CHAP. I. The Introduction to the Work, with some account of the nature of the Saint's Rest (2)

§ 7. (3.) Another ingredient of this rest is, the highest degree of the saint's personal perfection, both of body and soul. Were the glory ever so great, and themselves not made capable of it, by a personal perfection suitable thereto, it would be little to them. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.[14] For the eye of flesh is not capable of seeing them, nor this ear of hearing them, nor this heart of understanding them: but there the eye, and ear, and heart, are made capable; else how do they enjoy them? The more perfect the sight is, the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical the ear, the more pleasant the melody. The more perfect the soul, the more joyous those joys, and the more glorious to us is that glory.

[14]   1 Corinthians ii, 9.

§ 8. (4.) The principal part of this rest, is our nearest enjoyment of God the chief good. And here, reader, wonder not if I be at a loss; and if my apprehensions receive but little of that which is in my expressions. If it did not appear, to the beloved disciple, what we shall be, but only in general, that when Christ shall appear, we shall be like him,[15] no wonder if I know little. When I know so little of God, I cannot much know what it is to enjoy him. If I know so little of spirits, how little of the Father of spirits, or the state of my own soul, when advanced to the enjoyment of him? I stand and look upon an heap of ants, and see them all with one view; they know not me, my being, nature, or thoughts, though I am their fellow-creature; how little then must we know of the great Creator, though he with one view clearly beholds us all? A glimpse the saints behold as in a glass;[16] which makes us capable of some poor, dark apprehensions of what we shall behold in glory. If I should tell a worldling what the holiness and spiritual joys of the saints on earth are, he cannot know; for grace cannot be clearly known without grace; how much less could he conceive it, should I tell him of this glory? But to the saints I may be somewhat more encouraged to speak; for grace gives them a dark knowledge and slight taste of glory. If men and angels should study to speak the blessedness of that state in one word, what could they say beyond this, that it is the nearest enjoyment of God? O the full joys offered to a believer in that one sentence of Christ, Father, I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me.[17] Every word full of life and joy. If the queen of Sheba had cause to say of Solomon's glory, Happy are thy men, happy are thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom;[18] then sure they that stand continually before God, and see his glory, and the glory of the Lamb, are more than happy. To them will Christ give to eat of the tree of life; and to eat of the hidden manna: yea, he will make them pillars in the temple of God, and they shall go no more out; and he will write upon them the name of his God, and the name of the city of his God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from his God, and he will write upon them his new name; yea, more, if more may be, he will grant them to sit with him in his throne. These are they who came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb: Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them: The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.[19] O blind, deceived world! Can you shew us such a glory? This is the city of our God, where the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. The glory of God shall lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And there shall be no more curse; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. These sayings are faithful and true, and the things which must shortly be done.[20] And now we say, as Mephibosheth, let the world take all, forasmuch as our Lord will come in peace.[21] Rejoice therefore in the Lord, O ye righteous, and say with his servant David, the Lord is the portion of mine inheritance: The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life; in thy presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.[22] What presumption would it have been, once to have thought or spoke of such a thing, if God had not spoken it before us? I durst not have thought of the saint's preferment in this life, as scripture sets it forth, had it not been the express truth of God. How indecent to talk of being Sons of God—speaking to him—having fellowship with him—dwelling in him and he in us;[23] if this had not been God's own language? How much less durst we have once thought of shining forth as the sun—of being joint heirs with Christ—of judging the world—of sitting on Christ's throne—of being one in him and the Father;[24] if we had not all this from the mouth, and under the hand, of God? But hath he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?[25] Yes, as the Lord God is true, thus shall it be done to the man whom Christ delighteth to honor.[26] Be of good cheer, Christian, the time is near, when God and thou shalt be near, and as near as thou canst well desire. Thou shalt dwell in his family. Is that enough? It is better to be a door-keeper in the house of God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.[27] Thou shalt ever stand before him, about his throne, in the room with him, in his presence-chamber. Wouldst thou yet be nearer? Thou shalt be his child, and he thy Father; thou shalt be an heir of his kingdom; yea more, the spouse of his Son. And what more canst thou desire? Thou shalt be a member of the body of his Son; he shall be thy head; thou shalt be one with him, who is one with the Father, as he himself hath desired for thee of his Father, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.[28]

[15]   1 John iii, 2.

[16]   2 Corinthians iii, 18.

[17]   John xvii, 24.

[18]   Kings x, 8.

