Chapter 9. The Fourth Royal Privilege—the blessed inheritance.
heart; he is not only out of danger—but out of fear. Take it thus; a man that is upon the top of a mast, he may sit safe for the present— but not secure. Perhaps the pirates may shoot at the ship, and take it; perhaps the winds may arise suddenly, and the ship may sink in the storm. But a man who is upon a rock, he stands impregnable; his heart is secure. A Christian in this life is like a man upon the top of a mast; sometimes the pirates come aboard, namely, cruel persecutors, and they shoot at his ship, and often, though the passenger (the precious soul) escapes—yet they sink the ship; sometimes the winds of temptation blow; those northern winds; and now the Christian questions whether God loves him, or whether his name is enrolled in the book of life. And though being in Christ, there is no danger—yet his heart hesitates and trembles. But when he is with Christ, off from the top of the mast, and is planted upon the rock—his heart is fully secure; and you shall hear him say thus, now I am sure I have passed the gulf, I am now passing from death unto life, and none shall pluck me out of my Savior's arms!
Chapter 9.
The Fourth Royal Privilege—the Blessed Inheritance.
Let worldlings place their happiness in this life; a believer's happiness is in the future—the golden world is yet to come. I pass to the next privilege, which is the blessed inheritance. Col. 1:12, "Giving thanks unto the Father, who has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." This world is but a tenement, which we may be soon turned out of; heaven is an inheritance, and a glorious one. Heaven cannot be hyperbolized. If the skirts and suburbs of the palace, namely, the stars and planets are so glorious, that our eyes cannot behold the dazzling luster of them; what glory then is there in the celestial palace itself!
Of this blessed place we have a figurative description in Rev. 21. John was carried away in the Spirit, and had a vision of heaven, verse 2.
"And I saw no temple therein;" while we dwell upon earth, there is need for a temple, we shall not be above ordinances until we are above sin; but in heaven, God will be our meeting place—instead of a temple, "he shall be all in all."
Verse 25, "there shall be no night there." No city is to be found, not the most glorious metropolis under heaven, where it is always day: for though some regions which lie immediately under the pole, have light for several months together; yet when the sun withdraws from the horizon, they have as long a night as before they had a day. But says the text, "There shall be no night there." In hell it is all night— but in heaven the day will be ever lengthening. Now this blessed inheritance which the saints shall possess, has eight properties, or rather privileges worth our serious thoughts.
1. Sublimeness. It is set out by a great and high mountain, Rev.
21:10. It is placed above the airy and starry heaven, says Musculus. It is the empyrean heaven which Paul calls the third heaven. For the situation of it; it is far above all heavens, where Christ himself is.
This is the royal palace where saints shall dwell. The men of this world are high in power and in pride—and if they could build their nests among the stars, the elect shall shortly be above them; they shall take their flight as high as Christ: here is a preferment worth looking after.
2. Magnificence. It is set out by gems and precious stones, the richest jewels. If the streets are of gold—what is the furniture and decorations! What is the cabinet of jewels! No wonder that "the violent take it by force!" Mat. 11:12. I rather wonder, why others are not more earnest for this inheritance. What are all the rarities of the world, compared to this! The coasts of pearl, the islands of spices, the rocks of diamonds! What a rich place must that needs be, where God will lay out his cost—where infinite wisdom contrives, and infinite bounty disburses!
Fulgentius, beholding the pomp and splendor of the Roman senatehouse, cried out, "If the earthly senate-house is so glorious—O how beautiful is the celestial Jerusalem!" In this blessed inheritance there is nothing but glory. There is the king of glory; there are the vessels of glory; there are the thrones of glory; there is the weight of glory; there are the crowns of glory; there is the kingdom of glory; there is the brightness of glory! This is a purchase worth getting! What will not men adventure for a kingdom!
3. Purity. Heaven is set forth under the metaphor of "pure gold, and transparent glass," Rev. 21:11. The apostle calls it "an undefiled inheritance." Heaven is a pure place; it is compared to the sapphire,
21:19. The sapphire is a precious stone of a bright sky color, and it has a virtue in it, says Pliny, to preserve chasteness and purity. Thus heaven is represented by the sapphire; it is a place where only the refined pure spirits enter. Heaven is compared to the emerald, verse
19, which (as writers say) has a precious virtue to expel poison.
