Should the Lord Jesus appear now to any of us in his majesty and glory, it would not be unto our edification nor consolation. For we are not meet nor able, by the power of any light or grace that we have received, or can receive, to bear the immediate appearance and representation of them. His beloved apostle John had leaned on his bosom probably many a time in his life, in the intimate famili- arities of love; but when he afterward appeared unto him in his glory, "he fell at his feet as dead," Rev. i. 17. And when he ap- peared unto Paul, all the account he could give thereof was, " that he saw a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun;" whereon he, and all that were with him, " fell to the ground," Acts xxvi. 13, 14.
And this was one reason why, in the days of his ministry here on earth, his glory was veiled with the infirmities of the flesh, and all sorts of sufferings, as we have before related. The church in this life is no way meet, by the grace which it can be made partaker of, to converse with him in the immediate manifestations of his glory.
And therefore those who dream of his personal reign on the earth before the day of judgment, unless they sujspose that all the saints shall be perfectly glorified also (which is only to bring down heaven to the earth for a while, to no purpose), provide not at all for the edifi- cation or consolation of the church. For no present grace, advanced unto the highest degi'ee whereof in this world it is capable, can make us meet for an immediate converse with Christ in his unveiled glory.
How much more abominable is the folly of men, who would re- present the Lord Christ in his present glory by pictures and images of him ! When they have done their utmost with their burnished glass and gildings, an eye of flesh can not only behold it, but, if it be guided by reason, see it contemptible and foolish. But the true glory of Christ, neither inward nor outward sight can bear the rays of it in this life.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FAITH AND SIGHT OF IT. 381
The dispensation which we are meet for is only that of his pre- sence with us by his Spirit. We know him now no more after the flesh, 2 Cor. v. 16. We are advanced above that way and means of the knowledge of him by the fleshly, carnal ordinances of the Old Testament. And we know him not according unto that bodily pre- sence of his which his disciples enjoyed in the days of his flesh. We have attained somewhat above that also. For such was the nature of his ministry here on earth, that there could not be the promised dis- pensation of the Spirit until that was finished. Therefore he tells his disciples that it was expedient for them that he should go away, and send the Spirit to them, John xvi. 7. Hereon they had a clearer view of the glory of Christ than they could have by beholding him in the flesh. This is our spiritual posture and condition. We are past the knowledge of him according to the flesh, — we cannot attain nor receive the sight of him in glory ; but the life which we now lead is by the faith of the Sou of God.
I shall not here inquire into the nature of this vision, or the power and ability which we shall have in heaven to behold the glory of Christ. Some few things may be mentioned, as it relates unto our minds, and our bodies also, after the resurrection.
1. For the mind, it shall be perfectly freed from all that darkness, unsteadiness, and other incapacities, which here it is accompanied with; and whereby it is weakened, hindered, and obstructed, in the exercise of faith. And they are of two sorts.
(1.) Such as are the remainders of that depravation of our natures which came upon us by sin. Hereby our minds became wholly vain, dark, and corrupt, as the Scripture testifieth, — utterly unable to discern spiritual things in a due manner. This is so far cured and removed in this life by grace, as that those who were darkness do become light in the Lord, or are enabled to live unto God under the conduct of a new spiritual light communicated unto them. But it is so cured and removed in part only, it is not perfectly abolished. Hence are all our remaining weaknesses and incapacities in discerning things spiritual and eternal, which we yet groan under, and long for deliver- ance from. No footsteps, no scars or marks that ever it had place in our minds shall abide in glory, Eph. v, 27. Nothing shall weaken, disturb, or incapacitate our souls, in acting all their powers, unim- peded by vanity, diversions, weakness, inability, upon their proper objects. The excellency hereof, in universal liberty and power, we cannot here comprehend ; nor can we yet conceive the glory and beauty of those immixed spiritual actings of our minds which shall have no clog upon them, no encumbrance in them, no alloy of dross accompanying them. One pure act of spiritual sight in discerning the glory of Christ, — one pure act of love in cleaving unto God, —