The Text will afford several points,
but I shall only name one, which I intend
to stand on at this time, and that is
this.
Doct. That God reserves the best and
greatest favours and blessings
for beleevers till they come to
Heaven.
Now I shall prove this proposition by
an induction of particulars, and then
give you the reasons of it; I will begin
with the inheritance spoken of in the
Text.
1 The best inheritance is reserved for
Beleevers till they come to Heaven; this
is clear and fair in the Text, yet I shall
make this further out to you thus.
First, The Inheritance reserved for
Beleevers till they come to Heaven, is
a pure, undefiled, and incorruptible inheritance,
it is an inheritance that cannot
bee defiled, nor blemished with abuse
one way or another, other inheritances
may, and often are with oathes,
cruelty, blood, deceit, &c. the Greek
word Amiantos signifies a precious
stone, which though it bee never so much
soiled, yet it cannot be blemished, nor
defiled; yea, the oftner you cast it into
the fire, and take it out, the more clear,
bright, and shining it is; All earthly inheritances
are true Gardens of Adonis,
where wee can gather nothing but trivial
flowers, surrounded with many bryars,
thorns, and thistles: O the hands, the
hearts, the thoughts, the lives, that have
been defiled, stained, and polluted with
earthly inheritances! O the impure
love, the carnal confidence, the vain
boastings, the sensual joyes, that earthly
inheritances have filled and defiled poor
souls with; all earthly inheritances, they
are no better than the Cities which Solomon
gave to Hiram, which hee called Cabul,
that is to say, displeasing, or dirty,
the world doth but durt, and dust us.
But
Secondly; It is a sure, a secure inheritance,
to an inheritance reserved in Heaven
for you. See the Text, the Greek
word that is here rendred reserved, is
from which signifies to
keep solicitously, to keep, as with watch
and ward; this inheritance is kept, and
secured to us, by promise, by power, by
blood, by oath, and therefore must needs
bee sure; it is neither sin, nor Satan,
nor the world that can put a Christian by
this inheritance; Christ hath already
taken possession of it in their names, and
in their rooms, and so it is secure to
them; if weaknesse can overcome
strength, impotency omnipotency, then
may a Christian bee kept out of his inheritance,
but not till then; but earthly
inheritances, they are not sure, they are
not secure; how often doth might overcome
right, and the weakest go to
the wall? how many are kept out, and
how many are cast out of their inheritances?
by power, policy, craft, cruelty;
It was a complaint of old, our inheritance
is turned to strangers, our houses
to Aliens, James 5. 2.
Thirdly, It is a permanent, a lasting
inheritance; To an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away;
the Greek word Amarantos is the proper
name of a flower, which is still
fresh, and green, after it hath a long
time hung up in the house; it is an inheritance
that shall continue as long as
God himself continues; of this inheritance
there shall be no end, though other
inheritances may bee lasting, yet they
are not everlasting, though sometimes
it bee long before they have an end,
yet they have an end; where is the glory
of the Caldean, Persian, Græcian, and
Roman Kingdomes? but the glory of
Beleevers shall never fade, nor wither,
it shall never grow old, nor rusty, 1 Pet.
5.4. And when the chief Shepheard shall
appear, yee shall receive a Crown of Glory,
which fadeth not away; a Beleevers inheritance,
his glory, his happinesse, his
blessednesse, shall bee as fresh and flourishing
after hee hath been many thousand
thousands of years in Heaven, as
it was at his first entrance into it;
Earthly inheritances are like Tennisballs,
which are bandied up and down
from one to another, and in time wore
out. The creature is all shadow and
vanity, it is filia noctis like Jonahs
Gourd, man can sit under its shadow but
a little, little while; it soon decaies and
dies, it quickly fades and withers; there
is a worm at the root of all earthly inheritances,
that will consume them in
time; all earthly comforts and contents
are but like a fair picture that is
drawn upon the Ice, which continueth

