1 Aug. de Civ. D i. 1. xxii. c. 30. Wisdom, iii. 7, In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stuhble. [Above is Brooks's fourth quotation from Apocrypha thus far. — G.] 2 Aug. de civ. Dei. 1. xiii. c. xx.
■' Another Shakesperian reminiscence: 'This fell sergeant Death is strict.' — Ham- let, V. 2.— G.
1 Peter I. 4.] A string of pearls. 435
dinner the next day, answered, Ego a multis annis crastinum non habui, I have not had a morrow for this many years. Many dangers, many deaths, every hour surround these lives of ours. Here, saith one, accedimus, we enter into the world ; succedimus, we succeed one an- other in the world ; decedimus, we depart all out of the world. Oh ! but in heaven we shall have immortal bodies ! Luke xx. 36, ' Neither cati they die any more, and are equal to the angels/ By the power, presence, and goodness of God, their bodies shall be so perfumed and embalmed, that they shall never corrupt, nor be subject to mortality. Manna, by a divine power, was kept many hundred years in the golden pot without putrefying or corrupting, and so shall the glorified bodies of the saints be preserved and kept pure and immortal. The immor- tality of glorified bodies shall far excel that of Adam's in paradise, for they shall be free from all possibility of dying ; for they shall be per- fectly and perpetually freed from all corruptible and corrupting ele- ments. Glorified bodies shall have no seeds of corruption in them, nor any corruptive, harmful, malignant, or afflictive passion attending them.1 Adam in his noble estate was in a possibility of dying, but the saints in their glorified condition are above all possibility of dying. This is a happiness that Adam could not reach to in his state of integrity ; the greater obligation lies upon all that shall come to glory.
It is reported of the Duke of Bullone [Bouillon] and his company, that when they went to Jerusalem, as soon as they saw the high tur- rets they gave a mighty shout, that even made the earth ring, crying out, 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem !2 so when the saints shall all meet in the heavenly Jerusalem, oh how will they make even heaven to ring again, crying out, Immortality! immortality! immortality!
And thus, I suppose, I have clearly and fully made good that great truth, to wit, that the best and greatest things are reserved for believers till they come to heaven. I shall now give you a brief account of the reasons of this point ; and then come to the application and bringing home of this precious truth to our own souls. Now the reasons of the point are these.
Reason 1 . First, Because it is his good will and pleasure to reserve the best things for his people till last: Luke xii. 32, 'Fear not, little flock' (there are two diminutives in the Greek3), ' for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' As it is God's good pleasure to give you a kingdom, so it is his good pleasure not to give you the kingdom till last, 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. Edward the Sixth could not give his kingdom away ; if he could, it had not come as it did to Queen Mary ; but our heavenly Father doth now give a kingdom of grace, and will at last also give a kingdom of glory, to them that walk uprightly, Ps. lxxxiv. 11. But,
Reason 2. Secondly, TJiat he may keep the hearts of his people in a longing and in a waiting frame, for the enjoyment of those great and glorious things that he hath reserved for them till last : Heb. xiii. 1 4, ' Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.'4 The greater and better the things are that are laid up for us, the more we
1 Aug. de civ. Dei. 1. xxii. c. xxx. s Immortalised by Tasso. — G.
8 ftixgiv -ro'ifiviov, Little, little in their own esteem, and in the world's account. 4Heb.xi. 14-16; Col. iii. 1-5.
436 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4.
should long and wait for the happy enjoyment of them. Abraham waited Long for a son, and Hannah waited long for a child, and Joseph waited long for his advancement, and David waited long for the crown, the kingdom; and they had all a most happy issue. The longer we
wait, the better wo shall speed ;' as that emperor's son said, the longer the cooks are preparing the meat, the hitter will he the cheer; mean- ing, the longer he stayed for the empire, the greater it would lie. The longer we wait for happiness, the more at last we shall have of happiness. The great things of eternity are worth nothing, if they are not worth a longing and a waiting for. But,
Reason 3. Thirdly, God hath reserved the best and greatest things for his people till last, and that because else they were above all men in (he world the most miserable: 1 Cor. xv. 19, 'If in this life only Ave have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.' No men usually out of hell are so much afflicted, tempted, oppressed, scorned, despised, and neglected as they are. Here they have their hell, they had need of a heaven to come; here they are clothed with shame, they had need hereafter to be crowned with honour, or else they would he the unhappiest men in all the world ; here the life of a believer is filled multis et multiplicibus miseriis, with many and multiplied miseries: with miseries of body, with miseries of mind. Multiplied miseries at- tend him, at bed and board, at home and abroad. Every condition is full, and every relation is full, of miseries and calamities; and therefore one saith well, Quomodo potest amari hose vita, tantas habens amari- tudines? Quomodo etiam dicitur vita, tot generans mortes ?2 How can tins life be loved, which is so full of loathsome bitterness ? Yea, how can it be called a life, which bringeth forth so many deaths ? Yet be is a fool, saith one,3 that looketh upon a godly man under trouble and sorrow, and thinketh him to be unhappy, because, as a fool, atten- dit quid natitur, et non attendit quid il/i servetur, he attendeth what he suffereth, and doth not attend what is reserved for him. If the best things were not reserved for believers till last, they should have the saddest portion of all men, viz., a hell here, and a hell hereafter ; and so sinners should have but one hell, and saints two, which would be blasphemy to affirm. But,