CHAP. II.]

Felicity of Heaven.

[HEAVEN.

preme good, man is advanced to an equality of joy and perfection with the angels. Now in heaven, God by his most evident and effectual presence, excites and draws forth all the active powers of the soul in their highest degrees; and such is the immensity of his perfections, that it fills at once their utmost capacity. Hence arises a perpetual satisfaction, and a joy that is as unspeakable as it is eternal.

There is a satisfaction which believers enjoy in the present life, a sweet contentment which they find in the ways of God. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple-Great peace have they taat love thy law, and nothing shall offend-Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: he shall be continually praising thee.' These holy exercises are a never-failing source of comfort and of joy; and in yielding themselves up to the Lord, to walk in his ways, and seek communion with him, they feel abundantly convinced that they have chosen the better part, and would on no account exchange their lot with that of the wealthiest of mortals, or return to their former vain conversation, from which they have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Yet while grateful and happy in the change which grace has effected in their mortal condition, and in the hopes and prospects which they have been taught in consequence to entertain; there is a mixture of pain in all the pleasures they enjoy, and their bright

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HEAVEN.]

Felicity of Heaven.

[CHAP. II.

est prospects are beclouded and overshadowed with seasons of sorrow and distress. There is no such thing in this world as unmixed or uninterrupted satisfaction and delight, no such thing as perfect and undeviating rectitude, or entire and complete conformity to the will of God; and therefore no such thing as perfect happiness. It is in the beatific presence, that there is fulness of joy, and at God's right hand, pleasures for evermore. I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness.

CHAP. III.

The understanding shall be fully eulightened with the knowledge of God-Here the revelation of God is according to our capacities -In heaven our faculties will be enlarged, and a fuller manifestation given of the divine glory.

THE understanding shall clearly see the most excellent object,Now we know but in part;' the naked beauty of divine things is veiled, and of impossible discovery; and by natural or accidental weakness, the mind is not able to sustain that dazzling brightness. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shal! be done away.' In that enlightened state, the manifestation of the objects shall abundantly exceed the clearest revelation of them here; and the understanding shall be prepared in proportion to take a full view of them. Therefore the apostle compares the several periods of the church in respect of the degrees of knowledge, to the several ages of human life. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.' 1 Cor. xiii. In children the organs either from an excess of moisture, or their smallness, are indisposed for the vigorous

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HEAVEN.]

Perfection of knowledge.

[CHAP. III.

exercise of the mind. Some strictures of reason appear as a presaging sign of what will be, but mixed with much obscurity; but when the organs are come to their just proportion and temperament, the soul displays its strength and activity.

Here it is necessary to consider the expressions in scripture, which intimate the eminent degrees of knowledge in the blessed. Our Saviour assures us that the pure in heart shall see God.' Sight is the most noble, extensive and effective sense; and therefore fit to denote the clear, sweet and satisfying intuition of God in heaven. It is true the Deity is spiritual and invisible to the eye of the boby, infinite and incomprehensible to the eye of the soul; but glorified saints so clearly understand the divine perfections, that our present knowledge of God, compared to that vision, is but as the seeing of a dark shadow in a glass, to the immediate view of the living substance and person. The discovery of the Deity to us in the present state is by his works and word; and both are imperfect and far inferior to the manifestation in heaven. The absolute fulness of perfection inseparable from the Godhead is inimitable by any creature; for the perfection of any creature is limited in its kind as well as degrees. Therefore God was pleased by various means to express and represent his attributes, that our minds might ascend by those steps to contemplate those perfections that are in him eminently and beyond all comparison. The light of

CHAP. III.]

Perfection of knowledge.

[HEAVEN.

heaven in all its purity and lustre, is but a shadow of his inapproachable brightness. All the excellencies of visible things are but a weak representation of the glory of his attributes, like the describing with a coal the beautiful colours of the morning; and compared with the immensity of his perfections, are like the describing in a sheet of paper the vast celestial spheres.

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In his word there is a more clear and full discovery of his nature and will, but according to our capacity of receiving. The divine attributes in scripture are masked and shadowed under sensible comparisons; for no light shines into our minds here, but through the windows of sense. The intellectual powers depend, as to the first notices of things, upon the lower faculties and senses: therefore as Elisha in reviving the Shunamite's child, contracted himself to the proportion of the child, and put his mouth upon the child's mouth, and his eyes and hands upon the child's eyes and hands; so God is pleased to condescend to our capacity, and to adapt the expressions of his majesty to the narrowness of our imaginations. But in heaven. the revelation of the Deity is much more glorious; and the mind is refined from those images that flow through the gross channels of the senses. this présent state our purest conceptions of God are mixed with dross, and very imperfect; but there the gold shall be separated from the dross, and our conceptions be more proper and becom

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