From first to last, salvation is all of grace. Paul says: “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Ti 3:3-6). So it is clearly by the grace and mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit is sent down to renew our natures and to accomplish in us the new birth. Pardon saves a sinner from the curse of the Law and the lake of fire; acceptance through Christ gives him a title to heaven; but in regeneration the dominion of sin begins to be destroyed and the soul begins to be fitted for the Master’s use.

The new birth is a great mystery, yet it is much insisted on in Scripture. “The washing of regeneration” is as necessary as washing in the blood of Christ. “The renewing of the Holy Ghost” is as essential as the “justification of life.” Within the space of four verses, our Lord thrice declares how necessary it is to salvation. Hear Him: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God…Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (Joh 3:3, 5, 7). The fallow ground must be broken up or the good seed will not take root in our hearts. The wild olive must undergo the operation of engrafting with the good olive, or it will remain worthless. All the Scriptures teach as much. Christ regarded it as by no means marvelous that a vile sinner must undergo a great spiritual change before he could be fit for the service of God.

Perhaps there is not a more driveling error than that which teaches that baptism with water is the regeneration that Jesus Christ and His Apostles insist upon. When men can confound the “washing of regeneration” with the washing with water, they are fully prepared to follow, in fact they are already following, in the footsteps of those who confounded “that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh” with that circumcision, which is “of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Rom 2:29). Perhaps, too, no error is more mischievous than this. It is monstrous that such error and folly should be taught in lands where God’s Word is in general use.

To baptism, some add an outward reformation and insist that this should be admitted as sufficient. Supposing this to be the meaning of Christ and His Apostles, it is impossible to defend them from the charge of using very mysterious language to convey so simple an idea. But such a belief is never entertained by those who have a becoming respect for God’s Word. It will therefore claim no more attention at this time.

Sound divines have very remarkably agreed in telling us what regeneration is.

Dr. Witherspoon says, “A new birth implies an universal change. It must be of the whole man, not in some particular, but in all without exception.” And he shows at length that it is not partial, external, imperfect, but that it is universal, inward, essential, complete, and supernatural.

Charnock says, “Regeneration is a mighty and powerful change, wrought in the soul by the efficacious working of the Holy Spirit, wherein a vital principle, a new habit, the Law of God, and a divine nature are put into and framed in the heart, enabling it to act holily and pleasingly to God, and to grow up therein to eternal glory.”

Dr. Thomas Scott quotes with approbation another definition, but does not give his author. He says, “Regeneration may be defined [as] a change wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit in the understanding, will, and affections of a sinner, which is the commencement of a new kind of life, and which gives another direction to his judgment, desires, pursuits, and conduct.”

Although this change is called by various names, yet the doctrine of Scripture respecting it is uniform. Sometimes it is called a holy calling, a creation, a new creation, a translation, a circumcision of the heart, a resurrection. But whatever be the name, the thing signified is everywhere spoken of in very solemn terms and as a rich fruit of God’s grace. Thus says Paul, “It pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me” (Gal 1:15-16). Again: “[God] hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2Ti 1:9). Again, Peter says that “the God of all grace…hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus” (1Pe 5:10).

Nor have the purest churches ever doubted the necessity of this change.

They also remarkably agree concerning its nature. The Westminster Assembly teaches that “[God] is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power determining them to that which is good; and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.”

The Latter Confession of Helvetia says, “In regeneration the understanding is illuminated by the Holy Ghost, that it may understand both the mysteries and will of God. And the will itself is not only changed by the Spirit, but is also endued with faculties, that, of its own accord, it may will and do good,” and quotes in proof Romans 8:4; Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:27; John 8:36; Philippians 1:6, 29; and 2:13.

The Synod of Dort says, “This regenerating grace of God worketh not upon men as if they were stocks and stones, nor doth it abolish the will and properties of their will, or violently constrain it, but doth spiritually revive it, heal it, rectify it, and powerfully yet gently bend it: so that where formerly the rebellion of the flesh, and stubbornness did domineer without control, now a willing and sincere obedience to the Spirit begins to reign; in which change the true and spiritual rescue and freedom of our will doth consist…” 

The truth is that if we give up regeneration, the last hope that a sinner may ever again be either holy or happy is gone forever.

The Church of Ireland holds that “All God’s elect are in their time inseparably united unto Christ, by the effectual and vital influence of the Holy Ghost, derived from him, as from the head, unto every true member of his mystical body. And being thus made one with Christ they are truly regenerated, and made partakers of him and all his benefits.” Indeed, nothing could more distress one, who rightly considered his lost estate, than to have the hope that springs from the doctrine of regeneration destroyed or seriously shaken…Every man, who has ever had his eyes opened to see his own wretchedness and vileness, will agree to the saying of Ussher: “It is not a little reforming will save the man, no, nor all the morality of the world, nor all the common graces of God’s Spirit, nor the outward change of the life: they will not do, unless we are quickened and have a new life wrought in us.”

In his old age, when he could no longer see to read, John Newton heard someone repeat this text, “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1Co 15:10). He remained silent a short time and then, as if speaking to himself, he said, “I am not what I ought to be. Ah! How imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be. I abhor that which is evil, and I would cleave to that which is good. I am not what I hope to be. Soon, soon I shall put off mortality and with mortality all sin and imperfection. Though I am not what I ought to be, what I wish to be, and what I hope to be, yet I can truly say, I am not what I once was, a slave to sin and Satan; I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge, ‘By the grace of God, I am what I am.’ ”

…Our second birth brings us into a state of grace. It is one of the richest of God’s covenanted mercies. When one is born anew, a fatal blow is given to Satan’s kingdom in the heart; for “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Joh 3:6).

This is a work of amazing energy! It was for good cause that the Synod of Dort taught, “God, in regenerating a man, doth employ that omnipotent strength, whereby he may powerfully and infallibly bow and bend his will unto faith and conversion.” Paul uses all the strong words he is master of to teach us that we are renewed by power, by amazing energy. He prayed that his Ephesians might know “what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead” (Eph 1:19-20). We know of no greater power than that which accomplished the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet the same power converts the soul…Dr. Nevins says, “Some think and represent it as easy to save a soul—to bend a will—to change a heart. Easy? It is God’s greatest work…God, in saving a soul, putteth forth a mightier energy than in making many worlds.” In his Views in Theology, Dr. Beecher admits, “The power of God in regeneration is represented as among the greatest displays of his omnipotence ever made, or to be made in the history of the universe. When the fair creation rose fresh in beauty from the hand of God, the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy; but sweeter songs will celebrate and louder shouts will attend the consummation of redemption by the power of God’s Spirit…”

From The Grace of Christ

“It is the spirit that quickeneth.” —John 6:63

The Holy Ghost testifies, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2Co 5:17). This testimony is true. For

FIRST, HE LOVES AND WORSHIPS A NEW GOD.

The natural man is a god to himself, and he has many other gods as well. Whether it be self-righteousness, self-gratification, the world, wealth, family, in whatever form it appears, “other lords have dominion over him” to the exclusion of the one true and living God. The nature of the human mind is such that it must love and worship some object supremely. In his state of innocence, Jehovah was the one and supreme object of the creature’s love and adoration. Seduced from that state of simple and supreme affection by the tempter’s promise that if they ate of the fruit of the tree forbidden of God, they should be as gods (Gen 3:5), in one moment they threw off their allegiance to Jehovah, renounced Him as the object of their supreme love, the center of their holiest affections, and became gods to themselves. The temple was ruined, the altar was thrown down, the pure flame was extinguished, God departed, and “other lords” entered and took possession of the soul.

