"Charity never fails: but whether
there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall
cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
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." --
1 Corinthians
13:8-10
From
the first of these verses, I have already drawn the doctrine, that that great
fruit of the Spirit in which the Holy Ghost shall not only for a season, but
everlastingly, be communicated to the church of Christ, is charity or divine
love. And now I would consider the same verse in connection with the two that
follow it, and upon the three verses would make two observations.
First, that
it is mentioned as one great excellence of charity, that it shall remain when
all other fruits of the Spirit have failed. And,
Second, that
this will come to pass in the perfect state of the church, when that which is in
part shall be done away, and that which is perfect is come.
There is a twofold imperfect,
and so a twofold perfect state of the Christian church. The church in
its beginning, or in its first stage, before it was strongly established in the
world, and settled in its New Testament state, and before the canon of Scripture
was completed, was in an imperfect state — a state, as it were, of childhood,
in comparison with what it was to be in its elder and later ages, when it should
have reached its state of manhood, or of comparative earthly perfection. And so,
again, this comparatively perfect church of Christ, so long as it remains in its
militant state, that is, down to the end of time, will still be in an imperfect,
and, as it were, in a childish state, in comparison with what it will be in its
heavenly state, in which latter it is comparatively in its state of manhood or
perfection.
And so there is a twofold
failing of these miraculous gifts of the Spirit here mentioned. One was at the
end of the first or infant age of the church, when the canon of Scripture was
completed, and so there was to be no need of such gifts for the church in its
latter ages, when it should have put away childish things, and come to a state
of manhood before the end of the world, and when the Spirit of God should most
gloriously be poured out and manifested in that love or charity, which is its
greatest and everlasting fruit. And the other will be, when all the common
fruits of the Spirit cease with respect to particular persons at death, and with
.respect to the whole church at the end of the world, while charity shall still
remain in heaven, and there the Spirit of God shall be poured forth and
manifested in perfect love in every heart to all eternity.
The apostle, in the context,
seems to have respect to both these states of the church, but especially to the
latter. For though the glorious state of the church in its latter age on earth,
will be perfect in comparison with its former state, yet its state in heaven is
that state of the church to which the expressions of the apostle seem most
agreeable, when he says, “When that which is perfect is come,” etc., and,
“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.” The doctrine, then, that I
would draw from the text is, that
HEAVEN IS A WORLD OF CHARITY OR LOVE.
The apostle speaks, in the
text, of a state of the church when it is perfect in heaven, and therefore a
state in which the Holy Spirit shall be more perfectly and abundantly given to
the church than it is now on earth. But the way in which it shall be given when
it is so abundantly poured forth, will be in that great fruit of the Spirit,
holy and divine love, in the hearts of all the blessed inhabitants of that
world. So that the heavenly state of the church is a state that is distinguished
from its earthly state, as it is that state which God has designed especially
for such a communication of his Holy Spirit, and in which it shall be given
perfectly, whereas, in the present state of the church, it is given with great
imperfection. And it is also a state in which this holy love or charity shall
be, as it were, the only gift or fruit of the Spirit, as being the most perfect
and glorious of all, and which, being brought to perfection, renders all other
gifts that God was wont to bestow on his church on earth, needless. And that we
may the better see how heaven is thus a world of holy love, I would consider, first,
the great cause and fountain of love that is in heaven; second, the
objects of love that it contains; third, the subjects of that love; fourth,
its principle, or the love itself; fifth, the excellent circumstances in
which it is there exercised and expressed and enjoyed; and, sixth, the
happy effects and fruits of all this. And,
I. The CAUSE
and FOUNTAIN of love in heaven. — Here I remark that the God of love
himself dwells in heaven. Heaven is the palace or presence-chamber of the high
and holy One, whose name is love, and who is both the cause and source of all
holy love. God, considered with respect to his essence, is everywhere — he
fills both heaven and earth. But yet he is said, in some respects, to be more
especially in some places than in others. He was said of old to dwell in the
land of Israel, above all other lands; and in Jerusalem, above all other cities
of that land; and in the temple, above all other buildings in the city; and in
the holy of holies, above all other apartments of the temple; and on the mercy
seat, over the ark of the covenant, above all other places in the holy of
holies. But heaven is his dwelling-place above all other places in the universe;
and all those places in which he was said to dwell of old, were but types of
this. Heaven is a part of creation that God has built for this end, to be the
place of his glorious presence, and it is his abode forever; and here will he
dwell, and gloriously manifest himself to all eternity.
And this renders heaven a
world of love; for God is the fountain of love, as the sun is the fountain of
light. And therefore the glorious presence of God in heaven, fills heaven with
love, as the sun, placed in the midst of the visible heavens in a clear day,
fills the world with light. The apostle tells us that “God is love;” and
therefore, seeing he is an infinite being, it follows that he is an infinite
fountain of love. Seeing he is an all-sufficient being, it follows that he is a
full and over-flowing, and inexhaustible fountain of love. And in that he is an
unchangeable and eternal being, he is an unchangeable and eternal fountain of
love.
There, even in heaven,
dwells the God from whom every stream of holy love, yea, every drop that is, or
ever was, proceeds. There dwells God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Spirit, united as one, in infinitely dear, and incomprehensible, and mutual, and
eternal love. There dwells God the Father, who is the father of mercies, and so
the father of love, who so loved the world as to give his only-begotten Son to
die for it. There dwells Christ, the Lamb of God, the prince of peace and of
love, who so loved the world that he shed his blood, and poured out his soul
unto death for men. There dwells the great Mediator, through whom all the divine
love is expressed toward men, and by whom the fruits of that love have been
purchased, and through whom they are communicated, and through whom love is
imparted to the hearts of all God’s people. There dwells Christ in both his
natures, the human and the divine, sitting on the same throne with the Father.
And there dwells the Holy Spirit — the Spirit of divine love, in whom the very
essence of God, as it were, flows out, and is breathed forth in love, and by
whose immediate influence all holy love is shed abroad in the hearts of all the
saints on earth and in heaven. There, in heaven, this infinite fountain of love
— this eternal Three in One — is set open without any obstacle to hinder
access to it, as it flows forever. There this glorious God is manifested, and
shines forth, in full glory, in beams of love. And there this glorious fountain
forever flows forth in streams, yea, in rivers of love and delight, and these
rivers swell, as it were, to an ocean of love, in which the souls of the
ransomed may bathe with the sweetest enjoyment, and their hearts, as it were, be
deluged with love! Again, I would consider heaven, with regard,
II. To the OBJECTS of
love that it contains. — And here I would observe three things: —
1. There are none but
lovely objects in heaven. — No. odious, or unlovely, or polluted person or
thing is to be seen there. There is nothing there that is wicked or unholy.
“There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither
whatsoever worketh abomination” (Rev. 21:27). And there is nothing that is
deformed with any natural or moral deformity; but everything is beauteous to
behold, and amiable and excellent in itself. The God that dwells and gloriously
manifests himself there, is infinitely lovely; gloriously lovely as a heavenly
Father, as a divine Redeemer, and as a holy Sanctifier.
All the persons that belong
to the blessed society of heaven are lovely. The Father of the family is lovely,
and so are all his children; the head of the body lovely, and so are all the
members. Among the angels there are none that are unlovely — for they are all
holy; and no evil angels are suffered to infest heaven as they do this world,
but they are kept forever at a distance by that great gulf which is between them
and the glorious world of love. And among all the company of the saints, there
are no unlovely persons. There are no false professors or hypocrites there; none
that pretend to be saints, and yet are of an unchristian and hateful spirit or
behavior, as is often the case in this world; none whose gold has not been
purified from its dross; none who are not lovely in themselves and to others.
