We have all reason to conclude that no degree of intimacy will be too much for the manhood of Christ, seeing that the divine Logos has been pleased to assume him into his very person; and therefore we may conclude that no degree of intimacy will be too great for others to be admitted to, of whom Christ is the head or chief, according to their capacity; for this is in some sort an example of God's love to manhood, that he hath so advanced manhood. He hath done this to the head of manhood, to show forth what honour and happiness God designs for manhood; for the end of God's assuming this particular manhood was the honour and happiness of the rest. Surely, therefore, we may well argue the greatness of the happiness of the rest from it. The assumption of the particular manhood of Christ was but as a means of the honour and advancement of the rest, and we may well argue the end from the means, and the excellency of the one from the excellency of the other.
Christ took on him our nature, that he might become our brother, and our companion. The saints are called Christ's brethren, Heb. ii. and his followers. Heb. i. 9. Psal. xiv. 8. "God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." The Hebrew word properly signifies a companion: Greek or Hebrew comes from a root that properly signifies to consecrate, or to be joined with. This teaches both the saints' intimate converse with, and enjoyment of, Christ, and their fellowship with him, or being joined with him, in partaking with him in his glory and happiness.
But nothing so much confirms these things as the death and sufferings of Christ. "He that hath not withheld his own Son, but hath freely delivered him up for us all in death, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?1 " If the consideration of the greatness of Christ's condescension, in taking on him our nature, invites us to ascend high in our intimacy with him, and encourages us that he will condescend to allow us and accept us in it; much more does his so condescending and humbling himself as he did in his last sufferings. No degree of the enjoyment of God that we can suppose, can require grace and condescension that exceeds what was requisite in order to God's giving Christ to die, or will be a greater expression of love. Christ will not descend lower, nor shall we ascend higher, in having Christ for us, and giving himself to us in such a high degree of enjoyment, than to give himself to us to be our sacrifice, and to be for us in such a degree of suffering. It is certainly as much for God to give his Son to bear his wrath towards us, as it is to admit us to partake of his love towards him.
The latter in no respect seems no more too much to do for a creature, and for a mean worthless creature, than the former. Surely the majesty of God that did not hinder the one will not hinder the other, especially considering that one is the end of the other. We may more easily conceive that God would go far in bestowing happiness on an inferior nature, than that he would go far in bringing sufferings on an infinitely superior divine person; for the former is in itself agreeable to his nature, to the attribute of his goodness; but bringing suffering and evil on an innocent and glorious person, is in itself, in some respect, against his nature. If, therefore, God hath done the latter in such a degree for those that are inferior, how shall he not freely do the former? It will not be in any respect a greater gift for Christ thus to give himself in enjoyment, than it was for him to give himself in suffering.
The sufferings of Christ for believers, also argue the greatness of intimacy with Christ, and fulness of enjoyment of him, that believers shall have, as it shows the fulness of propriety they shall have in him, or right that they have to him. Propriety in any person is just ground of boldness of access and freedom in enjoyment.
The beloved disciple John would not have made so free with Jesus Christ as to lean on his bosom, had not he looked upon him as his own. Christ did in effect give himself to the elect, to be theirs from eternity in the same covenant with the Father, in which the Father gave them to him to be his; and therefore Christ ever looked on himself to be theirs, and they his; and Christ looked on himself to be so much theirs, that he as it were spent himself for them. When he was on the earth, he had, in the eternal covenant of redemption, given his life to them, and so looked upon it as theirs, and laid it down for them when their good required it; he looked on his blood as theirs, and so spilt it for them when it was needed for their happiness; he looked on his flesh as theirs, and so gave it for their life. John vi. 51. "The bread I will give is my flesh." His heart was theirs; he had given it to them in the eternal covenant, and therefore he yielded it up to be broken for them, and to spill out his heart's blood for them, being pierced by the wrath of God for their sins. He looked on his soul to be theirs, and therefore he poured out his soul unto death, and made his soul an offering for their sins. Thus he from eternity gave himself to them, and looked on them as having so great a propriety in him as amounted to his thus spending and being spent for them. And as he gave himself to them from eternity, so he is theirs to eternity; the right they have to him is an everlasting right; he is theirs, and will be for ever theirs. Now what greater ground can there be for believers to come boldly to Christ, and use the utmost liberty in access to him, and enjoyment of him? Will it argue Christ to be theirs in a higher degree, for them to be admitted to the most perfectly intimate, free, and full enjoyment of Christ, than for him so to be as it were perfectly spent for them, and utterly consumed in such extreme sufferings, and in the furnace of God's wrath.
Again: If his enemies were admitted to be so free with Christ in persecuting and afflicting; if Christ, as it were, yielded himself wholly into their hands to be mocked and spit upon, and that they might be as bold as they would in deriding and trampling on him, and might execute their utmost malice and cruelty to make way for his friends' enjoyment of him; doubtless his friends, for whom this was done, will be allowed to be as free with him in enjoying of him: he will yield himself as freely up to his friends to enjoy him, as he did to be abused by his enemies, seeing the former was the end of the latter. Christ will surely give himself as much to his saints as he has given himself for them.
He whose arms were expanded to suffer, to be nailed to the cross, will doubtless be opened as wide to embrace those for whom he suffered. He whose side, whose vitals, whose heart was opened to the spear of his enemies, to give access to their malice and cruelty, and to let out his blood, will doubtless be opened to admit the love of his saints. They may freely come even ad intima Christi, whence the blood hath issued for them, the blood hath made way for them.
God and Christ, who have begrudged nothing as too great to be done, too good to be given, as the means of the saints' enjoyment of happiness, will not begrudge any thing in the enjoyment itself.
The awful majesty of God now will not be in the way to hinder perfect freedom and intimacy in the enjoyment of God, any more than if God were our equal; because that majesty has already been fully displayed, vindicated, and glorified in Christ's blood: all that the honour, of God's awful majesty requires, is abundantly answered already, by so great sufferings of so great a person. A sense of those wonderful sufferings of Christ for their sins will be ever fixed in their minds, and a. sense of their dependence on those sufferings as the means of their obtaining that happiness. Sufficient care is taken in the method of salvation, that all, that have the benefit of Christ's salvation, and the comforts and joys of it, should have them sensibly on that foundation, that with their joys and comforts they should have a sense of their dependence on those sufferings and their validity, and that comforts should arise on the foundation of such a sense; and as God began to bestow comforts in this way here, so he will go on in heaven, for the joy and glory of heaven shall be enjoyed as in Christ, as the members of the Lamb slain, and the divine love and glory shall be manifested through him; and the sense they will have of this, together with a continued sight of the punishment of affronting this majesty in those who were of the same nature and circumstances with themselves, will be sufficient to keep up a due sense of the infinite awful majesty of God, without their being kept at a distance; even though all possible nearness and liberty should be allowed. All the ends of divine majesty are already answered fully and perfectly, so as to prepare the way for the most perfect union and communion without the least injury to the honour of that majesty.
Though it might seem that an admission to such a kind of fellowship with God perhaps could not be, without God's own suffering; yet when Jesus Christ, a divine person, united to our nature, has been slain, way is made for it, seeing that he has been dead: the veil is rent from the top to the bottom by the death of Christ; nothing of awful distance towards the believer can now be of any use, the way is all open to the boldest and nearest access, and he that was dead and alive again is ours fully and freely to enjoy.
Again: We may further argue from the misery of the damned, as God will have no manner of regard to the welfare of the damned, will have no pity, no merciful care, lest they should be too miserable; they will be perfectly lost and thrown away by God as to any manner of care for their good, or defence from any degree of misery; there will he no merciful restraint to God's wrath; so on the contrary with respect to the saints, there will be no happiness too much for them; God will not begrudge any thing as too good for them; there will be no restraint to his love, no restraint to their enjoyment of himself; nothing will be too full, too inward and intimate for them to be admitted to, but Christ will say to his saints, as in Cant. v. 1., "Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundance, O beloved."
Corol. I. Humiliation. Hence we may see a reason why humiliation should be required, in order to a title to those benefits; and why such abundant love has been exercised in all God's dispensations with fallen man to make provision for man's humiliation and self-diffidence, and self-emptiness; why it is so ordered and contrived that it should not be by our own righteousness, but altogether by the righteousness of another, viz. that there might be the more effectual provision to keep the creature humble, and in the place of a creature in such exceeding exaltation, and that the honour of God's majesty and exaltation above the creature might in all be maintained; and how needful it is to believe those truths, and how far those doctrine are fundamental or important that tend to this; and how much they militate against the design and drift of God in the contrivance for our redemption, that maintain contrary doctrine.
Corol. II. Hence we may learn that a believer has more to be free and bold in his access to Christ than to any other person in heaven or earth. The papists worship angels and saints as intercessors between Christ and them; because they say it is too much boldness to go to Christ, without some one to intercede for them; but we have far more to imbolden and encourage us to go freely and immediately to Christ, than we can have to any of the angels. The angels are none of them so near to us as Christ is; we have not that propriety in them: yea, we have a great deal more to encourage and invite us to freedom of access to, and communion with, Christ, than with a fellow-worm. There is not the thousandth part of that to draw us to freedom and nearness towards them, as there is towards Christ. Yea, though Christ is so much above us, yet he is nearer to us than the saints themselves, for our nearness to them is by him; our relation to them is through him.