But what a change does grace produce! It repairs the temple, rebuilds the altar, rekindles the flame, and brings God back to man! God in Christ is now the supreme object of his love, his adoration, and his worship. The idol self has been cast down, self-righteousness renounced, self-exaltation crucified. The “strong man armed” has entered, cast out the usurper, and, “creating all things new,” has resumed His rightful supremacy. The affections, released from their false deity and renewed by the Spirit, now turn to and take up their rest in God. God in Christ! How glorious does He now appear! Truly it is a new God the soul is brought to know and love. Never did it see in Him such beauty, such excellence, such blessedness as it now sees. All other glory fades and dies before the surpassing glory of His char-acter, His attributes, His government, and His Law. God in Christ is viewed as reconciled now: enmity ceases; hatred has passed away; opposition grounds its weapons; hard thoughts of His Law and rebellious thoughts of His government subside; love kindles in the soul, and, in one precious Christ the one Mediator, God and the sinner meet, embrace, and blend. Truly, they become one. God says, “Thou art mine.” The soul responds, “Thou art my God—other lords have had dominion over me, but henceforth, Thee only will I serve, Thee only will I love. ‘My soul followeth hard after thee; thy right hand upholdeth me’ (Psa 63:8). ‘One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple’ (Psa 27:4).”

God in Christ is his Father now. “I will arise, and go unto my Father” (Luk 15:18) is the first motion of a renewed soul. “Father, I have sinned against…Thee” is the first confession rising from the broken heart. The Father hastens to meet and embrace His child, and clasping him to His bosom exclaims, “This my son was dead, and is alive again” (Luk 15:24). Reconciled, he now looks up to Him truly as his Father. “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Gal 4:6). “Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me” (Jer 3:19). Does God speak? It is the voice of a Father he hears. Does God chasten and rebuke? It is from his Father, he feels. Are his hopes disappointed, his plans crossed, his cisterns broken, his gourds withered? “My Father has done it all,” he exclaims. Blessed Spirit of adoption! Sweet pledge and evidence art Thou of the new creature.

God in Christ is now the object of confidence and trust. Trust in a reconciled God and Father was no mark and portion of his unrenewed state. It was then trust in self, in its imagined wisdom, strength, and goodness. It was then trust in the arm of flesh, in second causes. Now the soul trusts in God: trusts Him at all times and under all circumstances, trusts Him in the darkest hour, under the gloomiest dispensation, trusts Him when His providences look dark and lowering, and God seems to hide Himself. It even trusts Him “though He slay me” (Job 13:15)…Oh, how safe he feels in God’s hands and under His government now! His soul, his body, his family, his business, and his cares are completely surrendered, and God is all in all. Reader, this is to be born again.

SECOND, THE REGENERATE SOUL POSSESSES AND ACKNOWLEDGES A NEW SAVIOR.

How glorious, suitable, and precious is Jesus to him now! Not so formerly. Then he had his saviors, his “refuges of lies” (Isa 28:17), his many fatal confidences. Jesus was to him as “a root out of a dry ground: he [had] no form nor comeliness” (Isa 53:2). It may be that he denied His deity, rejected His atonement, scorned His grace, and slighted His pardon and His love. Christ is all to him now. He adores Him as the “mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace” (Isa 9:6), as “over all, God blessed for ever” (Rom 9:5); as “God…manifest in the flesh” (1Ti 3:16); as stooping to the nature of man, becoming bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh; as offering Himself up as the “propitiation for our sins” (1Jo 2:2); as dying, “the just for the unjust” (1Pe 3:18). His righteousness is glorious as justifying from all things (Act 13:39); His blood is precious as cleansing from all sin (1Jo 1:7). His fullness of grace is valued as supplying all need. Oh, how surpassingly glorious, inimitably lovely, and unutterably precious is Jesus to a renewed soul!

Truly a new Savior! “Other lords” he has renounced; “refuges of lies” he has turned his back upon; “false Christs” he no longer follows. He has found another and a better Savior—Jesus, the mighty God, the Redeemer of sinners, “the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom 10:4). All is new to his recovered sight; a new world of glory has floated before his mind. Jesus the Lamb is the light and glory thereof. Never did he suppose there was such beauty in His person, such love in His heart, such perfection in His work, such power and such willingness to save. That blood which was trampled underfoot is now precious. That righteousness which was scorned is now glorious. That name which was reviled is now as music to the soul, even a “name that is above every name” (Phi 2:9).

Jesus is his only Savior. Not an allowed confidence has he out of Christ. The covenant of “dead works” he has renounced. The Spirit, having brought him out of and away from it, has led him into the cov-enant of grace, the substance and stability and glory of which is Jesus. On the broad basis of Immanuel’s finished, atoning work he rests his whole soul; and the more he presses the foundation, the more he leans upon the cornerstone, the stronger and the more able to sustain him does he find it. True, he feels a self-righteous principle closely adhering to him all his journey through the wilderness. When he prays, it is there; when he speaks, it is there; when he labors, it is there; when he reflects, it is there. He detects it when suspicion of its existence would be most at rest. But in the sober moments of his judgment, when prostrate beneath the cross and looking up to God through Jesus, this principle is searched out, abhorred, confessed, and mourned over; and with the eye of faith upon a suffering Savior, the language of his expanding heart is, “Other refuge have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on Thee.”

THIRD, NEW AND ENLARGED VIEWS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT MARK A REGENERATE MIND.

Having received the Holy Ghost as a Quickener, he feels the need of Him now as a Teacher, a Sanctifier, a Comforter, and a Sealer. As a Teacher: discovering to him more of the hidden evil of the heart, more knowledge of God, of His Word and of His Son. As a Sanctifier: carrying forward the work of grace in the soul, impressing more deeply on the heart the Divine image and bringing every thought and feeling and word into sweet, holy, and filial obedience to the law of Jesus. As a Comforter: leading him in the hour of his deep trial to Christ; comforting, by unfolding the sympathy and tenderness of Jesus, and the exceeding preciousness and peculiar fitness of the many promises with which the Word of truth abounds for the consolation of the Lord’s afflicted. As a Sealer: impressing upon his heart the sense of pardon, acceptance, and adoption; and Himself entering, as the “earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph 1:14). Oh, what exalted views does he now have of the blessed and eternal Spirit—of His personal glory, His work, His offices, His influences, His love, tenderness, and faithfulness! The ear is open to the softest whisper of His voice; the heart expands to the gentlest impression of His sealing, sanctifying influence. Remembering that he is “a temple of the Holy Ghost” (1Co 6:19), he desires so to walk—humbly, softly, watchfully, and prayerfully. Avoiding everything that would grieve the Spirit, resigning every known sin that would dishonor and cause Him to withdraw, the one single aim of his life is to walk so as to please God, “that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1Pe 4:11).

[Next], it would be an imperfect enumeration of some of the strong features of the new creature did we omit to notice the growing nature and tendency of the vital principle of grace thus implanted in the heart of the regenerate. Nothing more strikingly and truly proves the reality, we would say the divinity, of the work within than the growing energy and holy tendency that ever accompany it. It is the property of that which has life in itself to increase, to multiply itself. The seed cast into the earth will germinate. Presently will appear the tender sprout; this will advance to the young sapling, and this in time to the gigantic tree with its overshadowing branches and richly laden with fruit. Obeying the law of its nature, it aspires to that perfection which belongs to it. It must grow. Nothing can prevent it but such a wound as will injure the vital principle or the cutting of it down entirely. The life of God in the soul of man contains the principle of growth. He that is not advancing—adding grace to grace, strength to strength; fruitful in every good word and work; increasing in the knowledge of God, of his own heart, of the preciousness, fullness, and all-sufficiency of Jesus; and in Divine conformity growing up into Christ in all things (Eph 4:15)—has great reason to suspect the absence of the Divine life in his soul…But the spirit we are now considering is that of a man truly “born again.” “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark…” (Phi 3:12-14). O holy resolve of a regenerate man! Here is the springing up of the well of living water in the heart. Here is the turning of the soul to God. See how the fountain rises! See how the flame ascends! It is the mighty energy of God the Holy Ghost drawing the soul upward, heavenward, God-ward!

