CHAPTER 1
THE INTRODUCTION TO
THE WORK, WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE NATURE OF THE SAINTS' REST.
The important design of the apostle in the text, to
which the author earnestly bespeaks the attention of the reader. The saints'
rest defined, with a general plan of the work. That this rest presupposes. The
author's humble sense of his inability fully to show what this rest contains.
It contains, 1. A ceasing from means of grace; 2. A perfect freedom from all
evils; 3. The highest degree of the saints' personal perfection, both in body
and soul; 4. The nearest enjoyment of God, the chief good; 5. A sweet and
constant action of all the powers of soul and body in this enjoyment of God.
It was not only our interest in God, and actual enjoyment of
him, which was lost in Adam's fall, but all spiritual knowledge of him, and
true disposition towards such a felicity. When the Son of God comes with
recovering grace, and discoveries of a spiritual and eternal happiness and
glory, he finds not faith in man to believe it. As the poor man, that would not
believe any one had such a sum as a hundred pounds, it was so far above what he
himself possessed, so men will hardly now believe there is such a happiness as
once they had, much less as Christ hath now procured. When God would give the
Israelites his Sabbaths of rest, in a land of rest, it was harder to make them
believe it, than to overcome their enemies, and procure it for them. And when
they had it, only as a small intimation and earnest of an incomparably more
glorious rest through Christ, they yet believe no more than they possess, but
say, with the epicure at the feast, Sure there is no other heaven but this! or,
if they expect more by the Messiah, it is only the increase of their earthly
felicity. The apostle aims most of this Epistle against this obduracy, and
clearly and largely proves that the end of all ceremonies and shadows is to
direct them to Jesus Christ, the substance; and that the rest of Sabbaths, and
Canaan, should teach them to look for a further rest, which indeed is
their happiness. My text is his conclusion after divers arguments; a conclusion
which contains the ground of all the believer's comfort, the end of all his
duty and sufferings, the life and sum of all gospel promises and Christian
privileges.
What more welcome to men under personal afflictions, tiring
duties, disappointments, or sufferings, than rest? It is not our comfort only,
but our stability. Our liveliness in all duties, our enduring of tribulation,
our honoring of God, the vigor of our love, thankfulness, and all our graces;
yea, the very being of our religion and Christianity depend on the believing,
serious thoughts of our rest. And now, reader, whoever thou art, young or old,
rich or poor, I entreat thee, and charge thee, in the name of thy Lord, who
will shortly call thee to a reckoning, and judge thee to thy everlasting,
unchangeable state, that thou give not these things the reading only, and so
dismiss them with a bare approbation; but that thou set upon this work, and
take God in Christ for thy only rest, and fix thy heart upon him above all. May
the living God, who is the portion and rest of his saints, make these our
carnal minds so spiritual, and our earthly hearts so heavenly that loving him,
and delighting in him, may be the work of our lives; and that neither I that
write, nor you that read this book, may ever be turned from this path of life;
"lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest," we should "come
short of it," through our own unbelief or negligence.
The saints' rest is the most happy state of a Christian; or,
it is the perfect endless enjoyment of God by the perfected saints,
according to the measure of their capacity, to which their souls arrive at
death, and both soul and body most fully after the resurrection and final
judgment. According to this definition of the saints' rest, a larger
account of its nature will be given in this chapter; of its preparatives, chap.
2; its excellencies, chap. 3 and chap. 4, the persons for whom it is designed.
Further to illustrate the subject, some description will be given, chap. 5, of
their misery who lose this rest; and chap. 6, who also lose the enjoyments of
time, and suffer the torments of hell. Next will be shown, chap. 7, the
necessity of diligently seeking this rest; chap. 8, how our title to it may he
discerned; chap. 9, that they who discern their title to it should help those
that cannot; and chap. 10, that this rest is not to be expected on earth. It
will then be proper to consider, chap. 11, the importance of a heavenly life
upon earth; chap. 12, how to live a heavenly life upon earth; chap. 13, the
nature of heavenly contemplation, with the time, place and temper most fit for
it; chap. 14, what use heavenly contemplation makes of consideration,
affections, soliloquy and prayer: and likewise, chap. 15, how heavenly
contemplation may be assisted by sensible objects, and guarded against a
treacherous heart. Heavenly contemplation will be exemplified, chap. 16, and
the whole work concluded.
