By the REV. JAS. BUCHANAN, D.D.
(Continued from page 77.)
There is a vast difference betwixt the state of believers on earth, and their state in heaven—between sanctification begun through grace, and sanctification perfected in glory. Here, holiness appears as in its first dawn, like the morning twilight gradually progressive, indeed, and the harbinger of “perfect day,” yet still dim and obscure, and frequently overspread with clouds; but there it shall shine, in meridian splendour, a sun without decline. Here, the power of indwelling sin, although broken, is not destroyed; the growth is checked, but the roots remain deep in the heart. There, not only the reign, but the presence of sin shall be abolished, and every lust shall not only be repressed, but eradicated for ever. Here, from the constitution of human society, and the circumstances of human life, the believer is surrounded with temptation, and apt to be either terrified, or ridiculed, or seduced into sin. There, no temptation shall be presented, but, on the contrary, every influence from without shall be favourable to the stability and progress of holiness. Above all, here, the believer, while he is in part transformed into the image of Christ, by the partial and obscure views which he is enabled to obtain of his glorious character, yet as he “sees only through a glass darkly,” Christ’s image on his soul is imperfect, in proportion as his knowledge is defective; but there “he shall see face to face,” and “when Christ shall appear, he shall be like Him, for he shall see Him as He is.”
It is one of the sublimest doctrines of Scripture that men may become like to God Himself, in point of character. And can we anticipate such a result, without seeing that it is the highest perfection of our moral nature, and a source of the most exalted satisfaction and happiness? “I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness,” says the Psalmist—satisfied not till then, for our nature is not perfected, nor its high capacities filled, if we rest short of this; but then, satisfied to the full; for what higher attainment, or what nobler happiness, can any created being desire, than a character conformed to the character of God?
While these views of the character of the redeemed address a very solemn warning to those who are still disposed to cherish their evil passions, they are fitted to encourage and comfort the minds of believers, whose chief burden, while they remain on this earth, is the power of indwelling sin. For it assures them, that each of them will then be perfect—perfect up to the full capacity of their moral nature. And how cheering is it to the man who is daily struggling against his corruptions, to know that his struggle will end in victory! How animating to him who is daily mourning over his backslidings, to know that he will soon be confirmed in a state of unchangeable integrity! And how consoling when he looks on his best righteousness here as “filthy rags” to anticipate the time when he shall be arrayed “in white robes!” And, it adds to his consolation, that all around him will be equally holy; that, amidst that innumerable multitude, not one envious, nor uncharitable, nor sensual, nor rebellious spirit, shall be found; not one who will ridicule his principles, or seek to seduce him from his piety, but all shall be of one heart, and of one mind, and mutual helpers of each other’s holiness and joy. And how consoling, even now, to those who have lost near and dear friends, is the reflection, that if they were prepared for their departure, they are already placed beyond the reach of many evil influences to which they were here exposed, and admitted into a company of the holiest, and best, and happiest spirits in the universe! Had we been called to leave them behind us in the world, our anxiety must have been great as to the influence of that mixed society, and those evil examples to which they would be exposed after our departure; but there, they shall meet with no unkindness, no harsh word shall disturb their serenity, no deceitful friendship wound their feelings, no seductions sap their principles, but, being received and welcomed by the “just made perfect,” they are safe up in heaven. And finally, if we can discern in our own spirits any evidence of sanctification, let us cherish it as the first dawn of that holy light which shall issue in everlasting day; the springing blade which shall blossom in heaven; the earnest and pledge of the perfection of our nature; nay, as the first faint beginning of that character which shall be perfected on high. Oh! with what reverence should a Christian regard his own soul, if it be now putting on the robe in which it shall appear before the throne, and how careful to guard that principle of grace within him, which is the germ of future glory!
As a SOCIAL being, man is dependent on the society with which he mingles for a very large share of his personal happiness. By sympathy, he is so connected with others, that he must often weep when they weep, and rejoice when they rejoice. By this natural instinct, he shrinks from the contemplation of extreme suffering, and feels his happiness increased by the happiness of those around him; and, by his moral nature, the believer is disqualified from enjoying the company of the wicked, and yearns after the fellowship of those who have kindred principles and feelings with his own. This is the ground of that strong love which, notwithstanding their petty differences, subsists betwixt all the sincere disciples of Christ on earth. But here the enjoyment of Christian fellowship is marred by various causes, arising from the imperfection both of our present condition, and of our Christian graces; partly by the diversities of opinion which flow from the limited range of our present vision, or the undue influence of prejudice; partly by the difficulty of discovering the true followers of Christ in the midst of so many nominal or false professors, and the suspicion, or at least the caution, which frequent disappointment, in this respect, is fitted to inspire; partly, also, by the obstacles which the necessary business of life, or the established distinctions betwixt different classes of men, interpose to that free intercourse on which the enjoyment of society depends; and most of all, by the weakness of love, both on our part, and on the part of others. But all these impediments to social happiness shall be removed in heaven. There, our little prejudices, whether against persons or parties, shall disappear. There, we shall be in no danger of misplacing our confidence, or of being deceived by hollow professors, but “shall know, even as also we are known.” There, if there be not a perfect equality in point of capacity or dignity, there will at least be no pride on the one hand, and no servile fear on the other; and there above all, love—pure, generous, disinterested love—which is the cement of all happy society, shall burn in every bosom, and prompt every word and action. Oh! blessed season, when the strifes of the lower world shall cease, and be forgotten, and when, superior to every prejudice and passion, we shall dwell as brethren together in unity!