Let not the Christian reader close this chapter with a burdened heart. Let no dear child of God write hard and bitter things against himself as he reads this last sentence. Let him not come to any hasty, unbelieving, doubting, and God-dishonoring conclusions. What are you to yourself—worthless, vile, empty? What is Jesus to you—precious, lovely, all your salvation, and all your desire? What is sin to you—the most hateful thing in the world? And what is holiness—the most lovely, the most longed for? What is the throne of grace to you—the most attractive spot? And the cross—the sweetest resting-place in the universe? What is God to you—your God and Father, the spring of all your joys, the fountainhead of all your bliss, the center where your affections meet? Is it so? Then you are born again; then you are a child of God; then you shall never die eternally. Cheer up, precious soul! The day of your redemption draws near. Those low views of yourself—that brokenness, that inward mourning, that secret confession, that longing for more spirituality, more grace, more devotedness, and more love does but prove the existence, reality, and growth of God’s work within you. God the Holy Spirit is there…Look up then, reader, and let the thought cheer you: that soul never perished that felt itself to be vile and Jesus to be precious.

From The Work of the Holy Spirit

“The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.”
—Psalm 112:6

Not only a man’s true life, but a man’s true history begins with his conversion. Up till that time, he is a being without a history. He has no story to tell. He is but part of a world lying in wickedness, having nothing about him worthy of a record.

I. GAINING A HISTORY

But from the moment that he is born again and thus taken out of the mass, he receives a personality, as well as a dignity, that fits him for having a history—a history that God can own as such and that God Himself will record. From that time, he has a story to tell, wondrous and divine, such as angels listen to, and over which there is joy in heaven.

In that broad ocean, there are millions of drops—yet they are one mingled mass of fluid; no one of them has a history. There may be a history of the ocean, but not of its individual drops. But, see, your drop is beginning to part from the mass. It takes hold of a sunbeam and rises into the firmament. There it gleams in the rainbow or brightens in the hues of sunset. It has now a history. From the moment that it came out of the mass and obtained a personality, it had a story to tell, a story of its own, a story of splendour and beauty.

Such is the case of a saint. From the moment that the hand of the Spirit is laid on him to begin the process of separation, from that moment his history begins. He then receives a conscious, outstanding personality, which fits him for having a history—a history entirely marvelous, a history whose pages are both written and read in heaven, a history that in its divine brightness spreads over eternity. His true dignity now commences. He is fit to take a place in history. Each event in his life becomes worthy of a record.

On earth, this history is one of suffering and dishonour, even as was that of the Master; but hereafter, in the kingdom, it is one of glory and honour. “All the time,” says Howe, “from the soul’s first conversion, God has been at work upon it, labouring, shaping it, polishing it, spreading His own glory on it, inlaying, enamelling it with glory. Now at last the whole work is revealed, the curtain is drawn aside, and the blessed soul awakes.” Then a new epoch in its history begins.

What that history is to be, we know not now. That it will be wondrous, we know; how wondrous we cannot conceive. That it will be very unlike our present one, we know—yet still not severed from it, but linked to it, nay, springing out of it as its root or seed. Our present life is the under-ground state of the plant; our future life, the shooting, blossoming, and fruitbearing; but the plant is the same, and the future depends for all its excellency and beauty upon the present.

II. GLORY

A. Defined

If life on earth, in all its various forms and unfoldings, be so very beautiful, what will it not be hereafter, when it unfolds itself to the full, transfused throughout all being with an intensity now unknown, as if almost becoming visible by means of the new glory that it then shall spread over all creation? “The wise shall inherit glory” (Pro 3:35). “Let the saints be joyful in glory” (Psa 149:5). They are “vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory” (Rom 9:23). That to which we are called is “eternal glory” (1Pe 5:10). That which we obtain is “salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2Ti 2:10). It is to glory that God is “bringing many sons” (Heb 2:10); so that as He, through Whom we are brought to it, is “crowned with glory and honour,” so shall we be (Heb 2:9). We are to “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1Pe 1:8). We are not only “a witness of the sufferings of Christ, [but] also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed” (1Pe 5:1). So that the word of exhortation runs thus: “Rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1Pe 4:13). And the promise is not only, “if we suffer, we shall also reign with him” (2Ti 2:12); but, “if we suffer with him…we may be also glorified together” (Rom 8:17).

This glory, then, is our portion. It is the “better thing” that God has provided for us, and because of which He is not ashamed to be called our God. This is the glory that throws all present suffering into the shade, making it to be eternally forgotten.

Glory is the concentrated essence of all that is holy, excellent, and beautiful. All being has its more and its less perfect parts; and its glory is that which is most perfect about it—to which, of course, that which is less perfect has, according to its measure, contributed. Light is the glory of the sun. Transparency is the glory of the stream. The flower is the glory of the plant. The soul is the glory of the man. The face is the glory of the body. And this glory is strangely manifold: “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory” (1Co 15:41).

What is really glorious is so hidden, so blighted, so intermixed with deformity and corruption here, that Scripture always speaks as if the whole glory were yet in reserve, none of it yet revealed—so that when He came to earth Who was “the brightness of LORD’s glory” (Eze 10:4; Heb 1:3), He was not recognized as the possessor of such glory; it was hidden, it shone not. Few eyes saw any glory at all in Him; none saw the extent or greatness of it. Even in His case, it did not appear what He was , nor what He shall be when He comes “to be glorified in his saints” (2Th 1:10).

B. From God

All that is glorious, whether visible or invisible, material or immaterial, natural or spiritual, must have its birth-place in God. “Of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever” (Rom 11:36). All glorious things come forth out of Him, and have their seeds, gems, or patterns in Himself. We say of that flower, “How beautiful!”; but the type of its beauty—the beauty of which it is the faint expression—is in God. We say of the star, “How bright!”; but the brightness that it represents or declares is in God. So of every object above and beneath. And so especially shall it be seen in the objects of glory that shall surround us in the kingdom of God. Of each thing there, as of the city itself, it shall be said, “it has the glory of God” (Rev 21:11).

Glory, then, is our inheritance. The best, the richest, the brightest, the most beautiful of all that is in God—of good, rich, bright, and beautiful— shall be ours. The glory that fills heaven above, the glory that spreads over the earth beneath, shall be ours. But while the glory of the terrestrial shall be ours, yet in a truer sense “the glory of the celestial” shall be ours (1Co 15:40). Already by faith we have taken our place amid things celestial: God “hath quickened us together with Christ…and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places” (Eph 2:5-6). Thus we have already claimed the celestial as our own; and having risen with Christ, we set our “affection upon things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:2). Farranging dominion shall be ours. With all varying shades and kinds of glory shall we be encompassed, circle beyond circle stretching over the universe. But it is the celestial glory that is so truly ours, as the redeemed and the risen; and in the midst of that celestial glory shall be the family mansion, the Church’s dwelling-place and palace—our true home for eternity.

III. HEAVEN

All that awaits us is glorious. There is…“an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away” (1Pe 1:4). There is a rest, a sabbath keeping in store for us (Heb 4:9); and this “rest shall be glorious” (Isa 11:10). The kingdom that we claim is a glorious kingdom. The crown that we are to wear is a glorious crown. The city of our habitation is a glorious city. The garments that shall clothe us are garments “for glory and for beauty” (Exo 28:2). Our bodies shall be glorious bodies, fashioned after the likeness of Christ’s “glorious body” (Phi 3:21). Our society shall be that of the glorified. Our songs shall be songs of glory. And of the region which we are to inhabit, it is said that “the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof ” (Rev 21:23).

The hope of this glory cheers us. From under a canopy of night, we look out upon these promised scenes of blessedness and we are comforted. Our dark thoughts are softened down even when they are not wholly brightened—for day is near and joy is near, the warfare is ending, the tear shall be dried up, and the shame [shall] be lost in the glory. We shall be presented “faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24).

Then the fruit of patience and of faith shall appear, and the hope we have so long been clinging to shall not put us to shame. Then shall we triumph and praise. Then shall we be avenged on death, pain, and sickness. Then shall every wound be more than healed. Egypt enslaves us no more. Babylon leads us captive no more. The Red Sea is crossed, the wilderness is passed, Jordan lies behind us, and we are in Jerusalem! There is no more curse; there is no more night. The tabernacle of God is with us; in that tabernacle He dwells, and we dwell with Him.

It is “the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus” (1Pe 5:10). It is “when the chief Shepherd shall appear,” that we “shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1Pe 5:4). And this after we “have suffered a while,” and by suffering have been made perfect, stablished, strengthened, and settled (1Pe 5:10)—so that suffering is not lost upon us: it prepares us for the glory. And the hope of that glory, as well as the knowledge of the discipline through which we are passing, and of the process of preparation going on in us, sustains us; nay, teaches us to “glory in tribulation.”

