II. To the eternal state —
Then the figurative expressions in the text will fall short of, as much as now they seem to exceed, the truth. The happiness of the Church shall then be,
1. In God only —
[There will be no room for carnal enjoyments in heaven : there " they neither marry nor are given in marriage ; but are as the angels of God." While we are on earth, God com- municates much happiness to us by means of his creatures : but in heaven we shall no more drink water from such polluted cisterns, but go to the fountain-head itself f. There we shall " see him face to face," and behold all the brightness of his glory. There all the mysteries of his love will be opened to us, and its incomprehensible heights and depths be made plain to our shallow capacities. O what shouts of praise shall we then utter ! What glorying in God shall we then express g ! ]
2. In God continually —
[Here the very necessities of our nature required an intermission of our joy : the body itself needed to be recruited with intervals of rest : but there we shall " not rest day nor night." Our clays of mourning will be so entirely ended, that we shall never have our light obscured for one single moment. There will be nothing from without to trouble and perplex us; nothing from within to furnish matter of distress11. We shall bask in the unclouded beams of the Sun of Righteous- ness, and enjoy one eternal day. Then not only our carnal, but even our spiritual, joys that we tasted below, will appear as nothing : glorious as the present state of believers is, it has
d Acts xvi. 23 — 25. e Isai. lx. 20.
f Rev. xxi. 23. and xxh. 5. " They have no need of the sun," &c.
s Rev. v. 12, 13.
h Compare Isai. xlix. 10. with Rev. vii. 15 — 17. and xxi. 1.