New heavens and new earth Consummation of all things Heaven. The place of God's eternal residence, and the place of the everlasting residence and reign of Christ, and his church, will be heaven; and not this lower world, purified and refined. Heaven is every where in Scripture represented as the throne of God, and that part of the universe that is God's fixed abode, and dwelling-place, and that is everlastingly appropriated to that use. Other places are mentioned in Scripture as being places of God's residence for a time, as mount Sinai, and the land of Canaan, the temple, the holy of holies; but yet God is represented as having dwelt in heaven before he dwelt in those places. Gen. xix. 24. Exod. iii. 8. Job xxii. 12-14. Gen. xxviii. 12. And when God is spoken of as dwelling in those places, he is represented as coming down out of heaven. So he is represented as coming on mount Sinai. Gen. xix. 11. 18, 20. Exod. xx. 22. Deut. iv. 36. Nehem. ix. 13..So he is represented as coming to the temple. 2 Chron. vii. 3. So when the cloud of glory first came on the tabernacle,Exod. ult. 34. it doubtless was the same cloud that till then abode on mount Sinai; but God had first descended from heaven on mount Sinai, and while God did dwell in the tabernacle and temple, he was represented as still dwelling in heaven, as being still his original, proper, and everlasting dwelling-place, and dwelling in the temple and tabernacle in a far inferior manner. 1 Kings viii. 30. "When they shall pray towards this place, then hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling-place." So Kings viii. 30, 32, 34, 36, 39, 43, 45, 49. Ps. xi. 4. "The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven. " Deut. xxxiii. 26. "There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rideth on the heavens in thine help, and in his excellency on the sky." Ps. xx. 6. "Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed: he will hear him from his holy heaven." Deut. xxvi. 15. Isa. lxiii. 15. Lam. iii. 50. 1 Chron. xxi. 26. 2 Chron. vi. 21. 23, 27, 30.;vii. 14. Neh. ix. 27, 28. Ps. xiv. 2.;liii. 2. and Ps. xxiii. 13, 14. "The Lord looketh from heaven, he beholdeth all the sons of men from the place of his habitation, he looketh on all the inhabitants of the earth." Ps. lvii. 3.; lxxvi. 8.; lxxx. 14.cii. 19. "For he hath looked from the height of his sanctuary, from heaven did the Lord behold the earth." Eccles. v. 2. "God is in heaven, and thou on the earth." 2 Kings ii. 1. "would take up Elijah into heaven," and so we have an account how he was taken up, 2 Kings ii. 11. 2 Chron. xxx. 27. Ps. lxviii. 4, 33. Ps. cxxiii. 1. "Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens." Ps. cxv. 2, 3. "Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? Our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he pleased." Lam. iii. 41. 2 Chron. xx. 19. Job xxxi. 2. Ps. cxiii. 5. Isa. xxxiii. 5. Jer. xxv. 30. Isa. lvii. 15.
The manner in which God dwells in heaven is so much superior to that wherein he dwells on earth, that heaven is said to be God's throne, and the earth his footstool; Isa. lxvi. 1. "Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?"
The holy places on earth, where God is represented as dwelling, are called his footstool. Lam. ii. 1. "And remembered his footstool in the day of his anger;" 1 Chron. xxviii. 2. "As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building;'' Ps. cxxxii. 7. "We shall go into his tabernacle, we will worship at his footstool. "God's sanctuary is called the place of his feet. Isa. lx. 13. "To beautify the place of my sanctuary, and to make the place of my feet glorious." The inferior manner in which God dwelt in the Jewish sanctuary, was expressed by this, that God placed his name there. Earthly holy places, which were called God's house, or the place of his habitation, were so in such a manner, and a manner so inferior to that in which heaven is God's house, that they are represented as only outworks or gates of heaven. Gen. xxviii. 17. "This is none other but the house of God, this is the gate of heaven." Yea, though God is represented as dwelling in those earthly holy places, yet he was so far from dwelling in them as he does in heaven, that when he appeared in them from time to time, he is represented as then coming from heaven to them, as though heaven were his fixed abode, and not mount Sinai; and the tabernacle and the temple, places into which he would occasionally turn aside and appear. Thus God is said to have descended in a cloud, and appeared to Moses when he passed by him and proclaimed his name, though he had before that from time to time appeared there as in the mount of God, and though Moses had at that time been long conversing with God in the mount. Exod. xxxiv. 5. And so God descended from time to time on the tabernacle. Numb. xi. 25; xii. 5. Heaven is always represented as the proper and fixed abode of God, and other dwelling-places but as occasional abodes. When the wise man speaks of worshipping God in his house, he at the same time would have those that worship him there be sensible that he is in heaven, and not on the earth: Eccles. v. 1, 2. "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God. Let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon the earth."
So God, when he withdrew from the land of Israel, is spoken of as returning to heaven; which is called his place, as though the land of Israel were not his place, Hosea v. 15. "I will go and return to my place." And God is spoken of as being in heaven in the time of the captivity, as he is in the prophecy of Daniel, Dan. iv. 37.; Dan. v. 23. and in Daniel's vision, Dan. iv. 13, 23, 31.
And heaven is also in the New Testament every where represented as the place of God's abode. Christ tells us that it is God's throne, Matt. v. 34. This we are taught in the New Testament to look on as God's temple, after all that was legal and ceremonial concerning holy times and holy places ceased. Acts vii. 48, 49. "Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool, what house will ye build me saith the Lord, and where is the place of my rest?" This is the true temple and the true holy of holies, as it is represented in the epistle to the Hebrews. Heaven is the place whence Christ descended, and it is the place whither he ascended. It was the place whence the Holy Ghost descended on Christ, and whence the voice came, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; and is the place whence the Holy Ghost was poured out at Pentecost: and whatever is from God is said to be from heaven, Matt. xvi. 1. Mark. viii. 11. Luke xi. 16. Matt. xxi. 25. Luke ix. 54; xxi. 11. John iii. 27; vi. 31. Acts ix. 3.; xi. 5, 9. Rom. i. 18. 1 Cor. xv. 47. 1 Peter i. 12. Heb. xii. 25. Rev. iii. 12. and other places. The angels are spoken of as coming from heaven from time to time, in the New Testament; and visions of God are represented by heaven's being opened; and prayer and divine worship are enjoined under the New Testament to be directed to heaven. We are to pray to our Father which is in heaven, which appellation is very often given to God in the New Testament. So we are to lift up our eyes and hands to heaven in our prayers. And heaven is every where in the New Testament spoken of as the place of God and Christ, and the angels, and the place of blessedness; and all good whatever of a divine nature, is called heavenly; and heaven is always spoken of as the proper country of the saints, the appointed place of all that is holy and happy.
Whenever God comes out of heaven into this world, he is represented as bowing the heavens: intimating that heaven is so much the proper place of God's abode, that it is something very great and extraordinary for him to manifest himself as he is pleased to do in this world among his people; that heaven, the proper place of his abode, is, as it were, rent, or bowed, and brought down in part to the earth to make way for it, 2 Sam. xxii. 10. Psal. xviii. 9.; Psal. cxliv. 5. Isa. lxiv. 1. God is called the God of heaven, the Lord of heaven, the King of heaven, Dan. v. 23.; iv. 37;. ii. 44.
Heaven is so much the proper place of God's abode, that, by a metonomy, heaven is put for God himself, 2 Chron. xxxii. 20. "And for this cause, Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed, and cried to heaven;" Psal. lxxiii. 9. "They set their mouth against the heavens;" and when any thing is spoken of in Scripture as being from heaven, the same is to be understood as to be from God; thus the prodigal says, "I have sinned against heaven," i.e. against God, Luke xv. 21.
Heaven is a part of the universe which God in the first creation, and the disposition of things that was made in the beginning, appropriated to himself, to be that part of the universe that should be his residence, while other parts were destined to other uses.Ps. cxv. 15, 16. "You are blessed of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children of men." God having taken this part of the universe for his dwelling-place in the beginning of the creation, he will retain it as long as the creation lasts.
When man was in a state of innocency, before the world was polluted and brought into the perfect state of confusion, God was in heaven. Heaven was God's dwelling-place, for the angels fell from thence: we read that when they fell God cast them down from heaven. And therefore, when this polluted, confused state of the world is at an end, and elect men shall be perfectly restored from the fall to another state of innocency, and perfect happiness after the resurrection, heaven will also then be the place of God's abode.
This lower world in its beginning came from God in heaven. He dwelt in heaven when he made it, and brought it out of its chaos into its present form; as is evident, because we are told that when God did this, the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God, i.e. the angels, shouted for joy. Without doubt the habitation of the angels was from the beginning that high and holy place where God dwells, and their habitation was heaven in the time of the creation, because those that fell were cast down from thence. But if the lower world in its beginning was from God in heaven, without doubt in its end it will return thither: as he dwelt in heaven before, and when he made it and brought it out of its chaos into its present form, so he will dwell in heaven when and after it is destroyed and reduced to a chaos again.