D

not, or like the morning cloud that soon
passeth away, but a Beleevers inheritance
indureth for ever; when this
world shall bee no more, when time
shall bee no more, the inheritance of the
Saints shall bee fresh, flourishing, and
continuing, Nescio quid erit, quod ista
vita non erit, ubi lucet, quod non capiat locus,
ubi sonat, quod non rapit tempus, ubi
olet, quod non spargit flatus, ubi sapit,
quod non minuit edacitas, ubi hæret, quod
non divellit æternitas, said Augustin, what
will that life bee, or rather what will not
that life bee, since all good either is not
at all, or is in such a life; light, which
place cannot comprehend, voices and
musick, which time cannot ravish away;
odours which are never dissipated, a feast
which is never consumed, a blessing
which eternity bestoweth, but eternity
shall never see at an end; So this, all this
is the heritage of all Gods Jacobs.
Fourthly, It is the freest inheritance,
it is an inheritance that is free from all
vexation, and molestation; there shall
bee no sin to molest the soul, nor no Devil
to vex the soul; there shall bee no
pricking Brier; nor grieving Thorne,
unto the house of Israel; there shall bee
no Jebusites to bee as pricks in your eies,
and Thorns in your sides; there shall bee
no crying, O my bones! O my bowels!
O the deceit of this man! O the oppression
of that man! &c. No, they shall
have a Crown without Thornes, a Rose
without prickles, and an inheritance
without the least incumbrance; this inheritance
flows from free love, and is
freely offered, though the soul hath
neither mony, nor mony worth; there
is nothing, there is not the least thing
about this inheritance, that is purchased
or paid for by us; it is all frank, it is all
free, it is all of grace; here is such an inheritance,
that no eye ever saw, that no
mortal ever possest, and that for nothing;
it is freely offered, and it is freely given,
Act. 20.32. And now Brethren, I commend
you to God, and to the word of his
grace, which is able to build you up, and
to give you an inheritance among all them
which are sanctified. All is mercy, all is of
free mercy, that God alone may have
the glory. Other inheritances they have
their incumbrances: O the vexations, the
molestations, that doth attend them! O
the debates, the disputes, the Law suits that
are about earthly inheritances, such as
have made many a man to go with a heavy
heart, an empty purse, and a thred-bare-coat;
which made Themistocles professe,
that if two wayes were shewed him, one
to Hell, and the other to the Barre, hee
would decline that which did lead to the
Barre, and chuse that which went to
Hell.

D2

Fifthly, It is an Inheritance that is
universally communicable, to Jews, to
Gentiles, to bond, to free, to rich, to
poor, to high, to low, to male, to female,
Gal. 3.28, 29. There is neither Jew, nor
Greek, there is neither bond, nor free, there
is neither male, nor female, for yee are all
one in Christ Jesus; And if yee bee Christs,
then are yee Abrahams seed, and heirs according
to the Promise. Among men, all
sons and daughters bee not heirs, yet
all Gods children, bee they sons, bee they
daughters, bee they bond, or free, &c.
they are all heirs without exception; Jehosaphat
gave his younger sons great gifts of
silver and gold, and of precious things,
with fenced Cities, but the Kingdome gave
hee to Jehoram, because hee was the first
born. And Abraham gave gifts to the
rest of his sons, but Isaac only had the
inheritance; in some Countries all children
bee not heirs, but sons only, and in
other Countries, not all sons, but the
Eldest Son alone; usually men divide
their earthly inheritances, if all the Sons
bee heirs, some inherit one place, others,
others; but here the whole inheritance is
enjoyed by every childe, here every child
is an heir to all, and hath right to all. In
earthly inheritances; the more you divide,
the lesse is every ones part; but this
inheritance is not diminished by the multitude
of possessors, nor impaired by
the number of co-heirs, it is as much to
many, as to a few, and as great to one,
as to all; not a room, not a mansion, not a
walk, not a flower, not a Jewel, not a box
of Myrrhe, but what is common to all;
not a smile, not a good word, not a sweet
look, not a Robe, not a dish, not a delicate,
not a pleasure, not a delight, but is
universally communicable, and universally
fit for all the thousands millions of
thousands, that are heirs of this inheritance;
if there bee a thousand together,
every one sees as much of the Sun, hears
as much of the sound, smells as much
of the sweet, as hee should do if there
were no more than himself alone; so here.
Sixthly, and lastly, It is a soul-satisfying
inheritance; hee that hath it shall
sit down and say, I have enough; I have
all. As one Master satisfies the servant,
and as one Father satisfies the child, and
as one Husband satisfies the Wife, so
one God, one Christ, one Inheritance,
satisfies the beleeving soul, Psal. 16.5, 6.
The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance,
and of my cup, thou maintainest my lot. The
lines are fallen unto mee in a pleasant place,
yea, I have a goodly heritage. Will an
Inheritance of glory satisfie them? why
this they shall have, 1 John 3.3. Col. 3.4.
will an inheritance of power and dominion
satisfie them? why this they shall
have, 1 Cor. 3.21. All things are yours,

