a Soul in Heaven before it was quite gon from the earth The summe of all is this that Believers shall have perfect bliss and happiness They shall live in Heaven where shall be pleasures mirth singing and rejoycing above what we are able to express or to conceive This shall suffice for the first branch of the second part by way of Explication They who dye in the Lord are blessed Blessedness must be full that is there must be no evil and there must be all good the perfection of grace and holiness with the fulness of bliss and happiness But now 2. As it must be full so it must be lasting and enduring and so indeed the bessednesse of Saints shall be not onely for a long time but for ever It shall be Eternal such as is the Eternity of our Souls which had a beginning but shall have no ending called Eviternity to distinguish from the Eternity of God A parte post non a parte ante who alone is the first and last without beginning without ending This bliss hath a beginning henceforth saith the Text but shall have no ending it is Eternal Eternity at the very naming of it is enough to amaze our thoughts in studying to know what it is It is the continuance of any good thing which makes it a full good Soul take thine ease thou hast goods laid up for many years said the rich Man in the gospel He glories not so much in the abundance of his goods as in the hope of their continuance How do Men rejoyce in the purchase of an estate because they have that not by lease for term of years but the Deeds run to them and their Heirs for ever Though indeed it is not for ever but far short of that For besides what may happen in the interim at the great day all the Evidences shall be undoubtedly burnt and it is more than probable from divers Scriptures the Land also Heb. 1.11 Isa 51.6 Matth. 24.35 2 Peter 36.10 12. Rev. 21.1 To be sure the propriety in these pronouns Mine and Thine shall cease Yet the hope Men have of its continuance for some long time doth much content them David took it as a great favour that God would bestow a Kingdom upon him to raise him from following the sheep to be King over Israel 2 Sam. 7.18 Yet Verse 19. He saith This was but a small thing that which made the mercy great was that God had spoken of continuing it for a great while to come he adds and is this the manner of Man O Lord God he seems to be much transported in admiring the continuance of his Mercy though it were not so much to him in person but to his posterity Let a thing in it self be never so excellent yet the fear of losing it darkens all the excellency of it Earthly treasures are therefore less to be accounted of because Thieves may break thorough and steal them What true content could the rich Man take in his abundance when once he heard This night all should be gone Corneliam nescie an faeliciorem talem virū habuisse an miseriorem amisisse Et invito processit vesper Olympo 'T is spoken to the humbling of the great ones upon earth that though they live like Gods yet should die like Men Though the good thing be great yet if not lasting t is not ful yea the greatness of it greatens the misery upon the losing When a Scholar hath been reading a good Book it troubles him to see Finis When the people of God have been keeping a day of Prayer in Communion with God it saddens them much that they should break off because the day is done But now the blessedness of Saints is not onely a great good as hath been shewed but a lasting good it shall have no end 1 Thess 4.17 They shall be for ever with the Lord Rev. 3.12 He that goeth in shall go out no more some interpret it of a Beleever in this life Notat gloriae stabilitatem Pisc in loc Isa 33.20 to prove no falling from grace some again interpret it of the state of glory The life of glory is such a life to which immortality is essential 2 Tim. 1.10 We read of life and immortality that is to say immortal life Heaven is a Tabernacle that shall not be taken down not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken The blessednesse of Beleevers shall be eternal but what is Eternity I shall shew you how a learned and holy Divine illustrates it to the meanest capicity Suppose saith he the whole World were a Sea Mr. Perkins on the Creed and that every thousand years expired a bird must carry away or drink up one onely drop of it in processe of time it will come to passe that this Sea though very huge shall be dryed up but yet many thousand millions of years must be passed before this can be done Now if a Man should enjoy happinesse in Heaven onely for the space of time in which this Sea is drying up he would think his case most happy and blessed but behold the Elect shall enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven not onely for that time but when it is ended they shall enjoy it as long again and when all is done they shall be as far from ending of this their joy as they were at the beginning And now by what hath been said we may in some measure understand what is that blessedness which the Saints and Children of God shall have it is great and full it is also lasting yea everlasting which cannot be said of any thing here below The best of the worlds excellencies are fading and quickly blasted No day so pleasant but ends in a darknight No Summer so fruitful but ends in a barren Winter No Body so fair but will be changed