength be at rest. As if he taught in plain words, ' there the repose of light is the reward of those, whom the advancement of inward restoration wearies here.' Nor ought it to influence us, that after naming light he did not subjoin, in this, but there, for that which he beholds encompassing the Elect, he discovers to be our place as it were. Whence then the Psalmist, when contemplating the unchangeable- Ps. I02,ness of Eternity, and saying. But Thou art the same^ and Thy years shall not fail; proclaims that this is the place of the Elect, by adding, But the children of Thy servants shall dwell there. For God, Who without position containeth all things, remains a place without locality to us who come to Him. And when we reach this place, our eyes are opened to see, what infinite vexation even our very repose of mind was in this life, for though the righteous by comparison with the bad already enjoy rest, yet in estimating the inmost Rest, they are altogether not at rest. Hence it is well added; Ver. 18. There the former prisoners are alike without vexation.
xxxiv. 68. For though the just are possessed by no riot of carnal desires, yet the clog of corruption binds them down in this Wisd.9, life with hard chains; for it is written. For the corruptible body presseth. down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things. So herein even, that they are still mortal beings, they are weighed down by the burthen of their state of corruption, and chained and bound by its clogs, in that they are not yet risen in that liberty of an incorruptible life. For they meet with one thing from the mind, and another from the body, and they are spent every day in the inward conflict with themselves. Are they not indeed bound with the hard chain of vexation, whose mind, without labour, is dissolved in ignorance, and is not trained without the strivings of labour.? When forced it stands erect, of itself it lies ])rostrate, and yet as Man enslaved to his body while here. 235 soon as raised up, it forthwith falls, by conquering itself with Book laborious effort, its eyes are opened to see heavenly things, '— but recoiling, it flees the light, which had illuminated it.
Are they not bound fast with the hard chain of vexation, who when their fired soul draws them with a perfect desire to the bosom of inward peace, suffer perturbation from the flesh in the heat of the conflict? And though this now no longer encounters it face to face, as though drawn up with hostile front, yet it still goes muttering like a captive in the rear of the mind, and, though with fears, it yet defiles with vile clamouring the form of fair tranquillity in the breast. Therefore, though the Elect subdue all enemies with a strong hand, since they long for the security of inward peace, it is yet a giievous vexation to them to have something still to vanquish. And leaving these out of the question, they endure over and above those chains too, which a sore necessity outwardly fastens upon them; for to eat, to drink, and to be tired, are chains of corruption, and chains too, which can never be unloosed, save when our mortal nature is turned into the glory of an immortal nature; for we fill our body with food to sustain it, lest it fail from extenuation; and we thin it down by abstinence, lest it oppress by repletion. We quicken it by motion, lest it be killed by lying motionless, but by setting it down we soon stop its motions, that by that very activity it may not give under. We clothe it with garments as a succour to it, lest the cold destroy it, and cast off' these succours so sought after, lest the heat should parch it. Exposed then to so many vicissitudes and chances, what else do we, but drudge to the corruptibility of our state ot* being, that howsoever the multiplicity of the services rendered to it may sustain that body, which the fretting care of a frail nature subject to change weighs to the ground. Hence Paul says well. For the creature was Uom.Sy made suhject to vanity, not witliti[/ly, but by reason qf him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage (f rorrujition into the glorious liberty (f the sons if God. Vox * the creature is made subject to vanity, not willingly," in that man, who willingly left the footing of inborn finnness, being pressed down by the weight of a dcsened mortality, is the unwilling 230 Rest in prospect dwelt on as present.
