Part 174

§ 9. Compare the glory of the heavenly kingdom, with the glory of the church on earth, and of Christ in his state of humiliation. If Christ suffering in the room of sinners had such excellency, what is Christ at his Father's right hand? If the church under her sins and enemies have so much beauty, what will she have at the marriage of the Lamb? How wonderful was the Son of God in the form of a servant? When he is born, a new star must appear, and conduct the strangers to worship him in a manger; heavenly hosts with their songs must celebrate his nativity; while a child, he must dispute with doctors; when he enters upon his office, he turns water into wine; feeds thousands with a few loaves and fishes; cleanses the lepers, heals the sick, restores the lame, gives sight to the blind, and raises the dead. How wonderful then is his celestial glory? If there be such _cutting down of boughs, and spreading of garments, and crying Hosanna_, for one that _comes into Jerusalem riding on an ass_; what will there be when he comes with his angels in his glory? If they that heard him _preach the gospel of the kingdom_, confess, _Never man spake like this man_; they then that behold his majesty in his kingdom, will say, _There was never glory like this glory_. If, when his enemies came to apprehend him, _they fell to the ground_; if when he is dying, _the earth quakes, the veil of the temple is rent, the sun eclipsed, the dead bodies of the saints arise, and the standers-by acknowledge, Verily this was the Son of God_? O what a day will it be, when the dead must all arise, and stand before him; when he will once more _shake, not the earth only, but the heavens also_; when this sun shall be taken out of the firmament, and be everlastingly darkened with his glory; and when every tongue shall confess him to be Lord and King! If, when he rose again, death and the grave lost their power; if angels must _roll away the stone_, terrify _the keepers_ till they are _as dead men_, and send the tidings to his disciples; if he ascend to heaven in their sight; what power, dominion, and glory, is he now possessed of, and which we must for ever possess with him! When he is gone, can a few poor fishermen and tent-makers cure the lame, blind, and sick, open prisons, destroy the disobedient, raise the dead, and astonish their adversaries? What a world will that be, where every one can do greater works than these! If the preaching of the gospel be accompanied with such power as to discover the secrets of the heart; humble the proud sinner, and make the most obdurate tremble; if it can make men _burn their books, sell their lands, bring in the price and lay it down at the preacher's feet_; if it can convert thousands, and _turn the world upside down_; if its doctrine, from the prisoner at the bar, can make the judge on the bench tremble; if Christ and his saints have this power and honor in the day of their abasement, and in the time appointed for their suffering and disgrace; what then will they have in their absolute dominion, and full advancement in their kingdom of glory?