This comfort—nay, it is happiness—[is] strange in the world’s eye, but not strange in ours! All that the world has is but a poor imitation of happiness and consolation; ours is real, even now—how much more hereafter! Nor will a brief delay and a sore conflict lessen the weight of coming glory. Nay, they will add to it; and it is worth waiting for, it is worth suffering for, it is worth fighting for. It is so sure of coming, and so blessed when it comes.

“The mass of glory,” says Howe, “is yet in reserve; we are not yet so high as the highest heavens.” All this is hanging over us, inviting us on, stirring us up, loosening us from things present, so that the pain of loss, sickness, or bereavement falls more gently on us, and tends but to make us less vain and light—more thoroughly in earnest.

IV. THE GLORY OF CHRIST

“That they may behold my glory,” the Lord pleaded for His own (Joh 17:24). This is the sum of all. Other glories there will be, as we have seen, but this is the sum of all. It is the very utmost that even “the Lord of glory” could ask for them. Having sought this, He could seek no more; He could go no further. And our response to this is, “Shew me thy glory” (Exo 33:18); yes, and the glad confidence in which we rest is this, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake, with thy likeness” (Psa 17:15). This is our ambition, divine and blessed ambition, in which there is no pride, no presumption, and no excess! Nothing less can satisfy than the directest, fullest vision of incarnate glory. Self-emptied before the Infinite Majesty, and conscious of being wholly unworthy even of a servant’s place, we yet feel as if drawn irresistibly into the innermost circle and center, satisfied with nothing less than the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.

“The glory which thou gavest me I have given them” (Joh 17:22). No less than this—both in kind and amount—is the glory in reserve according to the promise of the Lord. The glory given to Him, He makes over to them! They “are made partakers of Christ” (Heb 3:14), and all that He has is theirs. Nay, and He says, “I have given”; as if it were already theirs by His gift, just as truly as it was His by the Father’s gift. He receives it from the Father only for the purpose of immediately handing it over to them! So that even here they can say, This glory is already mine, and I must live as one to whom such infinite glory belongs. “Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, [they] are changed into the same image from glory to glory” (2Co 3:18). To fret or despond is sad inconsistency in one who can say, even under sorest pressures, “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18). Look at them by themselves, and they do seem at times most overwhelming; place them side by side with the eternal glory, and they disappear.

From The Morning of Joy

“It is the spirit that quickeneth.”
—John 6:6

It will be perceived that, in unfolding His work, we commence with the Spirit’s first gracious and Divine act—the breathing of spiritual life in the soul. This must be regarded as an operation preceding all others. The Spirit’s work as a Quickener must ever precede His work as a Sanctifier and a Comforter. If we look for Him in any of His offices before we have received Him as the Author of Divine life in the soul, we reverse His own order and cover ourselves with disappointment. We enter upon the discussion of this subject the more readily and, we trust, prayerfully, from the conviction that the modern views of the doctrine of regeneration, as held and preached by many, are not only widely different from the old standards of doctrinal truth, but, which is more serious and deeply to be deplored, are such as the Word of God clearly and distinctly disowns, and upon which there rests the darkness of its frown.

Regeneration, as taught by many in the present day, differs widely from the doctrine as preached in the days of the Apostles and Reformers. In their writings and discourses, the basis was deeply and broadly laid in the original and total depravity of man. This doctrine is now by many greatly modified, if not absolutely denied. In the days of primitive Christianity, the utter helplessness of the creature and the absolute and indispensable necessity of the Holy Spirit’s influences in the regeneration of the soul were distinctly and rigidly enforced. Sentiments the reverse of these, subversive of the Scripture doctrine of regeneration and destructive of the best interests of the soul, are now zealously and widely promulgated. Surely this is a cause of deep humiliation before God. May He restore to His ministers and people a pure language, and graciously revive the precious, soul-humbling, Christ-honoring truths once the safeguard and the glory of our land.

We propose…a simple and Scriptural delineation of the doctrine of regeneration, the office of the Holy Spirit in its production, and some of the holy effects as traced in the life of a believer. May there descend on the reader the anointing of the Holy One, and may the truth empty, sanctify, and comfort the heart.

Regeneration is a work standing alone and distinct from all the other operations of the Divine Spirit. It is to be carefully distinguished from conversion, adoption, justification, and sanctification, and yet must be regarded as forming the basis and the springhead of them all. For instance, there can be no conversion without a principle of life in the soul, for conversion is the exercise of a spiritual power implanted in man. There can be no sense of adoption apart from a renewed nature, for adoption confers the privilege only, not the nature, of sons. There can be no comforting sense of acceptance in the Beloved until the mind has passed from death unto life, nor can there be the smallest advance in a conformity of the will and of the affections to the image of God while there is wanting in the soul the very root of holiness. Faith is a purifying grace, but faith is only found in the heart created anew in Christ Jesus. There must necessarily be the spiritual renewal of the whole man before the soul can pass into an adopted, justified, and sanctified state. Reader, ponder seriously this solemn truth.

From The Work of the Holy Spirit

They shall see his face.
—Revelations 22:4

It is the chief blessing of heaven, the cream of heaven, the heaven of heaven, that the saints shall there see Jesus. There will be other things to see: who dare despise those foundations of chrysolite, chrysoprasus and jacinth? Who shall speak lightly of streets of glassy gold and gates of pearl? We would not forget that we shall see angels, seraphim, and cherubim; nor would we fail to remember that we shall see apostles, martyrs, and confessors, together with those whom we have walked with and communed with in our Lord while here below. We shall assuredly behold those of our departed kindred who sleep in Jesus, dear to us here and dear to us still, “not lost, but gone before.” But still, for all this, the main thought that we now have of heaven, and certainly the main fullness of it when we shall come there, is just this: we shall see Jesus!

We shall care little for any of those imaginary occupations, which have such charms for a certain class of minds that they could even find a heaven in them. I have read fanciful periods in which the writer has found celestial joys to consist in an eternal progress in the knowledge of the laws of God’s universe. Such is not my heaven. Knowledge is not happiness, but on the contrary, is often an increase of sorrow. Knowing, of itself, does not make men happy nor holy. For mere knowing’s sake, I would as soon not know as know, if I had my choice: better to love an ounce than to know a pound; better a little service than much knowledge. I desire to know what God pleases to teach me; but beyond that, even ignorance shall be my bliss. Some have talked of flitting from star to star, seeing the wonders of God throughout the universe—who He rules in this province of His wide domain, [and] how He governs in that other region of His vast dominion. It may be so, but it would be no heaven to me.

I. WHAT IT IS TO SEE CHRIST

A. Seeing Christ

So far as I can at present judge, I would rather stop at home and sit at the feet of Christ forever, than roam over the wide creation.

The spacious earth and spreading flood
Proclaim the wise and powerful God,
And Thy rich glories from afar
Sparkle in every rolling star.
Yet in Christ’s looks a glory stands,
The noblest wonder of God’s hands;
He, in the person of His Son,
Has all His mightiest works outdone.

If Jesus were not infinite we should not speak so; but since He is in His person divine, and as to His manhood so nearly allied to us that the closest possible sympathy exists between us, there will always be fresh subjects for thought, fresh sources for enjoyment, for those who are taken up with Him. Certainly, brethren and sisters, to no believer would heaven be desirable if Jesus were not there, or, if being there, they could not enjoy the nearest and dearest fellowship with Him. A sight of Him first turned our sorrow into joy; renewed communion with Him lifts us above our present cares, and strengthens us to bear our heavy burdens: what must heavenly communion be? When we have Christ with us, we are content on a crust and satisfied with a cup of water; but if His face be hidden, the whole world cannot afford a solace, we are widowed of our Beloved, our sun has set, our moon is eclipsed, our candle is blown out. Christ is all in all to us here, and therefore we pant and long for a heaven in which He shall be all in all to us forever— and such will the heaven of God be. The paradise of God is not the Elysium of imagination, the Utopia of intellect, or the Eden of poetry; but it is the heaven of intense spiritual fellowship with the Lord Jesus—a place where it is promised to faithful souls that “they shall see his face.”