Job 3, slave of the corruption of his changeful condition. But this ---^- — creature is then rescued from the slavery of corruption, when m rising again it is lifted uncorrupt to the glory of the sons of God. Here then the Elect are bound with vexation, in that they are still pressed down by the curse of their corrupt condition. But when we are stripped of our corruptible flesh, we are as it were loosened from those chains of vexation, whereby we are now held bound. For we already long to come into the presence of God, but we are still hindered by the clog of a mortal body. So that we are justly called ' prisoners,' in that we have not as yet the advance of our desire to God free before us. Hence Paul, whose heart was set upon the things of eternity, yet who still carried about him the load of his corruption, being in bonds Phil. 1, exclaims, Having a desire to be unloosed and to he with Christ, For he would not desire to be ' unloosed,' unless, assuredly, he saw himself to be in bonds. Now because he saw that these bonds were most surely to be burst at the Resurrection, the Prophet rejoiced as if they were already Ps. 116, burst asunder, when he said. Thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Let the holy man then reflect that inward light is the haven that receives converted sinners, and let him say. There the ivicked cease from trouble. Let him reflect, that holy men, being awearied with the exercising of desire, enjoy the deeper repose in that inmost bosom, and let him say. And there the weary in strength are at rest. Let him reflect, that being absolved from all the bonds of corruption at once and together, they attain those uncorrupt joys of liberty. And the former prisoners are alike without vexation. And it is well said, the former prisoners^ for while that ever present bliss 'B.'andis in his view, all that shall be, and is going ^, seems as one' though past. For whilst the end of all things is awaited, all that passes away is accounted already to have been. But let him tell what all they, for whom the interior rest is there in store, shall meanwhile have done here. It goes on; non ex- They have not heard, the voice of the exactor.
runt 09. Who else is to be understood by the title of the xxxv. ' exactor,' saving that insatiate prompter, who for once bestowed the coin of deceit upon mankind, and from that ChrisVs members preparing for like, but different, lots. 237 time ceases not daily to claim the debt of death? Who Book IV lent to man in Paradise the money of sin, but by the '— multiplying of wickedness is daily exacting it with usury? Concerning this exactor, Truth saith in the Gospel, Afid the Liikei2, Judge deliver thee to the ^officer. Therefore the yoice ofiy/^^.. this exactor is the tempting of persuasion to our hurt. And'^'^'^"' we hear the yoice of the exactor, \yhen we are smitten with his temptation, but we do not hear it effectually^ if we re?>\i-,Vexaudi. the hand that smites, for he * hears' that feels the temptation, but he hears effectually who yields to the temptation. So let it be said of the righteous. They have not heard the voice of the exactor; for though they hear his prompting in that they are tempted, they do not hear it effectually, for that they take shame to yield thereto, but because whatsoeyer the mind loyes with great affection, it is often repeating eyen in utterance of the lips; blessed Job, in that he views the crowds of inward peace with fulness of affection, again employs himself about the description^ of it, savins, j.^': *^® Ver. 19. The small and great are there; the servant wguishing free from his master. of them.
70. Forasmuch as there is to us in this life a difference in works, doubtless there will be in the future life a difference in degrees of dignity, that whereas here one sui^passes another in desert, there one may excel another in reward. Hence Truth says in the Gospel, In My Father's house are majiyjnhniA, tnansio7is. But in those * many mansions,' the very diversity "" of rewards will be in some measure in hannony. For an influence so mighty joins us together in that peace, that what any has failed to receive in himself, he rejoices to have received in another. And thus they that did not equally labour in the vineyard, equally obtain all of them a penny. And indeed with the Father are ' many mansions,' and yet the unequal labourers receive the same penny, in that the blessedness of joy will be one and the same to all, yet not one and the same sublimity of life to all. lie had seen the small and great in this light, who said in the voice of the Head; Thine eyes did see My substance, yet being imperfect, P^. 139, and in Thy book were all My members written. He beheld ^^' * the small and the great together,' when he declared, //«??«• nfi, will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.
238 Saints not freed as yet from feaj-s about sin. Job 3, 71. And it is well added, And the servant is free from TiT — '— his master. For it is written, Every one that sinneth is the John 8, servant of sin. For whosoever yields himself up to bad ^' desire, submits the neck of his mind, till now free, to the dominion of wickedness. Now we withstand this master, when we struggle against the evil whereby we had been taken captive, when we forcibly resist the bad habit, and treading under all froward desires, maintain against the same the right of inborn liberty, when we strike our sin by penitence, and cleanse the stains of pollution with our tears. But it oftentimes happens, that the mind indeed already bewails what it remembers itself to have done amiss, that already it not only forsakes its misdeeds, but even chastises them with the bitterest lamentations, yet while it recalls to memory the things that it has done, it is affrighted and sorely dismayed against the Judgment. It already turns itself with a perfect intention, but does not yet lift itself up in a perfect state of security, for while it weighs the rigid exactness of the final scrutiny, it trembles with anxiety between hope and fear, for it knows not, when the righteous Judge comes, what He will reckon, what He will remit of the deeds done. For it ^ remembers what evil deeds it has committed, but it cannot tell whether it has worthily bewailed the commission of them, and it dreads lest the vastness of the sin exceed the measure of penance. And it is very often the case that ' Truth' already remits the sin, yet the troubled soul, whilst it is full of anxiety for itself, still trembles for the pardon thereof. So that in this present life the servant already escapes from his master, yet he is not free from him, in that by chastisement and penance man already forsakes his sin, yet he still fears the strict Judge for the recompensing of it.
