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be with them," Rev. xxi. 3. And they shall ever be with the Lord." God is every where present, in respect of his essence; the saints militant have this special gracious presence: but in heaven they have his glorious presence. There they are brought near to the throne of the great King, and stand before him, where he shews his inconceivable glory. There they have" the tabernacle of God," on which the cloud of glory rests, the allglorious human nature of Christ, wherein the fulness of the godhead dwells; not vailed as in the days of his humiliation, but shining through that blessed flesh,(that all the saints may behold his glory) and making that body more glorious than a thousand suns: so that the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon, but "the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof (properly, the candle thereof)" Rev. xxi. 23. i e. the Lamb is the luminary or luminous body, which gives light to the city; as the sun and moon now give light to the world, or as a candle lightens a dark room : and the light proceeding from that glorious luminary, for the city is, the glory of God. Sometimes that candle burnt very dim, it was hid under a bushel, in the time of his humiliation; but that now and then it darted out some rays of this light; which dazzled the eyes of the spectators: but now it is set on high, in the city of God, where it shines, and shall shine for ever in perfection of glory. It was sometimes laid aside, as a stone disallowed of the builders: but now it is, and for ever will be, the light, or luminary of that city; and that, "like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as chrystal," ver. 11.

Who can conceive the happiness of the saints, in the presence-chamber of the great King, where he sits in his chair of state, making his glory eminently to appear in the man Christ? His glorious presence makes a mighty change upon the saints in this world his glorious presence in heaven then must needs screw up their graces to their perfection, and elevate their capacities. The saints do experience, that the presence of God, now with them, in his grace, can make a little heaven of a sort of hell. How great must the glory of heaver

then be, by his presence there in his glory! If a candle, in some sort beautifies a cottage or prison, how will the shining sun beautify a palace or paradise! The gracious presence of God make a wilderness lightsome to Moses, the valley of the shadow of death to David, a fiery furnace to the three children: what a ravishing beauty shall then arise from the Sun of Righteousness, shining in his meridian brightness, on the street of the city laid with pure gold; this glorious presence of God in heaven will put a glory on the saints themselves. The pleasant garden hath no beauty, when the darkness of the night sits down on it; but the shining sun puts a glory on the blackest mountains: so these who are now as bottles in the smoke, when set in the glo rious presence of God, will be glorious both in soul and body.

Secondly, The saints in heaven shall have the full enjoyment of God and the Lamb. This is it that perfectly satisfies the rational creature; and here is the saints' everlasting rest. This will make up all their wants, and fill the desires of their souls, which, after all here obtained, still cry, Give, give, not without some anxiety; because though they do enjoy God, yet they do not enjoy him fully. As to the way and manner of his enjoyment, our Lord tells us, John xvii. 3. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Now there are two ways, how a desirable object is known most perfectly and satisfyingly; the one is by sight, the other by experience: sight satisfies the understanding, and experience satisfies the will. Accordingly one may say, that the saints enjoy God and the Lamb in heaven, (1.) By an intuitive knowledge. (2.) By an experimental knowledge, both of them perfect, I mean, in respect of the capacity of the creature; for otherwise a creature's perfect knowledge of an infinite being is impossible. The saints below enjoy God in that knowledge they have of him by report, from his holy word, which they believe ; they see him likewise darkly in the glass of ordinances, which do, as it were, represent the Bridegroom's picture er shadow, while he is absent; they have also some

experimental knowledge of him, they "taste that God is good," and "that the Lord is gracious." But the saints above shall not need a good report of the king; they shall see himself; therefore faith ceaseth; they will behold his own face; therefore ordinances are no more, there is no need of a glass. They shall drink, and drink abundantly of that whereof they have tasted; and so hope ceaseth, for they are at the utmost bounds of their desires. I. The saints in heaven shall enjoy God and the Lamb by sight, and that in a most perfect manner, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. "For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face. to face." Here our sight is but mediate, as by a glass, in which we see not things themselves, but the images of things: but there we shall have an immediate view of God and the Lamb. Here our knowledge is but obscure; there it shall be clear without the least mixture of darkness. The Lord doth now converse with his saints, through the lattice of ordinances; but then shall they be in the presence-chamber with him. There is a vail now on the glorious face, as to us: but when we come to the upper-house, that vail through which some rays of beauty are now darted, will be found entirely taken off; and then shall glorious excellencies and perfections, not seen in him by mortals, be clearly discovered, for we shall see his face," Rev. xxii. 4. The phrase seems to be borrowed from the honour put upon some in the courts of monarchs, to be attendants on the king's person. We read, Jer. liii. 25. of" seven men of them that were (Heb. seers of the king's face," i. e. as we read it)" near the king's person." O unspeakable glory! The great king keeps his court in heaven: and the saints shall all be his courtiers, ever near the King's person, seeing his face. "The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face." Rev. xxii. 3, 4.