In the beatific vision, it is Christ Whom they see; and further, it is His face that they behold. They shall not see the skirts of His robe, as Moses saw the back parts of Jehovah (Exo 33:22-23); they shall not be satisfied to touch the hem of His garment, or to sit far down at His feet where they can only see His sandals, but they “shall see his face.” By [this] I understand two things: first, that they shall literally and physically, with their risen bodies, actually look into the face of Jesus; and secondly, that spiritually their mental faculties shall be enlarged, so that they shall be enabled to look into the very heart, soul, and character of Christ, so as to understand Him, His work, His love, His all in all, as they never understood Him before. They shall literally, I say, see His face; for Christ is no phantom; and in heaven, though divine and therefore spiritual, He is still a man, and therefore material like ourselves. The very flesh and blood that suffered upon Calvary is in heaven; the hand that was pierced with the nail, now, at this moment, grasps the scepter of all worlds; that very head which was bowed down with anguish, is now crowned with a royal diadem; and the face that was so marred, is the very face that beams resplendent amidst the thrones of heaven. Into that selfsame countenance we shall be permitted to gaze. O what a sight! Roll by, ye years; hasten on, ye laggard months and days—to let us but for once behold Him, our Beloved, our hearts’ care, Who “redeemed us to God by [his] blood” (Rev 5:9), Whose we are, and Whom we love with such a passionate desire, that to be in His embrace we would be satisfied to suffer ten thousand deaths! They shall actually see Jesus.

B. Knowing

Yet the spiritual sight will be sweeter still. I think the text implies that in the next world our powers of mind will be very different from what they are now. We are, the best of us, in our infancy as yet and know but in part; but we shall be men then, we shall “put away childish things” (1Co 13:11). We shall see and know even as we are known; and amongst the great things that we shall know will be this greatest of all: that we shall know Christ—we shall know the heights, depths, lengths, and breadths of the love of Christ that passeth knowledge (Eph 3:18-19). O how delightful it will be then to understand His everlasting love; how, without beginning or ever the earth was, His thoughts darted forward towards His dear ones, whom He had chosen in the sovereignty of His choice, that they should be His forever (Eph 1:4)!

What a subject for delightful meditation will the covenant be, and Christ’s suretyship engagements in that covenant when He undertook to take the debts of all His people upon Himself, to pay them all, and to stand and suffer in their room! And what thoughts shall we have then of our union with Christ—our federal, vital, conjugal oneness! We only talk about these things now, we do not really understand them. We merely plough the surface and gather a topsoil harvest, but a richer subsoil lies beneath. Brethren, in heaven we shall dive into the lowest depths of fellowship with Jesus. We “shall see his face,” that is, we shall see clearly and plainly all that has to do with our Lord (see 1Co 13:12); and this shall be the topmost bliss of heaven.

C. Always

In the blessed vision, the saints see Jesus, and they see Him clearly. We may also remark that they see Him always; for when the text says “They shall see his face,” it implies that they never at any time are without the sight. Never for a moment do they unlock their arm from the arm of their Beloved. They are not as we are—sometimes near the throne, and anon afar off by backslidings; sometimes hot with love, and then cold with indifference; sometimes bright as seraphs, and then dull as clods—but forever and ever they are in closest association with the Master, for “they shall see his face.”

D. As He Is

Best of all, they see His face as it is now in all its glory. John tells us what that will be like: In his first chapter [of the Revelation,] he says, “His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow” (v. 14), to mark His antiquity, for He is the Ancient of days. “And his eyes were as a flame of fire…and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” (v. 14, 16). Such is the vision that the redeemed enjoy before the throne: their Lord is all brightness, and in Him there is nothing to weep over, nothing to mar His glory.

Traces there doubtless are upon that wondrous face of all the griefs He once endured, but these only make Him more glorious. He looks like a lamb that has been slain and wears His priesthood still; but all that has to do with the shame and the spitting and slaughter, has been so transformed that the sight is all blissful, all comforting, all glorious—in His face there is nothing to excite a tear or to beget a sigh. I wish my lips were unloosed and my thoughts were free, that I could tell you something more of this sight, but indeed it is not given unto mortal tongues to talk of these things. And I suppose that if we were caught up to see His face and should come back again, yet should we have to say, like Paul, that we had heard and seen that which it was not lawful for us to utter (2Co 12:4). God will not as yet reveal these things fully to us, but He reserves His best wine for the last. We can but give you a few glimpses; but O beloved, wait a little; it shall not be long ere you also shall see His face!

II. HOW WE SHALL SEE CHRIST

“They shall see his face.” The word see sounds in my ears with a clear, full, melodious note. Methinks we see but little here. This, indeed, is not the world of sight: “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2Co 5:7). Around us all is mist and cloud. What we do see, we see only as if men were trees walking (Mar 8:24). If ever we get a glimpse of the spirit-world, it is like yonder momentary lightning-flash in the darkness of the tempest, which opens for an instant the gates of heaven; and in the twinkling of an eye they are closed again, and the darkness is denser than before, as if it were enough for us poor mortals to know that there is a brightness denied to us as yet.

The saints see the face of Jesus in heaven because they are purified from sin. The pure in heart are blessed: they shall see God, and none others (Mat 5:8). It is because of our impurity which still remains that we cannot as yet see His face, but their eyes are touched with eye-salve and therefore they see. Ah, brethren, how often does our Lord Jesus hide Himself behind the clouds of dust that we ourselves make by our unholy walking. If we become proud, selfish, or slothful, or fall into any other of our besetting sins, then our eye loses its capacity to behold the brightness of our Lord; but up yonder they not only do not sin, but they cannot sin. They are not tempted; there is no space for the tempter to work upon, even could he be admitted to try them. They are without fault before the throne of God; and, surely, this alone is a heaven: to be rid of inbred sin and the plague of the heart, and to have ended forever the struggle of spiritual life against the crushing power of the fleshly power of death. They may well see His face when the scales of sin have been taken from their eyes, and they have become pure as God Himself is pure.

They surely see His face the more clearly because all the clouds of care are gone from them. Some of you while sitting here today have been trying to lift up your minds to heavenly contemplation, but you cannot; the business has gone so wrong this week; the children have vexed you so much; sickness has been in the house so sorely; you yourself feel in your body quite out of order for devotion—these enemies break your peace. Now they are vexed by none of these things in heaven, and therefore they can see their Master’s face. They are not cumbered with Martha’s cares; they still occupy Mary’s seat at His feet (Luk 10:41-42). When shall you and I have laid aside the farm, the merchandise, the marrying, and the burying, which come so fast upon each other’s heels, and when shall we be forever with the Lord,

Far from a world of grief and sin,
With God eternally shut in?

Moreover, as they have done with sins and cares, so have they done with sorrows. “There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev 21:4). We are none of us quite strangers to grief, and with some of us pain is an inseparable companion; we dwell in the smoky tents of Kedar still (Psa 120:1, 5). Perhaps it is well that we should so be tried while we are here, for sanctified sorrow refines the soul; but in glory there is no affliction, for the pure gold needeth not the furnace. Well may they then behold Christ when there are no tears to dim their eyes, no smoke of this world to rise up between them and their Beloved; but they are alike free from sin, care, and sorrow. They see His face right gloriously in that cloudless atmosphere and in the light which He Himself supplies.

Moreover, the glorified see His face the more clearly because there are no idols to stand between Him and them. Our idolatrous love of worldly things is a chief cause of our knowing so little of spiritual things. Because we love this and that so much, we see so little of Christ. Thou canst not fill thy lifecup from the pools of earth, and yet have room in it for the crystal streams of heaven. But they have no idols there—nothing to occupy the heart, no rival for the Lord Jesus. He reigns supreme within their spirits, and therefore they see His face.