There then ^ the servant will be free from his master,' when there will be no longer misgiving about the pardon of sin, when the recollection of its sin no longer condemns the soul, now secured, where the conscience does not tremble under a sense of guilt, but exults in the pardon of the same in a state of freedom.
72. But if man is reached there by no remembrance of his sin, how does he congratulate himself that he has been saved therefrom? Or how does he return thanks to his Memory of sin in heaven, not poll u fine/, pains not. 239 Benefactor for the pardon, which he has received, if by an Book intervening forgetfulness of his past wickedness, he knows not that he is a debtor to suffer punishment? For we must not pass over negligently that which the Psalmist says, /PtJ-SO,! will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever. For how does he * sing of the mercies of God for ever,' if he knows not that he has been miserable; and if he has no recollection of past misery, whence does he answer with praises the bestowal of mercy? And again, we must enquire how the mind of the Elect can be in perfect bliss, if amidst its joys the memory of its guilt reaches it? Or how does the glory of indefectible light shine out, when it is overcast by the sin that is recalled to mind? But be it known, that just as oftentimes now in joy we call to mind Stid things, so in the future life, we bring back the memory of past sin without any hurt to our bliss.
For it verj' often hap]iens, that in the season of health, wc recall to mind past pains without feeling pain, and in proportion as we remember ourselves sick, the more we hug ourselves in health. And so in that blissful estate there will be a remembrance of sin, not such as to pollute the mind, but to attach us the more closely to our joy, that while the mind without pain remembers itself of its pain, it may the more clearly perceive itself to be a debtor to the physician, and so much the more cherish the health it has received, in proportion as it remembers what it has escaped of uneasiness. And so then, placed in that state of bliss, we so regard our evil deeds without loathing, as now being set in light, without any inward blindness of the heart, we see the darkness with our mind; for though that be dim which wc perceive with the imagination, this comes from the sentence of light, not from the misfortune of blindness. And thus throughout eternity we render to our Benefactor the praise of His mercy, yet are in no degree o])pressed with the consciousness of wretchedness; for whilst we review our evils without any evil betiding the mind, on the one hand there will never be ought to defile the hearts that render j)raise on the score of past wickednesses, and again there will always be somewhat to inflame them to the praise of their Deliverer. Therefore, because the repose of inward light does in such sort transport the great ones into itself, that yet it does not 240 The Converted hereof ter free even from past sin.
Job 3, leave the little ones, let it be rightly said, the small and great ____! are there. Now forasmuch as the mind of the converted 'sinner is there touched by the recollection of his sin in such sort that he is not overwhelmed by any confusion at that recollection, it is fitly subjoined, And the servant is free from his master.
BOOK V.
He explains the remainder of chap. iii. from ver. 20. the whole of chap. iv. and the first two verses of chap. v.
1. Though the appointments of God are very much i. hidden from sight, why it is that in this life it is sometimes ill with the good and well with the wicked, yet they are then still more mysterious ■ when it both goes well with the good here below, and ill with the wicked. For when it goes ill with the good, and well with the bad, this perhaps is found to be for that both the good, if they have done wrong in any thing, receive punishment here that they may be more completely'' freed from eternal damnation, and the wicked meet here with the good things, which conduce to this life, that they may be dragged to unmitigated torments hereafter. And hence these words are spoken to the rich man, when burning in hell. Sot?, remeniher tltat Ihou in thy /f/<?/«//?0Luke receivedsl thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things. *^' ■^^• But when it is well with the good here and ill with the wicked, it is very doubtful, whether the good for this reason receive good things, that they may be set forward and advance to something better, or whether by a just and secret appointment they receive here the reward of their deeds, that they may prove void of the rewards of the life to come; and whether afflictions for this reason'come upon the wicked, in order that by correcting, they may be the means of preserving them from everlasting punishments, or whether their punishment only begins here, that, one day to receive completion, it should lead to the final torments of hell. Tlierefore, because in the midst of the divine appointments the ■ i. e. more doubtful in each parti- nity,' i. e. in the Future State. St.