D3

&c. Matth. 19. 28. 1 Cor. 6. 2, 3 &c.
will Abrahams bosome satisfie you? why
this you shall have, Luk. 16. 22. The
bosome is the place where love lodges
all her children; the bosome is the place
of delight and satisfaction, and this you
shall have; nay, you shall have a better, a
choicer, a sweeter bosome to solace your
souls in than Abrahams, to wit, the bosome
of Jesus Christ, which will bee a
paradise of pleasure and delight to you.
Will Christs best Rob, will his own signet
put upon you, satisfie you? why this
you shall have; will it satisfie you to bee
where Christ is, and to fare as Christ fares,
and wear as Christ wears, and injoy as
Christ injoyes? why this you shall have,
John 12.26. Where I am, there shall also my
servant bee; if any man serve mee, him will
my Father honour; If all these things will
satisfie souls, then surely the inheritance
reserved in Heaven for them will satisfie
them; for that inheritance takes in
these things, and many more; the good
things that this Inheritance is made up
of, are so many, that they exceed number,
so great, that they exceed measure,
so precious, that they are above all estimation;
and therefore it must needs
bee a soul-satisfying Inheritance.
But now all other inheritances they
cannot satisfie the heart of man. Eccles.
5.10. Hee that loveth silver shall not bee

9

satisfied with silver, nor hee that loveth abundance
with increase; this is also vanity;
If you please you may read the words
nearer the Original thus; Hee that loveth
silver shall not bee satisfied with silver,
and hee that loveth it in the multitude of
it, shall not have fruit; it is the love of
silver that is the mischief of it; it is the
love of silver that makes men unsatisfied
with silver; such a man will still bee
adding house to house, land to land, bag
to bag, and heap to heap, and yet after
all, bee still unsatisfied. Bernard compareth
such a man to one that being very
hungry, gapeth continually for wind,
with which hee may bee puffed, but cannot
bee filled, and satisfied, and so the
same Author elsewhere saith well
anima
rationalis cæteris omnibus occupari potest,
impleri non potest
The reasonable
soul may bee busied about other things,
but it cannot bee filled with them; they
can no more fill up the soul, than a drop
of water can fill up the huge Ocean, they
can no more satisfie the desires of the
soul, than a few drops of water can the
thirst of a man inflamed with a violent
Feaver: nay, as Oyle increases the flame
of the fire, so the more a man hath of the
world, the more his heart is inflamed after
it: When Alexander had conquered
the known part of the world say some
hee sate down, and wish't for another

D4

world to conquer. Charles the fifth,
Emperour of Germany whom of all men
the world judged most happy cryed out
with detestation to all his honours, pleasures,
Trophees, Riches abite hinc, abite
longe get you hence, let mee hear no
more of you; they could not satisfie
him, they could not quiet him. Such
things that a fancy, a conceit, an ungrounded
fear will rob a man of the
comfort of, can never satisfie him, but
such, are all worldly injoyments. One
man will not live, because his Delilah
will not love. Another with Ahab will
bee sick, and die, because hee cannot get
his neighbours inheritance; another
wishes himself dead, because his commodities
lies dead on his hands. Another
with Haman, can finde no sweetnesse in
all his enjoyments, because Mordecai sits
at the Kings gate, as those things which
delude a man can never satisfie him, but
the world deludes a man and puts cheats
upon him, it promises a man pleasure, and
paies him with pain; it promises profit,
all this will I give thee and paies him
with losse; loss of God, of Christ, of
Peace, of Conscience, of Comfort, of
Heaven, of Happinesse, of all, it promises
contentment, and fills him with torment,
and therefore can never satisfie the
soul of man, &c.
But the Inheritance reserved in Heaven
that will satisfie, it will afford nothing
that may offend the soul, it will
yeeld every thing that may delight the
soul, that may quiet and satisfie the
soul, by all which it is most evident, That
the best inheritance is reserved for the
Saints till they come to Heaven; But
Secondly, As the best Inheritance, so
the best rest is reserved for Beleevers till
they come to Heaven; this life is full of
tryals, full of troubles, and full of changes;
sin within, and Satan and the world
without, will keep a Christian from rest,
till he comes to rest in the bosome of
Christ; the life of a Christian is a race,
and what rest have they that are still a
running their race? the life of a Christian
is a warfare, and what rest have
they that are still engaged in a constant
warfare? the life of a Christian is the life
of a Pilgrim, and what rest hath a Pilgrim,
who is still a travelling from place
to place? A Pilgrim is like Noahs
Dove, that could finde no rest for the
sole of her foot; the fears, the snares, the
cares, the changes, &c. that attends beleevers
in this world, are such that will
keep them from taking up their rest
here. A Christian hears that word alwaies
sounding in his ears; Arise, for this
is not thy resting place. A man may as
well expect to finde Heaven in Hell, as
expect to finde rest in this world; it was
the complaint of Ambrose
Quid in hac
vita non experimur adversi? quas non procellas
tempestatesque perpetimur? Quibus
non exagitamur incommodis? Cujus parcitur
meritis?
what misery do wee not
undergo in this life? what storms and
tempests do wee not indure? with what
troubles are wee not tossed? whose
worth is spared? mans sorrows begins
when his daies begins, and his sorrows
are multiplied, as his daies are
multiplied; his whole life is but one
continued grief, labour wears him, care
tears him, fears toss him, losses vex him,
dangers trouble him, crosses disquiet
him, nothing pleases him; in the day
hee wishes would God it were night, and
in the night would God it were day, before
hee rises, hee sighs, before hee
washes, hee weeps, before hee feeds, hee
fears, under all his abundance hee is in
wants, and in the midst of his sufficiency
hee is in straits: his heart as Gregory Nyssene
speaks Non tantum gaudet in iis quæ
habet, quantum tristatur ob ea quæ desunt
is not so much quieted in those things
which it hath, as it is tormented for those
things which it hath not. In a word all
the rest wee have in this world is but a
very short nap to that glorious rest that
is reserved in Heaven for us, Heb. 4.9,
10. There remaineth therefore a rest to the
people of God; For hee that is entred into his