by death from Beauty to Deformity In the dayes of Noah they were eating and drinking but the flood comes and sweeps them all away Great mirth was among the Philistins but their banquetting-house becomes their burying-place The Monarch of Babel whose head was of Gold had the feet of clay Sic transit gloria mundi All the pomp of the world is like Jonahs gourd now flourishing and anon fading there is that worm in the root of all worldly comforts as will blast them But the mercies and joyes and comforts of Heaven are not such they are eternity mercies eternity joyes eternity comforts take away the lastingness or rather everlastingness and we blow up Saints happinesse Thus much for the explication of the second thing viz. What that blessedness is which they who dye in Lord shall have Now a word of the third thing and so I will come to the Application Therefore 3. Having shewed who they be who dye in Lord and what the bessedness is that they shall have it remains to shew in the third place when they shall be made partakers
which is in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ Now these phrases denote that blessed and heavenly union which beleevers have with the Father and the Son through the Spirit 'T is hard to declare and open what this union is it is easier to say what it is not than what it is It is usually for distinction sake called mystical meaning 1. That it is real not putative and imaginary 2. Spiritual it is so real that the Scripture speaks as if the beleever had a subsistence in the Deity Heb. 3.14 We are made partakers of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we hold the beginning of our Confidence The word which is translated Confidence signifies Subsistence This and some other Scripture-expressions have made some speak a great deal too high saying beleevers are deified and some in our dayes blasphemously saying beleevers are God-ded in God and Christed in Christ I do acknowledge it is a most transcendent priviledge for a poor sinful creature to be united to the eternal Son of God but what ever this priviledge is we are to look upon it as a very great mystery Christiani esse est inesse the perfect knowledge whereof is reserved for Heaven Well so it is undeniably beleevers are in Christ united to Christ yea all Beleevers this union is essential to a beleevers being it is that which constitutes a beleever It is a strong union which nothing can dissolve it is not possible that these ligaments and tyes by which the eternal Son of God and a poor beleever are knit together should ever be broken See Rom. 8.35 Who shall separate so we may say what shall separate for the Apostles induction is of things as well as of persons surely if any thing could do it then Death is the likliest but Death cannot Verse 38. Death separates a Man and his estate a Man and his relations bury my dead out of my sight yea Death breaks the union of Soul and Body but not of the Soul and Christ no nor yet of the Body and Christ for that part which sleeps which is the Body sleeps in Jesus 1 Thes 4.14 This union out-lives Death It is with a beleever dying as with Christ dying Death broke not the Hypostatical union between divine and humane nature in Christ though it disunited Soul and Body his death being a true death yet not God and Man in Christ So Death disjoynes not a beleever and Christ though it disjoyn all other things Now then the meaning of the phrase may be clear Even that they who are in the Lord Christ that is united to him while they live shall be blessed when they die they were in the Lord whiles they lived still remain in the Lord though they dy therefore certainly shall be blessed They die and so are not in the world they die and so are not in the Body but for all this they are in Christ though they sleep it is in Jesus thus we read of the dead in Christ 1 Thes 4.16 Such as were in Christ when they dyed and those Saints Heb. 11.13 Dyed in Faith which is all one with the phrase now before us for by Faith we are united to Christ This might suffice for the opening of the first particular who they are that may be said to die in the Lord but before I pass this it may not be impertinent nor useless to take notice of one phrase which comes very near this but is not the same Romans 14.8 We read of a dying to the Lord There is a dying in the Lord as in the Text and a dying to the Lord as in that place to the Romans Dying in the Lord respects our habitual estate being such as are united to Christ but Dying to the Lord refers to our actual deportment in the great work of dying To dying in the Lord it sufficeth to be true beleevers truly engrafted into Christ Now dying to the Lord requires the exerting and putting forth some acts of Faith which are Four 1. When Death comes to see the hand of the Lord in it not so much the malignity of the disease confluence of bad humours or what ever may be of the second causes the eye of Faith still looks unto the Lord Life is of his giving and Death is of his sending our undoings are the Lords doings Psalm 46.8 See what desolations the Lord hath wrought whether national or personal in the earth or in the house and family it is the Lord he singles out particular persons Death is as the casting of the lot The lot is cast into the lap but the disposing is from the Lord. The lot is cast and such a Tribe taken then such a Family then such a person perhaps Jonathan a young Man a good Man is taken so the lot is cast such a Parish such a Family such a person and still the disposing is from the Lord. 