cular case. Grej?ory believed a Purgatorial fire, '' ' Plenius.' It is difficult tn assign seemingly a« a thing then lately made an exact meaning to the expression, known by visionH, <fec. See Dial. ir.
unlesR ' eternal' is taken for * in eter- c. 39 sqq.
K 242 Two reasons why good men fear prosperity* Job 3, human mind is closed in bv the erreat darkness of its un-— ^-^— certainty, holy men, when they see this world's prosperity to be their lot, are disquieted yaih. fearful misgivings. For they fear lest they should receive here the fruits of their labours. They fear lest Divine Justice should see in them a secret wound, and in loading them with external blessings should withhold them from the interior. But when they exactly consider, that they never do good saving that they may please God only, nor triumph in the veiy exuberance of their prosperity, then indeed they less fear hidden judgments to their hurt in their good fortune, yet they ill endure that \ good fortune, in that it impedes the interior purpose of the heart, and they reluctantly submit to the caresses of this present life, forasmuch as they are not ignorant that they are in some degree retarded thereby in their interior longing.
I For honour in this world is more engrossing than the con-: tempt thereof, and the rise of prosperity weighs upon them \ more than the pressure of a hard necessity. For sometimes \ when a man is outwardly straitened by the latter, he is the ' more entirely set at liberty to fix his desire upon the interior good; but by the other the mind, while forced to yield to the will of many, is kept back from the race of its own \ desire. And hence it is that holy men are in greater dread of prosperity in this world than of adversity. For they know that while the mind is under soft and beguiling impressions, it is sometimes apt to give itself up to be drawn away after external objects. They know that oftentimes the secret thought of the heart so beguiles it, that it does not see how it is changed. And they consider too, what the eternal blessings are which they desire, and they see what a mere nothing all is that courts and smiles upon us after the manner of things temporal, and their mind bears the worse all the prosperity of this world, in proportion as it is pierced with love of heavenly happiness; and it is planted so much the more erect in contempt of the delightfulness of the present life, the more it perceives that this is beguiling it by stealth in the disregard of eternal glory. Hence when blessed Job, having his eye fixed upon the rest above, had said. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master. He therefore adds.
Holy sorrow likes not litis world's liyht. 243 Ver. 20. JVherefore is liglil given to one that is in misery? Book 2. In holy Scripture prosperity is sometimes represented by -'-^— the title of light, and this world's adversity by the name of ^^* night. Hence it is well said by the Psalmist, As is its Ps, 139, darkness, so also is its light. For as holy men thus trample Vuig. upon the prosperity of this state by contemning it, as also they sustain its adverse fortune by trampling upon it, by an exceeding highmindedness laying under their feet alike the good and the ill of the world, they declare, As its darkness, so also is its light. As though they said in plain words, * as its griefs do not force down the resoluteness of our fixed mind, so neither can its caresses corrupt the same.' But since these last, as we have said above, though they fail to lift up the mind of the righteous, do yet cause them disquietude; holy men, who know themselves to be in misery in this wearisome exile, shrink from shining in its prosperity.
Hence it is well said at this time, Where/ore is light given to one that is in miseiy? lor ' light is given to those in misery,' when they, who, by contemplating things above, see themselves to be in misery in this our pilgrimage, have the brightness of transitory prosperity bestowed upon them; and when they are deploring giievously, that they are slow in returning to their country, they are over and above constrained to bear the burthen of honours. The love of eternal things is crushing them, and at the same time the glory of temporal things smiles upon them. When these reflect what the things are, which keep them down below, and what those are that they see not of the things above, what those are that set them up on earth, and what they have lost of heavenly blessings, they are stung with regret of their prosperity. For though they see that they are never wholly overwhelmed thereby, yet they anxiously consider that their thoughts are divided between the love of God, and the gifts of His hand; and hence when he says, JVherq/bre is light given to him that is in misery? he subjoins forthwith. And life nntn the bitter in soul?