There is no one object there to give offense, or at any time to give occasion
for any passion or emotion of hatred or dislike, but every object there shall
forever draw forth love.
And not only shall all
objects in heaven be lovely, but,
2. They shall be
perfectly lovely. — There are many things in this world that in the
general are lovely, but yet are not perfectly free from that which is the
contrary. There are spots on the sun; and so there are many men that are most
amiable and worthy to be loved, who yet are not without some things that are
disagreeable and unlovely. Often there is in good men some defect of temper, or
character, or conduct, that mars the excellence of what otherwise would seem
most amiable; and even the very best of men, are, on earth, imperfect. But it is
not so in heaven. There shall be no pollution, or deformity, or unamiable defect
of any kind, seen in any person or thing; but everyone shall be perfectly pure,
and perfectly lovely in heaven. That blessed world shall be perfectly bright,
without any darkness; perfectly fair, without any spot; perfectly clear, without
any cloud. No moral or natural defect shall ever enter there; and there nothing
will be seen that is sinful or weak or foolish; nothing, the nature or aspect of
which is coarse or displeasing, or that can offend the most refined taste or the
most delicate eye. No string shall there vibrate out of tune, to cause any jar
in the harmony of the music of heaven; and no note be such as to make discord in
the anthems of saints and angels.
The great God who so fully
manifests himself there, is perfect with an absolute and infinite perfection.
The Son of God, who is the brightness of the Father’s glory, appears there in
the fullness of his glory, without that garb of outward meanness in which he
appeared in this world. The Holy Ghost shall there be poured forth with perfect
richness and sweetness, as a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And every member of that
holy and blessed society shall be without any stain of sin, or imperfection, or
weakness, or imprudence, or blemish of any kind. The whole church, ransomed and
purified, shall there be presented to Christ, as a bride, clothed in fine linen,
clean and white, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. Wherever the
inhabitants of that blessed world shall turn their eyes, they shall see nothing
but dignity, and beauty, and glory. The most stately cities on earth, however
magnificent their buildings, yet have their foundations in the dust, and their
streets dirty and defiled, and made to be trodden under foot; but the very
streets of this heavenly city are of pure gold, like unto transparent glass, and
its foundations are of precious stones, and its gates are pearls. And all these
are but faint emblems of the purity and perfectness of those that dwell therein.
And in heaven,
3. Shall be all those
objects that the saints have set their hearts upon, and which they have loved
above all things while in this world. — There they will find those things
that appeared most lovely to them while they dwelt on earth; the things that met
the approbation of their judgments, and captivated their affections, and drew
away their souls from the most dear and pleasant of earthly objects. There they
will find those things that were their delight here below, and on which they
rejoiced to meditate, and with the sweet contemplation of which their minds were
often entertained; and there, too, the things which they chose for their
portion, and which were so dear to them that they were ready for the sake of
them to undergo the severest sufferings, and to forsake even father, and mother,
and kindred, and friends, and wife, and children, and life itself. All the truly
great and good, all the pure and holy and excellent from this world, and it may
be from every part of the universe, are constantly tending toward heaven. As the
streams tend to the ocean, so all these are tending to the great ocean of
infinite purity and bliss. The progress of time does but bear them on to its
blessedness; and us, if we are holy, to be united to them there. Every gem which
death rudely tears away from us here is a glorious jewel forever shining there;
every Christian friend that goes before us from this world, is a ransomed spirit
waiting to welcome us in heaven. There will be the infant of days that we have
lost below, through grace to be found above; there the Christian father, and
mother, and wife, and child, and friend, with whom we shall renew the holy
fellowship of the saints, which was interrupted by death here, but shall be
commenced again in the upper sanctuary, and then shall never end. There we shall
have company with the patriarchs and fathers and saints of the Old and New
Testaments, and those of whom the world was not worthy, with whom on earth we
were only conversant by faith. And there, above all, we shall enjoy and dwell
with God the Father, whom we have loved with all our hearts on earth; and with
Jesus Christ, our beloved Savior, who has always been to us the chief among ten
thousands, and altogether lovely; and with the Holy Ghost, our Sanctifier, and
Guide, and Comforter; and shall be filled with all the fullness of the Godhead
forever!
And such being the objects
of love in heaven, I pass,
III. To its subjects; and
these are, the hearts in which it dwells. — In every heart in heaven, love
dwells and reigns. The heart of God is the original seat or subject of love.
Divine love is in him, not as in a subject that receives it from another, but as
in its original seat, where it is of itself. Love is in God, as light is in the
sun, which does not shine by a reflected light, as the moon and planets do, but
by its own light, and as the great fountain of light. And from God, love flows
out toward all the inhabitants of heaven. It flows out, in the first place,
necessarily and infinitely, toward his only-begotten Son; being poured forth,
without mixture, as to an object that is infinite, and so fully adequate to all
the fullness of a love that is infinite. And this infinite love is infinitely
exercised toward him. Not only does the fountain send forth streams to this
object, but the very fountain itself wholly and altogether goes out toward him.
And the Son of God is not only the infinite object of love, but he is also an
infinite subject of it. He is not only the beloved of the Father, but he
infinitely loves him. The infinite essential love of God, is, as it were, an
infinite and eternal, mutual, holy, energy between the Father and the Son: a
pure and holy act, whereby the Deity becomes, as it were, one infinite and
unchangeable emotion of love proceeding from both the Father and the Son. This
divine love has its seat in the Deity, as it is exercised within the Deity, or
in God toward himself.
But this love is not
confined to such exercises as these. It flows out in innumerable streams toward
all the created inhabitants of heaven, to all the saints and angels there. The
love of God the Father flows out toward Christ the head, and to all the members
through him, in whom they were beloved before the foundation of the world, and
in whom the Father’s love was expressed toward them in time, by his death and
sufferings, as it now is fully manifested in heaven. And the saints and angels
are secondarily the subjects of holy love, not as those in whom it is as in an
original seat, as light is in the sun, but as it is in the planets, that shine
only by reflected light. And the light of their love is reflected in the first
place, and chiefly, back to its great source. As God has given the saints and
angels love, so their love is chiefly exercised towards God its fountain, as is
most reasonable. They all love God with a supreme love. There is no enemy of God
in heaven; but all, as his children, love him as their Father. They are all
united, with one mind, to breathe forth their whole souls in love to God their
eternal Father, and to Jesus Christ their common Redeemer, and head, and friend.
Christ loves all his saints
in heaven. His love flows out to his whole church there, and to every individual
member of it. And they all, with one heart and one soul, unite in love to their
common Redeemer. Every heart is wedded to this holy and spiritual husband, and
all rejoice in him, while the angels join them in their love. And the angels and
saints all love each other. All the members of the glorious society of heaven
are sincerely united. There is not a single secret or open enemy among them all.