'T is not the drawing a bow at a venture 1 King 22 34. 2 King 9.5 but every Arrow is levelled and hath its particular errand as the Prophet said to John I have an Errand to thee O Captain This is to die to the Lord to see the Lord comming to our particular selves and saying as to Aaron Come up and die 2. To submit willingly to his hand and to all those diseases whereby as by Axes and Hammers he is pleased to demolish thy Cottage yea to submit cheerfully and welcome death as a messenger that bringeth good tidings Welcome fire and faggot said some of the Martyrs they imbraced and kissed the stake Oh how cheerful were they How apt are we to bemoan our selves when tidings of death come as if some dreadful evil were upon us though indeed 't is a very childish thing children cry when they should be had to bed Dying to a believer is but a going to bed Isai 57.2 To dye to the Lord is willingly to submit saying if the Lord please he can turn my captivity and rebuke sickness and send health If he say he hath no pleasure in me in my life breath temporal being here am I let him do what seemeth him good 3. Whiles under his hand to lye breathing out thy last breath sweetly to his glory to lye blessing God to lye calling upon others to love God and to get into Christ Not only not to be moved by the pains of sickness and pangs of death to do or speak any thing to the dishonour of God but to open our mouth to his glory and the shewing forth his praise God hath made death to work for a believers good let them endeavour it may work for his glory 4. To give glory to God in a firm belief that the promise of eternal life and salvation shall now be made good to them expecting blessedness immediately upon the dissolution yea to look beyond the grave and mouldring dust unto the resurrection of the body being assured that it shall rise a glorious body death being but the pulling down
of a smoaky Cottage that it may be built a stately Palace as the Southsayers said upon the burning of the Capitol by lightning the Gods did suffer it to be that it might be built better and more gloriously Now these are the actings of faith required in him who would dye to the Lord. Now a Person may dye in the Lord and be blessed who yet doth not thus dye to the Lord for these actings may be suspended either 1. Through our inadvertency not considering what duty is incumbent upon us to glorifie God in dying 2. Through violence of diseases depriving or at least dulling and stupifying the memory understanding reason which are necessarily required to these actings 3. By some fit of desertion whereby we come to doubt of our evidences which alone can make us cheerfully to submit Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace now and not till now because now mine eyes have seen thy Salvation And thus I have done with the first thing which needed to be explained who they be that are said to dye in the Lord. II. I shall now speak to the second what that blessedness is which they who dye in the Lord shall have This is an hard thing if not impossible to do the Scripture speaks of it as that which is inexpressible unutterable See 2 Cor. 12.4 Paul rapt up into heaven heard words unspeakable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which it is not possible for a man to utter yea which is more unconceivable 1 Cor. 2.9 it hath not entred into the heart of man 'T is in vain to expect that it should be spoken with the Tongue which cannot be conceived by the heart As soon may the Earth and Sea be put into a Pot as the bliss of glorified Saints into the understanding as soon may you hold the whole earth in the hollow of the hand as comprehend heaven in the heart Much hath been spoken and written concerning it doubtless to the great chearing of the hearts of Saints insomuch that some have been ravished with the newes of it that they have in a kind of impatiency been weary of life and longed for death saying come Lord Jesus come quickly yet I believe that when a Saint comes to heaven he will say in the words of the Queen of Sheba 1 King 10 6 7. It was a true report that I heard upon earth of heavens glory but behold the half was not told me The Apostle in the place before describes it Negatively Eye hath not seen c. The eye hath seen much the ear hath heard more than ever the eye saw and the heart of man can conceive more than ever the eye saw or ear heard yet the heart cannot conceive this Surely the full and perfect knowledge of this blessedness is only to those Saints who are comprehenders of it The blind man may say much of light but nothing comparably to him who beholds the light much may be said of the sweetness of honey by what is reported of it but it is nothing to what may be said from the tasting and eating of it See 1 Joh. 3.2 it doth not yet appear what we shall be or what glory we shall have till we come to see this light and eat of this honey I might therefore shut up this part in silence wishing you to wait till this glory shall be fully revealed but because something may be expected upon the method before laid down it being one of the three things promised to be