Heaven is that throne where God sits in his dominion, not only over some particular parts of Psal. ciii. 19. "The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all," i.e. over all his works, or all that he hath made; which appears by Psal. ciii. 22. "Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion." Because it is the throne in which God rules over the whole universe, therefore it is the uppermost part of the universe as above all; and it is evident that the heaven where God dwells is far above those lower heavens; it is said to be far above all heavens. And as it is the throne of his universal kingdom, so it is the throne of his everlasting kingdom, as he here reigns by a dominion that is universal with respect to the extent of it. The psalmist in this same place is speaking of things that are the fruits of God's everlasting dominion, especially his everlasting mercy to his people, (which mercy will be especially manifested after the day of judgment,) as in the words immediately preceding in the two foregoing verses, Ps. ciii. 17, 18. "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him," &c. The word here translated prepared, also signifies established, having respect to its firmness and durableness. It is fit, as God's kingdom is everlasting, so the throne of that kingdom should be everlasting, and never should be changed, for that which moves is ready to vanish away. The everlastingness of God's kingdom is signified by the same word in the original that in the place now mentioned is translated prepared. Ps. xciii. 2. "Thy throne is established of old, thou art from everlasting," together with the context.
If God should change the place of his abode and his throne from heaven to some other part of the universe, then that which has hitherto been God's chief throne, and his metropolis, his royal city, must either be destroyed, or put to a so much meaner use, and be deprived of so much of its glory, as would be equivalent to a destruction; which is not a seemly thing for the chief city, palace, and throne of the eternal King, whose royal throne never shall be destroyed. Psal. xlv. 6. "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever."
This heaven, that is so often spoken of as the place of God's proper and settled abode, is a local heaven, a particular place or part of the universe, and the highest or outermost part of it, because it is said to be the heaven of heavens; it is the place where the body of Christ is ascended, which is said to be far above all heavens, and is called the third heaven.
Is it likely that God should change the place of his eternal abode, and remove, and come and dwell in another part of the universe; or that he should gather men and bring them home to himself, as to their great end and centre, whither all things should tend, and in which all should rest?
It is fit that an immutable being, and he who has an everlasting and unchangeable dominion, should not move the place of his throne.
The apostle John, even when he is giving a description of the state of the church after the resurrection, represents the place of God's abode as being then in heaven, for he says he saw the new Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven.
The dwelling-place of the saints is said to be eternal in the heavens; 2 Cor. v. 1. "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
If any say that this earth will be heaven after the day of judgment, is it not as easy to say that, after the resurrection, heaven will be the new earth? is there any more force upon words one way than the other?
The natural images and representations of things seem to represent heaven to be the place of light, happiness, and glory; such as the serenity and brightness of the visible heavens, of which I have spoken elsewhere.
It is an argument, that this globe we now dwell upon is not to be refined to be the place of God's everlasting abode, because it is a movable globe, and must continue moving always, if the laws of nature are upheld. It being so small, it cannot remain and subsist distinct among the neighbouring parts of the universe without motion; but it is not seemly that God's eternal glorious abode, and fixed and everlasting throne, should be a movable part of the universe.
As heaven will be everlastingly the place of God's chief, highest, and most glorious abode; so without doubt it will be the place of Christ's everlasting residence, and therefore the place whither he will return after the day of judgment. He who has had the honour and glory of dwelling in this glorious abode of God hitherto, will not have his honour diminished after he has completed all his work as God's officer, by then dwelling in a place far separated from God's dwelling-place. If he returned in triumph to heaven, entering into the royal city after his first victory in his terrible conflict under sufferings, much more shall he return thither after his more perfect and complete victory, when all his enemies shall be put under his feet after the day of judgment. And if Christ, after the day of judgment, returns to heaven to dwell, doubtless all his saints shall go there with him; he will invite them to come with him and inherit the kingdom prepared for them before the foundation of the world.
The place of both Christ and his church, their everlasting residence, will be heaven: when Christ comes forth at the day of judgment with the armies of heaven, the saints and angels attending him, it will be as it were on a white horse going forth to a glorious victory. And as the Roman generals after their victories returned in triumph to Rome, the metropolis of the empire, delivering up their power to them that sent them forth; so will Christ return in triumph to heaven, all his armies following him, and shall there deliver up his delegated authority to the Father. As Christ returned to heaven after his first victory, after the resurrection of his natural body, so he will return thither again after his second victory, after the resurrection of his mystical body.
New heavens and new earth. It is manifest that the world of the blessed, that is, the new world, or the new heavens and earth, or the next world that is to succeed this as the habitation of the church, is heaven, is the same world that is now the habitation of the angels. For heaven, or the world of the angels, is called the world that is to come. Eph. i. 20-22. "Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet." Heaven, the habitation of principalities and powers, is that which is here called the world to come, as being the world that was to succeed this, as the habitation of the church. It cannot be understood in any other sense, or merely that Christ was to be at the head of things in the new world when it did exist; but it speaks of what is already done and was done at Christ's ascension, a past effect of God's mighty power, according to the working of the exceeding greatness of his power which he wrought in Christ Jesus when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.
Happiness of separate saints. The proper time of Christ's reward is not till after the end of the world, for he will not have finished the work of Mediator till then; but yet he has glorious rewards in heaven before. The proper time of the angels' reward is not till the end of the world; and their work of attending on, and ministering to, Christ in his humbled militant state, both in himself and members, or body mystical, is not finished till then; but yet they are confirmed before, and have an exceeding reward before. The proper time of the saints' reward is not in this world, nor is their work, their hard labour, trial, and sufferings, finished till death; but yet they are confirmed as soon as they believe, and have an earnest of their future inheritance, the first-fruits of the Spirit, now. And so, though the proper time of judgment and reward of all elect creatures is not till the end of the world, yet the saints have glorious rewards in heaven immediately after death.
Heaven the eternal abode of the church. The house not made with hands is eternal in the heavens; but, if the saints' abode in heaven be temporary as well as their abode on earth, it would not be said so; their house there would be but a tabernacle as well as here. By the house eternal in the heavens, it is evident there is some respect had to the resurrection body, which proves that the place of the abode of the saints after the resurrection will be in heaven, as well as before.
If the saints were only to stay in heaven till the resurrection, then they would be pilgrims and strangers in heaven, as well as on earth, and the country that the saints of old declared plainly that they sought, though they were in possession of the earthly Canaan, will be but a temporary Canaan, as well as the earth; and in some respects more so, because the earth is to be their eternal abode, (though changed,) and not heaven.
We are directed to lay up treasure in heaven, as in a safe place, where it will be subject to no change or remove. The names of the saints are written or enrolled in heaven, and they have their citizenship in heaven, as being their proper fixed abode where they belong, and where they are to be settled. The inheritance incorruptible, is reserved in heaven for the saints, and they are kept by the power of God to this salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, or at the day of judgment. So that the inheritance in heaven is the saints' proper, incorruptible, and everlasting inheritance; and the saints shall be so far from changing the place of their abode in heaven for an abode on a renewed earth at the day of judgment, that this is the proper time of the church's being translated to this incorruptible inheritance in heaven, and the whole army of Israel's passing Jordan to that inheritance; for that is the last time wherein this salvation shall be revealed.
The Lord from heaven does not come to give his elect the country of the earthly Adam only renewed to the paradisiacal state wherein the earthly Adam enjoyed it; Col. i. 5. "For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. " The proper time of the reward of the saints is after the resurrection, as is evident by Luke xiv. 14. "But thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just; " and the proper place of that reward is heaven, as is evident by Matt. v. 12. " Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven; " Heb. x. 34. " Ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance; " and the time, when the apostle encourages them that they shall receive this enduring substance in heaven, is when Christ comes to judgment, as is evident by the three following verses.
Christ is entered into the holiest of all, and is set down for ever on the right hand of God in heaven, and therefore will not eternally leave heaven to dwell in this lower world in a renewed state.
Christ ascended into heaven as the forerunner of the church; and therefore the whole church shall enter there, even that part that shall be found alive at the day of judgment. Christ entered into heaven with his risen and glorified body, as an earnest of the same resurrection and ascension to the bodies of the saints; therefore, when the bodies of the saints shall rise, they shall also ascend into heaven. See No. 743.1184.
Saints in heaven acquainted with what is done on earth. That the blessed inhabitants of heaven are very much occupied in observing gospel wonders done on earth, and that their blessedness in seeing God consists very much in beholding his glory as displayed in those wonders, is manifest not only by the book of Revelation, but many other passages of Scripture; as Psal. lxxxix. which treats of these wonders; Psal. lxxxix. 5. "And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord; thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints;" and Psal. xix. 1, 2. considering the subject of the psalm, see Psal. cxlix. 5-9. to the end, with Notes on verses 5 and 9. See Matt. xix. 29. Mark x. 30. Luke xviii. 29.