They have no veils of ignorance or prejudice to darken their sight in heaven. Those of us who most candidly endeavour to learn the truth, are nevertheless in some degree biased and warped by education. Let us struggle as we may, yet still our surroundings will not permit us to see things as they are. There is a deflection in our vision, a refraction in the air, a something everywhere which casts the beam of light out of its straight line, so that we see rather the appearance than the reality of truth. We see not with open sight; our vision is marred; but up yonder, among the golden harps, they know even as they are known (1Co 13:12). They have no prejudices, but a full desire to know the truth; the bias is gone, and therefore they are able to see His face. O blessed thought! One could almost wish to sit down and say no more, but just roll that sweet morsel under one’s tongue, and extract the essence and sweetness of it. “They see his face.” There is no long distance for the eye to travel over, for they are near Him; they are in His bosom; they are sitting on His throne at His right hand. No withdrawals there to mourn over: their sun shall no more go down. Here He stands behind our wall; He showeth Himself through the lattices; but He hides not Himself in heaven. O when shall the long summer days of glory be ours, and Jesus our undying joy forever and ever? In heaven they never pray, “Oh may no earthborn cloud arise To hide thee from thy servant’s eyes”; but forever and for aye they bask in the sunlight, or rather, like Milton’s angel, they live in the sun itself. They come not to the sea’s brink to wade into it up to the ankles, but they swim in bliss forever. In waves of everlasting rest, in richest, closest fellowship with Jesus, they disport themselves with ineffable delight.

From The Heaven of Heaven, 1868; Sermon 824; Vol. 14, 433

Charity never faileth.
—1 Corinthians 13:8

I. THE PRINCIPLE OF LOVE IN HEAVEN

By the principle of love in heaven I mean the love itself that fills and blesses the heavenly world, and that may be noticed both as to its nature and degree.

1. As to its nature. In its nature, this love is altogether holy and divine. Most of the love that there is in this world is of an unhallowed nature. But the love that has place in heaven is not carnal but spiritual. It does not proceed from corrupt principles or selfish motives, nor is it directed to mean and vile purposes and ends. As opposed to all this, it is a pure flame directed by holy motives, and aiming at no ends inconsistent with God’s glory and the happiness of the universe. The saints in heaven love God for His own sake, and each other for God’s sake—and for the sake of the relation that they have to Him, and the image of God that is upon them. All their love is pure and holy. We may notice this love, also,

2. As to its degree. In degree, it is perfect. The love that dwells in the heart of God is perfect, with an absolutely infinite and divine perfection. The love of angels and saints to God and Christ, is perfect in its kind, or with such a perfection as is proper to their nature. It is perfect with a sinless perfection, and perfect in that it is commensurate to the capacities of their nature. So it is said in the text that “when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” Their love shall be without any remains of any contrary principle, having no pride or selfishness to interrupt it or hinder its exercises. Their hearts shall be full of love. That which was in the heart on earth as but a grain of mustard-seed, shall be as a great tree in heaven…

In heaven there shall be no remaining enmity, distaste, coldness, or deadness of heart towards God and Christ. Not the least remainder of any principle of envy shall exist to be exercised toward angels or other beings who are superior in glory; nor shall there be aught like contempt or slighting of those who are inferiors. Those that have a lower station in glory than others, suffer no diminution of their own happiness by seeing others above them in glory. On the contrary, all the members of that blessed society rejoice in each other’s happiness, for the love of benevolence is perfect in them all…

There is undoubtedly an inconceivably pure, sweet, and fervent love between the saints in glory…Those that are highest in glory are those that are highest in holiness, and therefore are those that are most beloved by all the saints—for they most love those that are most holy, and so they will all rejoice in their being the most happy. And it will not be a grief to any of the saints to see those that are higher than themselves in holiness and likeness to God, more loved also than themselves, for all shall have as much love as they desire, and as great manifestations of love as they can bear; and so all shall be fully satisfied; and where there is perfect satisfaction, there can be no reason for envy…

And the superior in glory will be so far from slighting those that are inferior, that they will have most abundant love to them—greater degrees of love in proportion to their superior knowledge and happiness. The higher any are in glory, the more they are like Christ in this respect, so that the love of the higher to the lower will be greater than the love of the equals of the latter to them.

And what puts it beyond all doubt that seeing the superior happiness of others will not be a damp to the happiness of the inferior, is this: that their superior happiness consists in their greater humility and in their greater love to them, to God, and to Christ, than the inferior will have in themselves. Such will be the sweet and perfect harmony among the heavenly saints, and such the perfect love reigning in every heart toward every other, without limit, alloy, or interruption. No envy, malice, revenge, contempt, or selfishness shall ever enter there, but all such feelings shall be kept as far away as sin is from holiness, and as hell is from heaven!

II. THE EXCELLENT CIRCUMSTANCES OF HEAVEN

Let us next consider, The excellent circumstances in which love shall be exercised, blessed, and enjoyed in heaven.

1. Love in heaven is always mutual. It is always met with answerable returns of love, with returns that are proportioned to its exercise. Such returns love always seeks; and just in proportion as any person is beloved, in the same proportion is his love desired and prized. And in heaven, this desire of love, or this fondness for being loved, will never fail of being satisfied. No inhabitants of that blessed world will ever be grieved with the thought that they are slighted by those that they love, or that their love is not fully and fondly returned.

As the saints will love God with an inconceivable ardency of heart and to the utmost of their capacity, so they will know that He has loved them from all eternity, and still loves them, and will continue to love them forever. And God will then gloriously manifest Himself to them, and they shall know that all that happiness and glory which they are possessed of, are the fruits of His love…

2. The joy of heavenly love shall never be interrupted or damped by jealousy. Heavenly lovers will have no doubt of the love of each other. They shall have no fear that the declarations and professions of love are hypocritical; but shall be perfectly satisfied of the sincerity and strength of each other’s affection, as much as if there were a window in every breast so that everything in the heart could be seen. There shall be no such thing as flattery or dissimulation in heaven, but there perfect sincerity shall reign through all and in all. Every one will be just what he seems to be, and will really have all the love that he seems to have. It will not be as in this world, where comparatively few things are what they seem to be, and where professions are often made lightly and without meaning. But there every expression of love shall come from the bottom of the heart, and all that is professed shall be really and truly felt.

The saints shall know that God loves them, and they shall never doubt the greatness of His love. They shall have no doubt of the love of all their fellow inhabitants in heaven, and they shall not be jealous of the constancy of each other’s love. They shall have no suspicion that the love which others have felt toward them is abated, or in any degree withdrawn from themselves for the sake of some rival, or by reason of anything in themselves which they suspect is disagreeable to others, or through any inconstancy in their own hearts or the hearts of others. Nor will they be in the least afraid that the love of any will ever be abated toward them…

3. There shall be nothing within themselves to clog or hinder the saints in heaven in the exercises and expressions of love. In this world, the saints find much to hinder them in this respect. They have a great deal of dullness and heaviness. They carry about with them a heavy-molded body, a clod of earth, a mass of flesh and blood that is not fitted to be the organ for a soul inflamed with high exercises of divine love; but which is found a great clog and hindrance to the spirit, so that they cannot express their love to God as they would, and cannot be so active and lively in it as they desire…

But in heaven, they shall have no such hindrance. There they will have no dullness and unwieldiness, and no corruption of heart to war against divine love and hinder its expressions; and there no earthly body shall clog with its heaviness the heavenly flame. The saints in heaven shall have no difficulty in expressing all their love. Their souls being on fire with holy love shall not be like a fire pent up, but like a flame uncovered and at liberty…Nothing shall hinder them from communing with God, and praising and serving Him just as their love inclines them to do. Love naturally desires to express itself; and in heaven the love of the saints shall be at full liberty to express itself as it desires, whether it be towards God or to created beings.

4. In heaven, love will be expressed with perfect decency and wisdom. Many in this world that are sincere in their hearts, and have indeed a principle of true love to God and their neighbor, yet have not discretion to guide them in the manner and circumstances of expressing it. Their intentions, and so their speeches, are good, but often not suitably timed nor discreetly ordered as to circumstances, but are attended with an indiscreetness that greatly obscures the loveliness of grace in the eyes of others. But in heaven, the amiableness and excellence of their love shall not be obscured by any such means. There shall be no indecent, unwise, or dissonant speeches or actions—no foolish and sentimental fondness, no needless officiousness, no low or sinful propensities of passion, and no such thing as affections clouding or deluding reason, or going before or against it. But wisdom and discretion shall be as perfect in the saints as love is, and every expression of their love shall be attended with the most amiable and perfect decency, discretion, and wisdom.