explained and besides much is said of it in the Scripture to the unspeakable consolation of believers making them bear up and be of good chear under present evils whereof this life is full whiles they have an eye to the recompence of reward I shall therefore as the Lord shall enable me give you a brief collection of what is held forth in Scripture concerning this blessedness I cannot go round about Sion and tell all the Towers may I at least but point out some The Israelites rejoyced but to see some clusters from Canaan and it may refresh our hearts whilest we behold some parts or pieces of this glory laid down before us They waited for Gods time to take possession of that earthly Canaan and so must we 't is but tarry till death comes Death will put us in possession of the heavenly Canaan then it shall be said to Saints as to Abraham Genesis 13.17 Arise walk through the Land in the length and breadth of it Beleevers shall be blessed when they die but wherein doth this blessednesse consists I Answer to the making up of blessednesse it is required 1. That it be full 2. That it be lasting Fulnesse implies 1. The absence of all evil 2. The presence of all good 1. Then Saints dying are out of the reach and danger of evill Prastat non esse quà m miserum esse of what may be called evil even the very appearance of evil Though there were no good in Heaven yet it is very considerable that there is no evil Now evil is two fold 1. Of sin 2. of punishment but neither is in Heaven 1. There is no sin there this is the grand evil a poysonous weed that growes every where but in Heaven 'T is said that no venemous thing will live in Ireland I am sure it is true of heaven This weed took rooting in paradise but it was the earthly Paradise and not the heavenly whereof Christ speaks Luke 23.43 and whereof St. Paul speaks 2 Cor. 12.4 The best of Saints carry sin about with them one need not tell them so they know it to the great grief of their heart it being that which often fetcheth water from their eyes and blood from their Souls Hearken but to their Closet doors and you shall hear sad complaints against it and mourning over it This is that stone tyed to the birds legg Anselm as one well resembles it upon seeing boys play which pulleth it down when it attempts to fly aloft This is that Pharaoh which keeps Gods Israel in bondage and hinders from serving God as they should and as they would There is indeed a principle of grace in beleevers and there is also a body of sin and in this respect they are like to the tribe of Manasse half in the Land of Canaan half on the other side Jordan But death will convey them into the heavenly Canaan Col. 3.5 and the Jordan of sin shall be quite dryed up may not this be one reason why the Apostle calls sins our members which are upon earth members because of the dear love we are apt to bear to them they are as dear as the members of our body as an eye and hand and earthly because they shall not be in Heaven These sins by the power of grace are mortified in Saints whiles they are upon earth but in Heaven they shall be nullified there shall not be an hoof left behind Here they are cast down there
Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven at Gods table Here in this life a Beleever hath sweet refreshments in his or her Souls peace which causeth joy that passeth Vnderstanding joy which others know not of A stranger intermedleth not with his joy but this is far short of what they shall have when they shall come to see God as he is The best Wine is kept till last The joy which Beleevers have in this life arising from their inward peace is said to be full 1 John 1.4 Mr. Saunders the Martyr seemed so full as if he had some to spare some to bequeath to his Wife and therefore in his Letter from Prison to her he legacies this to her who had no mony nor worldly goods to give her His words are thus set down in the Book of Martyrs I am merry and I trust I shall be merry maugre the teeth of Men and Devils Riches I have none to endow you with but the sweet feeling of the love of God in Christ whereof I thank my God I have a part that I bequeath to you Was not his joy full Mr. Bolton lying on his sick bed said to his Friends standing about him that he was as full of comfort as his heart could hold And truly their joy is full in comparison of the worlds empty joyes which are but from the teeth outward but in respect of Heavens joy it is but inchoative and comes far short of it What is the Morning light to Psal 36.8 Cant. 5.4 Noon-day what is a taste to a full draught to drink of the river of pleasures What is it to look in at the Key-hole to the being let in to the Chamber of the Bridegrom The manner of expression Mat. 25.21 23. Is observable where the good and faithful Servant is bid to enter into his Masters joy There is not onely shewed that it shall be a place of joy but there is hinted the greatnesse of that joy such as cannot enter into him but therefore he shall enter into it It cannot enter into a Beleever by Comprehension but he shall enter into it by fruition yea there is shewed in what measure the Beleever shall partake of it he shall enter into it not hear of it or only see it but go into it and walk it in the length and breadth thereof And further if this joy exceed the sweet spiritual joy of Beleevers no doubt but it