New heavens and earth -Consummation of all things Progress of the work of redemption. Heaven shall be changed and exalted to higher glory at the end of the world. The creation consists of two parts, upper and lower. Thus we read of the worlds, in the plural number, that were made in the creation, Heb. i. 2. which the apostle in the next chapter distinguishes into two, viz this world, and the world to come, Heb. i. 5. as also Eph. i. 21. The upper world is said to be the world to come, both because it is future to us in this world, and also because the whole elect church it is to succeed this world when this is destroyed, and also on another account, that we will observe by and by. The one of these worlds God hath made for his own Son, and for his attendants, and ministers, the angels; and the other for man. Psal. civ. 16. "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children of men." According to the two different kinds of intelligent creatures that God hath made, angels and men, there are two worlds. The one is corruptible, but the other incorruptible; the one is that which can be shaken, the other that which cannot be shaken, but shall remain to all eternity. But yet both in their own nature are mutable; and that heaven is incorruptible, is by the divine will and grace, and not necessarily from the nature of heaven. If the angelic nature, the highest and most excellent part of heaven, is corruptible, or liable to be shaken and destroyed, as appears by the event; doubtless the place, what is inanimate in heaven, is in its own nature capable of destruction. Heaven is not unalterable in its own nature, so but that it may be exalted. That part of the universe that is capable of ruin is not so unalterable in its own nature, but that it may be brought to a higher excellency; but the highest heavens in their own nature are capable of ruin in the highest and most excellent part of it, in the head of all that part of the creation, and so of the whole creation, viz, Lucifer.
God only is incorruptible in his own nature. The one of these worlds is to fall and be ruined, and is to be the eternal seat of those creatures that fell and are ruined; the other is to stand, and to be exalted and brought to higher excellency, perfection, and glory, and is to be the seat of those creatures that stand, and are brought to higher excellency. As all the intelligent creatures that God hath made the inhabitants of the universe, all the spiritual world, (which is the chief part of the universe, and instar totius,) is mutable and is to be changed, either by suffering ruin, or by being exalted to a vastly higher perfection; so is the whole universe itself (the habitation, the inferior and inanimate part of the universe) all of it mutable, and all to be changed, either by suffering ruin, or being gloriously exalted in excellency. This universal change shall be at the end of the world, or immediately after the day of judgment. Then shall be the change on the inhabitants: some shall perish, and others shall he exalted to an immensely higher degree of excellency and glory. And so shall it then be with the two worlds: this lower world, that is to be the place of those that perish, shall be destroyed by fire; the upper world, that is to be the seat of the elect, shall be exalted exceedingly in its nature. And this is the new creation, so far as that respects the external and inanimate universe. This will be the external new heavens, and new earth; as there are two spiritual worlds, the elect and the reprobate, so there are two natural worlds, that are to be the everlasting external seats or places of those spiritual worlds. And as it is to be with those spiritual worlds themselves, that one will be destroyed as in a spiritual furnace of fire, and the other will be exalted to a state of excellency and glory, vastly greater than their original excellency; as even the angels, the original inhabitants of heaven, will be; so there is no reason to think but that it will be likewise with the two external worlds, which they have relation to.
When God created this lower world, he made different orders or ranks of creatures, of which the lower creation is constituted, of which man is the most noble and excellent; and so when God made the upper world, he made different parts, of which the angelical nature is the most noble and exalted, and those parts which constitute the habitation are inferior. Surely, therefore, the angels, the highest part of the upper creation, will be changed and exceedingly exalted in the glory in which they shine (as doubtless they will be in some proportion to the great and vast alteration that will be made in the glory of the saints, seeing the day of judgment is the proper time of the reward of the angels as well as saints). There is no reason to think that the inferior parts will not also be proportionally exalted.
God built heaven chiefly for an habitation for Christ, his dear Son, and the angels themselves are made for him, and are as it were only parts of his house, or habitation; as it is said of the church in Heb. iii. 6. All that is in heaven is a habitation for God's beloved Son; the angels are only the more noble and excellent parts of the structure, the chief ornaments of the building. The inanimate parts of heaven are to the angels a habitation; but the intelligent parts of it are to Christ a habitation. As they are called his chariots, the seat on which he rides, so they are his throne, the seat on which he reigns. As the throne is the noblest part of the palace, and as God built the whole of the upper world to be a habitation for his dear Son; so when the time comes that God shall reward his Son for his perfect and great obedience, and finishing his great work appointed him to do, when the work he was appointed to in his office is all finished at the end of the world, and the time comes for him to receive his full reward, to be glorified with his complete and highest glory in the head and all his members, and all enter into heaven together at Christ's last and greatest ascension thither; the house shall be garnished and beautified exceedingly, to make it fit for his reception in this his highest glory, as it shall be so with the glorious angels who are his chariot, in which he shall ascend, (they shall ascend in far greater glory than they descended, because they shall have received the glory that is their reward,) and who will be his throne when he is come thither, and the chief and most noble parts of the building. I say, as they will be as it were made new, appearing in new glory, so will it be with all the inferior parts of the habitation. The house shall be garnished to prepare it for the glorious bridegroom, who shall enter into it with his blessed bride in her complete and perfect beauty, when they shall enter into heaven to celebrate the solemnity, and to partake of the glorious entertainments and joys, of an eternal wedding; as when king Ahasuerus made a great feast, wherein he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty; and, to show the beauty of his queen, the palace was exceedingly adorned on that occasion. Eph. i. 6.
There is nothing in the Scripture that in the least intimates the external heaven or paradise to be unchangeable, and not capable of being perfected and exalted to higher glory. There is nothing so but the divine nature itself; and it is too much honour to any created thing to suppose it to be so perfect, that no occasion whatsoever, even the reward of the infinite merits of the infinitely beloved Son of God himself, is occasion great enough for allowing of it, or that shall render it fit and proper, that it be yet further adorned. The only heaven that is unalterable, is the state of God's own infinite and unchangeable glory; the heaven which God dwelt in from all eternity, which is absolutely of infinite height and infinite glory, and which might metaphorically be represented as the heaven that was the eternal abode of the blessed Trinity, and of the happiness and glory they have one in another; which is a heaven that is uncreated, and the heaven from whence God infinitely stoops to behold the things done in the created paradise; and of which, that which we conceive of as the infinite and unchangeable expanse of space, that is above and beyond the whole universe, and encompasses the whole, is the shadow. This is what is meant,Isa. lvii. 15..(See Notes in loc.)
It is true the things of the highest heavens are things that cannot be shaken, but shall remain through divine grace. Heaven is God's throne, and his throne is established for ever, and therefore shall be for ever and ever, and the saints shall receive a kingdom that cannot be moved. Heb. xii. 28. Heaven is a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God; it is a house not made with hands, and so eternal. This is an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away. What is reserved in heaven is represented in Scripture as far above the reach of all the changes of time that should injure it, and the doors of the palace are everlasting doors. Psal. xxiv. But none of these things argue heaven to be in any other respect unchangeable, than only as being above all changes that might destroy it, or mar it, or in any respect fade its glory, or bring it into any danger of those things. Heaven is no otherwise out of the reach of change than the precious jewels and treasures that are there kept are so, as the angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and the man Christ Jesus, the most precious and brightest jewel that God has made, the first-born of every creature, the crown and glory of heaven and men, the sun of that world of light; but yet all these are susceptive of change in this respect, that they will be exalted to vastly higher glory. Christ's glory after the day of judgment will be greater than before, as the devil that has managed the war against him shall then be punished for all the mischief that he has done. So Christ, God's General, the Captain that he hath sent forth in this great war against his enemies, when he shall have fully conquered and put down all authority and power, having come forth out of heaven to that end with all his hosts, and has so gloriously finished all the work that his Father gave him a commission for, shall be exceedingly rewarded and glorified. When he shall return with the victory in every respect perfect, he shall enter the city with great triumph to receive a great reward from the Supreme Authority of the city. If Christ God man, the King of heaven, and its most bright and precious jewel, the first-born of every creature, the head and crown, ornament and glory of heaven, and its bright and only luminary, the Sun of heaven, whose glory and sweetness is the fullness, and glory, and happiness of all that world; who is the Alpha and Omega of all that is there, and the sum of all; I say, if he shall be exalted in glory, why not the place, the external habitation that is the lowest part of that world? The habitation has not the honour of being immutable and immovable in a higher sense than this King and end and glory of heaven himself is. The man Christ Jesus becomes immortal and eternal at his resurrection, but yet that was no impediment in the way of his being, as it were, further glorified, as it were, in infinitely higher degrees, as in his first and second ascension. That the highest heavens pass under such a change at the end of the world, is no argument that it is with that as it is with the visible heavens that wax old as a garment; any more than the change on the body of Christ at his ascension, or on the bodies of Enoch and Elias, and on the bodies of those that arose with Christ, is an argument of the like waxing old.
If the highest heaven might be as it were bowed and rent, (though it be the throne of God,) that the eternal Son of God might come down on the earth, to be the subject of his humiliation; doubtless it is as capable of being adorned and made higher and higher on occasion of his glorification.
The external heavens, and the human nature of Christ, are the external house and temple of God in different senses; but the human nature, or body, of Christ, including both the head and the members, including his human nature with his church, is the house and temple of God in the highest sense. This is immensely the most noble temple of God. But if this, which is the palace of God in so much the highest sense, will pass under a glorious change; why should not the external house, which is the temple of God in a much inferior sense, and which indeed is to be but a house for this house, pass under a glorious change? If the inner temple, the highest and most holy part of the temple, shall be so much exalted, why may we not suppose that the external temple, the outer courts, or the outermost curtains of the tabernacle, be changed and made proportionally more beautiful?
Christ mystical, or Christ and his church, and the external heaven, are the city of God, or the new Jerusalem, in different senses; but the former in vastly the highest and noblest manner. But if the city of God, or the new Jerusalem, that which is called so in the highest sense, shall be so exalted and adorned with new glory at the head of the universe; why not that external new Jerusalem, that is as much inferior to the other as the body is to the soul? If the soul shall be glorified and made better, why not the body? if the body, why not the garment? if the inhabitants, why not the house?