And, consider how perfect that society will be, in which no ungodly, or ungrateful, or treacherous person shall be found, but in which we shall hold converse with all the wisest and best men that ever existed on the earth—with the patriarchs, and prophets, and saints of old—with the apostles and confessors, and martyrs of our faith—with the reformers, and witnesses for God’s truth, in all nations and ages—with every man that ever loved God, and His Christ, throughout the whole world. Other orders of intelligent beings will also be there—angels, archangels, seraphim and cherubim; ministering spirits, who, while we sojourned on earth, watched over us as the heirs of salvation, rejoicing with joy in the presence of God at our conversion; how they shall rejoice with us, on our introduction into glory! Such society, so free from every intermixture of base alloy, and so replete with the means of highest instruction, and with the spirit of loftiest principle, shall surely constitute one of the sweetest springs of happiness in heaven.
In reference to the society of heaven, it is well worthy of being considered, that in it will be found the greatest, the wisest, and the best, from every nation, and of every age. It is one of the chief glories of heaven, indeed, that it is not confined to the great or the learned of this world; but neither is it exclusive of them. While every humble and simple-hearted Christian will be admitted, however limited his attainments may be, and however distinguished his name, and while unquestionably the grand distinction of their character is that which is common to them all, viz., their resemblance to God in the moral dispositions and affections of their hearts, yet it is surely an interesting feature in our future prospects, that in heaven we shall meet with those great, and wise, and holy men, whose names are recorded in sacred history, and whose example has been thought worthy of being held up for our encouragement and imitation in the house of our pilgrimage. It is specially mentioned by our Lord Himself, that when Lazarus died he was carried by angels into the presence of Abraham, the father of the faithful; and what Christian does not feel his spirit elevated and cheered by the prospect of meeting, not only the venerable patriarchs and prophets of the Jewish Church, but the apostles and first disciples, the confessors and martyrs who in every age have witnessed a good confession, and in every land bequeathed their heroic example as a legacy to the Church of Christ? Heaven is the asylum, the home of all these mighty and noble spirits. They appeared at intervals, and were often widely separated on earth, but they are now met in that holy place, to which, however unworthy, we also are invited to aspire.
But not less interesting is the prospect of finding amongst the society of heaven, the pious relatives and friends whom we have lost on earth. For the apostle, designing to comfort the brethren respecting them that are asleep, points to their meeting again and spending an eternity together in heaven, as a reason why believers should not sorrow for the dead as those who have no hope. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord: wherefore, comfort one another with these words.”
As death does not destroy, but is rather the occasion of perfecting, the essential faculties of human nature, and as, among other faculties, we learn from various intimations of Scripture, that memory will be preserved, we cannot doubt that friends will remember and recognise each other in heaven; and, oh! what joyful congratulations must then be interchanged betwixt parents and children, brothers and sisters, friend and friend, who have mutually prayed for each other on earth, and oft-times feared for each other’s welfare, when, victorious over every enemy, and having surmounted every difficulty or danger, they shall meet around the throne in heaven! Here, what deeper emotion can swell the heart of a Christian parent, than that which arises from the first, though faint, dawns of grace in the bosom of a beloved child? But deep as is the joy of such a parent, he is depressed by the thought that the heart of his child is deceitful, that he is surrounded with snares, that soon he may be left alone in the world, without the benefit of parental care or counsel, and that, like too many others, he may make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, and in age belie the promise of his earlier years. But if the dawn of grace create joy, what must be the joy of meeting that child in glory; especially when it is considered that, henceforth, no temptation shall assail, and no enemy disturb his principles or his happiness for ever! If, on earth, a parent welcomes his child on his return from a long and perilous voyage, with feelings too big for human utterance, what shall be the joy of that welcome with which he shall be greeted on his arrival in heaven, by those friends who are there before him, and who had often fasted, and wept, and prayed, even while they could as yet scarcely venture to hope, for his salvation!
But, besides the multitude of human spirits with whom the redeemed shall enjoy happy and congenial fellowship, their society embraces several other orders of intelligent and holy beings, who shall there mingle with them, and enhance their happiness. We find in the context that the angels and seraphim are engaged in the same act of religious worship with the redeemed from the earth. When the redeemed sing the song of God and of the Lamb, saying, “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood,” the apostle adds, “and I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying, with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and honour, and glory.”