far surpasseth the joy of wicked Men and wordlings Indeed their joy is often great and full in its kind they drink Wine in Bowles they lie upon beds of Ivory they chaunt to the sound of the Viol. Amos 6.4 5 6. I have heard of one who resolved to spend 500 l. to please his 5. senses and I have read of another who provided ponds of sweet waters to drown himself in after he had spent what time of life he might in surfeting wallowing in sensual pleasures Now can we think these joys may be compared with the joy blisse and happinesse of Heaven they are not worthy to be named the same day with the spiritual joy of Beleevers before spoken which yet as hath been shewed comes far short of what shall be in glory Worldly joyes are vain empty frothy those we speak of are full and substantial They are seeming painted joyes they do not reach the heart nor quiet the heart at least give but a light touch a kind salute and pass away but those whereof we speak are lasting and abiding they refresh both inward and outward Man the heart and the flesh Psalm 84.2 I shall here lay down one convincing Argument to prove that the joy which glorified Saints shall have must needs go beyond all other pleasures and joyes whatsoever take it thus The higher and greater the mercy is the greater must needs the joy be These keep pace and as one riseth so the other riseth also the more weight is hung on the faster the wheeles move See Psalm 126.2 Our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with singing Now what might cause this great joy Verse 3. The Lord hath done great things for us great Mercies are Ecchoed again with great joyes Now what greater Mercy can a poor Creature be capable of than to sit in heavenly places If this be the greatest Mercy as sure it is in it self and in the account of gracious Souls Psa 73.24 witnesse their waiting and even longing till afterward come when they shall be received to glory then it must needs provoke the greatest joy like that spoken of Isa 35.10 Which some expound of Heaven they shall come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads the head being put for the whole Man as Prov. 10.6 And many other places the meaning is they shall be all over covered with joy from top to toe That which is poured on the Head will run down and thus the joy of Heaven shall be Luc. 6.38 good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over I shall close up this second part with one consideratiō more whereby besides what hath been already said it may appear that the life in Heaven and glory shall be happy in exceeding great joy and it is this The work of Beleevers in glory shall be in continual praising God singing songs to the praise of free grace whereby they are brought to Heaven whiles others otherwise alike hewed out of the same Rock digged out of the same pit are yet turned into Hell Now singing is the expression of mirth and joy as by the bush hung out we know there is Wine within singing comes not from an heavy heart Prov. 25.20 Some say it shall be the onely work with which the People of God in Heaven shall be wholly taken up the Jewes say that the sacrifice of praise or thank-offerings exceeds all other sacrifices in two things 1. In the universality being performed by Men and Angels 2. In the perpetuity when all other sacrifices shall cease this shall remain this shall out-live all legal sacrifices and be the proper work of the blessed when praying shall cease and hearing cease Yet praising and singing Hallelujahs shall continue I may apply hither Ps 84.4 Blessed are they that dwell in this house they shall be still praising God still or evermore We have heard what flocking there hath been sometimes to the University to be present at a Musick act Now in Heaven there shall be continual Musick singing and making melody continual praising Some think the very forms of words wherewith glorified Saints shall praise God are set down in Rev. 5.13 Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever And Rev. 11.17 We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come I have read that holy Chrysostom's last words were Glory be to God from all creatures they are as it were the breathings of
they shall be cast out The Lord Jesus will say to sin that foul Spirit as Mark 9.25 Come out and enter no more Well then admit this there shall be no corruption within I may add farther no fear of any temptation from without whether of the Devil or from the World What can Satan do The Devil without us could not harm us were it not for the Devil within us he could do nothing upon Christ John 14.30 Because he was without sin he found nothing in him to fasten his temptations to If he do strike 't is as nothing so long as there is no tinder to catch But besides I believe though he goeth to and fro in the earth that Heaven is none of his walk none of his circuit it is not in his commission or rather permission Add what can the World do to them who are gon out of the World Before they were not of the World now they are not in the World The World here as the Ivy twisting about the tree sucks the heart out It flatters as Jael did Sisera Butter and Milk in a Lordly dish and so nails the temples of the Soul to the ground but after death there shall be no alluring World The World and the things of the World as to them Angeli non habent