The body of Christ is the dwelling-place of his soul; and therefore when God the Father glorified the soul of Christ, he also glorified his body, because he judged it meet that the alteration in the house should be answerable to the alteration in the inhabitant. And so, for the same reason, the bodies of the saints shall be glorified as well as their souls; and there is just the same reason why heaven, the house of Christ, and the house of his saints, or in one word, the house of Christ mystical, should be exalted to higher glory at the same time that Christ mystical himself, the inhabitant, is exalted to higher glory.
The church is Christ's temple: Christ is spoken of as dwelling in the saints. This temple of Christ, the new Jerusalem, shall, at the end of the world, when Christ comes to receive his full reward, be exceedingly adorned, to fit it for Christ's indwelling; as we see by Rev. xxi. 2. And why shall not the other temple of Christ, that which is so in an inferior sense, be proportionally adorned at the same time? Is it not rational to suppose that the whole tabernacle shall be proportionally adorned and beautified; the outer curtains proportionally with the inward curtains of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen?
The infinitely glorious and beloved Son of God's shedding his blood, and enduring those extreme sufferings in obedience to his Father's will, was a thing great enough to obtain this, even that the very heaven of heavens should be made new, with new glory for him; it was great enough to lay the foundation for an universal refreshing, renewing, or new creation, of all elect things, that all things both spiritual and external should be immensely exalted in perfection, beauty, and glory.
It seems impossible that it should be otherwise than that all heaven should put on new glory at the same time that Christ put on new glory; all must be allowed proportion, for Christ is the glory of heaven, the beauty and ornament, the life and soul, of all; and there is no glory there, but only the reflection of his glory, and the emanation of his brightness and life, and the diffusion of his sweetness. Every manner of beauty or excellency there, is immediately dependent on him: there is no shining or lustre, no fineness or purity, no vivacity or pleasantness, in any thing there, but it is in such a manner dependent on him, as appear to be immediately, every moment, from him, as a kind of diffusion of his glory and sweetness on every thing, and into and through every thing; so that the most inward nature of every thing there receives all excellency, and all purity, and preciousness, and sweetness from him immediately. In heaven, Christ appears and acts most visibly and sensibly as the Creator, and Life, and Soul, and Fountain of all being and perfection, and he of whom and through whom all things are, and by whom all immediately consist. Thus the glory of the latter house will in every respect be greater than the glory of the former house, because Jehovah, the angel of the covenant, shall come into his temple, and fill the house with his glory. Christ's appearing in glory will be that which will glorify the bodies of his saints, as though it was an immediate visible communication of his glory and life to them, as from the head to the members. Nothing but his presence in so great glory effects the thing; and so will it be with respect to every thing else that is external in heaven.
Thus as the face of the earth rejoices at the return of the sun in the spring, and there is a great alteration in it, it puts on new beautiful garments of joy, and gladness, and welcomes the sun; and its renewed beauty is from the sun, from his diffused glory, and sweet vivifying influence, in which all the face of the earth rejoices; so it will be in heaven when Christ returns thither in his highest glory after the day of judgment, all heaven will rejoice, and put on new life, new beauty, and glory, to welcome him thither.
Heaven perfected. The external heaven surrounds Christ, not merely as a house surrounds an inhabitant, or as a palace surrounds a prince; but rather as plants and flowers are before the sun, that have their life and beauty and being from that luminary; or as the sun may be encompassed round with reflections of his brightness, as the cloud of glory in mount Sinai surrounded Christ there.
Heaven perfected, after the day of judgment. Solomon s temple was a great type of heaven; and the prophet Haggai foretells that the glory of the latter temple shall be greater than that of the former, because that the Messiah, "the desire of all nations," should come into it; Hag. ii. 6, 7, 8. "For thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of the latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts. And in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. " I suppose that what was here foretold concerning that typical temple, was fulfilled much more properly and amply concerning heaven itself, when the Messiah entered into it at his first ascension; and will be fulfilled to a much more glorious degree still at his second ascension, at Christ's entrance into that heavenly temple, with his glorified and complete mystical body, as well as his natural body, after God has in a literal manner shaken the heavens, and the earth, the sea, and the dry land, and shaken all nations.
The beautifying and adorning the temple of Jerusalem so exceedingly but a little before Christ came into it, seems to be some shadow of this; and I believe was intended as a type of it; though not parallel in every circumstance, as the beautifying of it not being at the very instant of Christ's first entering into the temple, and some other circumstances. This seems also to be typified by the immensely more glorious abode that the ark had in Solomon's time than that which it had in David's time. The carrying up of the ark into mount Zion in David's time, was a type of Christ's first ascension into heaven, as is evident from Scripture; and the carrying of it up into mount Moriah, into Solomon's glorious temple, is a type of his second more glorious ascension into a more glorious abode at the end of the world. David's militant reign till all the enemies of Israel were subdued under them, was a type of Christ's present reign in heaven, over his church till the resurrection, which is a militant reign; for till the end of the world he goes on fighting, and will continue so to do till all enemies are made his footstool. As yet we see not all things put under him, and the last enemy that shall be conquered is death, which shall be at the end of the world. Solomon's glorious reign in perfect peace and tranquility, with all subdued under him, and settled in subjection to him, is a type of the reign of Christ after the end of the world: all enemies shall be subdued: and the place of the ark in his reign, in this glorious and most magnificent temple, was a type of the abode of Christ in heaven, in its advanced glory, at the consummation of all things. It is the same heaven, only sublimated and exalted to exceeding greater glory; which is typified by the mountain of the temple, being called by the same name after the ark was removed into it, that the place of its former abode was called by, viz. mount Zion; so that the ark is represented as never changing its place from mount Zion; and when it was carried into mount Zion, God said of it Psal. cxxxii. 13, 14. "This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell; for I have desired it."
There is a place somewhere in the universe, (perhaps in the central parts of the earth,) that is called hell; but hell will be made immensely more terrible after the day of judgment, when instead of that fire in the centre of the earth, all the visible universe shall be turned into a great furnace: and probably heaven will be made as much more glorious, after the day of judgment, as hell will be made more terrible.
Thus the external new Jerusalem, or the glorious and eternal abode of the church of God; (which cannot be excluded from the description in the two last chapters in Revelations, because there is in the description often a distinction made between the city and the saints that are the inhabitants;) I say, thus the external new Jerusalem will come down from God out of heaven; i.e. heaven, in this new creation of it, shall come down from the infinitely high and uncreated heaven, in which God had dwelt from all eternity, from which God stoops and humbles himself to behold the things that are in heaven.
Thus that will be fulfilled that is proclaimed in Rev. xxi. 5. "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. "The whole creation, external and spiritual, shall be altered, and new formed; and thus the new creation will be parallel with the first creation that Moses gives us an account of, to which it is spoken of as parallel in Scripture; and all the elect creation, which is composed of all elect things in heaven and in earth, shall be gotten together in Christ, and all made new, both spiritual and external; all that appertains to the elect, not only elect spirits, but their external habitations: their bodies, that are the microcosm or their particular habitations; and the microcosm, that is, the general habitation. There shall be collected all that is elect in heaven or earth, being all perfectly purified by fire, and not mixed with the reprobate part of the world, and all shall be made new, and so is justly called "the new heaven and new earth." There will be new angels and new men, new bodies and new spirits: things that are originally of the earth made new, and things originally of heaven also made new. Though the place of the church of Christ (for whose sake chiefly all heaven and earth is made) be different from what it was before; she dwells in another place, instead of that heaven and earth that was her habitation before; yet it is called by the same name, but only new, as the ark when it moved from Zion to mount Moriah carried the name with it, only it was a New Zion.
When God has obtained his end of the universe that he created in the beginning, when all things are brought to issue into their end at the consummation of all things, and God in the final event appears to be the OMEGA, as he was the ALPHA; then God will show his mighty power a second time towards the whole: toward the reprobate part of the creation, in terribly destroying it; and towards the elect part, in bringing it to its highest perfection. The elect creatures, who are the eye and mouth of the creation, who are made to behold God's works, and to give him the glory of them, did not behold the first creation. The angels did not behold the first creation of heaven, that most glorious part of the creation, nor did they see the creation of themselves; and men beheld no part of God's work in producing the creation; but the time will come when God will make all things new by a new creation, wherein his power towards the whole will be much more displayed than in the first creation. When God shall effect this creation, men and angels shall see God perform it, they shall see God produce the new heaven and new earth by his mighty power. Men, who saw the creation of nothing in the first creation, shall see the creation of all, and even their own new creation; and angels shall see the creation of heaven and of themselves: all shall see that creation that shall be a work so much more wonderful, and so much greater than the former, that the former shall not be mentioned, nor come into mind.