Heaven is such a pure soil, that as no fever of lust, so no venom of malice shall be there. There shall not enter into it anything "which defiles," Rev. 21:27. It is a kingdom wherein "dwells righteousness,"
2 Pet. 3:13.
In this lower earthly region, there is little righteousness; "They set up wickedness by a law," Psalm 94:20. The wicked devours his neighbor, "who is more righteous than he," Hab. 1:13. The just man is oppressed because he is just. One says, there is more justice to be found in hell—than upon earth. For in hell no innocent person is oppressed; but here on earth, righteousness is the thing that is persecuted. A man can hardly tread two steps—but either into sin or into suffering. In this world, the sinner need not fear any punitive vindictive act of justice; rather he who reproves sin may fear. Holiness is the mark which the Devil shoots at! But heaven is a kingdom wherein dwells righteousness; there is the judge of the world, "who puts on righteousness as a breastplate; who loves righteousness."
4. Peaceableness. The word Peace, comprehends all blessings.
Peace is the glory of a kingdom: this white lily is the best flower of a prince's crown. How happy was the reign of Pompilius—when it was so peaceful, that the bees made their hives in the soldiers helmets!
But where shall we find an uninterrupted peace upon earth? Either there are divisions at home, or wars abroad, the beating of the drums, the roaring of the cannons, the sounding of the trumpets.
Solomon's kingdom was peaceable a while—but how soon had he an alarm given him! 1 Kings 11:14, "The Lord stirred up an adversary against him." How soon do the clouds of blood drop after a little sunshine of peace!
But the heavenly inheritance to come is peaceable. There is the "Prince of Peace"; there the saints enter into peace. The harp, in ancient times, was made the emblem of peace; in heaven there shall be the "voice of harpers harping." The saints in this life wear
"garments rolled in blood"; but in a state of glory, they are said to wear "white robes," which shall not be stained with the blood of war any more! In heaven righteousness and peace shall kiss each other.
5. Amplitude. The inheritance is sufficiently spacious for all the saints. The garner is wide enough to receive all those infinite grains of wheat which shall be laid in it. Though there are innumerable companies of saints and angels in heaven—yet there is infinitely room enough to receive them: "In my Father's house are many mansions." Some are of opinion that every believer shall have a particular mansion in glory. "Every saint shall have his kingdom," says Jansenius. We know our Savior told his apostles that they would sit upon twelve thrones. Certainly the saints shall not be straitened for room. The world of glory is wide enough for the most sublime spirits to expatiate in!
6. Safety. It is an inheritance which the saints cannot be defrauded of; it is in safe hands. God keeps the inheritance for them, 1 Pet. 1:4, and keeps them for the inheritance, 1 Pet. 1:5, so that there can be no defalcation, nothing can hinder the saints from taking possession.
7. Light. It is called an inheritance "in light." If every star were a sun, it could never shadow out the bright luster of this celestial paradise. Light is a glorious creature; without light, what would all the world be—but a dark prison? What beauty is there in the sun when it is masked with a cloud? Light does actuate the colors, and makes every flower appear in its fresh beauty. Heaven is a bright body, all over embroidered with light. It is not like the starry heaven
—here and there bespangled with stars—but other parts of it like chequer-work interwoven with darkness. Here Christ as a continual sun, shall give light to the whole heaven. "The Lamb shall be the light thereof!" Indeed all other light, in comparison of this, is but like the twilight, or rather the midnight. Here alone are the shining rays of beauty, which every glorified eye shall be enabled both to behold and to possess! This light shall have no night to eclipse or extinguish it; when once the Sun of Righteousness has risen upon the soul, it shall never set any more. This is a high privilege of the glory of heaven—that it is an inheritance in light. When the scripture would set forth the blessedness of God himself; it makes it consist in this,
"He dwells in light."
8. Permanency. It is an incorruptible inheritance. It runs parallel with eternity. Eternity is a circle which has neither beginning nor end. Eternity is a sea which has neither bottom nor banks! This is the glory of the celestial paradise—it abides forever! If we could by our arithmetic reckon up more millions of ages than there have been minutes since the creation, after all this time (which were a short eternity) the inheritance of the saints shall be as far from ending as it was at the beginning. "This world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever." 1 John 2:17. Everything is fading away! It is good to look upon the world as the heathens did upon pleasure; they looked upon the back parts of pleasure, and saw it going away from them and leaving a sting. The world is fading away—but heaven never fades, therefore heaven's eminency is its permanency.
