494 SERMONS UPON EPHESIANS V. [SeR. XXXIL
scandal of its own children. To speak nothing of the openly corrupf;, who have turned the doctrine of Christ into vain janglings, corrupted his worship by the pageantry of empty and ridiculous ceremonies, and have turned its discipline and government into a temporal domina- tion, alas ! it hath nearer wounds at home, by sidings and emulations, whilst every party is impaling and enclosing the common salvation, uncharitably excommunicating all others ; and the ball of contention is tossed to and fro ; and that party that can rustle down othei's that stand in their way think Christ only favours them. Though with all this disadvantage, it is ' better to dwell in the courts of the Lord than in the tents of wickedness ; ' yet how much is this short of that blessed state when all is glorious, pure, and holy, and the church is adorned as a bride fit for her husband, and that great council of souls, with perfect harmony, are lauding and praising God for evermore, and live sweetly together without any discord in this holy mount !
2. Nor particular believers : Phil. iii. 12, ' Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect.' Paul's confession will fit all our mouths. While we are in the world, we need that something should be purged and washed from us ; but then there is ' no spot, or wrinkle, or blemish, or any such thing.'
But if the soul be thus presented to Christ, when shall it be ? Either we must acknowledge perfection in this life, or some purgatory after death. I answer —
[1.] The thing is clear, but we may be ignorant of the time and manner, and reserve it to experience.
[2.] It is most likely and probable that the same term that puts a period to our lives doth also to our sins. As the soul in the first conjunction with the body began to be defiled and infected with sin, so that a man, when he first beginneth to be a man, is a sinner, so in the separation of the soul from the body, it is perfectly sanctified, and pi-e- sented to Christ without spot and blemish. The veil of the flesh is then rent, and they are admitted into the immediate sight of God.
[3.] Those that have sense to the very last do then most eminently desire and expect the glory of God ; as Stephen : Acts vii. 59, ' And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'
[4.] If we say the soul, when it is separated from the body, be sancti- fied in its passage, there is no great inconvenience, for sanctification is a part of glorification : Eom. viii. 30, ' For whom he justified, he sancti- fied ; and whom he sanctified, he glorified ; ' and in a moment it may be perfected.
Use 1. To exhort you often to tliink of this estate. Oh, that our hearts were exercised more about these things ! Grace would not be so dead, and comfort so scanty; it would enliven us and quicken us to duty ; and, in the apostle's phrase, 'make us abound in the work of the Lord;' that all will be glorious at Christ's coming. More especially our whole life should be spent in thankfulness to God, who sent his Son to redeem us to this end : 1 Peter i. 3, 4, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, hath begot- ten us again to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ; to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that
VeR. 27.] SERMONS UPON EPHESIANS V. 495
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you ; ' Eph. i. 3, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed ua with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.'
2. Let us improve it.
[1.] To glorify God and Christ, who intend so much glory to us^ We would all be glorified in heaven, but few think of glorifying God upon earth. Our Lord teacheth us another lesson: John xvii. 4, 5, 'I have glorified thee upon earth, I have finished the work thou gavest me to do. And now, 0 Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory I had with thee before the world was.' God at first placed us at the lower end of the world, that we may glorify him there, before he translateth us to the upper end of the world to praise him for ever. Here is our work, there we receive our reward ; our work is on earth, where so few mind it, where there is so much opposition, so many difficulties and temptations to divert us, where it costs us shame, and pain, and trouble ; here we glorify him self-deny ingly, there triumphantly.
[2.] Let the foresight of this estate comfort us against our abasement in the world. We are now obscure, afflicted, poor, disgraced in the world; our names are cast forth as evil, or, as the prophet speaketh, ' Ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and become the infamy of the people,' Ezek. xxxvi. 3 ; but Christ will present us to God as glorious, without any spot or blemish. Therefore let us not avoid crosses, nor any abasement, scorn, and disgrace for Christ's sake ; everything that relateth to Christ hath an honour put upon it for its relation to him : Heb. xi. 26, ' Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.' Besides, the final reward of eternal glory doth abundantly recompense all our disgraces. If the cross giveth us a title to the crown, we have no reason to grudge at it. Therefore let us patiently suff'er present ignominy and contempt ; count yourselves rather bound to praise God that you are thought worthy of the world's hatred. Alas ! what is man's day to Christ's day ? 1 Cor. iv. 3, ' But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judg- ment,* or man's day, airo dvdpwirivrj'i r]yi,epa<i.