Conflagration. Many suppose the fire of the conflagration will be a purifying fire, by which the heavens and the earth will be refined in order to their standing forth in new perfection and beauty. This is very true, yet not in the manner in which many seem to understand. It will indeed be the fire by which the whole universe shall be purified, i.e. by which it shall be purged from its reprobate parts; all the filthiness of the whole universe shall be gathered into it, there to be consumed. The reprobate part of heaven was removed out of it to be cast into this fire; the filthiness that once was there is consumed here, and so is all that is reprobate and filthy in the earth. It is a purifying fire, as it is the fire of God's justice and holiness; but the justice and holiness of God shall perfectly purify heaven and earth, and purge all the elect creation from all manner of defilement or mixture of that which is reprobate; whereby it will be fitted to be exalted to its highest beauty and glory. And not only so, but such a wonderful and terrible display of the holiness and justice of God, will be a great means of further sanctifying all the elect universe, setting them at a vastly greater distance from sin against this holy God, and a means of vastly exalting the purity and sanctity of their minds.
Many have supposed that the place of the residence of the saints after the day of judgment, would be different from what it is before; that the paradise in which the departed souls of saints are now, is different from the heaven into which they shall admitted after the day of judgment; and that paradise is only a place of rest in which the saints are reserved till the day of judgment, when they shall be admitted into heaven. Here is a mixture of truth with error. It is true that the habitation of the saints, after the day of judgment, will be new and different, exceeding different, from what it was before, but not in that manner that has been supposed: not that the place or situation will be different, there is no need of that; but the habitation will be new created, and shall appear with quite new and transcendently more excellent glory.
It may be objected against what has been at the day of judgment, will invite his saints to "inherit the kingdom here supposed, that Christ, prepared for them from the foundation of the world;" as though it were the same heaven, that was made and prepared for them at the first creation, which they were now going to inherit.
Answer. It is the same house then built, not taken down, never shaken or removed, but only made more glorious; as they are the same angels of heaven that were made for the saints, from the foundation of the world, though they shall be so much more glorified that they will be as it were new creatures. As it will be with the angels of heaven, who are the principal part of the kingdom spoken of, so it will be with the external habitation: it was prepared for them at the foundation of the world the foundation of it was laid then, and has been preparing from the foundation of the world; from that time that the foundation of the world was laid, it has been preparing ever since, in all that has been done to it, and in it, and about it. And not only the kingdom is prepared from the foundation of the world in creating heaven, and in what has been done there from that time; but the creation of the whole universe was made to prepare a kingdom for them, to lay a foundation for their kingdom and dominion, and all that has been done in providence, ever since, has been to prepare a kingdom for them. And these words of Christ are a good argument, that the work of redemption is the end and sum of all God's works. It was the end of the creation of the whole universe, and of all God's works of providence in it.
Quest. By whom and at what time will this glorious work of God, in making the highest heavens new, be accomplished. Will it be done by God the Father in the absence of his Son, while he is here in this lower world taken up in the concerns of the last judgment, to garnish heaven or prepare it for his Son with his blessed bride against their coming? or will it be accomplished by the Son at his return into heaven with his church?
Answer. Not by the former, but by the latter; for the following reasons.
1. All communicated glory to the creature must be by the Son of God, who is the brightness or shining forth of his Father's glory: and therefore when the eternal world comes to receive its greatest brightness and glory, it will doubtless be by him, and it will be by him as God man; for all that God doth by Christ, or the medium of communication between himself and the creature since Christ became God man, or at least since as God man he has been glorified and enthroned as Lord of the universe; he doth by Christ as God man, in whom it hath pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell, and that in all things he should have the pre-eminence. As he glorifies the angels and saints who are the inhabitants, so doubtless it will be he who will glorify the habitation.
2. The old creation was by him, the highest heavens were created by him; for without him was not any thing made that was made; it was said concerning him, Heb. i. 10. "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thine hand, " and not only the visible but the invisible heavens were created by him; for he is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature, and the beginning of the creation of God; for by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. So likewise the new creation will be by him, for by him God makes the worlds; not only the visible but the invisible world, not only the present world, but the world to come, that new world, the new heavens and new earth; for God hath given him a name above every name that is named, not only in this world but in that which is to come, Eph. i. 21. By the world to come in that place, the apostle seems to mean the new world that shall follow when the age of this shall be at an end, for the word is Greek or Hebrew; this age, and that which is to come; and unto Christ hath God put in subjection the world to come. If God committed to him the creation of the old world, much more would he commit to him the creation of the new, for it is his business to renew all things. The creation of the new heavens and the new earth is by the work of redemption, which is his work; and it is a work that he works out as God man, and therefore as God man he will make the heavens new. All new things are by Christ: the new creature, the new name, the new covenant, the new song, the new Jerusalem, and the new heavens and new earth, are all by Christ, God man.
3. The destroying the lower world, the reprobate part of the creation, is committed to him; and therefore much more will the glorifying of the elect part of it be his work, for this is his most proper business; the other is his business more indirectly, and in subordination to this.
4. The creation is certainly by him, as to the principal parts of it, viz. the glorifying the saints and angels. He shall build the inner temple, and doubtless, therefore, he will build the outer temple. The glorifying of that, which is his temple and city in the highest sense, is committed to him; and therefore, doubtless, the glorifying of that which is the temple and city in an inferior sense will be committed to him.
5. If Christ as God man shall be the author of this work, he will doubtless be so visibly; for the work is committed to him for his honour. It is an honour that the Father commits to him in reward of what he has done and suffered; it shall therefore be visibly done by Christ, as God man, and therefore will not be effected in his absence here in this lower world; but he shall be present when it is done, and shall visibly put forth his power and communicate his influence and glory in order to it.
6. If this work were wrought while Christ is here in this lower world judging the world, then this new creation would not be seen by men and angels, which is not to be supposed.
7. If this work be wrought in Christ's absence, then that world will not be glorified by the presence of the Sun of righteousness, as the face of the earth is renewed and glorified by the return of the sun in the spring.
The Lamb is the light, and glory, and sun of the new Jerusalem, and therefore the new brightness and life, vigour, bloom, and beauty, and fragrancy, and joy, of this world, will be from him and from his presence.
After the curse is executed on the universe of the ungodly, and all the angels and saints have beheld the dreadful execution; then Christ, with all his elect church, now perfect, shall ascend to heaven, and Christ shall come and present his church, now perfectly redeemed, to the Father, saying, " Here am I, and the children whom thou hast given me; " and having thus finished all the work that the Father had given him to do, he shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father. Then shall the Father, with infinite manifestations of endearment and delight, testify his acceptance of Christ, and of his church thus presented to him, his infinite acquiescence in what his Son has done, and his complacency in him, and in his church; and in reward shall now give them the joy of their eternal marriage feast, and he himself will dress his Son in his wedding robes. The human nature of Christ, or Christ as God man, shall be the subject of a new glorification then, when he shall be the subject of those smiles of the Father, and those infinitely sweet manifestations of his acceptance and complacency, when he shall present his redeemed church, and deliver up the kingdom; and from the manifestations of complacency, the Son shall be changed into the same image of complacency and love, and shall put on that divine glory, the glory of the infinitely sweet divine love, grace, gentleness, and joy, and shall shine with this special light far more brightly than ever he did before, shall be clothed with those sweet robes in a far more glorious manner than ever before: then shall that be fulfilled in the highest degree; Ps. xxi. 6. "For thou hast made him most blessed for ever; thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance;" and also the fore-verses. Thus God the Father will give the Son his heart's desire, as it is said in the 2d verse of that psalm.: his heart's desire was, that he might express his infinite love to his elect church, fully and freely; to this end God the Father will now crown him with a crown of love, and array him in the brightest robes of love and grace, as his wedding garments, as the robe in which he should embrace his redeemed church, now brought home to her everlasting rest, in the house of her spiritual husband. As before he came into this accursed world in the glory of the Father, and God the Father arrayed him with his own glory, chiefly of his majesty, power, justice, omnipotence, and holiness, attributes that are terrible to God's enemies, because his errand into this reprobate part of the universe was to destroy it; so now he is returned and entered into the elect and blessed world, to receive the joy that was set before him with his church. Now he shall more especially have conferred on him the glory of his Father, in his gentle and sweet attributes, shining forth in the infinitely bright robes of his love, and grace, and holiness, his sweet ravishing beauty and delight, that he may bless and glorify that elect world with the beams of this light. The Son being thus glorified with infinite sweetness, by the light of the countenance of the Father, the glory will be communicated from him to his church, and she shall be transformed into his image by beholding him, and by the light of his glory and love, shining and smiling upon her. And at that time will be the transformation of all heaven, and it will become a new heaven; the beams of the Son's new glory of grace and love shall advance that whole world to new glory and sweetness. Thus Christ and his saints shall both receive their consummate felicity and full reward, and shall begin that eternal feast of love, and the eternal joys of that marriage supper of the Lamb. The saints shall not receive their full happiness till then; though they shall be glorified on earth when they shall be raised and changed at the first sight of their glorious Redeemer coming in the clouds, and shall be further glorified when they shall be made to sit with Christ on his throne of judgment; yet Christ speaks of their greatest happiness as then future, when he says, at the close of the judgment, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you," &c. Now they shall inherit it; now they shall be put in possession of it.