There are some things necessarily presupposed in the
nature of this rest: as,
That mortal men are the persons seeking it. For angels
and glorified spirits have it already, and the devils and damned are past hope:
That they choose God only for their end and happiness.
He that takes any thing else for his happiness is out of the way the first
step:
That they are distant from this end. This is the woful
case of all mankind since the fall. When Christ comes with regenerating grace,
he finds no man sitting still, but all posting to eternal ruin, and making
haste toward hell; till, by conviction, he first brings them to a stand, and
then, by conversion, turns their hearts and lives sincerely to himself. This
end, and its excellency, is supposed to be known, and seriously intended. An
unknown good moves not to desire or endeavor. And not only a distance from this
rest, but the true knowledge of this distance, is also supposed. They that
never yet knew they were without God, and in the way to hell, never yet knew
the way to heaven. Can a man find he hath lost his God and his soul, and not
cry, I am undone? The reason why so few obtain this rest, is, they will not be
convinced that they are, in point of title, distant from it and, in point of
practice, Contrary to it. Who ever sought for that which he knew not he had
lost? "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick:"
The influence of a superior moving Cause is also
supposed; else we shall all stand still, and not move toward our rest. If God
move us not, we cannot move. It is a most necessary part of our Christian
wisdom, to keep our subordination to God, and dependence on him. "We are not
sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God." "Without me," says Christ, "ye can do nothing."
It is next supposed, that they who seek this rest have an
inward principle of spiritual life. God does not move men like stones, but
he endows them with life, not to enable them to move without him, but in
subordination to himself, the first mover.
And further, this rest supposes such an actual tendency of
soul toward it as is regular and constant, earnest and laborious. He
that hides his talent shall receive the wages of a slothful servant. Christ is
the door, the only way to this rest. "But strait is the gate and narrow is the
way;" and we must strive, if we will enter; for "many will seek to enter in,
and shall not be able; which implies, "that the kingdom of heaven suffereth
violence." Nor will it bring us to the end of the saints, if we begin in the
spirit and end in the flesh. He only "that endureth to the end shall be saved."
And never did a soul obtain rest with God whose desire was not set upon him
above all things else in the world. "Where your treasure is, there will your
heart he also." The remainder of our old nature will much weaken and interrupt
these desires, but never overcome them. And, considering the opposition to our
desires, from the contrary principles in our nature, and from the weakness of
our graces, together with our continued distance from the end, our tendency to
that end must be laborious, and with all our might. All these things are
pre-supposed, in order to a Christian's obtaining an interest in heavenly rest.
Now we have ascended these steps into the outward court, may
we look within the veil? May we show what this rest contains, as well as what
it pre-supposes? Alas! how little know I of that glory! The glimpse which Paul had,
contained what could not, or must not, be uttered. Had he spoken the things of
heaven in the language of heaven, and none understood that language, what the
better? The Lord reveal to me what I may reveal to you! The Lord open some
light, and show both you and me our inheritance! Not as to Balaam only, whose
eyes were opened to see the goodliness of Jacob's tents, and Israel's
tabernacles, where he had no portion, and from whence must come his own
destruction; not as to Moses, who had only a discovery instead of possession,
and saw the land which he never entered; but as the pearl was revealed to the
merchant in the Gospel, who rested not till he had sold all he had, and bought
it; and as heaven was opened to blessed Stephen, which he was shortly to enter,
and the glory showed him which should be his own possession.
The things contained in heavenly rest are such as these: a
ceasing from means of grace; a perfect freedom from all evils; the highest
degree of the saints' personal perfection, both of body and soul; the nearest
enjoyment of God, the chief good and a sweet and constant action of all the
powers of body and soul in this enjoyment of God.
1. One thing contained in heavenly rest, is, the ceasing
from means of grace. When we have obtained the haven, we have done sailing.
When the workman receives his wages, it is implied he has done his work. When
we are at our journey's end, we have done with the way. Whether prophecies,
they shall fail; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it also,
so far as it had the nature of means, shall vanish away. There shall be no more
prayer, because no more necessity, but the full enjoyment of what we prayed
for: neither shall we need to fast, and weep, and watch any more, being out of
the reach of sin and temptations. Preaching is done; the ministry of man
ceases; ordinances become useless; the laborers are called in, because the
harvest is gathered, the tares burned, and the work finished; the unregenerate
past hope, and the saints past fear, for ever.
