If the angels wonder at the wisdom of God, in the government of his church here, in the midst of confusion, how shall they be put into a new and greater wonderment, when they shall see Christ glorious in his saints !' 2 Thes. i. 10.
If when Christ was born in his abasement, they sang ' Glory to God on high, peace on earth, good will towards men,' Luke ii. 14, how joyful will those blessed spirits be, when Christ and all his members shall be joined in one body in heaven !
If Abraham rejoiced to foresee by the eye of faith the first coming of Christ in the flesh, how should we joy by faith to see the second coming of Christ ! If John Baptist leaped in the womb for joy at the presence of Mary the mother of our Lord, how will our hearts dance when we shall see the Lord himself in the great glory and majesty of heaven ! Luke i. 44.
If Peter was so ravished with a little drop and glimpse of heaven, when he saw the transfiguration of Christ in the mount, so that he even lost and forgat himself, and ' wist not what he said,' Mat. xvii. 4, how shall we be affected, think you, when we shall see Christ, not in his transfiguration, but in his glorification, for ever !
If old Simeon, when he saw Christ in his infancy, embraced him in his arms and said, ' Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, accord- ing to thy word : for mine eyes have seen thy salvation,' Luke ii. 29, how shall we be transported with joy and admiration to see Christ, not in his swaddling clothes, nor in his infancy, but in heaven all glorious !
If the sight of Christ in his ordinances, in his word and sacraments, doth so affect a Christian's heart, as to transfonn him into the image of them,
THE BRIDE S LONGING.
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2 Cor. iii. 18, what will it do to see Christ * face to face,' without these glasses ! 1 Cor. xiii. 12.
If the promises do so quicken us, as you have it in the Psalms, ' Thy word hath quickened me,' Ps. cxix. 25, et alibi, what will the full perform- ance of them do !
If the communion of saints here he so sweet, even an heaven upon earth, 1 John i. 3, what will it be when all the blessed souls that have been from the beginning of the world unto the end shall be all together, and they altogether freed from all corruptions and infirmities ! What a blessed sight wi» that be !
If so be that things prepared by men be so glorious as the temple of Solomon was, what is that glory which was prepared before the world was, and is in preparing still for the church !
If rest from labour be so sweet, what is ' the glorious liberty of the sons of God !' Rom. viii. 21. A little liberty from corruption, a little freedom and enlargement of spirit here, how sweet is that ! When we are set at libex'ty to serve God, when we have the liberty of the spirit to go boldly to God and to the throne of grace, Heb. iv. 16, how pleasant is that ! But oh the liberty of glory ! that is true liberty indeed. Beloved, these things deserve and desire admiration,* rather than expression. Therefoi'e I leave them to your wondering and admiring, rather than I will study long to express them. 0 ye blessed souls, stand still a little, and consider by the eye of tixith these glorious things and times to come. You see then by this, the church hath great reason to say, * Come, Lord Jesus.'
Reason 7. Besides, do but consider the estate of the church here in this irorld ; even at the best, * while we are present in the body, we are absent from the Lord,' 2 Cor. v. 6. But for the most part, the church is in this world as Daniel in the lions' den, as sheep in the midst of ravening wolves, as a ship in the midst of the waves, and as a lily among thorns. All the birds of prey do seize on the poor turtle dove of Christ, and they bear a special and implacable malice against God's church and children. Yea, oftentimes, those that profess religion in the form of it do let out the heart-blood of it indeed, and deny the power thereof. We see it hath been so ever since Christ's coming, and it will be so to the end of the world. Satan abuseth the great ordinances of God, and makes them serviceable to his own ends ; so that there is nothing free from Satan's defilement, no, not the best ordinances of God. We see how boisterously and roughly the poor church of God is handled. Are there not oftentimes in the church within itself prejudices, surmises, jealousies one against another, that the company of one another is not so sweet and delightful ? And ' woe to the world be- cause of offences,' Mat. xviii. 7. Are there not scandals and offences in the church, that hinders the comfort of it, and many times do cause the falling out of those that are otherwise truly good ? So that in regard of Christians themselves, there is not such a sweet complacency and delight one in another as there should be, and as there shall be then. Where there is a dif- ferent sight and a different light, there will be different judgments and affections. Now all Christians in this life have both a different light and sight, one sees things clearer than another, and so their judgments differ a little, and therefore their affections too : those promises of the lion and the lamb dwelling together, Isa. xi. G, shall not exactly be performed until this his * second coming ;' but there shall be something of the lion and of the wolf in the best Christians. But then it shall be fully satisfied. Then * That is, ' wonder.' — G.