Not a heart is there that is not full of love, and not a solitary inhabitant
that is not beloved by all the others. And as all are lovely, so all see each
other’s loveliness with full complacence and delight. Every soul goes out in
love to every other; and among all the blessed inhabitants, love is mutual, and
full, and eternal. I pass next to speak, as proposed,
IV. Of the principle of
love in heaven. — And by this I mean, the love itself that fills
and blesses the heavenly world, and which may be noticed both as to its nature
and degree. And,
1. As to its nature.
— In its nature, this love is altogether holy and divine. Most of the love
that there is in this world is of an unhallowed nature. But the love that has
place in heaven is not carnal but spiritual. It does not proceed from corrupt
principles or selfish motives, nor is it directed to mean and vile purposes and
ends. As opposed to all this, it is a pure flame, directed by holy motives, and
aiming at no ends inconsistent with God’s glory and the happiness of the
universe. The saints in heaven love God for his own sake, and each other for
God’s sake, and for the sake of the relation that they have to him, and the
image of God that is upon them. All their love is pure and holy. We may notice
this love, also,
2. As to its degree.
— And in degree it is perfect. The love that dwells in the heart of God is
perfect, with an absolutely infinite and divine perfection. The love of angels
and saints to God and Christ, is perfect in its kind, or with such a perfection
as is proper to their nature. It is perfect with a sinless perfection, and
perfect in that it is commensurate to the capacities of their nature. So it is
said in the text, that “when that which is perfect is come, that which is in
part shall be done away.” Their love shall be without any remains of any
contrary principle, having no pride or selfishness to interrupt it or hinder its
exercises. Their hearts shall be full of love. That which was in the heart on
earth as but a grain of mustard-seed, shall be as a great tree in heaven. The
soul that in this world had only a little spark of divine love in it, in heaven
shall be, as it were, turned into a bright and ardent flame, like the sun in its
fullest brightness, when it has no spot upon it.
In heaven there shall be no
remaining enmity, or distaste, or coldness, or deadness of heart towards God and
Christ. Not the least remainder of any principle of envy shall exist to be
exercised toward angels or other beings who are superior in glory; nor shall
there be aught like contempt or slighting of those who are inferiors. Those that
have a lower station in glory than others, suffer no diminution of their own
happiness by seeing others above them in glory. On the contrary, all the members
of that blessed society rejoice in each other’s happiness, for the love of
benevolence is perfect in them all. Every one has not only a sincere, but a
perfect goodwill to every other. Sincere and strong love is greatly gratified
and delighted in the prosperity of the beloved object; and if the love be
perfect, the greater the prosperity of the beloved is, the more is the lover
pleased and delighted; for the prosperity of the beloved is, as it were, the
food of love, and therefore the greater that prosperity, the more richly is love
feasted. The love of benevolence is delighted in beholding the prosperity of
another, as the love of complacence is, in beholding the beauty or perfection of
another. So that the superior prosperity of those that are higher in glory, is
so far from being a hindrance to the degree of love felt toward them, that it is
an addition to it, or a part of it.
There is undoubtedly an
inconceivably pure, sweet, and fervent love between the saints in glory; and
that love is in proportion to the perfection and amiableness of the objects
beloved, and therefore it must necessarily cause delight in them when they see
that the happiness and glory of others are in proportion to their amiableness,
and so in proportion to their love to them. Those that are highest in glory, are
those that are highest in holiness, and therefore are those that are most
beloved by all the saints; for they most love those that are most holy, and so
they will all rejoice in their being the most happy. And it will not be a grief
to any of the saints to see those that are higher than themselves in holiness
and likeness to God, more loved also than themselves, for all shall have as much
love as they desire, and as great manifestations of love as they can bear; and
so all shall be filly satisfied; and where there is perfect satisfaction, there
can be no reason for envy. And there will be no temptation for any to envy those
that are above them in glory, on account of the latter being lifted up with
pride; for there will be no pride in heaven. We are not to conceive that those
who are more holy and happy than others in heaven, will be elated and lifted up
in their spirit above others; for those who are above others in holiness, will
be superior to them in humility. The saints that are highest in glory will be
the lowest in humbleness of mind, for their superior humility is part of their
superior holiness. Though all are perfectly free from pride, yet, as some will
have greater degrees of divine knowledge than others, and larger capacities to
see more of the divine perfections, so they will see more of their own
comparative littleness and nothingness, and therefore will be lowest and most
abased in humility.
V. The excellent
circumstances in which love shall be exercised and blessed, and enjoyed in
heaven. — And,
1. Love in
heaven is always mutual. — It is always met with answerable returns of
lovewith returns that are proportioned to its exercise. Such returns, love
always seeks; and just in proportion as any person is beloved, in the same
proportion is his love desired and prized. And in heaven this desire of love, or
this fondness for being loved, will never fail of being satisfied. No
inhabitants of that blessed world will ever be grieved with the thought that
they are slighted by those that they love, or that their love is not fully and
fondly returned.
As the saints will
love God with an inconceivable ardency of heart, and to the utmost of their
capacity, so they will know that he has loved them from all eternity, and still
loves them, and will continue to love them forever. And God will then gloriously
manifest himself to them, and they shall know that all that happiness and glory
which they are possessed of, are the fruits of his love. And with the same ardor
and fervency will the saints love the Lord Jesus Christ; and their love will be
accepted; and they shall know that he has loved them with a faithful, yea, even
with a dying love. They shall then be more sensible than now they are, what
great love it manifested in Christ that he should lay down his life for them;
and then will Christ open to their view the great fountain of love in his heart
for them, beyond all that they ever saw before. Hereby the love of the saints to
God and Christ is seen to he reciprocated, and that declaration fulfilled, “I
love them that love me;” and though the love of God to them cannot properly be
called the return of love, because he loved them first, yet the sight of his
love will, on that very account, the more fill them with joy and admiration, and
love to him.
The love of the
saints, one to another, will always be mutual and reciprocated, though we cannot
suppose that everyone will, in all respects, be equally beloved. Some of the
saints are more beloved of God than others, even on earth. The angel told Daniel
that he was “a man greatly beloved” (Dan. 9:23); and Luke is called “the
beloved physician” (Col. 4:14); and John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved”
(John 20:2). And so, doubtless, those that have been most eminent in fidelity
and holiness, and that are highest in glory, are most beloved by Christ in
heaven; and doubtless those saints that are most beloved of Christ, and that are
nearest to him in glory, are most beloved by all the other saints. Thus we may
conclude that such saints as the apostle Paul and the apostle John are more
beloved by the saints in heaven than other saints of lower rank. They are more
beloved by lower saints than those of equal rank with themselves. But then there
are answerable returns of love in these cases; for as such are more beloved by
all other saints, so they are fuller of love to other saints The heart of
Christ, the great Head of all the saints, is more full of love than the heart of
any saint can be. He loves all the saints far more than any of them love each
other. But the more any saint is loved of him, the more is that saint like him,
in this respect, that the fuller his heart is of love.
2. The joy of
heavenly love shall never be interrupted or damped by jealousy. — Heavenly
lovers will have no doubt of the love of each other. They shall have no fear
that the declarations and professions of love are hypocritical; but shall be
perfectly satisfied of the sincerity and strength of each other’s affection,
as much as if there were a window in every breast, so that everything in the
heart could be seen. There shall be no such thing as flattery or dissimulation
in heaven, but there perfect sincerity shall reign through all and in all. Every
one will be just what he seems to be, and will really have all the love that he
seems to have. It will not be as in this world, where comparatively few things
are what they seem to be, and where professions are often made lightly and
without meaning; but there every expression of love shall come from the bottom
of the heart, and all that is professed shall be really and truly felt.
The saints shall
know that God loves them, and they shall never doubt the greatness of his love,
and they shall have no doubt of the love of all their fellow inhabitants in
heaven. And they shall not be jealous of the constancy of each other’s love.
They shall have no suspicion that the love which others have felt toward them is
abated, or in any degree withdrawn from themselves for the sake of some rival,
or by reason of anything in themselves which they suspect is disagreeable to
others, or through any inconstancy in their own hearts or the hearts of others.
Nor will they be in the least afraid that the love of any will ever be abated
toward them. There shall be no such thing as inconstancy and unfaithfulness in
heaven, to molest and disturb the friendship of that blessed society. The saints
shall have no fear that the love of God will ever abate towards them, or that
Christ will not continue always to love them with unabated tenderness and
affection. And they shall have no jealousy one of another, but shall know that
by divine grace the mutual love that exists between them shall never decay nor
change.