Thus, though the new glory of heaven shall be, as it were, from the communicated influence and glory of the Sun of righteousness returning to heaven from the judgment; yet it will not be at once, as soon as the beams of the returning Jesus shine on that world; but Christ, with all his saints and angels, shall first enter into the world, and they shall have opportunity to see its glory in its former state; and then the presentation shall be made to the Father, and his acceptance manifested, and the purchased glory then given by his hands; so that the saints and angels shall have opportunity fully to see this work of the new creation: first fully beholding the world before its renovation, and then seeing the change as it is, with the destruction of the reprobate world. That world, as it were, sinks of itself, flies away, and breaks in pieces, by beholding the manifestation of his awful majesty and wrath. The shining forth of the infinitely pure and powerful holiness, justice, and wrath, does, as it were of itself, set all on fire; yet this destruction will not actually be at Christ's first appearing in terrible majesty in the lower world, but at the greatest manifestation of it when he pronounces the curse on the ungodly.
How immensely will it heighten, in the eyes of the saints, the value of that love and gentleness with which they now shall see Christ clothed, that they just before have seen such great manifestations of his infinite majesty, and the terribleness of his wrath! And how will it heighten their admiration and joy in his love, when Christ himself, that glorious King, shall resign up the kingdom to the Father! Though he shall receive now his reward, and new glory from the Father, it will not be to act henceforward as the Supreme Head of dominion, to whom the government of the world is left, but rather as a head or grand medium of enjoyment of the Father. Christ himself shall be admitted to a higher enjoyment of the Father than ever he was admitted to before; and in Christ the saints shall enjoy the Father. The Son himself, as God man, shall now be subject to the Father. After the saints have seen him in infinite majesty in the judgment wherein his glorious and divine dignity appeared, and now come to see him in his ineffable mildness and love; they shall also see his transcendent humility in his adoration of the Father. And what a sense will this give them of the honour of the Father, to behold Jesus Christ, God man, a person of such dignity as they saw in the judgment, thus humbly adoring the Father! And how will this example influence their adoration of God, and keep up their reverence in that infinite nearness and freedom to which they are admitted; as the sight they have had of the terrible majesty of Christ in the judgment will keep up their reverence towards him in the midst of their most intimate communion with him, and while they dwell, as it were, in his arms, and on his lips! See concerning the new occasion of glory to the highest heavens at Christ's first ascension, Note on these words, John xiv. 2. "I go to prepare a place for you. "
Happiness of heaven. God doubtless will entertain his saints according to the state of the King of heaven, when he comes to entertain them at the feast that he has provided with such great contrivance and wonderful amazing exercises of infinite and mysterious wisdom, showing the bottomless depths and infinite riches of his wisdom, and with such great and mighty ado, and innumerable and wonderful exercises of his power; having, in order to provide this feast, created heaven and earth, and done all in all ages, bringing such great revolutions in such an amazing wonderful series, and besides that, having come down himself from his infinite height and become man, and also provided the feast at such infinite expense as that of his own blood. We read of Ahasuerus, a great king, when he made a feast unto all his princes and servants, he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the power of his excellent majesty, and gave drink in vessels of gold, and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king, Esth. i. So doubtless the happiness of the saints in heaven shall be so great, that the very majesty of God shall be exceedingly shown in the greatness, and magnificence, and fulness of their enjoyments and delights.
That the happiness of the saints in heaven consists much in beholding the displays of God's mercy towards his church on earth, may be strongly argued from those texts that speak of the just and the meek inheriting the earth, and their having in the present time much more given of this world, houses and lands, &c. than they parted with in the suffering state of the church; from Christ's comforting his disciples, when about to leave them, that they should weep and lament, and the world rejoice, yet their sorrow should be turned into joy, as a woman has sorrow in her travail, but much more than joy enough to balance it when she is delivered; from its being promised to the good man, Ps. cxxviii. that he should see the prosperity of Jerusalem, and peace in Israel; from the manner in which the promises of the future prosperity of the church were made of old to the church then in being; and from the manner in which the saints received them as all their salvation, and all their desire, and are said to hope and wait for the fulfilment from time to time.
Happiness of heaven consisting much in beholding God s works towards his church on earth. God says to David, 2 Sam. vii. "Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever BEFORE THEE. Thy throne shall be established for ever. "And a promise is made in the context concerning Solomon, that must be understood in the same sense; 2 Sam vii. 12, 13. "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. "
This promise concerning his kingdom and the kingdom of his Son, its being established for ever after he was dead, is what David takes principal notice of, and is most affected with, as implying this greatest benefit, and speaks of other things conferred on him in his lifetime as a small thing, in comparison of it, 2 Sam. vii. 19,20. "And this was yet a small thing, in thy sight, O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord God? And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant." And this he insists upon chiefly in his prayer, and in the following verses; and this, he elsewhere says, is all his salvation, and all his desire, or what he sets his heart upon more than any thing whatsoever. And the promise is renewed to Solomon, 1 Kings ix. 5. "I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised unto David thy father; there shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel." And yet this same Solomon was thoroughly aware how little a man is benefited by the thought and hopes of what should be in the world after he is dead, which he shall never see or enjoy any thing of; and speaks of it as a great instance of men's folly and vanity to set their hearts upon it, and deprive themselves of present good for it. Eccles. ii. 24. "There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labours;" and Eccles. iii. 12, 13. "I know that there is no good in them but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat, and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labours; it is the gift of God. " Eccles. iii. 22. "Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?" Eccles. ix. 4, 5, 6, 7. "A living dog is better than a dead lion for the dead have no more a reward neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. Go thy way."
The saints in heaven will be under advantages to see much more of it than the saints on earth, and to be every way more directly, fully, and perfectly acquainted with all that appertains to it, and that manifests the glory of it; the glory of God's wisdom and other perfections in it. The blessed fruit and end of it, in the eternal glory and blessedness of the subjects of the work of God at that day, will be daily in their view, in those that come out of dying bodies to heaven. And the church in heaven will be much more concerned in it than one part of the church on earth shall be in the prosperity of another.
The blessedness of the church triumphant in heaven, and their joy and glory, will as much consist in beholding the success of Christ's redemption on earth, and in as great proportion, as the joy that was set before Christ consists in it, or as the glory and reward of Christ as God man and Mediator consists in it.
Happiness of heaven. The saints in heaven will enjoy God as their portion, and possess all things in the most excellent manner possible; in that they will have all in Christ their head. Christ their head is as it were their organ of enjoyment; but the capacity of enjoyment that this organ hath, is of infinitely greater extent than the capacity of any of Christ's members taken separately, or by themselves; as the head of the natural body, by reason of its. extensive and noble senses, has such a much greater capacity of enjoyment than the inferior members of the body by themselves. Were not the saints united to Christ, they could never enjoy God the Father in so excellent a manner as now they will in heaven, partaking with Christ in his enjoyment of him. And so they never could possess all the works of God in so excellent and glorious a manner as they do in their head, who has the absolute possession of all, and rules over all, and disposes all things according to his will; for by virtue of their union with Christ, they also shall rule over all. They shall sit with him in his throne, and reign over the same kingdom, as his body, and shall see all things disposed according to their will; for the will of the head will be the will of the whole body. Christ being their head, the gratifying of his will shall be as much for their happiness, as if it were their own will separately that was gratified; for they shall have no other will, as the natural body, head, and members have but one will; and on the other hand, the holy desires of the saints (as they will have no other desires) will be evermore Christ's will. The appetite of the members will ever be the will of the head. If the whole universe were given to a saint separately, he could not fully possess it, his capacity would be too narrow. He would not know how to dispose of it for his own good; as the inferior members of the natural body would not know how to dispose of things that the body has possession of for their good, without the eyes or the head. And if the saints did know, they would not have strength sufficient; but in Christ their head they have perfect knowledge and infinite strength.