2. There is in heavenly rest a perfect freedom from all
evils: from all the evils that accompanied us through our course, and which
necessarily follow our absence from the chief good, besides our freedom from
those eternal flames and restless miseries which the neglecters of Christ and
grace must for ever endure; a woful inheritance, which, both by birth and
actual merit, was due to us as well as to them! In heaven there is nothing that
defileth or is unclean. All that remains without. And doubtless there is
not such a thing as grief and sorrow known there; nor is there such a thing as
a pale face, a languid body, feeble joints, helpless infancy, decrepid age,
peccant humors, painful or pining sickness, griping fears, consuming cares, nor
whatsoever deserves the name of evil. We wept and lamented when the world
rejoiced but our sorrow is turned to joy, and our joy shall no man take from
us.
3. Another ingredient of this rest is, the highest degree
of the saints' 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." 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.
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," 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 a heap of ants, and see them all at 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, 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 they whom thou hast given me be with me where I
am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me!" Every word is full
of life and joy. If the queen of Sheba had cause to say of Solomon's glory,
"Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before
thee, and hear thy wisdom;" then, surely, 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." O blind, deceived world! can you show 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.
And now we say, as Mephibosheth, let the world take all,
forasmuch as our Lord will come in peace. 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 show me
the path of life; in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there
are pleasures for evermore." What presumption would it have been, once, to have
thought or spoken of such a thing, if God had not spoken it before us! I durst
not have thought of the saints' preferment in this life, as Scripture sets it
forth, had it not been the express truth of God. How unbecoming to talk of
being sons of God--speaking to him--having fellowship with him--dwelling in him
and he in us--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--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?--Yes, as the Lord God is true, thus shall it be done to the man
whom Christ delighteth to honor.
Be of good cheer, Christian; the time is at hand 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. 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."
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 which shall be, but God giveth it a body as it hath
pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 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 bodies of flesh, so far shall our senses
exceed those we now possess. Doubtless, as God advances our senses, and
enlarges our capacity, so will he advance the happiness of those senses, and
fill up, with himself, all that capacity. Certainly the body would not be
raised up and continued, if it were not to 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." And if the body shall be thus employed, O 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 actions, whereby they receive and enjoy their objects, so does the
soul in its own actions enjoy its own objects, by knowing, remembering, loving,
and delightful joying. This is the soul's enjoyment. By these eyes it sees, and
by these arms it embraces.
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 drunkard, the voluptuary, or the sensualist. 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? Art thou not, with Peter, ready to say, "Master,
it is good to be here?" "O 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 dark and drear to thee?
Especially in the 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? 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: in comparison of that, it scarce 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." Marvel not, therefore,
Christian, how it can be life eternal to know God and Jesus Christ. To enjoy
God and Christ is eternal life; and the soul's enjoying is in knowing. They
that savor only of earth, and consult 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."
The memory will not be idle, or useless, in this
blessed work. From that height the saint can look behind him and before him.
And to compare past with present things must raise in the blessed soul an
inconceivable esteem and sense of its condition. To stand on that mount, whence
we can see the Wilderness and Canaan both at once; to stand in heaven and look
back on earth, and weigh them together in the balance of a comparing sense and
judgment, how must it needs transport the soul, and make it cry out,
"Is this the purchase that cost so dear as the blood of
Christ? No wonder. O blessed price and thrice blessed love, that invented and
condescended! Is this the end of believing? Is this the end of the Spirit's
workings? Have the gales of grace blown me into such a harbor? Is it hither
that Christ hath allured my soul? O blessed way, and thrice blessed end! Is
this the glory which the Scriptures spoke of, and ministers preached of so
much? I see the Gospel is indeed good tidings, even tidings of peace and good
things, tidings of great joy to all nations! Is my mourning, my fasting, my sad
humblings, my heavy walking, come to this? Is my praying, watching, fearing to
offend, come to this? Are all my afflictions, Satan's temptations, the world's
scorns and jeers, come to this? O vile nature, that resisted so much, and so
long, such a blessing! Unworthy soul! is this the place thou camest to so
unwillingly? Was duty wearisome? Was the world too good to lose? Couldst thou
not leave all, deny all, and suffer any thing for this? Wast thou loth to die,
to come to this? O false heart, thou hadst almost betrayed me to eternal
flames, and lost me this glory! Art thou not now ashamed, my soul, that ever
thou didst question that love which brought thee hither? that thou wast jealous
of the faithfulness of thy Lord? that thou suspectedst his love, when thou
shouldst only have suspected thyself? that ever thou didst quench a motion of
his Spirit? and that thou shouldst misinterpret those providences, and repine
at those ways which have such an end? Now thou art sufficiently convinced that
thy blessed Redeemer was saving thee as well when he crossed thy desires, as
when he granted them; when he broke thy heart, as when he bound it up. No
thanks to thee, unworthy self, for this received crown; but to Jehovah and the
Lamb be glory for ever."