5. There shall be nothing external in heaven to keep its inhabitants at a distance from each other, or to hinder their most perfect enjoyment of each other’s love. There shall be no wall of separation in heaven to keep the saints asunder, nor shall they be hindered from the full and complete enjoyment of each other’s love by distance of habitation, for they shall all be together, as one family, in their heavenly Father’s house. Nor shall there be any want of full acquaintance to hinder the greatest possible intimacy…

6. In heaven all shall be united together in very near and dear relations. Love always seeks a near relation to the one who is beloved; and in heaven they shall all be nearly allied and related to each other. All shall be nearly related to God the supreme object of their love, for they shall all be His children. And all shall be nearly related to Christ, for He shall be the head of the whole society, and the husband of the whole Church of saints, all of whom together shall constitute His spouse. And they shall all be related to each other as brethren, for all will be but one society, or rather but one family, and all members of the household of God.

7. In heaven all shall have property and ownership in each other. Love seeks to have the beloved its own; and divine love rejoices in saying, “My beloved is mine, and I am his” (Song 2:16). And in heaven, all shall not only be related one to another, but they shall be each other’s and belong to each other. The saints shall be God’s. He brings them home to Himself in glory as that part of the creation that He has chosen for His peculiar treasure. And on the other hand, God shall be theirs, made over to them in an everlasting covenant in this world, and now they shall be forever in full possession of Him as their portion.

And the saints shall be Christ’s, for He has bought them with a price; and He shall be theirs, for He that gave Himself for them will have given Himself to them. In the bonds of mutual and everlasting love, Christ and the saints will have given themselves to each other…

8. In heaven they shall enjoy each other’s love in perfect and uninterrupted prosperity. What often on earth alloys the pleasure and sweetness of worldly pleasure is that, though persons live in love, yet they live in poverty, or meet with great difficulties and sore afflictions whereby they are grieved for themselves and for one another. Though in such cases love and friendship in some respects lighten the burden to be borne, yet in other respects they rather add to its weight, because those that love each other become, by their very love, sharers in each other’s afflictions—so that each has not only his own trials to bear, but those also of his afflicted friends. But there shall be no adversity in heaven to give occasion for a pitiful grief of spirit, or to molest or disturb those who are heavenly friends in the enjoyment of each other’s friendship. But they shall enjoy one another’s love in the greatest prosperity, in glorious riches and comfort, and in the highest honor and dignity, reigning together in the heavenly kingdom—inheriting all things, sitting on thrones, all wearing crowns of life, and being made kings and priests unto God forever…

9. In heaven all things shall conspire to promote their love, and give advantage for mutual enjoyment. There shall be none there to tempt any to dislike or hatred; no busybodies or malicious adversaries to make misrepresentations, create misunderstandings, or spread abroad any evil reports; but every being and everything shall conspire to promote love and the full enjoyment of love. Heaven itself, the place of habitation, is a garden of pleasures, a heavenly paradise, fitted in all respects for an abode of heavenly love; a place where they may have sweet society and perfect enjoyment of each other’s love. None are unsocial or distant from each other. The petty distinctions of this world do not draw lines in the society of heaven, but all meet in the equality of holiness and of holy love.

10. The inhabitants of heaven shall know that they shall forever be continued in the perfect enjoyment of each other’s love. They shall know that God and Christ shall be forever with them as their God and portion, and that His love shall be continued and fully manifested forever, and that all their beloved fellow-saints shall forever live with them in glory, and shall forever keep up the same love in their hearts which they now have. And they shall know that they themselves shall ever live to love God and love the saints, and to enjoy their love in all its fulness and sweetness forever. They shall be in no fear of any end to this happiness, or of any abatement from its fulness and blessedness, or that they shall ever be weary of its exercises and expressions, or cloyed with its enjoyments, or that the beloved objects shall ever grow old or disagreeable, so that their love shall at last die away.
All in heaven shall flourish in immortal youth and freshness. Age will not there diminish anyone’s beauty or vigor; and their love shall abide in everyone’s heart as a living spring perpetually springing up in the soul, or as a flame that never dies away. And the holy pleasure of this love shall be as a river that is forever flowing clear and full, and increasing continually…

III. THE FRUITS OF THE LOVE OF HEAVEN

Of the many blessed fruits of it, I would at this time mention but two.

1. The most excellent and perfect behavior of all the inhabitants of heaven toward God and each other. Divine love is the sum of all good principles, and therefore the fountain whence proceed all amiable and excellent actions. And as in heaven this love will be perfect, to the perfect exclusion of all sin consisting in enmity against God and fellow creatures, so the fruit of it will be a most perfect behavior toward all. Hence life in heaven will be without the least sinful failure or error. None shall ever come short or turn aside from the way of holiness in the least degree, but every feeling and action shall be perfect in itself and in all its circumstances…

2. Perfect tranquillity and joy in heaven. Holy and humble Christian love is a principle of wonderful power to give ineffable quietness and tranquillity to the soul. It banishes all disturbance, and sweetly composes and brings rest to the spirit, and makes all divinely calm, sweet, and happy. In that soul where divine love reigns and is in lively exercise, nothing can cause a storm or even gather threatening clouds.

There are many principles contrary to love that make this world like a tempestuous sea. Selfishness, envy, revenge, jealousy, and kindred passions keep life on earth in a constant tumult; and make it a scene of confusion and uproar, where no quiet rest is to be enjoyed except in renouncing this world and looking to another. But oh! what rest is there in that world which the God of peace and love fills with His own gracious presence, and in which the Lamb of God lives and reigns, filling it with the brightest and sweetest beams of His love; where there is nothing to disturb or offend, and no being or object to be seen that is not surrounded with perfect amiableness and sweetness; where the saints shall find and enjoy all that they love, and so be perfectly satisfied; where there is no enemy and no enmity, but perfect love in every heart and to every being; where there is perfect harmony among all the inhabitants, no one envying another, but everyone rejoicing in the happiness of every other; where all their love is humble and holy, and perfectly Christian, without the least carnality or impurity; where love is always mutual and reciprocated to the full; where there is no hypocrisy or dissembling, but perfect simplicity and sincerity; where there is no treachery, unfaithfulness, inconstancy, or jealousy in any form; where there is no clog or hindrance to the exercises or expressions of love, no imprudence or indecency in expressing it, and no influence of folly or indiscretion in any word or deed; where there is no separation wall, and no misunderstanding or strangeness, but full acquaintance and perfect intimacy in all; where there is no division through different opinions or interests, but where all in that glorious and loving society shall be most nearly and divinely related, and each shall belong to every other, and all shall enjoy each other in perfect prosperity and riches, and honor, without any sickness, grief, persecution, sorrow, any enemy to molest them, or any busybody to create jealousy or misunderstanding or mar the perfect, holy, and blessed peace that reigns in heaven!

And all this in the garden of God—in the paradise of love, where everything is filled with love, and everything conspires to promote and kindle it, and keep up its flame; and nothing ever interrupts it, but everything has been fitted by an all-wise God for its full enjoyment under the greatest advantages forever! And all, too, where the beauty of the beloved objects shall never fade, and love shall never grow weary nor decay, but the soul shall more and more rejoice in love forever!…

And oh! what joy will there be, springing up in the hearts of the saints after they have passed through their wearisome pilgrimage, to be brought to such a paradise as this! Here is joy unspeakable indeed, and full of glory (1Pe 1:8)—joy that is humble, holy, enrapturing, and divine in its perfection!…All shall stand about the God of glory, Who is the great fountain of love, opening, as it were, their very souls to be filled with those effusions of love that are poured forth from His fullness, just as the flowers on the earth, in the bright and joyous days of spring, open their bosoms to the sun to be filled with his light and warmth, and to flourish in beauty and fragrancy under his cheering rays.

