soon interrupted: 'In my prosperity I said, I should never be removed ; liut thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled,' Ps. xxx. G, 7- Now David had the oil of joy and gladness, and by and by the spirit of heaviness and sadness: 'Restore to me the joy of thy salvation,' Ps. li. 1 2. Jacob had much joy at the return of his sons with corn from Egypt; but this joy was soon interrupted by his parting with his dear Benjamin.
I might shew you this truth in other instances, as in Abraham, Job, and other saints; but surely there is no believer but finds that some- times sin interrupts his joy, and sometimes Satan disturbs his joy, and sometimes afflictions and sometimes desertions eclipse his joy; some- times the cares of the world, and sometimes the snares of the world, and sometimes the fears of the world, mars our joy; sometimes great crosses, sometimes near losses, and sometimes unexpected changes, turns a Ghrisl ian's harping into mourning, and his organ into the voice of them that weep.1
Some say of Rhodes, that there is not one day in the year in which the sun shines not clearly on them. Surely there is hardly one day in the year, yea, I had almost said one hour in the day, wherein something or other doth not fall in to interrupt a Christian's joy.
But now in heaven the joy of the saints shall be constant; there shall nothing fall in to disturb or to interrupt their joy : Ps. xvi. 11, 'In thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand is pleasures for ever more.' Mark, for quality, there are pleasures ; for quantity, fulness ; for dignity, at God's right hand ; for eternity, for evermore. And millions of years multiplied by millions, make not up one mmute to this eternity of joy that the saints shall have in heaven. In heaven there shall be no sin to take away your joy, nor no devil to take away your joy, nor no man to take away your joy: John xvi. 22, 'Your joy no man taketh from you.' The joy of the saints in heaven is never ebbing, but always flowing to all contentment. The joys of heaven never fade, never wither, never die, nor never are lessened nor interrupted. The joy of the saints in heaven is a constant joy, an everlasting joy, in the root and in the cause, and in the matter of it and in the objects of it. JEterna erit exultcdio, quce bono lodatur ceterno, their joy lasts for ever whose objects remains for ever.2 Isa. xxxv. 10, 'And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs.aud everlasting joys upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall fly away.' In this world not only the joy of hypocrites and the joy of profane persons, but also the joy of the upright, is oftentimes 'as the crackling of thorns under a pot,' or as the blaze of a brush faggot, now all on a flame, and as suddenly out again; or as the beast ephemeron, that dieth on the day it is born;3 but the joy of believers in heaven shall be like the fire on the altar, that never went out. When Caesar was sad, he used tosay to himself, Cogitate G cesarean esse, think thou art Caesar; so when your hearts are sad and sorrowful, oh ! then think of these everlasting joys that you shall have in heaven. But I must hasten ; and therefore in the
1 Job xxx. 26-31. Some worm or other i3 still a-gnawing at the very root of our joy, like the worm that made Jonah his gourd to wither.
'l In quibus operamur, in illis et gaudemus, saith Tertullian : in what things or persons we act, in those things we rejoice.
3 iipjj'jttffo,-, = living but a day, rather than a particular ' boast ' as above ; applied to men, 'ofi/ju^oi, creatures of a day. — U.
1 Peter I. 4.] A string of pearls. 427
VI. Sixth place, As the best joys, so the best society, the best company, is reserved till last It is reserved till believers come to heaven : Heb. xii. 22-24, ' But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,1 to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.' Here erimus cives cceli, socii angelorum, cohceredes Christi, we shall be citizens of heaven, fellows of angels, co-heirs with Christ, citizens with saints, and of the household of God. 0 beafa visio, videre Regem angelorum, sanctum sanctorum, Deum cceli, Rectorem terrce, Patrem viventium !2 Oh blessed sight, to behold the King of angels, the holy of holies, the God of heaven, the Ruler of the earth, the Father of the living ! Woe to me, saith one, which am not where the holy saints be; for their life is out of all gun-shot and danger of death, their knowledge without error, their love without offence, and their joy with- out any annoy. The. dignity and diversity of the inhabitants of heaven doth much set forth the glory of heaven. This earth, this world, is full of sinners, but heaven is full of saints; this world is full of men, but heaven is full of angels; this world is full of friends and enemies, but in heaven there shall be only friends and sons. Here the nobility and majesty of the guest casts a great deal of honour and splendour upon the royal palace where they meet. No company so noble, so sweet, so desirable, so delightsome, so comfortable, so suitable. as this.
[l.J First, Here all shall be of one mind, of one judgment In heaven there shall be no discord, no wrangling, no quarrelling, no dividing. Here all shall think the same things, and speak the same things, and do the same -things. Now, Turks and pagans can agree, and bears and lions, wolves and tigers, can agree; nay, a legion of devils can better agree in one body, than a handful of saints can agree in one city, in one nation, &c.3 There was a temple of Concord among the heathen ; and yet how rare is it to find a temple of concord among them that are the temple of the Holy Ghost ? Whilst there was a contest among the birds about a rose found in the way, a mischievous owl came in the night and carried the flower away ; you know how to apply it. But now in heaven there shall be no heats, no contests, no debates, no disputes, but as the curtains of the tabernacle were all looped together, so all the saints in heaven shall be all looped together in one mind, in one judgment, and in one way.
[2.] Secondly, All the saints in heaven shall be of a sweet golden disposition.4" Here the different dispositions of saints doth much hin- der that sweetness of communion which otherwise would be amongst them. Here some are of a sour disposition, and of a cross and rugged temper, but in heaven all saints shall be of a sweet, a soft, a silken dis-
1 ftvptitnv, to the myriads, or many ten thousands, of angels.
* Aug. Lib. de Spir., &e„ cap, 57