3. There shall
be nothing within themselves to clog or hinder the saints in heaven in
the exercises and expressions of love. — In this world the saints find
much to hinder them in this respect. They have a great deal of dullness and
heaviness. They carry about with them a heavy-molded body — a clod of earth
— a mass of flesh and blood that is not fitted to be the organ for a soul
inflamed with high exercises of divine love; but which is found a great clog and
hindrance to the spirit, so that they cannot express their love to God as they
would, and cannot be so active and lively in it as they desire. Often they fain
would fly, but they are held down as with a dead weight upon their wings. Fain
would they be active, and mount up, as a flame of fire, but they find
themselves, as it were, hampered and chained down, so that they cannot do as
their love inclines them to do. Love disposes them to burst forth in praise, but
their tongues are not obedient; they want words to express the ardency of their
souls, and cannot order their speech by reason of darkness (Job 37:19); and
often, for want of expressions, they are forced to content themselves with
groanings that cannot be uttered (Rom. 8:26).
But in heaven they
shall have no such hindrance. There they will have no dullness and unwieldiness,
and no corruption of heart to war against divine love, and hinder its
expressions; and there no earthly body shall clog with its heaviness the
heavenly flame. The saints in heaven shall have no difficulty in expressing all
their love. Their souls being on fire with holy love shall not be like a fire
pent up, but like a flame uncovered and at liberty. Their spirits, being winged
with love, shall have no weight upon them to hinder their flight. There shall be
no want of strength or activity, nor any want of words wherewith to praise the
object of their affection. Nothing shall hinder them from communing with God,
and praising and serving him just as their love inclines them to do. Love
naturally desires to express itself; and in heaven the love of the saints shall
be at full liberty to express itself as it desires, whether it be towards God or
to created beings.
4. In heaven
love will be expressed with perfect decency and wisdom. — Many in this
world that are sincere in their hearts, and have indeed a principle of true love
to God and their neighbor, yet have not discretion to guide them in the manner
and circumstances of expressing it. Their intentions, and so their speeches, are
good, but often not suitably timed, nor discreetly ordered as to circumstances,
but are attended with an indiscreetness that greatly obscures the loveliness of
grace in the eyes of others. But in heaven the amiableness and excellence of
their love shall not be obscured by any such means. There shall be no indecent
or unwise or dissonant speeches or actions — no foolish and sentimental
fondness — no needless officiousness — no low or sinful propensities of
passion — and no such thing as affections clouding or deluding reason, or
going before or against it. But wisdom and discretion shall be as perfect in the
saints as love is, and every expression of their love shall be attended with the
most amiable and perfect decency and discretion and wisdom.
5. There shall
be nothing external in heaven to keep its inhabitants at a distance from each
other, or to hinder their most perfect enjoyment of each other’s love. —
There shall be no wall of separation in heaven to keep the saints asunder, nor
shall they be hindered from the full and complete enjoyment of each other’s
love by distance of habitation; for they shall all be together, as one family,
in their heavenly Father’s house. Nor shall there be any want of full
acquaintance to hinder the greatest possible intimacy; and much less shall there
be any misunderstanding between them, or misinterpreting things that are said or
done by each other. There shall be no disunion through difference of temper, or
manners, or circumstances, or from various opinions, or interests, or feelings,
or alliances; but all shall be united in the same interests, and all alike
allied to the same Savior, and all employed in the same business, serving and
glorifying the same God.
6. In heaven all
shall be united together in very near and dear relations — Love always
seeks a near relation to the one who is beloved; and in heaven they shall all be
nearly allied and related to each other. All shall be nearly related to God the
supreme object of their love, for they shall all be his children. And all shall
be nearly related to Christ, for he shall be the head of the whole society, and
the husband of the whole Church of saints, all of whom together shall constitute
his spouse. And they shall all be related to each other as brethren, for all
will be but one society, or rather but one family, and all members of the
household of God. And more than this,
7. In heaven all
shall have property and ownership in each other. — Love seeks to have the
beloved its own; and divine love rejoices in saying, “My beloved is mine, and
I am his.” And in heaven all shall not only be related one to another, but
they shall be each other’s, and belong to each other. The saints shall be
God’s. He brings them home to himself in glory, as that part of the creation
that he has chosen for his peculiar treasure. And on the other hand, God shall
be theirs, made over to them in an everlasting covenant in this world, and now
they shall be forever in full possession of him as their portion. And so the
saints shall be Christ’s, for he has bought them with a price; and he shall be
theirs, for he that gave himself for them will have given himself to them; and
in the bonds of mutual and everlasting love, Christ and the saints will have
given themselves to each other. And as God and Christ shall be the saints’, so
the angels shall be their angels, as is intimated in Mat. 18:10; and the saints
shall be one another’s, for the apostle speaks (2 Cor. 8:5) of the saints in
his days, as first giving themselves to the Lord, and then to one another by the
will of God; and if this is done on earth, it will be more perfectly done in
heaven.
8. In heaven
they shall enjoy each other’s love in perfect and uninterrupted
prosperity. — What often on earth alloys the pleasure and sweetness of
worldly pleasure, is, that though persons live in love, yet they live in
poverty, or meet with great difficulties and sore afflictions, whereby they are
grieved for themselves and for one another. For, though in such cases love and
friendship in some respects lighten the burden to be borne, yet in other
respects they rather add to its weight, because those that love each other
become, by their very love, sharers in each other’s afflictions, so that each
has not only his own trials to bear, but those also of his afflicted friends.
But there shall be no adversity in heaven, to give occasion for a pitiful grief
of spirit, or to molest or disturb those who are heavenly friends in the
enjoyment of each other’s friendship. But they shall enjoy one another’s
love in the greatest prosperity, and in glorious riches and comfort, and in the
highest honor and dignity, reigning together in the heavenly kingdom —
inheriting all things, sitting on thrones, all wearing crowns of life, and being
made kings and priests unto God forever.
Christ and his
disciples, while on earth, were often together in affliction and trial, and they
kept up and manifested the strongest love and friendship to each other under
great and sore sufferings. And now in heaven they enjoy each other’s love in
immortal glory, all sorrow and sighing having forever fled away. Both Christ and
his saints were acquainted with much sorrow and grief in this world, though
Christ had the greatest share, being peculiarly a “man of sorrows.” But in
heaven they shall sit together in heavenly places, where sorrow and grief shall
never more be known. And so all the saints will enjoy each other’s love in
heaven, in a glory and prosperity in comparison with which the wealth and
thrones of the greatest earthly princes are but as sordid poverty and
destitution. So that as they love one another, they have not only their own but
each other’s prosperity to rejoice in, and are by love made partakers of each
other’s blessedness and glory. Such is the love of every saint to every other
saint, that it makes the glory which he sees other saints enjoy, as it were, his
own. He so rejoices that they enjoy such glory, that it is in some respects to
him as if he himself enjoyed it in his own personal experience.
9. In heaven all
things shall conspire to promote their love, and give advantage for mutual
enjoyment. — There shall be none there to tempt any to dislike or
hatred; no busybodies, or malicious adversaries, to make misrepresentations, or
create misunderstandings, or spread abroad any evil reports, but every being and
everything shall conspire to promote love, and the full enjoyment of love.
Heaven itself, the place of habitation, is a garden of pleasures, a heavenly
paradise, fitted in all respects for an abode of heavenly love; a place where
they may have sweet society and perfect enjoyment of each other’s love. None
are unsocial or distant from each other. The petty distinctions of this world do
not draw lines in the society of heaven, but all meet in the equality of
holiness and of holy love.
