A New Years Gift, Section 23
XXIII.
Meditations of the Glory of Chriſt in his Glorified Saints, and of the thankful Admiration of Believers, when He ſhall come again from Heaven, which ſhall be continued to all Eternity.
THE Terror of our Lord's Appearance to Judgment, cannot be greater to the Wicked, than the Comfort and Joy of it will be to the Saints. When they ſhall ſee Him whom their Souls love, aſcend with him to Heaven, and be welcom'd, according to his Promiſe, with thoſe endearing words, *Mat. 25.Come, ye bleſſed Children of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you, from before the foundation of the World. 'Twas for your ſakes I aſſumed Fleſh, lived on Earth, and died on the Croſs, to purchaſe this Glorious Kingdom for you, which I now come to give you the Poſſeſſion of: 'Twas for this I prayed and ſuffered on Earth, for this I interceded ever ſince in Heaven: I was heard in that Prayer, accepted in thoſe Sufferings, and my Interceſſion granted, that where I am, you may be alſo, to behold my Glory. Come therefore, good and faithful Servants, enter into your Lord's joy. O what raviſhing words will theſe be! What an Ecſtaſie of Love and Kindneſs is implied in them! What matter of rejoycing may it now give me, to admit the Hope, that my Bleſſed Savior will ſay ſuch words as theſe to me, and bid me ſtand upon his Right Hand, among his Sheep. O what an exulting frame of Soul will ſuch Expreſſions raiſe! How ſhall all my Doubts and Fears and Sorrows be ſcattered in a moment, and ceaſe for ever! O Glorious Day! when my bleſſed Lord ſhall thus publickly acknowledge me for his own, and plead my Cauſe againſt all the Accuſations of Satan, and the malicious Calumnies of all his Inſtruments! when I ſhall be able to ſay of all my ſins and ſufferings, as my Lord upon the Croſs, It is finiſhed, it is finiſhed! My warfare being accompliſh'd, being more than Conqueror over all, through him who loved me, and died for me, and now is come to wipe away all tears from mine eyes, as it were with the Napkin that was bound about his Head, when laid in the Grave; all being the fruit of his meritorious Death. Then ſhall I have nothing more to fear, or wiſh, or beg. I ſhall offend, provoke, and diſhonour him no more; or by my folly, and ſcandal, diſcredit his holy Name and Goſpel: but by conſummate Holineſs be fitted, to rejoyce in his Preſence and Love, and celebrate his Praiſe for ever. I ſhall never more lament his Abſence, or complain of his Anger; never ſee a cloud on his Face, or a frown in his Look any more. Now I muſt wait and pray, ſtruggle and ſtrive, labour and ſuffer, deſire and expect, believe and hope, &c. but then perfect Reſt and Holineſs, Love and Joy, Viſion and Fruition, Bliſs and Glory, unutterable and everlaſting, ſhall take place.
All the Attributes of God, all the wonderful Perfections of Chriſt, will then be glorified in Believers, and admired by them. His invariable Truth will then be honoured, which they truſted to, and waited for; for now they ſhall know, and find they did not wait in vain: They hop'd in his Word, and ventur'd their Salvation upon it; and now they ſhall receive the end of their Faith and Hope, infinitely beyond what they ever expected, or believed.
The Glory of Divine Wiſdom will then appear, when the Conſtitution, Adminiſtration, and Deſign of the Mediator's Kingdom ſhall be fully known, in the admirable Order and Beauty of every part of it, with the exact Tendency of all the particulars to one Glorious End, and the whole Undertaking crown'd with ſo bleſſed an Iſſue. What is now a Myſtery even to Believers themſelves, and hath a Veil upon it, ſhall then no longer be ſo; all the Riddles of God's Grace and Providence ſhall be plainly underſtood. O how tranſporting a View muſt it needs be, when the Glory of all the Divine Attributes which God intended to accompliſh, in and by Chriſt, ſhall be manifeſt to his Redeemed Saints! The whole method of our Salvation, will then appear to be the fruit of unſerchable Wiſdom, when we ſhall all ſee the Reality and Subſtance, and entire Scheme, of all that God deſigned, in and by him; all that was typified of him, and foretold concerning him, in the Old Teſtament. How will it all appear to be the manifold Wiſdom of God! Epheſ. 3.10.
As in uniting Heaven and Earth together in the Perſon of our Moderator; fulfilling the truth of a terrible Threatning in his Death, and by the ſame way accompliſhing *Vid. Mr. Charnock of the Divine Attribute Wiſdom.many gracious Promiſes; ſatisfying Juſtice, and at the ſame time ſhewing Mercy; manifeſting infinite Grace and Kindneſs by ſhedding of Blood; conquering Death by dying, and diſarming the Law by Obedience to it, &c. afterwards ſubduing the World to the Faith of the Goſpel, by the fooliſhneſs of Preaching; making men wiſe to Salvation, by the Knowledge of the Croſs; and ſpreading that Faith the more, by all the oppoſition made againſt it, &c. How wonderfully will a clear View of theſe things diſcover, and glorifie the Wiſdom of God!
