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general kinds of all creatures shall be changed, renewed, and delivered from the estate of corruption and vanity unto the glorious liberty of the sons of God ; for that they shall be dcHvered it is clear, Rom. viii. 21. So the apostle Peter speaks of a new heaven and a new earth, 2 Peter iii. 13 ; not new in substance or quality, but renewed and purged. I say, when the glory of all these creatures shall meet, renewed in exceeding glory, what a deal of glory shall be there, both in heaven and earth ! And if the servants at that day shall be glorious, judge you what shall be the glory of the bride and bridegroom.
2. The second thing is the company, with ivhom. No chaff shall be there mingled with the wheat, no darnel shall be amongst the corn, no unclean thing shall enter therein or be amongst them. Rev. xxi. 27, but there we shall be with innumerable millions of God's holy angels ; and not so only, but with Jesus Christ the IMediator of the new covenant, and God the judge of all, &c. ; as the apostle shews, Heb. xii. 22. To which he eheweth we are now already come in this life, and entered with them ; but then is the full time, that we shall find the full comfort and perfection thereof in that meeting.
And therefore the Queen of the South's spirit did fail her when she had seen all Solomon's magnificency, his wisdom, the glory of his house, his meat, table, the attendance of his ministers, their apparel, &c., pronounc- ing those men and servants to be happy which might stand continually before him to hear his wisdom, 2 Chron. ix. 7. Blessed Lord, how great shall our felicitj' be to be continually with our God, who is the fountain of all wisdom, and to behold his face continually in so wonderful a light !
3. Thirdly, TJie title, uhat. Not of creatures, or of servants, not so only, but of sons and heirs, and co-heirs with Christ. This, one would think, were sufficient; and yet the Scripture gives us others to the like efi'ect, as that we shall be kings and priests unto God. What can be more ? But what shall be our condition then in this so excellent an estate? Oh, who can tell? Surely I cannot. But as those spies who went to view the land of Canaan, by some of the grapes and fruits which they brought, did judge of the fertility of the land, so, I say, if by the word of God those first-fruits of the Spirit, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, those beginnings of grace, the divers working and operation of the same Spirit, those feelings and joys of the faithful raised thereby, peace of conscience, and all that which shines in the glory of the gospel, we may think of the same. If by these grapes, these fruits of our celestial Canaan, we may judge of our condition then, I will speak my mind to you. This we know for certain, that the image of God shall then be perfectly renewed in us, so to know and feel no more labour, no more pensiveness of heart, no more sin, sorrow, nor temptations, which shall all then cease, and then again to be holy as God is holy, I mean not in that habit of holiness he is holy, but in that manner. And so here we shall have a happiness beyond that estate of Adam's innocency; for at the best all he received was but a possibility to stand if he would, but we shall receive an impossibility ever to fall again.
So again, for our bodies, they shall have no manner of disturbance or subjection to corruption; then they shall know nothing but glory, glory within and glory without, all glorious. So the apostle Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 42, sets down the same of the body in four heads :
(1.) Says he, the body is sown in corruption, but raised in incorruption. Then no more mortality, nor tribulation, nor any sense of sorrow. Some
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interpreters have thought good to express this by the -word impassible, eignifying an impossibility of feeling any more hunger, cold, thirst, sorrow, and the like ; in brief, not capable of suffering any more ; for at first, sin brought in corruption, but then all sin being abolished, corruption, and all things thereunto belonging, must needs cease.
(2.) He says it is sown in dishonour, and is raised in glory. Thus we see how loathsome a dead body is generally to all, yea, even that of our dearest friends ; we cannot then endure to see it. Some may say this is but passion for friends which causes this. I grant, but yet generally there is an hatred naturally in all to look upon a dead body. Ay, but then it shall be a glorious body, a bright, shining body, as Mat. xiii. 43, ' Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.'
We see here how things of great splendour do affect and move us, as the heat and light of the sun, and the glory of the heavens, the moon and stars, and the like. Consider, then, how glorious thou shalt be, to shine as the sun in the firmament, yea, as the sun when he riseth in his might.