All things in
heaven do also remarkably show forth the beauty and loveliness of God and
Christ, and have the brightness and sweetness of divine love upon them. The very
light that shines in and fills that world, is the light of love, for it is the
shining of the glory of the Lamb of God, that most wonderful influence of
lamb-like meekness and love that fills the heavenly Jerusalem with light. “The
city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory
of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” (Rev. 21:23). The
glory that is about him that reigns in heaven is so radiant and sweet, that it
is compared (Rev. 4:3) to “a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like
unto an emerald;” and it is the rainbow that is so often used in the Old
Testament as the fit token of God’s love and grace manifested in his covenant.
The light of the New Jerusalem, which is the light of God’s glory, is said to
be like a jasper stone, clear as crystal (Rev. 21:11), thus signifying the
greatest preciousness and beauty; and as to its continuance, it is said there is
no night there, but only an endless and glorious day. This suggests, once more,
that,
10. The
inhabitants of heaven shall know that they shall forever be continued in the
perfect enjoyment of each other’s love. — They shall know that God and
Christ shall be forever with them as their God and portion, and that his love
shall be continued and fully manifested forever, and that all their beloved
fellow-saints shall forever live with them in glory, and shall forever keep up
the same love in their hearts which they now have. And they shall know that they
themselves shall ever live to love God, and love the saints, and to enjoy their
love in all its fulness and sweetness forever. They shall be in no fear of any
end to this happiness, or of any abatement from its fulness and blessedness, or
that they shall ever be weary of its exercises and expressions, or cloyed with
its enjoyments, or that the beloved objects shall ever grow old or disagreeable,
so that their love shall at last die away. All in heaven shall flourish in
immortal youth and freshness. Age will not there diminish anyone’s beauty or
vigor; and their love shall abide in everyone’s heart, as a living spring
perpetually springing up in the soul, or as a flame that never dies away. And
the holy pleasure of this love shall be as a river that is forever flowing clear
and full, and increasing continually. The heavenly paradise of love shall always
be kept as in a perpetual spring, without autumn or winter, where no frosts
shall blight, or leaves decay and fall, but where every plant shall be in
perpetual freshness, and bloom, and fragrance, and beauty, always springing
forth, and always blossoming, and always bearing fruit. The leaf of the
righteous shall not wither (Psa. 1:3). And in the midst of the streets of
heaven, and on either side of the river, grows the tree of life, which bears
twelve manner of fruits, and yields her fruit every month (Rev. 22:2).
Everything in the heavenly world shall contribute to the joy of the saints, and
every joy of heaven shall be eternal. No night shall settle down with its
darkness upon the brightness of their everlasting day.
Having thus noticed
many of the blessed circumstances with which love in heaven is exercised, and
expressed, and enjoyed, I proceed, as proposed, to speak, lastly,
VI. Of the
blessed effects and fruits of this love, as exercised and enjoyed in these
circumstances. — And of the many blessed fruits of it, I would at this
time mention but two.
1. The most
excellent and perfect behavior of all the inhabitants of heaven toward
God and each other. — Charity, or divine love, is the sum of all good
principles, and therefore the fountain whence proceed all amiable and excellent
actions. And as in heaven this love will be perfect, to the perfect exclusion of
all sin consisting in enmity against God and fellow creatures, so the fruit of
it will be a most perfect behavior toward all. Hence life in heaven will be
without the least sinful failure or error. None shall ever come short, or turn
aside from the way of holiness in the least degree, but every feeling and action
shall be perfect in itself and in all its circumstances. Every part of their
behavior shall be holy and divine in matter, and form, and spirit, and end.
We know not
particularly how the saints in heaven shall be employed; but in general we know
that they are employed in praising and serving God; and this they will do
perfectly, being influenced by such a love as we have been considering. And we
have reason to think that they are so employed as in some way to be subservient,
under God, to each other’s happiness, for they are represented in the
Scriptures as united together in one society, which, it would seem, can be for
no other purpose but mutual subserviency and happiness. And they are thus
mutually subservient by a perfectly amiable behavior one towards another, as a
fruit of their perfect love one to another. And even if they are not confined to
this society, but if any or all of them are at times sent errands of duty or
mercy to distant worlds, or employed, as some suppose them to be, as ministering
spirits to friends in this world, they are still led by the influence of love,
to conduct, in all their behavior, in such a manner as is well pleasing to God,
and thus conducive to their own and others’ happiness. The other fruit of
love, as exercised in such circumstances, is,
2. Perfect
tranquillity and joy in heaven. — Charity, or holy and humble Christian
love, is a principle of wonderful power to give ineffable quietness and
tranquillity to the soul. It banishes all disturbance, and sweetly composes and
brings rest to the spirit, and makes all divinely calm and sweet and happy. In
that soul where divine love reigns and is in lively exercise, nothing can cause
a storm, or even gather threatening clouds.
There are many
principles contrary to love, that make this world like a tempestuous sea.
Selfishness, and envy, and revenge, and jealousy, and kindred passions keep life
on earth in a constant tumult, and make it a scene of confusion and uproar,
where no quiet rest is to be enjoyed except in renouncing this world and looking
to another. But oh! what rest is there in that world which the God of peace and
love fills with his own gracious presence, and in which the Lamb of God lives
and reigns, filling it with the brightest and sweetest beams of his love; where
there is nothing to disturb or offend, and no being or object to be seen that is
not surrounded with perfect amiableness and sweetness; where the saints shall
find and enjoy all that they love, and so be perfectly satisfied; where there is
no enemy and no enmity; but perfect love in every heart and to every being;
where there is perfect harmony among all the inhabitants, no one envying
another, but everyone rejoicing in the happiness of every other; where all their
love is humble and holy, and perfectly Christian, without the least carnality or
impurity; where love is always mutual and reciprocated to the full; where there
is no hypocrisy or dissembling, but perfect simplicity and sincerity; where
there is no treachery, or unfaithfulness, or inconstancy, or jealousy in any
form; where there is no clog or hindrance to the exercises or expressions of
love, no imprudence or indecency in expressing it, and no influence of folly or
indiscretion in any word or deed; where there is no separation wall, and no
misunderstanding or strangeness, but full acquaintance and perfect intimacy in
all; where there is no division through different opinions or interests, but
where all in that glorious and loving society shall be most nearly and divinely
related, and each shall belong to every other, and all shall enjoy each other in
perfect prosperity and riches, and honor, without any sickness, or grief, or
persecution, or sorrow, or any enemy to molest them, or any busybody to create
jealousy or misunderstanding, or mar the perfect, and holy, and blessed peace
that reigns in heaven! And all this in the garden of God — in the paradise of
love, where everything is filled with love, and everything conspires to promote
and kindle it, and keep up its flame, and nothing ever interrupts it, but
everything has been fitted by an all-wise God for its full enjoyment under the
greatest advantages forever! And all, too, where the beauty of the beloved
objects shall never fade, and love shall never grow weary nor decay, but the
soul shall more and more rejoice in love forever!
Oh! what
tranquillity will there be in such a world as this! And who can express the
fullness and blessedness of this peace! What a calm is this! How sweet, and
holy, and joyous! What a haven of rest to enter, after having passed through the
storms and tempests of this world, in which pride, and selfishness, and envy,
and malice, and scorn, and contempt, and contention, and vice, are as waves of a
restless ocean, always rolling, and often dashed about in violence and fury!
What a Canaan of rest to come to, after going through this waste and howling
wilderness, full of snares, and pitfalls, and poisonous serpents, where no rest
could be found!
