transient and vanishing. The visions, the glimpses of majesty and glory which Moses and Peter saw in the mount, were not permanent but transient ; their sun was quickly clouded, and both of them soon after wire found walking in the dark;1 and therefore well s;iith Augustine, Beatitude hie pa/ra/ri potest, possideri non potest,2 happiness may be obtained here, but here we cannot have the plenary and take pi (ssessiou thereof Oh but in heaven, our sight of God, our knowledge of God shall be permanent, it shall be lasting; there shall be no sin, no cloud, no mist, no curtain, to hinder as from a constant sight and vision of God ; there we shall see God clearly, fully, eternally. The spouse's question, 'Did you see him whom my soul loves?' Cant. iii. 3, shall novel- be heard in heaven, because God shall be always in their eye, and still upon their hearts; nor Job's complaint, 'Behold, I go forward, but he is not there ; and backward, but I cannot perceive him : on the left hand, where he doth work, but I Gannot behold him : he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him,' Job xxiii. 8, 9. Heaven would not be heaven, were it not always day with the soul; did not the soul live in a constant sight and apprehension of God, all the glory of heaven could not make a heaven to a glorified soul. But,
IV. Fourthly, As the best sight and knowledge of God is reserved till last, so the best and choicest 'presence of God and Christ is reserved till last; and this I shall thus make good.
(1.) First, In heaven saints shall have the greatest and the fullest presence of God? No man in this world hath so complete and full a presence of God but he may have a fuller; but in heaven the presence of God shall be so full and complete, as that nothing can be added to it to make it more complete. Sometimes sin, sometimes Satan, sometimes the world, sometimes resting in duties, sometimes the weakness of our graces, hinder us from enjoying a full presence of God here ; but in heaven there shall be nothing to interpose between God and us ; there shall be nothing to hinder us from enjoying a full and complete presence of God. It is this full presence of God that is the heaven of heaven, the glory of all our glory. An imperfect and incomplete presence of God in heaven would darken all the glory of that state. It is the full and perfect presence of God in heaven that is the most sparkling diamond in the ring of glory; and this you shall have. But,
(2.) Secondly, They shall have a soid-satixfi/hn/ presence of God in h aven. They shall be so satisfied with the presence of God in heaven, that they shall say, We have enough, we have all, because we enjoy that presence that is virtually all, that is eminently all, that is all light, all life, all love, all heaven, all happiness, all comforts, all contents, &c :* Pa xvii. 1."), 'As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.' Though the spiritual and gracious presence of God with the saints in this world doth much iheej and comfort them, yet it doth not satisfy them. They are still crying out, More of this blessed presence ! oh more of this presence ! Lord, less money will serve, so we may but have more of thy presence !
1 Exod. xxxiii., Mat. xvii. 1-4. s Serm. xlvi. de Sanctis.
s Ps. xvi. 11. Ipse units eril tibi omnia, quia in ipso uno bono, bona sunt omnia. — Augus- tiue. * Omne bunvm in sunmo bono, all goud id iu the chiefest good.
1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 423
less of the creature will serve, so we may have but more of thy presence ! Ps. xlii. 1, 2, xxxvii. 1-3. As the king of Sodom said unto Abraham, ' Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself,' Gen. xiv. 21, so say gracious souls, Give us more and more of the presence of God, and let the men of the world take the world and divide it amongst them- selves. Divine presence is very inflaming ; a soul that hath but tasted the sweetness of it cannot but long for more of it ; as those that had tasted of the grapes of Canaan longed to be in Canaan, and as the Gauls, who, when they had tasted of the sweet wine that was made of the grapes that grew in Italy, they were very eager after Italy, crying out, 'O Italy! Italy!'1 so precious souls that have experienced the sweet- ness of divine presence, they cannot be satisfied with a little of it, but in every prayer this is the language of their souls, Lord ! more of thy presence ! and in every sermon they hear, Lord ! let us have more of thy presence ! and in every sacrament they receive, Lord ! vouchsafe to us more of thy presence !
Nay, this gracious presence of God that they enjoy here makes them very earnest in their desires and longings after a celestial, a glorious presence of God and Christ in heaven, which presence alone can satisfy their souls.2 Look, as the espoused maid longs for the marriage day, the apprentice for his freedom, the captive for his ransom, the traveller for his inn, and the mariner for his haven, so do souls that are under the power and sweet of God's gracious presence long for to enjoy his glorious presence in heaven, which alone can fill and satisfy their immortal souls. As Monica, Austin's mother, a precious godly woman, who enjoyed much of the gracious presence of Christ, with her spirit she cried out, Quid hie faciemus ? cur non ocyus migramus ? cur non hinc avolamus ? What do we here % why depart we not swifter ? why fly we not hence ?
So saith another [Bernard], As what I have, if offered to thee, pleaseth not thee without myself, so, 0 Lord ! the good things we have from thee, though they refresh us, yet they satisfy us not without thy- self. Lord ! I am willing to die, to have a further discovery of thyself.
And so saith another [Augustine], Thou hast made us, 0 Lord, for thyself, and our hearts are unquiet till they come unto thee.
And so when Modestus, the emperor's lieutenant,3 threatened to kill Basil, he answered, If that be all, I fear not; yea,. your master cannot more pleasure me than in sending me unto my heavenly Father, to whom I now live, and to whom I desire to hasten.
And saith another [Augustine], Let all the devils in hell beset me round, let fasting macerate my body, let sorrows oppress my mind, let pains consume my flesh, let watchings dry me, or heat scorch me, or cold freeze me ; let all these, and what can come more, happen unto me, so I may enjoy my Saviour.
Austin wishing that he might have seen three things, Rome flourish- ing, Paul preaching, and Christ conversing with men upon the earth, Bede comes after, and correcting this last wish, saith, Yea, but let me see the King in his beauty, Christ in his heavenly kingdom ; by all which you see that it is not a spiritual presence, but the glorious pre- sence of God and Christ in heaven, that can satisfy the souls of the
1 Plutarch, in vita Oarnilli. 2 2 Cor. v. 1-8 ; Philip, i. 23 ; Cant. viii. 14.
3 Cf. (fall. iii. 9. Macrob. Saturn i. 4, 10, 16.— G.