January 26

It doth not yet appear what we shall be.—1 John 3:2.

GLORIOUS things are spoken in Scripture concerning the future reward of the righteous; and the words that are wont to signify what is of greatest price and value, or can represent the most enravishing objects of our desires, are made use of by the Holy Ghost, to commend unto us this transcendent state of blessedness: such are these: "Rivers of pleasures; a fountain of living water; a treasure that can never be wasted, nor never taken from us; an inheritance in light; an incorruptible crown; a kingdom; the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of Christ; the kingdom of glory; a crown of glory, and life, and righteousness, and immortality; the vision of God; being filled with all the fullness of God; an exceeding and eternal weight of glory—the original Greek here is strangely emphatical, that cannot be put into English; and if they could, they would not be able to convey to our minds the notion that they design; for it is too big for any expressions: and after all that can be said, we must resolve with our apostle, "It doth not yet appear what we shall be."

At this distance, we cannot make any likely guesses or conjectures at the glory of that future state. Men make very imperfect descriptions of countries or cities, that never were there themselves, nor saw the places with their own eyes. It is not for any mortal creature to make a map of that Canaan that lies above; it is, to all us who live here on the hither side of death, an unknown country, and an undiscovered land. It may be, some heavenly pilgrim, that, with his holy thoughts and ardent desires, is continually travelling thitherward, arrives sometimes near the borders of the promised land, and the suburbs of the New Jerusalem, and gets upon the top of Pisgah, and there he has an imperfect prospect of a brave country, that lies a far way off; but he cannot tell how to describe it; and all that he hath to say to satisfy the curious inquirer, is only this: "If he would know the glories of it, he must go and see it." It was believed of old, that those places that lie under the line were burned up by the continual heat of the sun, and were not habitable, either by man or beast; but later discoveries tell us, that there are the most pleasant countries that the earth can show; insomuch that some have placed Paradise itself in that climate. Sure I am, of the regions in the intellectual world, and the several lands that are peopled either with men or angels, the most pleasant countries they lie under the line, under the direct beams of the Sun of Righteousness, where there is an eternal day, and an eternal spring; where is that tree of life, that beareth twelve manner of fruits, and yieldeth her fruit every month. Thus we may use figures, and metaphors, and allegories, and tell you of fruitful meads, and spacious fields, and winding rivers, and purling brooks, and enchanting birds, and shady groves, and pleasant gardens, and lovely bowers, and noble seats, and stately palaces, and goodly people, and excellent laws, and sweet societies; but this is but to frame little comparisons to please our childish fancies; and just such discourses as a blind man would make concerning colors,—so do we talk of those things we never saw, and disparage the state while we should recommend it. Indeed, it requires some saint or angel from heaven to discourse upon the subject; and yet that would not do neither: for though they might be able to speak something of it, yet we would want ears to hear it. Neither can those things be declared but in the language of heaven, which would be little understood by us, the poor inhabitants of this lower world; they are, indeed, things too great to be brought within the compass of words. St. Paul, when he had been rapt up into the third heaven, saw "things unlawful or impossible to be uttered;" and "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither can enter into the heart of man, what God hath prepared for them that love him;" and, "it does not yet appear what we shall be," said that beloved disciple that lay in the bosom of the Saviour.