2. Completely at the resurrection. Believers consist of body as well as soul. Now it is said, ' That they may be there ;' that is, their whole self shall be there where Christ is. And so it proveth the resurrection, and the translation of our glorified bodies into heaven. So our Lord showeth that our being there where he is shall completely be after his second coming : John xiv. 3, ' And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself ; that where I am, there ye may be also.' Christ and we that are one cannot always live asunder ; if he have any glory, we must have part of it ; and therefore he will come again and take us to himself, that as coheirs we may live upon the same happiness : Rom. viii. 17, ' And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.' As Joseph brought his brethren to Pharaoh, he bringeth us to God. As he took part with us in nature, so he will have us take part with him in glory.
Now the happiness of it will appear —
[1.] By the place, the third heaven, or paradise ; as there was the outward court, the holy place, and the holy of holies. The spangled firmament is but the outside and pavement of that house where Christ and the saints meet. When we look upon the aspectable heavens, we may cry out, as David in his night-meditation, Ps. viii. 4, ' Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him ? and the son of man, that thou visitest him ?' The church is but irpodvpov koX irpodvkLov, the portal, as one saith, and entrance into heaven. If the visible heavens so affect us, how glorious is it within !
[2.] The manner of bringing us thither : ' I will come again and
96 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XLI.
receive yon to myself,' John xiv. 3. Christ will not send for us, but come in person to fetch us in state, which will make our access to heaven the more glorious. Christ will come to lead his flock into their everlasting fold, to present his bride to God, decked and appar- elled with glory. How glorious a sight will it be to see Christ and all his troops following him, with their crowns upon their heads ! to see the triumphant entrance into those everlasting habitations, and to hear the applauses of the angels ! Ps. xxiv. 7, 8, ' Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates, and be ye lift up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory ? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.' That was a private and a per- sonal entry at his ascension ; but now it shall be public and glorious ; now death tlie last enemy is destroyed, then he is the Lord mighty in battle indeed.
[3.] Our perpetual fellowship with Christ in the presence and glory of his kingdom. Pray mark, there is a presence, and that is much, that we are called to heaven as witnesses of Christ's glory. The queen of Sheba said of Solomon, 1 Kings x. 8, ' Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.' They that stand before the Lord and see his glory are much more happy. Zaccheus pressed to see him ; the wise men came from the east to see him. It is our burden in the world that the clouds interpose between us and Christ, that there is a great gulf between us and him, which cannot be passed but by death ; that God is at a distance ; that our enemies often ask us, Where is your God ? Now we shall be happy when we shall be in his arms, when we can say. Here he is ; when our Eedeemer is ever before our eyes, Job xix. 26, to remember us of the grace purchased for us, and we are as near as we can desire. Now we dwell in his family. David envied the swallows that had their residence in the temple : ' One day spent in thy courts is better than a thousand spent elsewhere,' Ps. Ixxxiv. 10. Then we shall always be about his throne, and we shall for ever feed our eyes with this glorious spectacle, Jesus Christ : his body shall be in a certain place, where all shall behold it. The three children walked comfortably in the fiery furnace, because there was a fourth there, the Son of God : Dan. iii. 25, ' Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire ; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.' Again, this presence maketh way for enjoyment. It is not a naked sight and speculation ; we are in the same state and condition with Christ : Kom. viii. 17, * Heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.' We shall be like him. Servants may stand in the presence of princes, but they do not make their followers fellows and consorts with them in the same glory. Solomon could only show his glory to the queen of Sheba, but Christ giveth it us to be enjoyed. And all this is perpetual and without change and interruption : 1 Thes. iv. 17, ' We shall be for ever with the Lord.' We are then above fears, no more eclipses of God's face, no more trouble because of God's absence. Here we complain ; the spouse sought Christ about the city : Cant. iii. 3, ' Saw ye him whom my soul loveth ? ' Here we are forlorn orphans, and often without his society. Upon earth his converse was so accep- table, that the apostles were loath to hear of his departure. Now it is