With evil things, (such as pain and misery,) length of time makes them worse; but good things, (as joy and pleasure,) length of time makes them better! Heaven's eminency is its permanency. Things are prized and valued by the time we have in them. Lands or houses which are owned—are esteemed far better than leases, which soon expire. The saints do not lease heaven; it is not their landlord's house
—but their Father's house!
This house never falls to decay; it is a mansion-house, John 14:2.
There is nothing excellent (says Nazianzene) that is not perpetual.
The comforts of the world are wavering and uncertain, like a fading garland; therefore they are shadowed out by the tabernacle, which was transient. But heaven is set out by the temple, which was fixed and permanent. It was made of strong materials, built with stone, covered with cedar, over-laid with gold. Eternity is the highest link of the saint's happiness! The believer shall be forever bathing in the pure and pleasant fountain of bliss! The lamp of glory shall be ever burning, never wasting. As there is no intermission in the joys of heaven, so no expiration. When once God has set his plants in the celestial paradise, he will never more pluck them up! He will never transplant them; never will Christ lose any member of this body; you may sooner separate light from the sun, than a glorified saint from Jesus Christ. O eternity, eternity! what a spring of delight will that be—which shall have no autumn! What a day will that be— which shall have no night! Methinks I see the morning-star appear, it is break of day already!
Concerning the glory of this blessed inheritance, let me super-add these four things.
1. The glory of heaven is ponderous and weighty. It is called "a weight of glory," 2 Cor. 4:17. God must make us able to bear it.
This weight of glory should make sufferings light: this weight should make us throw away the weights of sin—though they be golden weights! Who would for the indulging of a lust, forfeit so
glorious an inheritance! Lay the whole world in scales with it—it is lighter than vanity!
2. The glory of heaven is infinitely satisfying. There is neither lack, nor excess. This can be said properly of nothing but heaven.
You who court the world for honor and preferment, remember what the creature says concerning satisfaction, "It is not in me!" Heaven alone, is commensurate to the vast desires of the soul. Here the Christian cries out in a divine ecstasy, "I have enough, my Savior, I have enough!" "You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand!" Psalm 16:11. "You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your rivers of delight!" Psalm 36:8. Not drops—but rivers!
These only can quench the thirst. Every day in heaven, shall be a feast! There is no lack at this feast! There shall excellency shine in its perfection.
This present world is but a jail, the body is the fetter with which the soul is bound. If there is anything in a jail to delight—what is the eternal palace and the throne! If we meet with any comfort in Mount Horeb, what is in Mount Zion! All the world is like a picture of a landscape; you may see orchards and gardens curiously drawn in the landscape—but you cannot enter into them. But you may enter into this heavenly paradise, 2 Pet. 1:11, "For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom," etc.
Here is soul-satisfaction.
3. Though an innumerable company of saints and angels have a part in this inheritance, there is never the less for you. Another man's beholding the sun, does not make me to have the lesser light: thus will it be in glory. Usually here on earth, all the inheritance is divided among the several heirs—some are put off with smaller portions. In heaven all the saints are heirs; the youngest believer is an heir, and God has land enough to give to all his heirs.
All the angels and archangels have their portion paid out; yet a believer shall never have the less. Is not Christ the heir of all things?
Heb. 1:2, and the saints co-heirs? Romans 8:17. They share with Christ in the same glory. It is true, one vessel may hold more than another—but every vessel shall be full.
4. The souls of the elect shall enter upon possession immediately after death! 2 Cor. 5:8, "We are willing rather to be absent from the body—and to be present with the Lord." There is an immediate transition and passage from death—to glory, "the soul returns to God who gave it." Christ's resurrection was before his ascension; but the saints' ascension is before their resurrection. The body may be compared to the bubble in the water, the soul to the wind that fills it; you see the bubble rises higher and higher, at last it breaks into the open air; so the body is but like a bubble, which rises from infancy to youth, from youth to age, higher and higher; at last this bubble breaks, and dissolves into dust, and the spirit ascends into the open air—it returns unto God who gave it.
Be of good comfort, we shall not wait long for our inheritance. It is but winking—and we shall see God. O the glory of this paradise!
When we are turned out of all, let us think of this inheritance which is to come; faith itself is not able to reach it! It is more than we can hope for—or even imagine! I may say of this celestial paradise, as once the children of Dan said of Laish, Judges 18:9, 10. "We have seen the land, and behold it is very good; a place where there is no lack of anything." Faith being sent out as a spy to search the land of promise, returns this answer, "There is no lack of anything." There can be no lack where Christ is, who is "all in all," Col. 3:11.