And oh! what joy
will there be, springing up in the hearts of the saints, after they have passed
through their wearisome pilgrimage, to be brought to such a paradise as this!
Here is joy unspeakable indeed, and full of glory — joy that is humble, holy,
enrapturing, and divine in its perfection! Love is always a sweet principle; and
especially divine love. This, even on earth, is a spring of sweetness; but in
heaven it shall become a stream, a river, an ocean! All shall stand about the
God of glory, who is the great fountain of love, opening, as it were, their very
souls to be filled with those effusions of love that are poured forth from his
fullness, just as the flowers on the earth, in the bright and joyous days of
spring, open their bosoms to the sun, to be filled with his light and warmth,
and to flourish in beauty and fragrancy under his cheering rays.
Every saint in
heaven is as a flower in that garden of God, and holy love is the fragrance and
sweet odor that they all send forth, and with which they fill the bowers of that
paradise above. Every soul there, is as a note in some concert of delightful
music, that sweetly harmonizes with every other note, and all together blend in
the most rapturous strains in praising God and the Lamb forever. And so all help
each other, to their utmost, to express the love of the whole society to its
glorious Father and Head, and to pour back love into the great fountain of love
whence they are supplied and filled with love, and blessedness, and glory. And
thus they will love, and reign in love, and in that godlike joy that is its
blessed fruit, such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath ever entered
into the heart of man in this world to conceive; and thus in the full sunlight
of the throne, enraptured with joys that are forever increasing, and yet forever
full, they shall live and reign with God and Christ forever and ever!
In the application
of this subject, I remark,
1. If heaven be
such a world as has been described, then we may see a reason why contention and
strife tend to darken our evidence of fitness for its possession. —
Experience teaches that this is the effect of contention. When principles of
malignity and ill-will prevail among God’s people, as they sometimes do
through the remaining corruption of their hearts, and they get into a
contentious spirit, or are engaged in any strife whether public or private, and
their spirits are filled with opposition to their neighbors in any matter
whatever, their former evidences for heaven seem to become dim, or die away, and
they are in darkness about their spiritual state, and do not find that
comfortable and satisfying hope that they used to enjoy.
And so, when
converted persons get into ill frames in their families, the consequence
commonly, if not universally, is, that they live without much of a comfortable
sense of heavenly things, or any lively hope of heaven. They do not enjoy much
of that spiritual calm and sweetness that those do who live in love and peace.
They have not that help from God, and that communion with him, and that near
intercourse with heaven in prayer, that others have. The apostle seems to speak
of contention in families as having this influence. His language is (1 Pet.
3:7), “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them” (your wives) “according to
knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel; and as being
heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered.” Here
he intimates that discord in families tends to hinder Christians in their
prayers. And what Christian that has made the sad experiment, has not done it to
his sorrow, and in his own experience does not bear witness to the truth of the
apostle’s intimation?
Why it is so, that
contention has this effect of hindering spiritual exercises and comforts and
hopes, and of destroying the sweet hope of that which is heavenly, we may learn
from the doctrine we have considered. For heaven being a world of love, it
follows that, when we have the least exercise of love, and the most of a
contrary spirit, then we have the least of heaven, and are farthest from it in
the frame of our mind. Then we have the least of the exercise of that wherein
consists a conformity to heaven, and a preparation for it, and what tends to it;
and so, necessarily, we must have least evidence of our title to heaven, and be
farthest from the comfort which such evidence affords. We may see, again, from
this subject,
2. How happy
those are who are entitled to heaven. — There are some persons living on
earth, to whom the happiness of the heavenly world belongs as much, yea, much
more than any man’s earthly estate belongs to himself. They have a part and
interest in this world of love, and have a proper right and title to it, for
they are of the number of those of whom it is written (Rev. 22:14), “Blessed
are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city.” And, doubtless, there are
such persons here amongst us. And oh! how happy are all such, entitled as they
are to an interest in such a world as heaven! Surely they are the blessed of the
earth, and the fullness of their blessedness no language can describe, no words
express. But here some may be ready to say, “Without doubt they are happy
persons that have a title to such a blessed world, and are soon to enter on the
eternal possession of its joys. But who are these persons? How shall they be
known, and by what marks may they be distinguished?” In answer to such an
inquiry, I would mention three things that belong to their character: —
First, they are
those that have had the principle or seed of the same love that reigns in heaven
implanted in their hearts, in this world, in the work of regeneration. They
are not those who have no other principles in their hearts than natural
principles, or such as they have by their first birth, for “that which is born
of the flesh is flesh.” But they are those who have been the subjects of the
new birth, or who have been born of the Spirit. A glorious work of the Spirit of
God has been wrought in their hearts, renewing them by bringing down from
heaven, as it were, some of the light and some of the holy, pure flame that is
in that world of love, and giving it place in them. Their hearts are a soil in
which this heavenly seed has been sown, and in which it abides and grows. And so
they are changed, and, from being earthly, have become heavenly in their
dispositions. The love of the world is mortified, and the love of God implanted.
Their hearts are drawn to God and Christ, and for their sakes flow out to the
saints in humble and spiritual love. “Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible” (1 Pet. 1:23); “Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13).
Second, they are
those who have freely chosen the happiness that flows from the exercise and
enjoyment of such love as is in heaven, above all other conceivable happiness.
They see and understand so much of this as to know that it is the best good.
They do not merely yield that it is so from rational arguments that may be
offered for it, and by which they are convinced that it is so, but they know it
is so from what little they have tasted of it. It is the happiness of love, and
the beginning of a life of such love, holy, humble, divine, and heavenly love.
Love to God, and love to Christ, and love to saints for God and Christ’s sake,
and the enjoyment of the fruits of God’s love in holy communion with God, and
Christ, and with holy persons — this is what they have a relish for; and such
is their renewed nature, that such happiness suits their disposition and
appetite and wishes above all other things; and not only above all things that
they have, but above all that they can conceive it possible that they could
have. The world does not afford anything like it. They have chosen this before
all things else, and chosen it freely. Their souls go out after it more than
after everything else, and their hearts are more eager in pursuit of it. They
have chosen it not merely because they have met with sorrow, and are in such low
and afflicted circumstances that they do not expect much from the world, but
because their hearts were so captivated by this good that they chose it for its
own sake before all worldly good, even if they could have ever so much of the
latter, and enjoy it ever so long.
Third, they are
those who, from the love that is in them, are, in heart and life, in principle
and practice, struggling after holiness. Holy love makes them long for holiness. It is a principle that thirsts
after growth. It is in imperfection, and in a state of infancy, in this world,
and it desires growth. It has much to struggle with. In the heart in this world
there are many opposite principles and influences; and it struggles after
greater oneness, and more liberty, and more free exercise, and better fruit. The
great strife and struggle of the new man is after holiness. His heart struggles
after it, for he has an interest in heaven, and therefore he struggles with that
sin that would keep him from it. He is full of ardent desires, and breathings,
and longings, and strivings to be holy. And his hands struggle as well as his
heart. He strives in his practice. His life is a life of sincere and earnest
endeavor to be universally and increasingly holy. He feels that he is not holy
enough, but far from it; and he desires to be nearer perfection, and more like
those who are in heaven. And this is one reason why he longs to be in heaven,
that he may be perfectly holy. And the great principle which leads him thus to
struggle, is love. It is not only fear; but it is love to God, and love to
Christ, and love to holiness. Love is a holy fire within him, and, like any
other flame which is in a degree pent up, it will and does struggle for liberty;
and this its struggling is the struggle for holiness.