But, O! the full, the near, the sweet enjoyment, is that of love.
"God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."
Now the poor soul complains, "O that I could love Christ more!" Then thou canst
not but love him. Now, thou knowest little of his amiableness, and therefore
lovest little: then, thine eyes will affect thy heart, and the continual
viewing of that perfect beauty will keep thee in continual transports of love.
Christians, doth it not now stir up your love, to remember all the experiences
of his love? Doth not kindness melt you, and the sunshine of Divine goodness
warm your frozen hearts? What will it do then, when you shall live in love, and
have all in Him, who is all? Surely love is both work and wages. What a high
favor, that God will give us leave to love him! that he will be embraced by
those who have embraced lust and sin before him! But more than this, he
returneth love for love; nay, a thousand times more. Christian, thou wilt be
then brim-full of love; yet, love as much as thou canst, thou shalt be ten
thousand times more beloved. Were the arms of the Son of God open upon the
cross, and an open passage made to his heart by the spear; and will not his
arms and heart be open to thee in glory? Did not he begin to love before thou
lovedst, and will not he continue now? Did he love thee, an enemy? thee, a
sinner? thee, who even loathedst thyself? and own thee, when thou didst
disclaim thyself? And will he not now immeasurably love thee, a son? thee, a
perfect saint? thee, who returnest some love for love? He that in love wept
over the old Jerusalem when near its ruin, with what love will he rejoice over
the new Jerusalem in her glory!
Christian, believe this, and think on it: thou shalt be
eternally embraced in the arms of that love which was from everlasting, and,
will extend to everlasting; of that love which brought the Son of God's love
from heaven to earth, from earth to the cross, from the cross to the grave,
from the grave to glory; that love which was weary, hungry, tempted, scorned,
scourged, buffeted, spit upon, crucified, pierced; which did fast, pray, teach,
heal, weep, sweat, bleed, die; that love will eternally embrace thee. When
perfect created love and most perfect uncreated love meet together, it will not
be like Joseph and his brethren, who lay upon one another's necks weeping; it
will be loving and rejoicing, not loving and sorrowing. Yes, it will make
Satan's court ring with the news that Joseph's brethren are come, that the
saints are arrived safe at the bosom of Christ, out of the reach of hell for
ever. Nor is there any such love as David's and Jonathan's, breathing out its
last into sad lamentations for a forced separation. Know this, believer, to thy
everlasting comfort, if those arms have once embraced thee, neither sin nor
hell can get thee thence for ever. Thou hast not to deal with an inconstant
creature, but with Him with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning. His
love to thee will not be as thine was on earth to him, seldom, and cold, up,
and down. He that would not cease nor abate his love, for all thine enmity,
unkind neglects, and churlish resistances, can he cease to love thee, when he
hath made thee truly lovely? He that keepeth thee so constant in thy love to him,
that thou canst challenge tribulation, distress, persecution, famine,
nakedness, peril, or sword, to separate thy love from Christ, how much more
will he himself be constant! Indeed thou mayest be "persuaded that neither
death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
And now, are we not left in the apostle's admiration: "What shall we say to
these things?" Infinite love must needs be a mystery to a finite capacity. No
wonder angels desire to look into this mystery. And if it be the study of
saints here "to know the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love
of Christ, which passeth knowledge;" the saints' everlasting rest must consist
in the enjoyment of God by love.