But the Love and Grace of Chriſt; the infinite Goodneſs and Compaſſion of God, will then be magnified in an eſpecial manner. What but Sovereign Love in the whole Contrivance and Council of God about our Redemption? What admirable Love and Grace in the whole Management of that deſign? What unparallel'd kindneſs in the Accompliſhment of it, by the Sacrifice of the Son of God? And how Glorious will this Love appear, when he ſhall come again to give us the full Harveſt of all his Purchaſe? With what admiring Thankfulneſs ſhall Believers then contemplate the unſearchable Riches of his Grace? In all the Parts and Inſtances of his Humiliation, from his Conception to his Crucifixion and Burial; in all the Evidences and Diſcoveries made of it, from the firſt Promiſe to its Completion; yea, from before the Foundation of the World, in the Covenant of Peace between the Father and the Son, until his ſecond Coming, to Judge the World, and deliver up the Kingdom to his Father.
How ſhall we then admire, and adore his Powerful Grace, which ſnatcht us as Firebrands out of everlaſting Burnings; that effectually ſhin'd into our minds by heavenly Light; conquer'd the Oppoſition of our ſtubborn Wills; Sanctified our carnal Hearts, reſcued us from the Tyranny of Satan, and the Dominion of Luſt; giving, cheriſhing, and preſerving the holy Seed of Grace, and making it Spring up to Eternal Life; defeating the malicious and ſubtil Endeavours of the Devil to deſtroy it; inabling us to indure Tribulation, and perſevere to the end; giving us Victory over Death; conducting us through the dark Valley; raiſing our Bodies, reviving ard reuniting them to our Souls, and rendring them glorious like his own Body; and at length rewarding our imperfect Services with Eternal Life. Yea, tho' our beſt Services were mixt with Sin, our holieſt Duties ſpotted, our moſt couragious Sufferings mixt with Unbelief, yet rewarded with a Bleſſedneſs, that hath no Alloy of Evil, but all the Ingredients of a Perfect Felicity, and nothing to leſſen and interrupt it. How ſhall we then admire the Bounty of our Gracious Lord, the Freeneſs, Tenderneſs, Riches, and the exceeding Greatneſs, and Glory of his Infinite Goodneſs and Grace to poor Believers.
With what Ecſtaſies of Joy and Gratitude, may we imagine, that our Lord will be then admired by all his Redeemed ones?
Saying, This is He, who made our Peace with God, and reverſt the Sentence of Damnation, which we were under; who bought us with the price of his moſt precious Blood, bore the Wrath of his Father, and ſubmitted to an infamous and curſed Death for us. He aſſumed our Nature, that we might partake of his; became the Son of Man, that we might be made the Children of God; for our ſakes he became poor, that we through his Poverty might become Rich: He ſtoopt to bear the greateſt Ignominy and Reproach, to confer Honour on us: He was for a time forſaken of his Father, that we might not be ſo Eternally: He felt the ſtroke of his Anger againſt Sin, that we might not periſh under it. He was a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with Griefs, that we might Rejoyce: His Agonies and bloody Sweat were for our Refreſhment, and by his Stripes we are Healed: He bowed his Head on the Croſs, that we might lift up ours in Triumph; and becauſe we had eaten of the forbidden Fruit, he hung on the Accurſed Tree. 'Twas for us that he ſuffered the Frowns of Heaven, the Enimity of Hell, the Rage of Devils, the Hatred and Perſecution of the World: He was judged, that we might not come into Condemnation: He was Crucified, that we might be Glorified; and he is now Come again, finally and fully to effect it.
O the Height, and Depth, and Length, and Breadth of the Love of Chriſt, which paſſeth Knowledge, but calls for Admiration, and everlaſting Gratitude! This is the Bleſſed Day we long'd and waited, and prayed for! This is our Gracious, our Glorious Lord, whoſe Love melted our Heart, whoſe Promiſe was our Support, whoſe Word was our Rule, whoſe Spirit was our Comforter, whoſe Croſs was our Crown, and the Hope of his Appearance our chief Conſolation!
