Things Unseen to be Preferred to Things Seen, pt. 2 by Samuel Davies (1724-1761)   [Here we continue our series that has the goal of increasing our love for God and the things of God, while decreasing our love for the world and the things of the world.  In this issue, we continue a sermon by Samuel Davies.  In the previous part of this sermon, Mr. Davies showed that, in respect to their intrinsic value, there is a great disparity between things unseen and things seen.  Here he speaks of the great disparity between things seen and unseen, as to their duration.]—Ed.   “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal:  but the things which are not seen are eternal” (II Cor. 4:18, AV).     Comparative View of the Visible and Invisible, pt. 1 I shall give you a comparative view of visible and invisible things; and we may compare visible and invisible things, as to their intrinsic value, and as to their duration.    1.  As to their intrinsic value, and in this respect the disparity is inconceivable. This I shall illustrate in the two comprehensive instances of pleasure and pain.  To shun the one, and obtain the other, is the natural effort of the human mind.  This is its aim in all its endeavours and pursuits.  The innate desire of happiness and aversion to misery are the two great springs of all human activity:  and, were these springs relaxed or broken, all business would cease, all activity would stagnate, and universal torpor would seize the world.  And these principles are co-existent with the soul itself, and will continue in full vigour in a future state.  Nay, as the soul will then be matured, and all its powers arrived to their complete perfection, this eagerness after happiness, and aversion to misery, will be also more quick and vigorous.  The soul in its present state of infancy, like a young child, or a man enfeebled and stupified by sickness, is incapable of very deep sensations of pleasure and pain; and hence an excess of joy, as well as sorrow, has sometimes dissolved its feeble union with the body.  On this account we are incapable of such degrees of happiness or misery from the things of this world as beings of more lively sensations might receive from them; and much more are we incapable of the happiness or misery of the future world, until we have put on immortality.  We cannot see God and live.  Should the glory of heaven blaze upon us in all its insuperable splendour, it would overwhelm our feeble nature; we could not support such a weight of glory.  And one twinge of the agonies of hell would dislodge the soul from its earthly mansion:  one pang would convulse and stupify it, were not its powers strengthened by the separation from the body.  But in the future world all the powers of the soul will be mature and strong, and the body will be clothed with immortality; the union between them after the resurrection will be inseparable, and able to support the most oppressive weight of glory, or the most intolerable load of torment.  Hence it follows that pleasure and pain include all that we can desire or fear in the present or future world; and therefore a comparative view of present and future pleasure and pain is sufficient to enable us to form a due estimate of visible and invisible things.  By present pleasure I mean all the happiness we can receive from present things, as from riches, honours, sensual gratifications, learning, and intellectual improvements, and all the amusements and exercises of this life.  And by future pleasure, or the pleasure which results from invisible things, I mean all the fruitions and enjoyments in which heavenly happiness consists.  By present pain, I intend all the uneasiness which we can receive from the things of the present life; as poverty, losses, disappointments, bereavements, sickness, and bodily pains.  And by future pain, I mean all the punishments of hell; as banishment from God, and a privation of all created blessings, the agonizing reflections of a guilty conscience, the horrid company and exprobations of infernal ghosts, and the torture of infernal flames. Now let us put these in the balance, and the one will sink into nothing, and the other rise into infinite importance.  Consider: A. Temporal things are of a contracted nature, and not adequate to the capacities of the human soul; but eternal things are great, and capable of communicating all the happiness and misery which it can receive.        B. The soul in its present state is not capable of such degrees of happiness and misery as it will be in the future, when it dwells among invisible realities.  C.  All that pleasure and pain which we receive from things that are seen, are intermingled with some ingredients of a contrary nature; but those proceeding from things that are not seen, are pure and unmingled.  Let’s look at these facts in detail:  A.  Visible things are not equal to the capacities of the human soul.  This little spark of being, the soul, which lies obscured in this prison of flesh, gives frequent discoveries of surprising powers; its desires in particular, have a kind of infinity.  But all temporary objects are mean and contracted; they cannot afford it a happiness equal to its capacity, nor render it as miserable as its capacity of suffering will bear.  