3. Tlie circumstantial glory ; there —
[1.] The place is glorious, the heavenly paradise : 2 Cor. xii. 4, 'He was caught into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.'
[2.] The company is glorious. All the glorified saints and angels : Heb. xii. 22, 23, ' But ye are come to Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable com- pany 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 to the spirits of just men made perfect.'
[3.] Their daily work and exercise is glorious, even to give glory to God for ever and ever : Ptev. vii. 9, 10, ' After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, kindreds^ and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Laml), clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands ; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.'
Fourthly, I observe that the principal glory of the church lieth in its purity and holiness : Jude 24, ' Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory.' It must needs be so ; for —
1. This is God's glory : Exod. xv. 11, ' Glorious in holiness.' There is nothing in God which is not God himself, and his unity forbids us to divide him ; but yet the scripture teacheth us to distinguish his per- fections, and comparing them one with another, give them the advan- tage, as conduceth more to his honour and our profit. Therefore thus we conceive of God, that moral perfections are to be preferred before
VeR. 27.] SERMONS UPON EPHESIANS V. 493
natural ; it is better to be wise than to he strong. TsTow among moral perfections, how shall we range them ? Justice, mercy, holiness : our interest leadeth us to prefer mercy before justice, being laden with sins and miseries ; that his mercy renderetli him more amiable to us, be- cause of our miseries and necessities. Bat now we may give holiness the pre-eminence, because this conduceth most to the glory of God and the perfection and benefit of human nature, and doth most preserve the awe of the majesty of God in our hearts ; for holiness is a more awing thing than power. Power checketh and restraiueth any violent attempts against sovereign majesty, but holiness daunteth the heart, and com- mandeth reverence, and representeth God as fit to be loved and feared. !Now, then, to be like God is one of the highest perfections of the creature, and when the image of God is perfectly restored, they are in their most glorious estate.
2. Sin is the cause of all our misery ; and therefore when we are completely holy, our misery which we incurred by the fall of Adam is then at an end. It was sin which was the cause of separation from God : Isa. lix. 2, 'But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.' So holiness is the means of union with him. Then when we are per- fectly holy, by necessary consequence we are perfectly happy : Ps. xvii. 15, ' But as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness ; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.' Well, then, might the apostle define this glory by purity and holiness ; nothing letteth and hindereth the happiness of the creature when sin is fully done away.
3. Then we are dispositively fitted for the full enjoyment of God. Our glory is begun by holiness, and is still increasing to a further glory: 2 Cor. iii. 18, 'But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.' All privileges depend upon holiness, our pardon on regeneration or change of nature, and heaven on change of life ; and therefore, when justification and sancti- fication are complete, our joy will be full.
Fifthly, This purity and holiness shall then be exactly complete. While we are in the world, neither is the whole church perfect, nor particular believers.
1. Not the whole church. The state of the church is quite different from what it will be hereafter ; that needeth not much proof, if we con- sider the disordered state of Christendom, as it is in its present posture. Alas ! how much is the glory of it now eclipsed by the lamentable im- perfection of its members and corruption in worship, and rent and torn by divisions and sects, and scattered by persecutions of those that have power over it! God's children are pilgrims to another "world, and can hardly get leave to pass through this world, though they would pay for their bread and water, as Israel offered to Edom. How many enemies come forth to stop them in the very wilderness ! But most of the calamities in the church come from itself, its diseased members or foolish guides ; and no wonder that the ship in the hands of ill pilots dasheth so often against the rocks. It is spotted and stained by the calumnies and reproaches of adversaries, but chiefly by the