I sball see him.' The one shall see him as their judge, the other as their saviour ; but the chiefest difference is, the one shall see him for a while, and then be banished out of his presence : Mat. xxv. 41, 'Depart, ye cursed.' There is a dispute whither ^ce«a damni ov pcena sensus be the greatest ; I cannot determine such nice points. The sense of pain is from the wrath of God ; conscience reflecteth upon our loss ; the agents are not to be compared. Yet on the other side the object is greater, the thing lost is God himself; it is the creature that is pained. But I am sure the loss will be much greater than now we apprehend it to be. For the present we do not value communion with Christ, we have other things wherewith to entertain our souls ; there are no pleasures of the flesh to abate and divert the sense of our loss ; nothing left but the vexing remembrance of our own folly and perverse choice, which will torment us for ever ; but now to be received into Christ's presence and ever abide with him, how great is the happiness !
(4.) The person whom we see, and with whom we be present, he is our best friend. It is with Jesus Christ, who is the life of our lives, and the whole felicity of his people ; as long as the church is without him, she cannot take full contentment. What doth the spouse esteem, when she seetli him not to whom she is espoused ? What can delight the wife when the husband is absent ? What comfort when they want the presence of Christ, to whom their souls cleave ? When the church is here upon earth, she heareth much of Christ ; he is evidently set forth before their eyes in the word and sacraments, but we do not see him face to face, we do not enjoy his presence nor his immediate embraces. The church is left upon earth, but Christ is received into heaven with his Father ; we believe in him now, rejoice in him now, when we see him not, 1 Peter i. 8. But how shall we love him when we see him, and see him glorious in our nature, and enjoy him by seeing ! Hearsay and report could not convey such a knowledge and report as this personal experience, as they said, John iv. 42, ' Now we believe, not because of thy saying, but we have seen him ourselves.' Here is but a sight at second hand, as the Queen of Sheba : 1 Kings X. 17, ' It was a true report which I heard in my own land of thine acts, and thy wisdom, but when I came, and mine eyes had seen it, the half was not told me.' We believe the report of Christ in the word ; but when we come to see him, we shall hud that prophecy was but in part, the one half was not told us ; however sight is the more precious, because faith went before ; we believed him a saviour, and now we find him to be so. How glad was Simeon when he had Christ in his arms : Luke ii. 29, 30, 'Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.'
(5.) The place and the company, where we shall be present with him. The place is glorious ; the heaven of heavens must contain him. Acts iii. 24. The earth is not a fit place for his glorified body, nor for us to converse with him in his glorified estate. We shall be there where God dwelleth, and where he hath designed to manifest himself to his people, and amongst the servants of the Lord shall we ever remain : Heb. xii. 22, 23, ' To an innumerable company of angels, 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
26 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SeR. XI.
made perfect.' A choice company, picked and chosen out of the world to he objects of his grace. In this council of souls we are to abide for ever.
Use. Let us often think of this blessed estate ; what it is to be present with the Lord, among his holy ones, to be called to heaven as witnesses of his glory. The Queen of Sheba said of Solomon, 1 Kings X. 8, ' Happy are the men that stand in thy presence.' They that stand before the Lord, and see his glory, are much more happy. Zaccheus, being a little man, pressed to see Christ upon earth, and got upon a sycamore tree. The wise men came from the east to see him in his cradle. It is our burden in the world that the veil of the flesh, and the clouds of heaven, interpose between us and Christ, that there is a great gulf between us and him, which cannot be passed but by death. That Christ is at a distance, therefore our enemies so often ask us, ' Where is your God ? ' But then when we are in his arms, then we can say, Here he is ; here is he whom we loved ; here is he in whom we trusted. Then our Eedeemer shall be ever before our eyes, to remember us of the grace purchased for us ; and we are as near him as possibly we can be ; we dwell in his family, and abide in his house. David envied the swallows that had their nests about the tabernacle. He telleth us, Ps. Ixxxiv. 10, ' One day in thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.' Now you shall be always before the throne, and look upon Jesus so as to live on him. This sight shall ravish and content your hearts. The three children walked comfortably in the fiery furnace, because there was a fourth there, one that was as the Son of God. If a fiery furnace be a comfortable place when Christ is there, what will heaven be when Christ, and we shall be there to all eternity ? Again, this presence maketli way for enjoy- ment. It is not a naked sight and speculation ; we are co-heirs with Christ, Eom. viii. 17. We shall be like him, live in the same state, participate of the same glory. Servants may stand in the presence of princes, but they do not make their followers their 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 : Luke xxii. 30, ' Ye shall eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.' The greatest love that David could show his friends, was to admit them to his table : 2 Sam. ix. 7, ' Thou shalt eat bread at my table con- tinually,' said he to Mephibosheth ; and so to Barzillai. ' He put him upon his own mule, and caused him to sit upon his throne,' 1 Kings i. 33, 35. Thus Christ dealeth with us ; we sit upon his throne, we are feasted at his table with unmixed delights. In how much better condition are we than Adam ! Adam was in Paradise, we in heaven ; Adam was there among the beasts of the earth, we with God and his holy angels ; Adam was thrown out of Paradise, we never out of heaven. It is no matter if tlie world leave us not a room to live in among them ; they cast us out many times, but Christ will take us to himself. Again, if this presence of Christ be no small part of our happiness, let us more delight in it. We enjoy his presence in the ordinances ; this is to begin heaven upon earth. Therefore let us begin our familiarity here.