Hence, in the greatest affluence of temporal enjoyments, in the midst of honours, pleasures, riches, friends, etc., it still feels a painful void within, and finds an unknown something wanting to complete its happiness.  Kings have been unhappy upon their thrones, and all their grandeur has been but majestic misery.  So Solomon found it, who had opportunity and curiosity to make the experiment; and this is his verdict upon all earthly enjoyments, after the most impartial trial:  “Vanity of vanities” saith the Preacher, “vanity of vanities; all is vanity and vexation of spirit” (Eccl. 1:2,13, AV).  On the other hand, the soul may possess some degree of happiness, under all the miseries it is capable of suffering from external and temporal things.  Guilt indeed denies it this support; but if there be no intestine broils, no anguish resulting from its own reflections, not all the visible things can render it perfectly miserable; its capacity of suffering is not put to its utmost stretch.  This has been attested by the experience of multitudes who have suffered for righteousness’ sake.  But oh, when we take a survey of invisible things, we find them all great and majestic, not only equal but infinitely superior to the most enlarged powers of the human and even of the angelic nature.  In the eternal worlds the great Invisible dwells, and there He acts with His own immediate hand.  It is He that immediately communicates happiness through the heavenly regions; and it is His immediate breath that, like a stream of brimstone, kindles the flames of hell; whereas, in the present world, He rarely communicates happiness, and inflicts punishment, but by the instrumentality of creatures; and it is impossible the extremes of either should be communicated through this channel.  This the infinite God alone can do, and, though in the future worlds He will use His creatures to heighten the happiness or misery of each other, yet He will have a more immediate agency in them Himself.  He will communicate happiness immediately from Himself, the infinite fountain of it, into the vessels of mercy; and He will immediately show His wrath, and make His power known upon the vessels of wrath.  I may add, that those creatures, angels and devils, which will be the instruments of happiness or misery to the human soul in the invisible world, are incomparably more powerful than any in this, and consequently capable of contributing more to our pleasure or pain.  And let me also observe, that all objects about which our faculties will be employed then, will be great and majestic; whereas, at present, we grovel among little sordid things.  The objects of our contemplation will then be either the unveiled glories of the divine nature, and the naked wonders of creation, providence, and redemption; or the terrors of divine justice, the dreadful nature and aggravations of our sin, the horrors of everlasting punishment, etc.  And since this is the case, how little should we regard the things that are seen, in comparison of them that are not seen?  But though visible things were adequate to our present capacities, yet they are not to be compared with the things that are not seen; because, B.  The soul is at present in a state of infancy, and incapable of such degrees of pleasure or pain as it can bear in the future world.  The enjoyments of this life are like the playthings of children; and none but childish souls would trifle with them, or fret and vex themselves or one another about them; but the invisible realities before us are manly and great, and such as an adult soul ought to concern itself with.  The soul in another world can no more be happy or miserable from such toys, than men can be happy or wretched in the possession or loss of the baubles of children; it will then demand great things to give it pleasure or pain.  The apostle illustrates this matter in this manner:  “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child:  but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (I Cor. 13:9 –11, AV).  How foolish is it then to be chiefly governed by these puerilities, while we neglect the manly concern of eternity, that can make our souls perfectly happy or miserable, when their powers are come to perfection! C.  And lastly, All the happiness and misery of the present state, resulting from things that are seen, are intermingled with contrary ingredients.  We are never so happy in this world as to have no uneasiness; in the greatest affluence we languish for want of some absent good, or grieve under some incumbent evil.  On the other hand, we are never so miserable as to have no ingredient of happiness.  When we labour under a thousand calamities, we may still see ourselves surrounded with, perhaps, an equal number of blessings.  And where is there a wretch so miserable as to endure simple, unmingled misery, without one comfortable ingredient?  But in the invisible world there is an eternal separation made between good and evil, pleasure and pain; and they shall never mingle more.  In heaven, the rivers of pleasure flow untroubled with a drop of sorrow; in hell, there is not a drop of water to mitigate the fury of the flame.  And who then would not prefer the things that are not seen to that are seen?                                                                                                    
© 1994-2017, Scott Sperling
Made with Xara