I. They shall see Jesus Christ with their bodily eyes, since he will never lay aside the human nature. They .will always behold that glorious blessed body, which is personally united to the divine nature, and exalted far above principalities and powers, and every name that is named. There we shall see, with our eyes, that very

body which was born of Mary at Bethlehem, and crucified at Jerusalem, betwixt two thieves; the blessed head that was crowned with thorns; the face, that was spit upon; the hands and feet that were nailed to the cross; all shining with inconceivable glory. The glory of the man Christ will attract the eyes of all the saints, and he will be for ever" admired in all them that believe,” 2 Thess. i. 10. Were each star in the heavens shining as the sun in its meridian brightness, and the light of the sun so increased, as the stars in that case, should bear the same proportion to the sun in point of light, that they do now; it might possibly be some faint resemblance of the glory of the man Christ, in comparison with that of the saints for though the saints "shall shine forth as the sun" yet not they, but the Lamb shall be "the light of the city." The wise men fell down and worshipped him, when they saw him a "young child, with Mary his mother, in the house." But Ŏ what a ravishing sight will it be to see him in his kingdom, on his throne, at the Father's right hand: "The Word was made flesh (John i. 14.) and the glory of God shall shine through that flesh, and joys of heaven spring out from it, unto the saints who shall see and enjoy God in Christ. For since the union betwixt Christ and the saints is never dissolved, but they continue his members for ever; and the members cannot draw their life, but from their head, seeing that which is independent on the head, as to vital influence, is no member: therefore Jesus Christ will remain the everlasting bond of union, betwixt God and the saints; from whence their eternal life shall spring, John xvii. 2, 3. "Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God," &c. ver. 22, 23." And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." Wherefore the immediate enjoyment of God in heaven, is to be understood in respect of the laying aside of the word and sacraments, and such external means, as we enjoy God by, in this world; but not, as

If the saints should then cast off their dependance on their Head, for vital influences: nay," the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them unto living fountains of waters," Rev. viii. 17.

Now when we shall behold him, who died for us, that we might live for evermore, whose matchless love made him swim through the red sea of God's wrath, to make a path in the midst of it, for us, by which we might pass safely to Canaan's land: then we will see what a glorious one he was, who suffered all this for us; what entertainment he had in the upper house; what hallelujahs of angels could not hinder him to hear the groans of a perishing multitude on earth, and to come down for their help; and what a glory he laid aside for us. Then will we be more able to "comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, length, and depth, and height: and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge," Eph. iii. 18, 19. When the saints shall remember, that the waters of wrath he was plunged into are the wells of salvation, from whence they draw all their joy; they that have got the cup of salvation, in exchange of the cup of wrath his Father gave him to drink, which his sinful human nature shivered at: how will their hearts leap within them, burn with seraphic love, and like coals of juniper, and the arch of heaven ring with their songs of salvation! The Jews celebrating the feast of tabernacles (which was the most joyful of all their feasts, and lasted seven days) went once every day about the altar, singing hosanna, with their myrtle, palm, and willow branches in their hand, (the two former signs of victory, the last of chastity) in the mean time bending their bouglis towards the altar. When the saints are presented as a chaste virgin to Christ," and, as conquerors, have got their palms in their hands, how joyfully will they compass the altar evermore, and sing their hosannas, or rather their hallelu jabs about it, bending their palms towards it; acknowledging themselves to owe all unto the Lamb that was slain, and redeemed them with his blood! And to this agrees what John saw, Rev. vii. 9, 10. "A great mul