Nor does joy share least in this fruition. It is this
which all we have mentioned lead to, and conclude in; even the inconceivable
complacency which the blessed feel in seeing, knowing, loving, and being
beloved of God. This is "the white stone which no man knoweth, saving he that
receiveth it." Surely this is the joy with which a stranger doth not
intermeddle. All Christ's ways of mercy tend to and end in the saints' joys. He
wept, sorrowed, suffered, that they might rejoice; he sends the Spirit to be
their comforter; he multiplies promises; he discovers their future happiness,
that their joy may be full. He opens to them the fountain of living waters,
that they may thirst no more, and that it may spring up in them to everlasting
life. He chastens them that he may give them rest. He makes it their duty to
rejoice in him always, and again commands them to rejoice. He never brings them
into so low a condition that he does not leave them more cause of joy than
sorrow. And hath the Lord such a care of our comfort here? O what will that joy
be, where the soul being perfectly prepared for joy, and joy prepared by Christ
for the soul, it shall be our work, our business, eternally to rejoice! It
seems the saints' joy shall be greater than the damned's torment; for their
torment is the torment of creatures, prepared for the devil and his angels; but
our joy is the joy of our Lord. The same glory which the Father gave the Son,
the Son hath given them, to sit with him in his throne, even as he is set down
with his Father in his throne. Thou, poor soul, who prayest for joy, waitest
for joy, complainest for want of joy, longest for joy; thou then shalt have
full joy, as much as thou canst hold, and more than ever thou thoughtest on, or
thy heart desired. In the meantime walk carefully, watch constantly, and then
let God measure out to thee thy times and degrees of joy. It may be he keeps
them until thou hast more need. Thou hadst better lose thy comfort than thy
safety. If thou shouldst die full of fears and sorrows, it will be but a
moment, and they are all gone and concluded in joy inconceivable. As the joy of
the hypocrite, so the fears of the upright are but for a moment. God's "anger
endureth but a moment; in his favor is life; weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning." O blessed morning! Poor, humble, drooping soul,
how would it fill thee with joy now, if a voice from heaven should tell thee of
the love of God, the pardon of thy sins, and assure thee of thy part in these
joys! What then will thy joy be, when thy actual possession shall convince thee
of thy title, and thou shalt be in heaven before thou art well aware!
And it is not thy joy only; it is a mutual joy as well
as a mutual love. Is there joy in heaven at thy conversion, and will there be
none at thy glorification? Will not the angels welcome thee thither, and
congratulate thy safe arrival?--yes, it is the joy of Jesus Christ; for now he
hath the end of his undertaking, labor, suffering, dying, when we have our
joys; when he is "glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that
believe;" when he "sees of the travail of his soul, and is satisfied." This is
Christ's harvest, when he shall reap the fruit of his labors; and it will not
repent him concerning his sufferings, but he will rejoice over his purchased
inheritance, and his people will rejoice in him.--Yea, the Father himself puts
on joy, too, in our joy. As we grieve his Spirit, and weary him with our
iniquities, so he is rejoiced in our good. O how quickly does he now spy a
returning prodigal, even afar off! How does he run and meet him! And with what
compassion does he fall on his neck and kiss him, and put on him the best robe,
and a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and kills the fatted calf, to
eat and be merry! This is indeed a happy meeting; but nothing to the embracing
and joy of that last and great meeting. Yea, more; as God doth mutually love
and joy, so he makes this his rest, as it is our rest. What an eternal
Sabbatism, when the work of redemption, sanctification, preservation,
glorification, is all finished and perfected for ever! "The Lord thy God in the
midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy, he
will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." Well may we then
rejoice in our God with joy, and rest in our love, and joy in him with singing.
Alas! my fearful heart scarce dares proceed. Methinks I hear
the Almighty's voice saying to me, "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words
without knowledge?" But pardon thy servant, O Lord. I have not pried into
unrevealed things. I bewail that my apprehensions are so dull, my thoughts so
mean, my affections so stupid, and my expressions so low and unbecoming such a
glory. I have only heard by the hearing of the ear: O let thy servant see thee,
and possess these joys; then shall I have more suitable conceptions, and shall
give thee fuller glory; I shall abhor my present self, and disclaim and
renounce all these imperfections. "I have uttered that I understood not, things
too wonderful for me, which I knew not." Yet "I believed, and therefore have I
spoken." What, Lord, canst thou expect from dust, but levity? or from
corruption but defilement? Though the weakness and irreverence be the fruit of
my own corruption, yet the fire is from thine altar, and the work of thy
commanding. I looked not into thy ark, nor put forth my hand unto it without
thee. Wash away these stains also in the blood of the Lamb. Imperfect, or none
must be thy service here. O take thy Son's excuse, "the spirit is willing, but
the flesh is weak."