   Things Unseen to be Preferred to Things Seen, pt. 2 by Samuel Davies (1724-1761)   [Here we continue our series that has the goal of increasing our love for God and the things of God, while decreasing our love for the world and the things of the world.  In this issue, we continue a sermon by Samuel Davies.  In the previous part of this sermon, Mr. Davies showed that, in respect to their intrinsic value, there is a great disparity between things unseen and things seen.  Here he speaks of the great disparity between things seen and unseen, as to their duration.]—Ed.   “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal:  but the things which are not seen are eternal” (II Cor. 4:18, AV).     Comparative View of the Visible and Invisible, pt. 1 I shall give you a comparative view of visible and invisible things; and we may compare visible and invisible things, as to their intrinsic value, and as to their duration.    1.  As to their intrinsic value, and in this respect the disparity is inconceivable. This I shall illustrate in the two comprehensive instances of pleasure and pain.  To shun the one, and obtain the other, is the natural effort of the human mind.  This is its aim in all its endeavours and pursuits.  The innate desire of happiness and aversion to misery are the two great springs of all human activity:  and, were these springs relaxed or broken, all business would cease, all activity would stagnate, and universal torpor would seize the world.  And these principles are co-existent with the soul itself, and will continue in full vigour in a future state.  Nay, as the soul will then be matured, and all its powers arrived to their complete perfection, this eagerness after happiness, and aversion to misery, will be also more quick and vigorous.  The soul in its present state of infancy, like a young child, or a man enfeebled and stupified by sickness, is incapable of very deep sensations of pleasure and pain; and hence an excess of joy, as well as sorrow, has sometimes dissolved its feeble union with the body.  On this account we are incapable of such degrees of happiness or misery from the things of this world as beings of more lively sensations might receive from them; and much more are we incapable of the happiness or misery of the future world, until we have put on immortality.  We cannot see God and live.  Should the glory of heaven blaze upon us in all its insuperable splendour, it would overwhelm our feeble nature; we could not support such a weight of glory.  And one twinge of the agonies of hell would dislodge the soul from its earthly mansion:  one pang would convulse and stupify it, were not its powers strengthened by the separation from the body.  But in the future world all the powers of the soul will be mature and strong, and the body will be clothed with immortality; the union between them after the resurrection will be inseparable, and able to support the most oppressive weight of glory, or the most intolerable load of torment.  Hence it follows that pleasure and pain include all that we can desire or fear in the present or future world; and therefore a comparative view of present and future pleasure and pain is sufficient to enable us to form a due estimate of visible and invisible things.  By present pleasure I mean all the happiness we can receive from present things, as from riches, honours, sensual gratifications, learning, and intellectual improvements, and all the amusements and exercises of this life.  And by future pleasure, or the pleasure which results from invisible things, I mean all the fruitions and enjoyments in which heavenly happiness consists.  By present pain, I intend all the uneasiness which we can receive from the things of the present life; as poverty, losses, disappointments, bereavements, sickness, and bodily pains.  And by future pain, I mean all the punishments of hell; as banishment from God, and a privation of all created blessings, the agonizing reflections of a guilty conscience, the horrid company and exprobations of infernal ghosts, and the torture of infernal flames. Now let us put these in the balance, and the one will sink into nothing, and the other rise into infinite importance.  Consider: A. Temporal things are of a contracted nature, and not adequate to the capacities of the human soul; but eternal things are great, and capable of communicating all the happiness and misery which it can receive.        B. The soul in its present state is not capable of such degrees of happiness and misery as it will be in the future, when it dwells among invisible realities.  C.  All that pleasure and pain which we receive from things that are seen, are intermingled with some ingredients of a contrary nature; but those proceeding from things that are not seen, are pure and unmingled.  Let’s look at these facts in detail:  A.  Visible things are not equal to the capacities of the human soul.  This little spark of being, the soul, which lies obscured in this prison of flesh, gives frequent discoveries of surprising powers; its desires in particular, have a kind of infinity.  But all temporary objects are mean and contracted; they cannot afford it a happiness equal to its capacity, nor render it as miserable as its capacity of suffering will bear.  