[19]   Revelation ii, 7, 17. iii, 12, 21. vii, 14, 15, 17.

[20]   Revelation xxi, 24. xxii, 3, 4, 6.

[21]   2 Samuel xix, 30.

[22]   Psalm xxxi, 1. xvi, 5, 6, 8, 11.

[23]   1 John iii, 1. Genesis xviii, 27. 1 John i, 3. iv, 16.

[24]   Matthew xiii, 43. Romans viii, 17. 1 Corinthians vi, 2. Revelation iii, 21. John xvii, 21.

[25]   Numbers xxiii, 19.

[26]   Esther vi, 11.

[27]   Psalm lxxxvi, 10.

[28]   John xvii, 21-23.

§ 9. (5.) We must add that this rest contains a sweet and constant action of all the powers of the soul and body in this enjoyment of God. It is not the rest of a stone, which ceaseth from all motion when it attains the centre.—This body shall be so changed, that it shall no more be flesh and blood, which cannot inherit the kingdom of God; but a spiritual body. We sow not that body that shall be, but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.[29] If grace makes a Christian differ so much from what he was, as to say, I am not the man I was; how much more will glory make us differ? As much as a body spiritual, above the sun in glory, exceeds these frail, noisome, diseased lumps of flesh, so far shall our senses exceed those we now possess. Doubtless as God advanceth our senses, and enlargeth our capacity, so will he advance the happiness of those senses, and fill up with himself all that capacity. Certainly the body should not be raised up and continued, if it should not share in the glory. As it hath shared in the obedience and sufferings, so shall it also in the blessedness. As Christ bought the whole man, so shall the whole partake of the everlasting benefits of the purchase. O blessed employment of a glorified body! To stand before the throne of God and the Lamb, and to sound forth for ever, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing; for thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests. Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God. Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. O Christians! this is the blessed rest; a rest, as it were, without rest; for they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.[30]—And if the body shall be thus employed, oh, how shall the soul be taken up! As its powers and capacities are greatest, so its actions are strongest, and its enjoyments sweetest. As the bodily senses have their proper action, whereby they receive and enjoy their objects, so does the soul in its own action enjoy its own object, by knowing, remembering, loving, and delightful joying. This is the soul's employment. By these eyes it sees, and by these arms it embraces.

[29]   1 Corinthians xv, 50, 44, 37, 38.

[30]   Revelation iv, 11. v, 12, 9, 10. xix, 1, 6. iv, 8.

§ 10. Knowledge of itself is very desirable. As far as the rational soul exceeds the sensitive, so far the delights of a philosopher, in discovering the secrets of nature, and knowing the mystery of sciences, exceed the delights of the glutton, the drunkard, the unclean, and of all the voluptuous sensualists whatsoever. So excellent is all truth. What then is their delight who know the God of truth? How noble a faculty of the soul is the understanding? It can compass the earth; it can measure the sun, moon, stars, and heaven; it can foreknow each eclipse to a minute, many years before. But this is the top of all its excellency, that it can know God, who is infinite, who made all these; a little here, and more, much more hereafter. O the wisdom and goodness of our blessed Lord! He hath created the understanding with a natural bias and inclination to truth; as its object; and to the prime truth, as its prime object. Christian, when, after long gazing heaven-ward, thou hast got a glimpse of Christ, dost thou not sometimes seem to have been with Paul in the third heaven, whether in the body, or out, and to have seen what is unutterable?[31] Art thou not, with Peter, ready to say, "Master, it is good to be here"?[32] Oh that I might dwell in this mount! O that I might ever see what I now see! Didst thou never look so long upon the Sun of Righteousness, till thine eyes were dazzled with his astonishing glory? And did not the splendor of it make all things below seem black and dark to thee? Especially in thy day of suffering for Christ, when he usually appears most manifestly to his people, didst thou never see one walking in the midst of the fiery furnace with thee like the Son of God?[33] Believe me, Christians, yea, believe God; you that have known most of God in Christ here, it is as nothing to what you shall know; it scarce, in comparison of that, deserves to be called knowledge. For as these bodies, so that knowledge must cease, that a more perfect may succeed. Knowledge shall vanish away. For we know 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. 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.[34] Marvel not therefore, Christians, how it can be life eternal, to know God and Jesus Christ.[35] To enjoy God and Christ, is eternal life; and the soul's enjoying is in knowing. They that savor only of earth, and consult only with flesh, think it a poor happiness to know God. But we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness; and we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.[36]