13

rest, hee also hath ceased from his own
works, as God did from his; there remains
a rest to the people of God, or as
the Greek hath it, a sabbatisme, a celestial
rest, an eternal rest, a Sabbath that
shall never have end; when God had
made man, wee read that the next day
hee rested, and why is this set down,
saith Anselme Nisi per hoc vellet innuere,
quod illum post cujus orationem requievit,
ad requiem fecit? but that the Spirit of
God would shew unto us, that God made
him for rest, after the making of whom
God is said to have rested; Rest is a
Jewel very desirable on Earth, but wee
shall not wear it in our bosomes till wee
come to Heaven. Ambrose well observes
that
sex diebus mundus est factus,
septimo requietum est die; ultra mundum
ergo est quies, ultra mundum etiam fructus
quietis
in six daies the world was
made, on the seventh day there was
rest; it is beyond this world, therefore
that rest is, and it is beyond this world,
that the fruit of rest is to bee had. I
shall shew you observing brevity the
excellency of that rest that is reserved for
Beleevers in Heaven.
As First, It is a superlative rest, a rest
that infinitely exceeds all earthly rest, all
other rest is not to be named in the day
wherein this rest is spoken of; Some
have purchased rest for a time with silver
and gold, but this is a rest, that all the
gold and silver in the world can never
purchase; over this rest is written not
the price of gold, but the price of blood,
yea the price of the best, and noblest
blood that ever run in veins; that rest
wee have here, must needs be a poor,
low-prized rest ubi multa cautela custoditur
salus corporis, custodita etiam amittitur,
amissa cum gravi labore reparatur,
& tamen reparata in dubio semper est;
where the health of the body is preserved
with much watchfulnesse, being preserved,
is also lost; being lost, is recovered
with much labour; and yet being recovered,
is alwaies in danger, and doubtfulnesse,
what will become of it: our estate
in this world is not a fixed estate; what
then is our rest? our very living is but a
passing away, our lives are full of
troubles, and they fill our souls full of
unquietnesse. After the Trojans had
been tossing and wandring in the Mediterranean
Sea, as soon as they espied Italy,
they cryed out with exulting joy;
Italy, Italy, And so when Saints after
all their tossings and restlesnesse in this
world shall come to Heaven, then and
not till then they will cry out, rest, rest,
no rest to this rest. But
Secondly, The rest reserved in Heaven
for Beleevers, it is an universal rest,
a rest from all sin, and a rest from all sorrow,
a rest from all afflictions, and a rest
from all temptations, a rest from all oppression,
and a rest from all vexation,
a rest from all labour and pains, from
all trouble, and travel, from all Aches,
Weaknesses, and Diseases; there is no
crying out, O my bones! O my back!
O my bowels! O my sides! O my head!
O my heart! Our rest here is only in
part, and imperfect; here wee have rest
in one part, and pain in another, quiet
in one part, and torment in another;
Sometimes when the head is well, the
heart is sick; and sometimes when there
is peace in the conscience, there is pain
in the bones; here many return us hatred
for our love, and this hinders our
rest; here wee are apt to create cares
and fears to our selves, rather than wee
will want them, and this hinders our rest;
here wee are very apt to give offence,
and as apt to take offence, though none
be given and this hinders our rest;
sometimes wee have rest abroad, and
none at home; sometimes rest at home,
and none abroad; our rest here is imperfect,
and incompleat, but our rest in
Heaven shall be most perfect and compleat;
there the inward and the outward
man shall be both at rest, &c. But
Thirdly, It is an uninterrupted rest,
it is a rest that none can interrupt, here
sometimes sin interrupts our rest; sometimes
temptations interrupts our rest;
sometimes divine with-drawings interrupts
our rest; sometimes the sudden
changes and alterations that God makes
in our conditions interrupts our rest;
sometimes the power, and sometimes the
policy, and sometimes the cruelty of
wicked men interrupts our rest; sometimes
the crosness of friends, sometimes
the deceitfulness of friends, sometimes
the loss of friends, and sometimes the
death of friends interrupts our rest; one
thing or another is still interrupting our
rest: O but in Heaven! there shall
be no sin, no Devil, no sinner, no false
friend, there shall bee nothing, there