Hence, in the greatest affluence of temporal enjoyments, in the midst of honours, pleasures, riches, friends, etc., it still feels a painful void within, and finds an unknown something wanting to complete its happiness.  Kings have been unhappy upon their thrones, and all their grandeur has been but majestic misery.  So Solomon found it, who had opportunity and curiosity to make the experiment; and this is his verdict upon all earthly enjoyments, after the most impartial trial:  “Vanity of vanities” saith the Preacher, “vanity of vanities; all is vanity and vexation of spirit” (Eccl. 1:2,13, AV).  On the other hand, the soul may possess some degree of happiness, under all the miseries it is capable of suffering from external and temporal things.  Guilt indeed denies it this support; but if there be no intestine broils, no anguish resulting from its own reflections, not all the visible things can render it perfectly miserable; its capacity of suffering is not put to its utmost stretch.  This has been attested by the experience of multitudes who have suffered for righteousness’ sake.  But oh, when we take a survey of invisible things, we find them all great and majestic, not only equal but infinitely superior to the most enlarged powers of the human and even of the angelic nature.  In the eternal worlds the great Invisible dwells, and there He acts with His own immediate hand.  It is He that immediately communicates happiness through the heavenly regions; and it is His immediate breath that, like a stream of brimstone, kindles the flames of hell; whereas, in the present world, He rarely communicates happiness, and inflicts punishment, but by the instrumentality of creatures; and it is impossible the extremes of either should be communicated through this channel.  This the infinite God alone can do, and, though in the future worlds He will use His creatures to heighten the happiness or misery of each other, yet He will have a more immediate agency in them Himself.  He will communicate happiness immediately from Himself, the infinite fountain of it, into the vessels of mercy; and He will immediately show His wrath, and make His power known upon the vessels of wrath.  I may add, that those creatures, angels and devils, which will be the instruments of happiness or misery to the human soul in the invisible world, are incomparably more powerful than any in this, and consequently capable of contributing more to our pleasure or pain.  And let me also observe, that all objects about which our faculties will be employed then, will be great and majestic; whereas, at present, we grovel among little sordid things.  The objects of our contemplation will then be either the unveiled glories of the divine nature, and the naked wonders of creation, providence, and redemption; or the terrors of divine justice, the dreadful nature and aggravations of our sin, the horrors of everlasting punishment, etc.  And since this is the case, how little should we regard the things that are seen, in comparison of them that are not seen?  But though visible things were adequate to our present capacities, yet they are not to be compared with the things that are not seen; because, B.  The soul is at present in a state of infancy, and incapable of such degrees of pleasure or pain as it can bear in the future world.  The enjoyments of this life are like the playthings of children; and none but childish souls would trifle with them, or fret and vex themselves or one another about them; but the invisible realities before us are manly and great, and such as an adult soul ought to concern itself with.  The soul in another world can no more be happy or miserable from such toys, than men can be happy or wretched in the possession or loss of the baubles of children; it will then demand great things to give it pleasure or pain.  The apostle illustrates this matter in this manner:  “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child:  but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (I Cor. 13:9 –11, AV).  How foolish is it then to be chiefly governed by these puerilities, while we neglect the manly concern of eternity, that can make our souls perfectly happy or miserable, when their powers are come to perfection! C.  And lastly, All the happiness and misery of the present state, resulting from things that are seen, are intermingled with contrary ingredients.  We are never so happy in this world as to have no uneasiness; in the greatest affluence we languish for want of some absent good, or grieve under some incumbent evil.  On the other hand, we are never so miserable as to have no ingredient of happiness.  When we labour under a thousand calamities, we may still see ourselves surrounded with, perhaps, an equal number of blessings.  And where is there a wretch so miserable as to endure simple, unmingled misery, without one comfortable ingredient?  But in the invisible world there is an eternal separation made between good and evil, pleasure and pain; and they shall never mingle more.  In heaven, the rivers of pleasure flow untroubled with a drop of sorrow; in hell, there is not a drop of water to mitigate the fury of the flame.  And who then would not prefer the things that are not seen to that are seen?                                                                                                    
Made with Xara © 1994-2017, Scott Sperling