In heaven there is health without sickness, plenty without famine, riches without poverty, life without death. There is unspotted purity, unstained honor, unparalleled beauty. There is the tree of life in the midst of paradise; there is the river which waters the garden; there is the vine flourishing, and the pomegranates budding, Cant. 6:11.
There is the banqueting house, where are all those delicacies and rarities, with which God himself is delighted. While we are sitting at that table, Christ's "spikenard will send forth its fragrance," Cant.
1:12. There is the bed of love, there are the curtains of Solomon, there are the mountains of spices, and the streams from Lebanon! There are the cherubim, not to keep us out—but to welcome us into paradise! There shall the saints be adorned, as a bride with gems of glory! There will God give us abundantly, "infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope for!" Eph. 3:20. Is not this enough?
What more could we ask for!
Haman's aspiring heart could have asked not only the king's royal robe, and the ring from his hand—but the crown from his head too. A man can ask for million of worlds—but in heaven God will give us more than we can ask; nay, more than we can ever imagine! We could imagine—what if all the dust of the earth were turned to silver; what if every stone were a wedge of gold; what if every flower were a ruby; what if every blade of grass were a pearl; what if every sand in the sea were a diamond! Yet all this is nothing—compared to the glory of heaven! It is as impossible for any man in his deepest thoughts, to comprehend glory, as it would be for him to measure the heavens with a ruler; or drain the great ocean with a thimble. O incomparable place!
Methinks our souls should be big with longing for this blessed inheritance! All this that I have told you of heaven, may make you say as Monica, Augustine's mother, "What am I doing here? Why is my soul held with the earthen fetter of this flesh?" Cleombrotus having read Plato's piece of the immortality of the soul, being ravished with desire of those golden delights in the other world, killed himself. Though we must not break prison—until God opens it
—yet how should we long for delivery from this earthly jail! How should we be inflamed with desire to taste of those rare and sweet delicacies, which are above at God's right hand! O what madness is it for men to spin out their time, and tire out their strength--in pursuing the vanities of this world! This is to imitate Dionysius, who busied himself in catching flies!
Surely, were we "carried away in the Spirit," I mean, elevated by the power of faith—to the contemplation of this royal and stately palace of glory—I know not whether we should more wonder at the luster of heaven, or at the dullness of such as mind earthly things. The world adored—though is but a painted pageant or shadow! It is reported of Caesar, that traveling through a certain city, as he passed along, he saw the women, for the most part, playing with monkeys and parrots; at which sight he said, "What! have they no children to play with!" So I say, when I see men toying with these earthly and beggarly vanities, "What! are there not more glorious and sublime things to mind!"
That which our Savior said to the woman of Samaria, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give me to drink, you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water!"
The same may I say, did men know these eternal mansions, and what it were to be digging in these rich mines of glory. Would God give them a vision of heaven a while, as he did Peter, who saw "heaven opened," Acts 10:11, how would they fall into a trance, (being amazed and filled with joy!) and being a little recovered out of it, how importunately would they beg of God, that they might be adopted into this stately inheritance!
But why do I expatiate? these things are unspeakable and full of glory. Had I as many tongues as hairs on my head, I could never sufficiently set forth the beauty and resplendency of this blissful inheritance! Such was the curious art of Apelles in drawing of pictures, that if another had taken up the pencil to touch up the painting, he would have spoiled all Apelles' work. Such is the excellency of this celestial paradise, that if the angels should take up their pencil to delineate it in its colors, they would but stain and eclipse the glory of it. I have given you only the dark shadow the picture, and that but crudely and imperfectly! Such is the beauty and bliss of this inheritance, that as Chrysostom says, "if it were possible that all the sufferings of the saints could be laid upon one man—it would not compare with his being in heaven for one hour!"
Some of the learned are of opinion, that we shall know our friends in heaven. This seem very probable to me—for surely our knowledge there shall not be eclipsed or diminished, but increased. And that which Anselm asserts—that we shall have a knowledge of the patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles, all that were before us, and shall be after us, our predecessors and successors, to me seems very rational. For society without acquaintance is not comfortable, and methinks the scripture does hint this much. If Peter and James, having but a glimpse of glory, (when our Lord was transfigured on the mount), were able to know Moses and Elijah, whom they had never seen before; how much more shall we, being infinitely irradiated and enlightened with the Sun of Righteousness, know all the saints, though we were never acquainted with them before! This will be very comfortable. Certainly there will be nothing lacking— which may complete the saints' happiness!