shall not be the least thing that may interrupt
a Saints rest; indeed Heaven
could not bee Heaven, did it admit of any
thing that might interrupt a Saints
rest. Heaven is above all winds, and
weather, storms and tempests, Earthquakes,
and heart-quakes; there is only
that which is amiable and desireable;
there is nothing to cloud a Christians
joy, or to interrupt a Christians
rest; when once a soul is asleep
in the bosome of Abraham, none can
awake him, none can molest or disturb
him, here is joy without sorrow, blessednesse
without misery, health without
sickness, light without darkness, abundance
without want, beauty without deformity,
honour without disgrace, ease
without labour, and peace without interruption,
or perturbation; here shall
be eyes without tears, hearts without
fears, and souls without sin; here shall
be no evil to molest the soul, here shall
be all good to cheat the soul, and all happiness
to satisfie the soul, and what then
can possibly interrupt the rest of the
soul? But
Fourthly, As it is an uninterrupted rest,
so it is a peculiar rest; it is a rest peculiar
to Sons, to Saints, to Heirs, to Beloved
ones, Psal. 127.2. So hee gives his Beloved
rest, or as the Hebrew hath it dearling,
or dear beloved, quiet rest, without
care or sorrow, the Hebrew word
Shenais written with a quiet dumb
letter which is not usual to denote the
more quietness and rest; this rest is a
Crown that God sets only upon the head
of Saints; it is a gold chain that hee only
puts about his childrens necks; it is a
Jewel that hee only hangs between his
beloveds breasts; it is a Flower that hee
only sticks in his darlings bosomes; this
rest is a tree of life that is proper and peculiar
to the inhabitants of that Heavenly
Country; it is childrens bread, and shall
never be given to doggs; here wicked
men have their good things; their peace,
their rest, their quiet, &c. their Heaven,
whilst the people of God are troubled
and disquieted on every side; but the day
is a comming wherein the Saints shall
have rest, and sinners shall never have a
good day more, never have an hours rest
more; their torments shall be endlesse,
and easelesse. The old world had their
resting time, but at last patience and
Justice tired and abused, put a period to
their rest, by washing and sweeping
them to hell with a flood; And then
Noah, and those righteous souls that
were with him, had their time of rest and
peace; and so shall it be with sinners and
Saints at last, &c. But
Fifthly, The rest reserved for the
Saints in Heaven, as it is a peculiar rest;
so it is a rest that is universally communicable
to all the Sons and Daughters
of God; And to you who are troubled rest
with us, saith the Apostle Paul, rest with
us, with us Apostles, with us Saints, and
with all the family of Heaven together,
Here some Saints are at liberty, when others
are in prison; here some sit under
their own Vines, and drink the blood
of the Grape, whilst others have their
blood poured out as water upon the
ground, &c. but in Heaven they shall
all have rest together, the beleeving
Husband, and the beleeving Wife shall
rest together, and beleeving Parents, and
beleeving children shall rest together;
here one relation hath rest, when the other
hath not; but there they shall all rest
together; there the painful Preacher,
and the diligent hearer shall rest
together; there the gracious Master
and the pious servant shall rest together,
&c. Isa. 57.2. Hee shall enter into
peace, they shall rest in their beds, each one
walking in his uprightness; they shall rest
in their beds, or as some read it; they shall
rest in their Bee-hives, expressing the
Hebrew by the Latine, Cubile, signifies
a Bee-hive, as well as a Couch, or
Bed; Look as the poor wearied Bees
do rest altogether in their Bee-hives, in
their hony-houses, so all the Saints shall
rest together in Heaven, which is their
Bee-hive, their Hony-house: And O
what a happy rest will that be, when all
the Saints shall rest together! But
Sixthly and lastly, It is a permanent,
a constant rest, of this rest there shall be
no end; it is a rest that shall last as long
as Heaven lasts; yea, as long as God himself
shall continue; time shall be no more,
and this world shall be no more, but this
rest shall remain for ever; the rest of the
people of God in this world is transient;
it is inconstant; now they have rest, and
anon they have none; now a calm, presently
a storm; now all is in quiet, anon
all is in an uproar; their rest in this world,
is like a morning cloud, and the early

