94 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XLI.
Fourthly, The next thing is the matter of the request. Presence, and the beatifical vision, as the fruit of that presence.
First, ' That they may be where I am ;' that is, wliere I am accord- ing to my humanity presently to be ; for he doth not speak of the earthly Jerusalem, where he was then visibly and corporally.
Observe, first, it is no small part of our happiness that we shall be there where Christ is. Now Christ is with us, but then we are with him. It is the inchoation of our happiness that he is with us graciously : * I am with you to the end of the world,' Mat. xxviii. 20. It shall be the consummation of our happiness when we shall be with him. Thus it is often expressed : 2 Cor. v. 8, ' We are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.' So David expresseth our state of blessedness: Ps. xvi. 11, 'In thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.' This makes heaven to be heaven, because Christ is there ; as the king makes the court wherever he is, it is not the court maketh the king : John xii. 26, ' Where I am, there shall my servant be.' It is our happiness to stand always in our master's presence, a happiness that wicked men are not capable of, because of their bondage and estrangement from God. Therefore Christ telleth the carnal Jews, John vii. 34, ' Where I am, thither ye cannot come.' Wicked men have no grant, no leave to come. Paradise is still closed up against them with a flaming sword ; and they have no heart to come, because they cannot endure the majesty and purity of his presence.
But when shall we be there where Christ is ? Presently after death our souls shall be there, and at the resurrection, body and soul together,
1. Presently after death the soul is where Christ is. So Paul thought : Phil. i. 23, ' I desire to depart, and to be with Christ ; ' that is, with him in glory, otherwise it were a loss of happiness for Paul to be dissolved. It is a sorry blessedness to lie rotting in the grave, and only to be eased of present labours, for God's people are wont to reckon much on their present service and enjoyment of God, though it be accompanied with affliction. Paul was in a strait, and he saith it is ttoXXm fiaXkov Kpeiaaov, much more better to be dissolved. A stupid sleep, without the enjoyment of God, is far worse ; what happiness were that, to be in such a condition wherein we do nothing and feel nothing ? God's children are wont to prefer the most afliicted condi- tion with God's presence above the greatest riches and contentment in his absence : ' If thou goest not up with us, carry us not hence,' Exod. xxxiii. 15. Better be with God in the wilderness, than in Canaan without him. Therefore Paul would never be in such a strait, if this drowsy doctrine were true, that the soul lay in such an inactive state of sleep and rest till the resurrection. He would be no happier than a stone, or the inanimate creatures are. Again, Luke xxiii. 43, ' This day shalt thou be with me in paradise,' saith Christ to the good thief. Some, to evade this place, refer this day to Xejco ; but the pointing in all the Greek copies confuteth it, as also the sense of the place : aijfiepov answereth to the thief's words, ' Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom,' Christ promiseth more than he asketh, as God doth usually abundantly for us above what we can ask or think. He had reference to Christ's words to the high priest, ' The Son of man shall
VeR, 24.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII, 95
come in his glory.' Now, saith Christ, I will not defer thy desires so long ; heavenly joys attend thy soul. And others seek to evade it by the word paradise ; it is a Persiac word, but used by the Hebrews for gardens and orchards, and by allusion for heavenly joys : the allusion is not only to the delights of an ordinary garden, but Eden, or that garden in which Adam was placed in innocency. The fathers fancied, secreta animarum receptacula, et heatas sedes. But it is put for heaven itself in other places : 2 Cor. xii. 2, ' He was caught up into the third heaven,' which he presently calls paradise, ver. 4. So that presently souls, upon their departure out of the body, are immediately with Christ. Thus it is said, Luke xvi. 22, ' The beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom ; ' presently, in the twink- ling of an eye or the forming of a thought ; which is a great comfort to us when we come to die ; in a moment angels will bring you to Christ, and Christ to God. The agonies of death are terrible, but there are joys just ready ; and as soon as the soul is loosed from the prison of the body, you enter into your eternal rest : it flieth hence to Christ, to be there where he is. To be short, certainly men enter upon their final state presently as soon as they die : 2 Peter iii. 19, ' He went and preached to the spirits in prison ;' compare it with Heb. xii. 24, ' To the spirits of just men made perfect.' How can souls be perfect if they lie only in a dull sleep, without any light, life, joy, or delight, or act of love to God ? We see the very present refreshments of sleep are a burden to the saints, because they rob us of so much time, cheat us of half our lives.