3. What has been
said on this subject may well awaken and alarm the impenitent. — And,
First, by
putting them in mind of their misery, in that they have no portion or right in
this world of love. You have
heard what has been said of heaven, what kind of glory and blessedness is there,
and how happy the saints and angels are in that world of perfect love. But
consider that none of this belongs to you. When you hear of such things, you
hear of that in which you have no interest. No such person as you, a wicked
hater of God and Christ, and one that is under the power of a spirit of enmity
against all that is good, shall ever enter there. Such as you are, never belong
to the faithful Israel of God, and shall never enter their heavenly rest. It may
be said to you, as Peter said to Simon (Acts 8:21), “Thou hast neither part
nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God;” and
as Nehemiah said to Sanballat and his associates (Neh. 2:20), “You have no
portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.” If such a soul as yours
should be admitted into heaven, that world of love, how nauseous would it be to
those blest spirits whose souls are as a flame of love! and how would it
discompose that loving and blessed society, and put everything in confusion! It
would make heaven no longer heaven, if such souls should be admitted there. It
would change it from a world of love to a world of hatred, and pride, and envy,
and malice, and revenge, as this world is! But this shall never be; and the only
alternative is, that such as you shall be shut out with “dogs, and sorcerers,
and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh
a lie,” (Rev. 22:15); that is, with all that is vile, and unclean, and unholy.
And this subject may well awaken and alarm the impenitent,
Secondly, by
showing them that they are
in danger of hell, which is a world of hatred. There are three worlds. One
is this, which is an intermediate world — a world in which good and evil are
so mixed together as to be a sure sign that this world is not to continue
forever. Another is heaven, a world of love, without any hatred. And the other
is hell, a world of hatred, where there is no love, which is the world to which
all of you who are in a Christless state properly belong. This last is the world
where God manifests his displeasure and wrath, as in heaven he manifests his
love. Everything in hell is hateful. There is not one solitary object there that
is not odious and detestable, horrid and hateful. There is no person or thing to
be seen there, that is amiable or lovely; nothing that is pure, or holy, or
pleasant, but everything abominable and odious. There are no beings there but
devils, and damned spirits that are like devils. Hell is, as it were, a vast den
of poisonous hissing serpents; the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and
with him all his hateful brood.
In that dark world
there are none but those whom God hates with a perfect and everlasting hatred.
He exercises no love, and extends no mercy to any one object there, but pours
out upon them horrors without mixture. All things in the wide universe that are
hateful shall be gathered together in hell, as in a vast receptacle provided on
purpose, that the universe which God has made may be cleansed of its filthiness,
by casting it all into this great sink of wickedness and woe. It is a world
prepared on purpose for the expression of God’s wrath. He has made hell for
this; and he has no other use for it but there to testify forever his hatred of
sin and sinners, where there is no token of love or mercy. There is nothing
there but what shows forth the Divine indignation and wrath. Every object shows
forth wrath. It is a world all overflowed with a deluge of wrath, as it were,
with a deluge of liquid fire, so as to be called a lake of fire and brimstone,
and the second death.
There are none in
hell but what have been haters of God, and so have procured his wrath and hatred
on themselves; and there they shall continue to hate him forever. No love to God
will ever be felt in hell; but everyone there perfectly hates him, and so will
continue to hate him, and without any restraint will express their hatred to
him, blaspheming and raging against him, while they gnaw their tongues for pain.
And though they all join together in their enmity and opposition to God, yet
there is no union or friendliness among themselves — they agree in nothing but
hatred, and the expression of hatred. They hate God, and Christ, and angels, and
saints in heaven; and not only so, but they hate one another, like a company of
serpents or vipers, not only spitting out venom against God, but at one another,
biting and stinging and tormenting each other.
The devils in hell
will hate damned souls. They hated them while in this world, and therefore it
was that with such subtlety and indefatigable temptations they sought their
ruin. They thirsted for the blood of their souls, because they hated them; they
longed to get them in their power to torment them; they watched them as a
roaring lion does his prey; because they hated them, therefore they flew upon
their souls like hell-hounds, as soon as ever they were parted from their
bodies, full of eagerness to torment them. And now they have them in their
power, they will spend eternity in tormenting them with the utmost strength and
cruelty that devils are capable of. They are, as it were, continually and
eternally tearing these poor damned souls that are in their hands. And these
latter will not only be hated and tormented by devils, but they will have no
love or pity one towards another, but will be like devils one to another, and
will, to their utmost, torment each other, being like brands in the fire, each
of which helps to burn the others.
In hell all those
principles will reign and rage that are contrary to love, without any
restraining grace to keep them within bounds. Here will be unrestrained pride,
and malice, and envy, and revenge, and contention in all its fury and without
end, never knowing peace. The miserable inhabitants will bite and devour one
another, as well as be enemies to God, and Christ, and holy beings. Those who,
in their wickedness on earth, were companions together, and had a sort of carnal
friendship one for another, will here have no appearance of fellowship; but
perfect and continual and undisguised hatred will exist between them. As on
earth they promoted each other’s sins, so now in hell they will promote each
other’s punishment. On earth they were the instruments of undoing each
other’s souls — there they were occupied in blowing up the fires of each
other’s lusts, and now they will blow forever the fires of each other’s
torments. They ruined one another in sinning, setting bad examples to each
other, poisoning each other by wicked talk, and now they will be as much engaged
in tormenting, as once they were in tempting and corrupting each other.
And there their
hatred and envy, and all evil passions, will be a torment to themselves. God and
Christ, whom they will hate most, and toward whom their souls will be as full of
hatred as an oven is ever full of fire, will be infinitely above their reach,
dwelling in infinite blessedness and glory which they cannot diminish. And they
will but torment themselves by their fruitless envy of the saints and angels in
heaven, whom they cannot come nigh to or injure. And they shall have no pity
from them or from anyone, for hell is looked on only with hatred, and with no
pity or compassion. And thus they will be left to spend their eternity together.
Now consider, all
ye that are out of Christ, and that were never born again, and that never had
any blessed renovation of your hearts by the Holy Spirit implanting divine love
in them, and leading you to choose the happiness that consists in holy love as
your best and sweetest good, and to spend your life in struggling after
holiness, — consider your danger, and what is before you. For this is the
world to which ye are condemned; and so the world to which you belong through
the sentence of the law; and the world that every day and hour you are in danger
of having your abode everlastingly fixed in; and the world to which, if you
repent not, you will soon go, instead of going to that blessed world of love of
which you have now heard. Consider, oh! consider, that it is indeed thus with
you.. These things are not cunningly-devised fables, but the great and dreadful
realities of God’s Word, and things that, in a little while, you will know
with everlasting certainty are true. How, then, can you rest in such a state as
you are in, and go about so carelessly from day to day, and so heedless and
negligent of your precious, immortal souls? Consider seriously these things, and
be wise for yourself, before it is too late; before your feet stumble on the
dark mountains, and you fall into the world of wrath and hatred, where there is
weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, with spiteful malice and rage
against God, and Christ, and one another, and with horror and anguish of spirit
forever. Flee to the stronghold while ye are prisoners of hope, before the door
of hope is closed, and the agonies of the second death shall begin their work,
and your eternal doom is sealed!
4. Let the
consideration of what has been said of heaven stir up all earnestly to seek
after it. — If heaven be such a blessed world, then let it be our chosen
country, and the inheritance that we look for and seek. Let us turn our course
this way, and press on to its possession. It is not impossible but that this
glorious world may be obtained by us. It is offered to us. Though it be so
excellent and blessed a country, yet God stands ready to give us an inheritance
there, if it be but the country that we desire, and will choose, and diligently
seek. God gives us our choice. We may have our inheritance wherever we choose
it, and may obtain heaven if we will but seek it by patient continuance in
well-doing. We are all of us, as it were, set here in this world as in a vast
wilderness, with diverse countries about it, and with several ways or paths
leading to these different countries, and we are left to our choice what course
we will take. If we heartily choose heaven, and set our hearts entirely on that
blessed Canaan — that land of love, and if we choose and love the path that
leads to it, we may walk in that path; and if we continue to walk in it, it will
lead us to heaven at last.