The saints in heaven acquainted with the state of the church on earth. The man Christ Jesus is the head of the glorified saints in heaven. He is the head of the glorious assembly, who leads them in all their worship and praise, and is their vital head. They are in some sense the glorified body of Christ; they are with him as it were in all things, being partakers with him in all, all his exaltation and glory, all his reward, all his enjoyment of God the Father, all his reward by obtaining the joy set before him, his reign here on earth, the glory of his reign in his kingdom of grace, the bestowment of the promised reward in what is done to the elect here, his enjoyment of the success of his redemption, his seeing his seed, the pleasure of the Lord prospering in his hands, his justifying many by his righteousness, his conquering his enemies, his subduing and triumphing over Satan, and antichrist, and all other enemies. What he sees of God, they in their measure see; what he sees of the church of God on earth, and of the flourishing of religion here, they see according to their capacity; what he sees of the punishment of his enemies in hell, they see in him; and therefore this damnation of the enemies of Christ, and its being in the presence of the inhabitants of heaven, consisting of Christ, and saints, and angels, is expressed thus, Rev. xiv. 10. "They shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:" saying nothing of the glorified saints, including them in the name of the Lamb. Christ, with his glorified mystical body, being but one mystical person, for he is the head of the glorified body, as the sight of the eyes that are in the head are for the information of the whole body, and what he enjoys they enjoy; they are with him in his honour and advancement; they are with him in his pleasures; they are with him in his enjoyment of the Father's love; the love wherewith the Father loves him is in them, and he in them; they are with him in the joy of his success on earth; they are with him in his joy at the conversion of one sinner. The good shepherd, when he has found the sheep that was lost, calls together his friends and neighbours, saying,Luke xv. 5,6. "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost, "And they are with him in his joy at the conversion of nations, and the world. The day of Christ's espousals is the day of the gladness of his heart, Cant. iii. 11. The day of the marriage of the Lamb is the day of Christ's rejoicing. Isa. lxii. 5. Zeph. iii. 17. So it is the day of the gladness and rejoicing of the hearts of the saints in heaven, Rev. xix. 1-9. When he rides forth in this world, girding his sword on his thigh in his glory and majesty, to battle against antichrist and other enemies, they are represented as riding forth in glory with him, Rev. xix. and in his triumph they triumph. They appear on mount Zion with him with palms in their hands; and as Satan is bruised under his feet, so he is bruised under their feet also. The saints, therefore, have no more done with the state of the church and kingdom on earth, because they have left this world, and have ascended into heaven; than Christ himself had, when he left the earth and ascended into heaven, who was so far from having done with the prosperity of his church and kingdom here, as to any immediate concern in those things, by reason of his ascension, that he ascended to that very end, that he might be more concerned, that he might receive the glory and reward of the enlargement and prosperity of his church, and the conquest of his enemies here, that he might reign in this kingdom, and be under the best advantages for it, and might have the fullest enjoyment of the glory of it, as much as a king ascends a throne in order to reign over his people, and receive the honour and glory of his dominion over them. Christ came with clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and was brought near before him to that very end, that he might receive dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him, Dan. vii. 13, 14. God the Father bade him sit at his right hand, that his enemies might be made his footstool, and rule in the midst of his enemies, and that he might enjoy that glorious reward that is called receiving the dew of his youth, and judging among the heathen, and wounding the heads over many countries, Psal. cx. God the Father set Christ on his holy hill of Zion, to that end that he might have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. And when the saints leave this lower world by death, and ascend to heaven, they do but follow their forerunner; they ascend as it were with him, they are made to sit together in heavenly places in him, they are exalted to partake of his exaltation, they have written upon them the name of the city of his God, and his own new name, to sit with him in his throne, as he, when he ascended, sat down with the Father in his throne, to rule with him over the same kingdom, to partake with him in his reward, his honour, his victory, and triumph over his enemies, his joy that was set before him, viz. the joy of the success of his redemption, the joy of seeing his seed, of finding his lost sheep, the satisfaction of seeing of the travail of his soul, &c. They in this world travail with him for the same thing, they are crucified with Christ, they deny themselves to promote and advance his kingdom and glory in the world: they many of them suffer with him, and die with him, in the very same cause, and their sufferings are called a filling up of the sufferings of Christ; and as they suffer with him on earth in this cause, so they shall reign with him, they shall enjoy with him the prosperity of that cause, that interest which they sought by their labours and sufferings, as he did by his labours and sufferings when he was on the earth. They shall be as much with Christ in partaking with him of the glory of his reigning over the world in his kingdom of grace, as they shall partake with him in the glory of his judging the world. Indeed they now are not visibly to the inhabitants of the earth reigning with Christ over his kingdom of grace here; as they will hereafter be seen judging the world with Christ. No more is Christ himself now seen by the inhabitants of the earth visibly reigning here, as he will be seen judging at the day of judgment; but yet this does not hinder, but that he does now as truly reign here, and possess and enjoy the glory of this dominion, as he will truly judge at the end of the world.
The saints in going out of this world and ascending into heaven, do not go out of sight of the affairs that appertain to Christ's kingdom and church here, and things appertaining to that great work of redemption that is carrying on here; but on the contrary, go out of a state of obscurity, and ascend above the mists and clouds into the bright light, and ascend a pinnacle in the very centre of light, where every thing appears in clear view. The saints that are ascended to heaven have advantage to view the state of Christ's kingdom in this world, and the works of the new creation here, as much greater than they had before, as a man that ascends to the top of a high mountain has greater advantage to view the face of the earth than he had while he was below in a deep valley or forest, surrounded on every side with those things that impeded and limited his sight.
On this account, as well as others, both Christ and his saints are beautifully represented as ascending and reigning on a mountain, mount Zion, God's holy mountain, the mountain of the height of Israel, &c. On this mountain, they have their kingdom in view; as David, who dwelled and reigned in mount Zion, had Jerusalem in view; and as the saints in heaven have greater advantage to see those things, so also to enjoy them, to see the glory of them, and receive comfort and joy by them. They are under great advantage to possess them as theirs, being with Christ who does possess, in communion with whom they enjoy and possess their infinite portion, their whole heavenly inheritance and kingdom; as much as the whole body has all the pleasure of music by the ear, and all the pleasure of its food by the mouth and stomach, and all the benefit and refreshment of the air breathed in by the lungs; and thus it is the saints in heaven sing to the lamb, Rev. v. 9, 10. "Thou art worthy, &c. for thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, and hast made us kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. " Thus it is, "The meek shall inherit the earth; " for Christ is the heir of the world, he has purchased the kingdom; the kingdom is promised him by the Father, and at last shall be given him when other kingdoms are destroyed, Dan. vii. 14. and the saints are heirs; with Christ, and shall inherit with him the same kingdom, and reign in the same kingdom, and so they shall enjoy the victory with him: he binds kings in chains; and all the saints shall have that honour with him,Psal. cxlix. 5, to the end..And thus it is that, when the time comes that Christ shall break his enemies with a rod of iron, they also shall have power over the nations, and shall rule them with a rod of iron, &c. Rev. ii. 26, 27, 28. And thus it is the souls of the martyrs of Jesus shall live and reign with Christ a thousand years. Rev. xx. They shall be most nearly interested in this revival or spiritual resurrection of the church that shall be then; that shall be in some sense the resurrection of Christ himself, in the same manner as the setting up the kingdom of Christ in the world, is represented as Christ's being born. Rev. xii. They shall possess the joy and happiness of that revival of the church; it will be as much their own, and much more in some respects, than of the saints on earth; see Rev. xix. the former part of the chapter. Thus Abraham, who is spoken of as the heir of the world, inherits it, possesses his inheritance, and shall enjoy the great promise of old made to him.
As the saints in heaven shall be under much greater advantage in heaven to see and enjoy God than when on earth, so they shall be proportionally under much greater advantage to see and enjoy the works of God, and especially those works of God which appertain to the work of redemption; which is that work by which God chiefly manifests himself to the inhabitants of the heavenly world, and especially the redeemed there. The saints and angels see God by beholding the displays of his perfections, but the perfections of God are displayed and manifested chiefly by their effects. The chief way wherein the wisdom of God is to be seen, is in the wise acts and operations of God, and so of his power, and mercy, and justice, and other perfections. But these are seen, even by the angels themselves, chiefly by what God does in the work of redemption. Eph. iii. 10. "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God. "
Corol. Hence we learn one reason, why the promises of the future glory of the church in this world are so much insisted on in the word of God, delivered to his church ages before the accomplishment.
Objection. In Eccles. ix. 5, 6. it is said of the dead, that they know not any thing; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Ans. 1. Their having no more a portion, &c. implies no more, than that they shall no more be interested in sublunary things, or in any worldly concern. But not that they are not interested in the spiritual and heavenly affairs of that family of God, that is not of the world, that are chosen and called out of the world, and redeemed from the earth; and, as is represented by the apostle, do not live in the world, but have their conversation and citizenship in heaven.
2. It is manifest that, by the context, the wise man speaks of temporal death as it is in itself, and not as it is by redemption, an inlet into a more happy state, in those that are redeemed from death, from the power of the grave; for the dead are here said to have no more a reward, and as being in a far worse state than when living. Eccles. ix. 4. The wise man's design and drift leads him to speak of temporal death, or death as it is in itself, with regard to things temporal and visible, without any respect to a future state of existence; and therefore, all that is implied is, that the dead body knows not any thing; they that are in their graves know not any thing; not but that the immortal soul that never dies knows something, knows as well that the dead body shall rise again, as the living know that they must die. It is in this sense, and no other, that all things come alike to all, and there is one event to the righteous and the wicked, Eccles. ix. 3. and preceding verses. The event is the same in the death of both, only as temporal death is the same in all. In this sense, as dieth the wise man, so the fool. Eccles. ii. 16.
Texts of Scripture that show that the saints in heaven see, and are concerned and interested in, the prosperity of the church on earth. Matt. xix. 27, to the end. Prov. x. 30. Psal. xxv. 13.
Saints in heaven reign on earth. It is evident, when Christ promises a kingdom to his true followers, as he does especially in Luke xxii. 29, 30. that one thing especially intended, is their rejoicing with him in his kingdom of grace on earth; by Christ's words in that place: "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." By this it also appears, that by that expression, used here and elsewhere, of sitting on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, is not intended merely judging the world with Christ at the day of judgment; (as indeed it will be unreasonable on other accounts to suppose this chiefly intended, for the saints' judging the world, at the day of judgment, will not consist in their judging the church of God; for they shall all have the blessed sentence pronounced on them together, and sit down on Christ's right hand together, to be assessors with him in judging others: after this they shall not judge one another ever again;) but their judging the world will consist in their judging angels and wicked men.
The saints in heaven acqainted with what is done on earth. It is an argument of this that God so often calls the heavens to be witness of his dealings with men on earth, Deut. xxxi. 28.;xxxii. 1.; iv. 26.; xxx. 19. Psal. i. 4. Isa. i. 2.