Use 5. Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment, John vii. 24. Do not judge the people of God by their out- side or worldly privileges : Moses could see an excellency in the people of God in their afflicted condition, Heb. xi. 25. Do not misjudge yourselves : I am a poor, afflicted, contemptible man ; that may prove a temptation, Ps. lxxiii. 13, 14. Do not misjudge others because of some failings ; a pearl may lie under a great deal of chaff.
SEEMON III.
But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. — 1 John iii. 2.
From these words I observe —
That though for the present our adoption be obscured, yet when he shall appear the children of God are sure to enjoy a blessed and glorious estate.
For the clearing of this point I shall show you —
1. The nature of this blessedness.
% The time when it shall commence.
3. The apprehension we have of it for the present,
4G0 SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN III. [SeB. III.
Of these in order.
I. Of the nature of this blessed and glorious estate : ' We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.' A transforming vision, or such a vision as changeth us into the likeness of God, is the true blessedness of the saints.
There are three things considerable in our happiness — (1.) The vision of God ; (2.) A participation of his likeness ; (3.) The satis- faction or delectation thence resulting.
Two of them are in the text : ' We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.' The third is fetched from a parallel place : Ps. xvii. 15, ' When I awake, I shall be satisfied with thine image and likeness.' The words, ' when I awake,' note the same reaso^with those in the text, ' when he shall appear ; ' that is, when we awake out of the sleep of death, at the day of the general resurrection ; then we shall be satis- fied, or at rest, as having attained our end.
First, For vision ; that beginneth the happiness, and maketh way for all the rest : ' We shall see him as he is ; ' that is, we shall see God in our nature, Christ as he is now in glory, not as he was in the form of a servant. It is not meant of the essence of God, for that cannot be seen of any creature by the eyes of the body or the mind, but of the sight of Christ. It is usual in scripture to express our happiness by sight. We shall see him face to face, and we shall know as we are known ; so° John xvii. 24, ' Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.' They shall see his face. This sight is either ocular or mental.
1. Ocular ; for our senses have their happiness as well as our souls, and there is a glorified eye as well as a glorified mind : Job xix. 26, 27, ' And though after my skin, worms destroy this body ; yet in my flesh shall I see God : whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another ; though my reins be consumed within me.' When our bodies are raised up again, we shall in our flesh see God ; not our souls only, but our whole man shall enjoy this sight of God ; not in another body, but in the same shall we see him. Though the qualities of the body be different and glorious, yet the substance is the same. We shall see the person that redeemed us, that nature wherein he suffered so much for us, and the glory that is upon him in our nature. Many out of curiosity desired to see Christ in the days of his flesh ; as those Greeks that came to worship him at Jerusalem ; they came to Philip and said to him, ' Sir, we would fain see Jesus ; ' and Zaccheus climbed up into a sycamore-tree to see him ; and some choice apostles were admitted to see him at his transfiguration. But then it shall be the common privilege of all the faithful ; they shall see him of whom they have heard so much, and of whose goodness they have tasted so much, and whose laws they have obeyed, and upon whose merits they have depended.
But you will say, How is this so great a privilege to the godly, since the wicked shall see him ? Mat. xxvi. 64, ' Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and glory, and coming in the clouds.' They shall see him who spat on him, and buffeted him, and crucified him.
Am. (1.) That sight they have of Christ shall be but a short glimpse
1 Qu. ' season ' ? — Ed.
VER. 2.] SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN III. 461
of his glory ; for after their doom and sentence is past, they shall be immediately banished out of his presence : Mat. xxv. 41, ' Then shall he say to them on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed.' But this sight of the saints shall be perpetual : 1 Thes. iv. 17, ' We shall ever be with the Lord.'