3. For all the Elect are bitter in soul, in that either they iij, never cease to punish themselves by weeping for the transgressions they have committed, or they afflict themselves with regrets, that banished here far from the face of their r2 244 Bad men know not their own misery.
Job 3, Creator, they are not yet admitted to the bliss of the eternal p-^— ^ — country; and of their hearts it is well said by Solomon, The 14, 10. heart knoweth its own bitterness, and a stranger shall not intermeddle xoith his joy. For the hearts of the reprobate are likewise in bitterness, for that they are afflicted even by their very bad passions themselves. Yet they know not of this very bitterness, because having voluntarily blinded their own eyes, they cannot estimate what they are undergoing; but on the contrary the heart of a good man knoweth its own bitterness, for it knows the hard condition of this place of exile, wherein it is cast forth to be torn in pieces; and it sees how tranquil is all that it has lost, how troubled the condition it has fallen into. Yet this embittered heart is one day brought back to its own joy, and a stranger shall not intermeddle therewith, in that he, who now casts himself forth without, away from this sorrow of the heart, in his aims, will then remain shut out from, its interior festival.
4. They then that are in bitterness of soul, long to be wholly dead to the world, that, as they themselves aim at nothing in this present world, so they may not henceforth be fettered by the world with any ties; and it very often happens that a person has already ceased to retain the world in his affections, but the world still ties down that person by its business, and he indeed is already dead to the world, but the world is not yet dead to him. For in a certain sense the > D/ de- ^^'01'^^) still alive, regards^ him, so long as it strives to carry sires \^[^^ away in its actions, when he is bent another way. below) Hence, since Paul both himself utterly contemned the world, and saw that he was become such an one as this world could not possibly desire, having burst the bonds of this life, and Gal. 6 being henceforth at liberty, he rightly exclaims. The world ^^- is crucified to me, and I unto the world. For ^ the world was crucified to him.,' because being now dead to his affections it was no longer an object of love to him; and he had likewise ' crucified himself to the world,' in that he studied to shew himself thereto in such a light, that, as though dead, he might never be coveted by it. For if there be a dead person, and one alive in the same place, though the dead sees not the living, yet the living person does see the dead, but if both are dead, neither can possibly see the other. Thus he, \ The world alive to some that are ilead to it. 245 wlio no longer loves the world, but yet even against his will Book is loved by the world, though he himself being as it were ^- dead sees nothing of the world, yet the world not being dead sees him; but if he neither himself retains the world in his affections, nor again is retained in the affections of the world, then both are mutually dead to one another; in that whereas neither sects the other, it is as if the dead heeded not the dead. Therefore, because Paul neither sought tlie glory of the world, nor was himself sought out by the same, he glories both in being himself crucified to the world, and in the world beingcrucified to him. Now because there are many that desire this, who yet do not altogether rise up to the very extreme point of such a state of deadness, they may well lament and say; Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul. For ' life is given to those in bitterness,' when the glory of this world is bestowed upon the sad and sorrowful, in which same life they do not spare themselves the chastening of most urgent fear; for though they do not themselves hold to the world, yet they still dread being such as the world holds to; and except they were living to it in some slight degree, it would never surely love them for their serviceableness to its interests; just as the sea keeps living bodies in her own bosom, but dead ones she forthwith casts out from herself It proceeds; Ver. 21. Which long for death, but it cometh not, 5. For they desire to mortify themselves wholly, and to be iv.
entirely extinct of the life of temporal glor}', but by the secret appointments of God they are often forced either to take the lead in command, or to busy themselves with dignities imposed on them, and in these circumstances they miceasingly look for a perfect mortification, but this expected death coraeth not; in that the use of them is still alive to temporal glory even against their will, though they submit to that glor)' from the fear of God, and while they inwardly retain their aim after piety, they outwardly discharge the fimctions of their station, that they should neither quit their perfection in their inward pui-})ose, nor set themselves against the dispensations of their Creator in a spirit of pride. For by a marvellous pitifulness of the Divine Nature it comes to pass, that, when he, who aims at contemplation with a