Lord! What am I, what was I, that the ever Bleſſed Son of God ſhould do and ſuffer and purchaſe all this for me? I can remember when I was ignorant of God, a Stranger to him, at Enmity with him, under the Power of Darkneſs, and the Devil, ſerving divers Luſts and Pleaſures, haſtening to Hell, and liable to his Wrath. But he choſe me out of the World, ſtampt his Image upon me, pardoned my Sins, and imbrac'd me in the Arms of his unchangeable Love. O happy Change! and yet how little did I prize his Grace, admire his Love, and expreſs my own, or promote his Glory, and honour him in the Eyes of others? How did I diſhonour my Profeſſion and holy Calling, as his Diſciple, by aggravated Apoſtacy? But he recovered me by Repentance, and healed my Back-ſlidings, and received me graciouſly, becauſe he loved me freely. O admirable Grace! to pardon, and ſave, and bring to Glory ſuch an unthankful Wretch, as I have been! to make ſuch a Difference between Me and Others, whom I knew on Earth! That the ſame Power, which makes them Miſerable, now makes me Bleſſed! That when they are baniſht from his Preſence into Everlaſting Deſtruction, I am admitted to behold his Glory, and ſhall dwell with him for ever!
O, how much more do I now ſee and find, than ever I believed, of the Love of Chriſt, and his promiſed Salvation! How much more glorious is the Perſon of my Redeemer! How much more Excellent is the Heavenly State, than ever I thought or expected! I could not have imagined the thouſandth, thouſandth Part of that which I now ſee and feel. I cannot but admire, and ſpend an Eternity in admiring, and praiſing the incomparable Grace and Glory of my bleſſed Redeemer.
Such Holy Admiration will certainly produce the moſt thankful Adoration of our Lord Jeſus. Saying one to another, O Bleſs the Lord of Love and Glory! Who humbled himſelf ſo low, as our Mediator, and hath exalted us ſo high, as the bleſſed Fruit of it! How can we ever enough adore and praiſe him, who condeſcended ſo far, and hath done and ſuffer'd ſo much for us? See how the Holy Angels worſhip this King of Glory! And have not every one of us more reaſon to do ſo? O let all the Quire of Heaven celebrate his glorious Love! And let us his Redeemed, his Glorified ones ſay continually, Let the Lord be magnified; who hath loved us, and waſhed us from our Sins in his own Blood, and made us Kings and Prieſts unto God his Father, and through him ours.
O merciful Saviour! O glorious Change! O happy Society! With whom we ſhall Eternally adore our Common Lord. We can ſome of us remember, when we lived together on Earth, how we wept and prayed, and faſted and mourned together, how we ſuffered, and complain'd, and ſinn'd together. O the marvellous Change our Redeemer hath now wrought for us, and in us! Theſe Bodies, theſe Souls, this Life, this Place, this Company, theſe Injoyments, are not like thoſe in yonder World. But alas, who can deſcribe what Believers ſhall then think, and ſay to extol their Saviour! How ſmall a Portion is it we underſtand of that World? How little can I conceive, and how much leſs expreſs? Bleſſed be God we know ſo much, as the matter of our joyful Hopes; and for ever Bleſſed be God, who hath promiſed and provided ſuch a Glory for us, as cannot now be fully known.
What inexpreſſible Sweetneſs might Believers taſt, by rejoycing in Hope, did a more lively Faith realize all this to their Souls? We might liſten as it were to the Shouts and Acclamations of the Saints above, and ſay Amen to their Thankſgivings. We might behold them about the Throne of God, and of the Lamb, with Pſalms of Victory in their Hands, a Crown of Glory on their Heads, and Songs of Triumph in their Mouths, ſaying, Allelujah; *Rev. 4. c. 11. 5. c. 12, 13.Worthy art thou, O Lord, to receive Glory, and Honour, and Power; for thou haſt created all things, and for thy Pleaſure they are, and were created. And worthy is the Lamb that was ſlain, to receive Power, and Riches, and Wiſdom, and Strength, and Honour, and Glory, and Bleſſing. And again, Bleſſing, Honour, Glory and Power be unto him who ſits upon the Throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever.
Whence is it, O my Soul! if indeed I believe and expect all this; that I can Hear, and Read, and Think, and Speak of theſe great Things, with no more ardent Affections, ſuitable Preparations, importunate Prayers, and vigorous Deſires? How ſhould the believing Thoughts of that Day promote my Heavenly-mindedneſs, Self-denial, Contempt of the World, Patience and Perſeverance? Quicken my Zeal, ſecure my Stedfaſtneſs, and give Life and Spirit to my Prayers for the haſtening of it? How ſhould my Soul riſe towards Heaven, by holy Love and Deſire? Aſcend and meet him, get as near him as I can, breathe after more of his Preſence, and beg him to prepoſſeſs my Heart, to anticipate his ſecond Coming by clearer Diſcoveries of his Love, and fuller Communications of his Grace? Even ſo, Come Lord Jeſus.