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1 Corinthians 13:8-10, "Charity never faileth: 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."
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.
And, besides, the inferior in glory will have no temptation to envy
those that are higher than themselves, for those that are highest will
not only be more loved by the lower for their higher holiness, but they
will also have more of the spirit of love to others, and so will love
those that are below them more than if their own capacity and elevation
were less. They that are highest in degree in glory, will be of the
highest capacity; and so having the greatest knowledge, will see most of
God’s loveliness, and consequently will have love to God and love to the
saints most abounding in their hearts. And on this account those that
are lower in glory will not envy those that are above them, because they
will be most beloved by those that are highest in glory. And the
superior in glory will be so far from slighting those that are inferior,
that they will have most abundant love to them — greater degrees of love
in proportion to their superior knowledge and happiness. The higher any
are in glory, the more they are like Christ in this respect, so that the
love of the higher to the lower will be greater than the love of the
equals of the latter to them. And what puts it beyond all doubt that
seeing the superior happiness of others will not be a damp to the
happiness of the inferior, is this, that their superior happiness
consists in their greater humility, and in their greater love to them,
and to God, and to Christ, than the inferior will have in themselves.
Such will be the sweet and perfect harmony among the heavenly saints,
and such the perfect love reigning in every heart toward every other,
without limit or alloy, or interruption; and no envy, or malice, or
revenge, or contempt, or selfishness shall ever enter there, but all
such feelings shall be kept as far away as sin is from holiness, and as
hell is from heaven! Let us next consider,
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.”
THE END.
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