E

dew, which is soon dryed up by the
beams of the Sun. Since God hath cast
man out of Paradise, out of his first rest,
hee can finde but little rest in this world;
sometimes the unfitness of the creature
troubles him, sometimes the fickleness
of the creature vexes him, sometimes
the treachery of the creature inrages
him, and sometimes the want of the creature
distracts him; when in his heart hee
saith, now I shall have rest, now I shall
be quiet, then troubles and changes
comes; so that his whole life is rather
a dreaming of rest, than an injoying of
rest: O! but in Heaven the rest of the
Saints shall have no end; there shall be
nothing that can put a period to their
rest; there shall be every thing that may
conduce to the perpetuating of their
rest, Heaven would be but a poor low
thing, did it not afford a perpetual
rest.
Thirdly, As the best rest, so the best
sight and knowledge of God is reserved
for Beleevers, till they come to Heaven:
I readily grant, that even in this world
the Saints do know the Lord, inwardly,
spiritually, powerfully, feelingly, experimentally,
transformingly, practically;
but yet notwithstanding all this, the
best knowledge of God is reserved for
Heaven, which I shall evidence by an induction
of particulars thus.
First, They shall have the clearest
knowledge and revelation of God in
Heaven; here our visions of God are not
clear, and this makes many a child of
light to sit, and sigh in darknesse. God
vails himself, hee covers himself with a
cloud, man when hee is silent concerning
God, seemeth to be something, but when
hee begins to speak of God, it plainly
appears that hee is nothing.
Simonides being asked by Hiero the
Tyrant, what God was; craved a day for
to deliberate about an answer, but the
more hee sought into the nature of God,
the more difficult hee found it to express;
therefore the next day after being questioned,
hee asked two daies; the third
day hee craved four, and so from that
time forth doubled the number, and being
asked why hee did so, hee answered,
that the more hee studied, the less he was
able to define, what hee was; so incomprehensible
is his nature.
Our visions of God here are dark and
obscure; Augustin asking the question
what God is? gives in this answer certe
hic est, de quo & quum dicitur non potest
dici, quum æstimatur, non potest æstimari,
quum comparatur, non potest comparari,
quum definitur, ipse sua definitione crescit
Surely it is hee, who when hee is spoken
of, cannot be spoken of; who when hee
is considered of, cannot be considered

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of; who when hee is compared to any
thing, cannot be compared, and when
hee is defined, groweth greater by defining
of him. It is observable, that it
was not the Lord which the Prophet
Ezekiel saw, it was only a vision; in the
vision it was not the glory of the Lord
which hee saw, but the likeness of it;
nay, it was not the likeness of it, but the
appearance of the likenesse of the glory
of the Lord that made him to fall on his
face, as not being able to behold it;
Sin hath so weakened, dazled, and darkned
the eye of our souls, that wee cannot
bear the sight of the glory of the
Lord, nor the likeness of it, no nor the
appearance of the likenesse of it.
In the Psalms the Lord is said to ride
upon a Cherub, upon which words one
saith thus Cherub quippe plenitudo scientiæ
dicitur, proinde super plenitudinem,
scientiæ ascendisse perhibetur, quia majestatis
ejus plenitudinem scientiæ nulla comprehendit
a Cherub is so called as being a
fulness of knowledge; and therefore is
God said to ascend above the fulnesse of
knowledge, because no knowledge comprehendeth
the fulness of his Majesty.