Let what we have
heard of the land of love stir us all up to turn our faces toward it, and bend
our course thitherward. Is not what we have heard of the happy state of that
country, and the many delights that are in it, enough to make us thirst after
it, and to cause us, with the greatest earnestness and steadfastness of
resolution, to press towards it, and spend our whole lives in traveling in the
way that leads thither? What joyful news might it well be to us when we hear of
such a world of perfect peace and holy love, and to hear that it is possible,
yea, that there is full opportunity, for us to come to it, and spend an eternity
in its joys! Is not what we have heard of that blessed world enough to make us
weary of this world of pride, and malice, and contention, and perpetual jarring
and jangling, a world of confusion, a wilderness of hissing serpents, a
tempestuous ocean, where there is no quite rest, where all are for themselves,
and selfishness reigns and governs, and all are striving to exalt themselves,
regardless of what becomes of others, and all are eager after worldly good,
which is the great object of desire and contention, and where men are
continually annoying, and calumniating, and reproaching, and otherwise injuring
and abusing one another — a world full of injustice, and oppression, and
cruelty — a world where there is so much treachery, and falsehood, and
fickleness, and hypocrisy, and suffering, and death — where there is so little
confidence in mankind, and every good man has so many failings, and has so much
to render him unlovely and uncomfortable, and where there is so much of sorrow,
and guilt, and sin in every form.
Truly this is an
evil world, and so it is like to be. It is in vain for us to expect that it will
be any other than a world of sin, a world of pride and enmity and strife, and so
a restless world. And though the times may hereafter be mended, yet these things
will always be more or less found in the world so long as it stands. Who, then,
would content himself with a portion in such a world? What man, acting wisely
and considerately, would concern himself much about laying up in store in such a
world as this, and would not rather neglect the world, and let it go to them
that would take it, and apply all his heart and strength to lay up treasure in
heaven, and to press on to that world of love? What will it signify for us to
hoard up great possessions in this world; and how can the thought of having our
portion here be pleasing to us, when there is an interest offered us in such a
glorious world as heaven is, and especially when, if we have our portion here,
we must, when the world has passed away, have our eternal portion in hell, that
world of hatred, and of endless wrath of God, where only devils and damned
spirits dwell?
We all naturally
desire rest and quietness, and if we would obtain it, let us seek that world of
peace and love of which we have now heard, where a sweet and blessed rest
remaineth for God’s people. If we get an interest in that world, then, when we
have done with this, we shall leave all our cares, and troubles, and fatigues,
and perplexities, and disturbances forever. We shall rest from these storms that
are raging here, and from every toil and labor, in the paradise of God. You that
are poor, and think yourself despised by your neighbors and little cared for
among men, do not much concern yourselves for this. Do not care much for the
friendship of the world; but seek heaven, where there is no such thing as
contempt, and where none are despised, but all are highly esteemed and honored,
and dearly beloved by all. You that think you have met with many abuses, and
much ill-treatment from others, care not for it. Do not hate them for it, but
set your heart on heaven, that world of love, and press toward that better
country, where all is kindness and holy affection. And here for direction how to
seek heaven,
First, let
not your heart go after the things of this world, as your chief good. Indulge
not yourself in the possession of earthly things as though they were
to satisfy your soul. This is the reverse of seeking heaven; it is to go in a
way contrary to that which leads to the world of love. If you would seek heaven,
your affections must be taken off from the pleasures of the world. You must not
allow yourself in sensuality, or worldliness, or the pursuit of the enjoyments
or honors of the world, or occupy your thoughts or time in heaping up the dust
of the earth. You must mortify the desires of vain-glory, and become poor in
spirit and lowly in heart.
Second,
you must, in your meditations and holy exercises, be much engaged in
conversing with heavenly persons, and objects, and enjoyments. You cannot
constantly be seeking heaven, without having your thoughts much there. Turn,
then, the stream of your thoughts and affections towards that world of love, and
towards the God of love that dwells there, and toward the saints and angels that
are at Christ’s right hand. Let your thoughts, also, be much on the objects
and enjoyments of the world of love. Commune much with God and Christ in prayer,
and think often of all that is in heaven, of the friends who are there, and the
praises and worship there, and of all that will make up the blessedness of that
world of love. “Let your conversation be in heaven.”
Third, be
content to pass through all difficulties in the way to heaven. Though the path
is before you, and you may walk in it if you desire, yet it is a way that is
ascending, and filled with many difficulties and obstacles. That glorious city
of light and love is, as it were, on the top of a high hill or mountain, and
there is no way to it but by upward and arduous steps. But though the ascent be
difficult, and the way full of trials, still it is worth your while to meet them
all for the sake of coming and dwelling in such a glorious city at last. Be
willing, then, to undergo the labor, and meet the toil, and overcome the
difficulty. What is it all in comparison with the sweet rest that is at your
journey’s end? Be willing to cross the natural inclination of flesh and blood,
which is downward, and press onward and upward to the prize. At every step it
will be easier and easier to ascend; and the higher your ascent, the more will
you be cheered by the glorious prospect before you, and by a nearer view of that
heavenly city where in a little while you shall forever be at rest.
Fourth, in
all your way let your eye be fixed on Jesus, who has gone to heaven as your
forerunner. Look to him. Behold his glory in heaven, that a sight of it may stir
you up the more earnestly to desire to be there. Look to him in his example.
Consider how, by patient continuance in well-doing, and by patient endurance of
great suffering, he went before you to heaven. Look to him as your mediator, and
trust in the atonement which he has made, entering into the holiest of all in
the upper temple. Look to him as your intercessor, who forever pleads for you
before the throne of God. Look to him as your strength, that by his Spirit he
may enable you to press on, and overcome every difficulty of the way. Trust in
his promises of heaven to those that love and follow him, which he has confirmed
by entering into heaven as the head, and representative, and Savior of his
people. And,
Fifth, if
you would be in the way to the world of love, see that you live a life of love
— of love to God, and love to men All of us hope to have part in the world of
love hereafter, and therefore we should cherish the spirit of love, and live a
life of holy love here on earth. This is the way to be like the inhabitants of
heaven, who are now confirmed in love forever. Only in this way can you be like
them in excellence and loveliness, and like them, too, in happiness, and rest,
and joy. By living in love in this world you may be like them, too, in sweet and
holy peace, and thus have, on earth, the foretastes of heavenly pleasures and
delights. Thus, also, you may have a sense of the glory of heavenly things, as
of God, and Christ, and holiness; and your heart be disposed and opened by holy
love to God, and by the spirit of peace and love to men, to a sense of the
excellence and sweetness of all that is to be found in heaven. Thus shall the
windows of heaven be as it were opened, so that its glorious light shall shine
in upon your soul. Thus you may have the evidence of your fitness for that
blessed world, and that you are actually on the way to its possession. And being
thus made meet, through grace, for the inheritance of the saints in light, when
a few more days shall have passed away, you shall be with them in their
blessedness forever. Happy, thrice happy those, who shall thus be found faithful
to the end, and then shall be welcomed to the joy of their Lord! There “they
shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on
them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed
them, and lead them to living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes.”
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's Jonathan Edwards Collection by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Box 119
Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
Our websites: www.biblebb.com and
www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986