And as they are represented as engaging in the same services in heaven, so we have reason to believe that the redeemed, while they were on earth, were the objects of their interest and care; it is emphatically declared by our Lord Himself, that “there is joy in heaven amongst the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth”; that “the angels desired to look” into the mystery of man’s redemption, and were employed, in various ways, in the course of its application, as “ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who should be heirs of salvation.” Did they rejoice over one sinner when he was converted? And with what joyful welcome then, will they receive him when he arrives in heaven! Did they minister to him on earth as an heir, and will they stand aloof from him when he enters on the possession of his inheritance? It cannot be; and what gives a peculiar value to their society is, that they have been for ages, and perhaps in very different parts of the universe, gathering knowledge of God and of His works, to which, on earth, the redeemed had no means of access, but which shall be imparted to them in heaven; and how much their higher knowledge must add to the information of men, cannot require to be proved.
Here, then, is a glorious prospect opened up for us, a prospect into the invisible world, a world peopled with pure and happy spirits ready to receive and welcome us into their blessed society. Yes, we are called to come “unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels to the general assembly of the church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to God the Judge of All.” How should such a prospect raise us above the sordid cares, and low ambitions, and degrading fellowships of the present world! Let us feel ourselves to be citizens of a nobler state, members of a purer society, and heirs of a better inheritance hereafter. And if at times we are despised—if our names are unknown, or known only to be ridiculed by men—if we are poor and insignificant in comparison with many around us, let the prospect of our admission into the society of heaven, inspire us with a just sense of our dignity as immortal beings, and preserve us both from abject thoughts, and from degrading subserviency.
Man is an ACTIVE being; and some suitable employment for his active powers seems to be essential to his perfect happiness. This will be supplied by the services of heaven. We find from Scripture that in such services the angels themselves are employed—sometimes around the throne on high, an example of which we have in the account given of their worship and adoration; sometimes on missions to distant parts of God’s dominions, an example of which we have in their ministering to believers on earth. It is presumable that men, being qualified for similar services, will be similarly engaged, as without such employment, some faculties of their nature would be unoccupied, some graces of their character unexercised, and some of their capacities of enjoyment unfilled. But then, there will be a vast difference betwixt the nature of their employments on earth and in heaven. On earth, their faculties are, in a great measure, engrossed with such labours as are necessary for the mere support of physical life; and although, even in a state of innocence man was placed in the garden to dress it and to keep it, the extreme amount of labour which is now imposed on us for this end, is the effect of that curse which was denounced against sin—”cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” But for this curse, a much smaller amount of labour might have sufficed for the mere support of life, and our faculties might have been left free for higher pursuits. It is true, that this curse was wisely and mercifully imposed—and is wisely and mercifully converted into a means of preventing the much greater evils which must have ensued, had man, fallen and vicious, been under no necessity to labour, or had he been even comparatively idle; for, with disordered passions, such relaxation might have accelerated the growth of depravity, which is checked by the hard necessities of our present state; but here, the reason of the curse being removed, the curse itself shall be withdrawn—”there shall be,” says the apostle, “no more curse.” It follows, there shall no longer be the same necessity for hard and uninterrupted labour, with the view of procuring the mere necessaries of life; and thus the faculties of man, disengaged from inferior pursuits, shall be left free for higher and more suitable employments—of the acquisition of knowledge, for the study of God’s works and ways, and for such services as God may be pleased to require at his hands.
What these services will be, we cannot at present determine; but we may rest assured that they will be suitable to the dignity and greatness of the immortal mind, and will mainly consist in acts of homage to God, and beneficence to one another.
The redeemed shall “serve Him day and night in His temple.” In one sense, indeed, it is said that there is “no temple in heaven,” because, in so far as they were of the nature of means, the gifts and services of the church on earth are superseded and set aside, when the grand end is attained in heaven. Hence, the apostle declares, that “prophecies shall fail, and tongues shall cease,” there being no further occasion for such means, when they have accomplished the object for which they were designed; and knowledge also, such knowledge as we have on earth, shall vanish away in the perfect vision of God.
But religion is not only a means, it is, in itself, an end; the chief end, the very perfection of our nature; and religion being not a passive but an active principle, must needs have its appropriate exercises and expressions for ever. If penitential confession shall no longer be made, it shall only be superseded by songs of praise; if the ordinance of preaching, and the use of the sacrament shall be abolished, it is only because no one shall need to teach another, saying, “Know the Lord, for all shall know Him, from the least even unto the greatest.” The exercises which are appropriate to religion as a means of preparation for heaven, shall cease, but the services which are essential to religion, as a living and everlasting attribute of human nature, shall continue for ever.
Heaven, then, will perfect all the faculties and fill all the capacities of the human soul; and whether we view Him as a sentient, or an intellectual, or a moral, or a social, or an active Being, man will find, that “in God’s presence there is fulness of joy.”
It must never be forgotten, however, that, perfect as the constitution of our nature, and ample as the external means of its gratification shall then be, our chief happiness must be derived from God Himself. No other object can fully satisfy His people, even in heaven. He is their portion, and it is in the enjoyment of God as their chief good, aided, as that enjoyment will then be, by full manifestation on His part, and free communion on theirs, that their everlasting blessedness shall mainly consist. He is the object of their supreme love; and as they perceive more and more of the excellency of the divine character, they will love and delight in it the more. And thus shall they reach the chief end of their being, the very highest perfection of their nature, which consists in “glorifying God, and enjoying Him for ever.”