jumenta shall be no more There is no device in the grave no trading no tilling no shops no farms or cattel we shall be as the Angels who are not combred with these things There as Rev. 12.1 The Moon shall be under our Feet we shall have as little esteem of these sublinary things as the dust under our Feet Thus we have the first branch of the negative part Saints shall be blessed at death because they shall not be infected with the evil of sin 2. After death there shall be as no sinning so no suffering this necessarily follows for take away the cause and the effect will cease there shall be no complaining in those streets and therefore blessed for I may apply the words of the Psalmist Psalm 144.14 15. Happy are the people that are in such a case hereupon earth is nothing but Alass wo is me wo worth the day Not only Hell is full of complaining but the earth also our dayes here are ful of trouble Our life is like the Prophets book Ezek. 2.10 Written within and without lamentations mournings and wo within are Fightings without are Fears We are at no time exempted from complaining because of sin and it is but seldom but that we are mourning because of trouble which sorrowful condition of ours upon earth is elegantly set forth in that place Job 5.7 Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward Indeed in Hell is nothing but evil from one end to the other It is a sea of evils without bank or bottom On earth are some fair days though many be stormy and tempestuous a rad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 elatus fuit Isa 33.24 Isa 35.10 but in Heaven whether Saints go when they die is no fear of any of these things This is that Tower whether the righteous shall run and be safe or set aloft out of the reach of danger Prov. 18.10 There the inhabitants shall not say I am sick sorrow and sighing shall fly away All evil shall be banished many thousand thousand miles from the lines of Saints communication I shall shut up this part with that comfortable Scripture 1 Thes 1.10 Jesus delivers from the wrath to come If saved from wrath then from those evils which are the effects of wrath and where there is no sin to stir up wrath there can be no evil which is the consequence of wrath and thus we have the Saints blessednesse negatively but now 2. Positively and affirmitively to make up blessednesse there must be the presence of all good which brancheth it self into two parts 1. The perfection of grace and holiness 2. The fulness of bliss and happiness 1. After death when the Children of God come to Heaven they shall be made perfectly holy Heaven is that Holy Land whether they are going on Pilgrimage See 2 Peter 3.13 There the Apostle saith dwelleth righteousnesse there is its Mansion-house and in comparison thereof here upon earth it is but as in an Inn or a sojourner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heaven is the lot or place alloted to holy ones Col. 1.12 There is no possibility for a sinner to get in thither heaven gate is strongly guardded by holy Angels should they neglect their trust yet God is of purer clearer eyes then that a sinner should escape him Yea were it possible a sinner could steal into Heaven yet he should soon be thrown out as the Apostatizing Angels were and as Adam was driven out of Paradise and the corrupt Nations beaten out of Canaan and the Man without his wedding garment cast out of the mariage chamber Yea further suppose a sinner might be let alone yet he would soon void the place of himself it being not a proper element for him to live in As soon may a fish live on dry land as sinners who drink in iniquitie as the fish drinketh in Water live in that Holy Land But further there the people of God shall be made perfect in holiness Heb. 12.23 The Souls of just Men shall be made perfect They are holy in this life but not perfectly holy Yea here they have a perfect imperfection Grace is glory begun and glory is grace perfected Grace shall not be lessoned but heightned and increased in glory Grace shall be swallowed up of Glory as the rude draught is when the Picture is finished and as the Morning light is by the noon-day See 1 John 3.2 shall be like God this is in the perfecting of holiness which is called our being made like God God at first made Man after his own Image that is in holiness as the Apostle shews Eph 4.24 Now in Heaven there shall be a perfect restoring of this image The expression is full 1 Cor. 15.49 We shall bear the image of the heavenly but it may be Queried when shall this be the answer is in the following verse it shall be in the Kingdom of God While we remain in this flesh we cannot bear this image and yet it is true again that Beleevers even in this life do bear this Image the difficulty is easily resolved here we have the truth there the perfection of holinesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Scripture speaks of true holiness or the holiness of truth Eph. 4.24 There is that which is such in truth though not in perfecton And surely so great will this change be when a Beleever shall be made perfect that he will seem to be changed into another Man as was said of Saul he would even wonder at himself to see how he differs from himself what he now is being a comprehender and what he was whiles a Traveler below Great and wonderful is the change in