Now that this glorious inheritance is the saints' privilege, I shall evince by two arguments.
1. It is so—in respect of the many OBLIGATIONS which lie upon God for performing this. As, 1. In regard of his promise, Titus 1:2, "In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, has promised." God's promise is better than any man's bond.
2. In regard of his oath. "He who is truth has sworn." Heb. 6:17.
3. In regard to the price that is paid for it—Christ's blood. Heaven is not only a promised possession—but a purchased possession, Eph.
1:14.
4. In regard of Christ's prayer for it: "Father, I will that they also whom you have given me, be with me where I am." Now God can deny Christ nothing, being his only favorite. "I know you always hear me," John 11:42.
5. In regard of Christ's ascension. He is gone before us to take possession of heaven for us. He is now making preparations for our coming; John 14:2, "I go before to prepare a place for you." We read that our Lord sent two of his disciples to prepare "a large upper room for the Passover," Mark 14:15. Just so has Jesus Christ gone before— to prepare a large upper room in heaven for the saints.
6. In regard of the dwelling of the Spirit in the hearts of the godly, giving them an assurance of heaven; and stirring up in them passionate desires after this glorious inheritance. Hence it is, we read of the pledge of the Spirit, 2 Cor. 1:22, and the first-fruits of the Spirit, Romans 8:23, and the seal of the Spirit, Eph. 1:13. God does not still his children with rattles. Heaven is already begun in a believer, so that the inheritance is certain. You see how many obligations lie upon God, and to speak with reverence, it stands not only upon God's mercy—but upon his faithfulness to make all this good to us!
2. The second argument is in respect of the UNION which the saints have with Jesus Christ. They are members of Christ, therefore they must have a part in this blessed inheritance. The member must be where the head is. Indeed the Arminians tell us that a justified person may fall finally from grace, and so his union with Christ may be dissolved, and the inheritance lost. But how absurd is this doctrine! Is Christ divided? can he lose a member of his body? then his body is not perfect; for how can that body be perfect which lacks a limb? If Christ might lose one member from his body—he might lose all! And so he would be a head without a body. But be assured, the union with Christ cannot be broken, John 17:12, and the inheritance cannot be lost. What was said of Christ's natural body, is as true of the mystical body: "a bone of it shall not be broken." See how every bone and limb of Christ's natural body was raised up out of the grave, and carried into heaven. Just so, shall every member of his mystical body, joined to him by the eternal Spirit, be carried up into glory. Fear not, O you saints, neither sin nor Satan can dissolve
your union with Christ, nor hinder you from going to that blessed place where your Head is.
Question. Here it will be asked, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?" Psalm 24:3. Who shall be a citizen of this new Jerusalem which is above?
Answer. The new creature: this you read of, 2 Cor. 5:17. This new creature does prepare us for the new Jerusalem. This is the divine and curious artifice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, forming Christ in us. The same Holy Spirit who overshadowed the Virgin Mary, and formed the human nature of Christ in her womb—does work and produce this new creature. O blessed man and woman—in whom this new creature is formed! I may say to you, as the angel to Mary, "That which is conceived in you, is of the Holy Spirit!" Of all God's creatures, the new creature is the best.
Let me ask—are you a new creature? are you a branch cut off from the wild olive tree of nature, and ingrafted into a new stock, the tree of life? Has God defaced and dismantled the old man in you? Does some limb drop off every day? Have you a new heart? Until then you are not fit for the new heaven! Are you new all over? Do you have a new eye to discern the things that differ? Do you have a new appetite? Does the pulse of your soul beat after Christ? It is only the new creature, who shall be the heir of the New Jerusalem.
When you were sailing to hell, (for we have both wind and tide to carry us there), have the north and south winds awaked? Has the gale of the Spirit blown upon you, and turned your course? Are you now sailing to a new port? Has the seal of the Scripture stamped a new and heavenly print upon you? Then I am speaking all this while to you; this blessed inheritance is entailed upon you!
But if you are an old unrepenting sinner, expect that heaven should be kept, as paradise, with a flaming sword—that you may not enter!
Be assured, God will never put the new wine of glory, into an old