From Charity and Its Fruits, “Heaven, a World, of Charity or Love.”

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
—1 Corinthians 13:10

I. TO THE IMPENITENT

This subject [of heaven] may well awaken and alarm the impenitent,

A. First, by putting them in mind of their misery, in that they have no portion or right in this world of love. You have heard what has been said of heaven, what kind of glory and blessedness is there, and how happy the saints and angels are in that world of perfect love. But consider that none of this belongs to you. When you hear of such things, you hear of that in which you have no interest. No such person as you, a wicked hater of God and Christ, and one that is under the power of a spirit of enmity against all that is good, shall ever enter there. Such as you are never belong to the faithful Israel of God, and shall never enter their heavenly rest. It may be said to you, as Peter said to Simon “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God” (Act 8:21); and as Nehemiah said to Sanballat and his associates “Ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem” (Neh 2:20).

If such a soul as yours should be admitted into heaven, that world of love, how nauseous would it be to those blest spirits whose souls are as a flame of love; and how would it discompose that loving and blessed society, and put everything in confusion! It would make heaven no longer heaven if such souls should be admitted there. It would change it from a world of love to a world of hatred, pride, envy, malice, and revenge as this world is! But this shall never be; and the only alternative is, that such as you shall be shut out with “dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie” (Rev 22:15); that is, with all that is vile, unclean, and unholy.

B. Secondly, [this may alarm the impenitent] by showing them that they are in danger of hell, which is a world of hatred. There are three worlds. One is this, which is an intermediate world—a world in which good and evil are so mixed together as to be a sure sign that this world is not to continue forever. Another is heaven, a world of love, without any hatred. And the other is hell, a world of hatred, where there is no love, which is the world to which all of you who are in a Christless state properly belong. This last is the world where God manifests His displeasure and wrath, as in heaven He manifests His love. Everything in hell is hateful. There is not one solitary object there that is not odious and detestable, horrid and hateful. There is no person or thing to be seen there that is amiable or lovely; nothing that is pure, holy, or pleasant; but everything abominable and odious. There are no beings there but devils and damned spirits that are like devils. Hell is, as it were, a vast den of poisonous hissing serpents: the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and with him all his hateful brood.

In that dark world there are none but those whom God hates with a perfect and everlasting hatred. He exercises no love, and extends no mercy, to any one object there, but pours out upon them horrors without mixture. All things in the wide universe that are hateful shall be gathered together in hell, as in a vast receptacle provided on purpose, that the universe which God has made may be cleansed of its filthiness by casting it all into this great sink of wickedness and woe. It is a world prepared on purpose for the expression of God’s wrath. He has made hell for this; and He has no other use for it but there to testify forever His hatred of sin and sinners, where there is no token of love or mercy. There is nothing there but what shows forth the divine indignation and wrath. Every object shows forth wrath. It is a world all overflowed with a deluge of wrath, as it were, with a deluge of liquid fire, so as to be called a lake of fire and brimstone, and the second death.

There are none in hell but what have been haters of God, and so have procured His wrath and hatred on themselves; and there they shall continue to hate Him forever. No love to God will ever be felt in hell; but everyone there perfectly hates Him, and so will continue to hate Him, and without any restraint will express their hatred to Him, blaspheming and raging against Him while they gnaw their tongues for pain. And though they all join together in their enmity and opposition to God, yet there is no union or friendliness among themselves—they agree in nothing but hatred and the expression of hatred. They hate God, Christ, angels, and saints in heaven; and not only so, but they hate one another, like a company of serpents or vipers, not only spitting out venom against God, but at one another, biting and stinging and tormenting each other.

The devils in hell will hate damned souls. They hated them while in this world, and therefore it was that, with such subtlety and [tireless] temptations, they sought their ruin. They…longed to get them in their power to torment them…therefore, they flew upon their souls like hell-hounds as soon as ever they were parted from their bodies, full of eagerness to torment them. And now they have them in their power; they will spend eternity in tormenting them with the utmost strength and cruelty that devils are capable of…

In hell, all those principles will reign and rage that are contrary to love, without any restraining grace to keep them within bounds. Here will be unrestrained pride, malice, envy, revenge, and contention in all its fury and without end, never knowing peace. The miserable inhabitants will bite and devour one another, as well as be enemies to God, Christ, and holy beings. Those who, in their wickedness on earth, were companions together and had a sort of carnal friendship one for another, will here have no appearance of fellowship; but perfect, continual, and undisguised hatred will exist between them. As on earth they promoted each other’s sins, so now in hell they will promote each other’s punishment…

Now consider, all ye that are out of Christ, and that were never born again, and that never had any blessed renovation of your hearts by the Holy Spirit implanting divine love in them, and leading you to choose the happiness that consists in holy love as your best and sweetest good, and to spend your life in struggling after holiness—consider your danger, and what is before you. For this is the world to which ye are condemned; and so the world to which you belong through the sentence of the Law; and the world that every day and hour you are in danger of having your abode everlastingly fixed in; and the world to which, if you repent not, you will soon go, instead of going to that blessed world of love of which you have now heard.

Consider, oh! consider, that it is indeed thus with you. These things are not cunningly-devised fables, but the great and dreadful realities of God’s Word, and things that, in a little while, you will know with everlasting certainty are true. How, then, can you rest in such a state as you are in, and go about so carelessly from day to day, and so heedless and negligent of your precious, immortal souls? Consider seriously these things, and be wise for yourself before it is too late; before your feet stumble on the dark mountains and you fall into the world of wrath and hatred, where there is weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, with spiteful malice and rage against God, Christ, and one another, and with horror and anguish of spirit forever. Flee to the stronghold while ye are prisoners of hope, before the door of hope is closed, and the agonies of the second death shall begin their work, and your eternal doom is sealed!

II. SEEKING HEAVEN

A. Seeking Heaven

If heaven be such a blessed world, then let it be our chosen country, and the inheritance that we look for and seek. Let us turn our course this way and press on to its possession. It is not impossible but that this glorious world may be obtained by us. It is offered to us. Though it be so excellent and blessed a country, yet God stands ready to give us an inheritance there, if it be but the country that we desire, and will choose and diligently seek. God gives us our choice (Joh 1:12; Mat 11:28-30). We may have our inheritance wherever we choose it, and may obtain heaven if we will but seek it by patient continuance in well-doing…

Let what we have heard of the land of love stir us all up to turn our faces toward it and bend our course thitherward. Is not what we have heard of the happy state of that country and the many delights that are in it, enough to make us thirst after it, and to cause us, with the greatest earnestness and steadfastness of resolution, to press towards it, and spend our whole lives in traveling in the way that leads thither? What joyful news might it well be to us when we hear of such a world of perfect peace and holy love, and to hear that it is possible, yea, that there is full opportunity, for us to come to it, and spend an eternity in its joys!

B. How to Seek Heaven

First, let not your heart go after the things of this world as your chief good. Indulge not yourself in the possession of earthly things as though they were to satisfy your soul. This is the reverse of seeking heaven; it is to go in a way contrary to that which leads to the world of love. If you would seek heaven, your affections must be taken off from the pleasures of the world. You must not allow yourself in sensuality, worldliness, or the pursuit of the enjoyments or honors of the world, or occupy your thoughts or time in heaping up the dust of the earth. You must mortify the desires of vain-glory, and become poor in spirit and lowly in heart.

Second, you must, in your meditations and holy exercises, be much engaged in conversing with heavenly persons, objects, and enjoyments. You cannot constantly be seeking heaven without having your thoughts much there. Turn, then, the stream of your thoughts and affections towards that world of love, and towards the God of love that dwells there, and toward the saints and angels that are at Christ’s right hand. Let your thoughts, also, be much on the objects and enjoyments of the world of love. Commune much with God and Christ in prayer, and think often of all that is in heaven, of the friends who are there, and the praises and worship there, and of all that will make up the blessedness of that world of love. Let your conversation be in heaven (Phi 3:20).

Third, be content to pass through all difficulties in the way to heaven. Though the path is before you, and you may walk in it if you desire, yet it is a way that is ascending and filled with many difficulties and obstacles. That glorious city of light and love is, as it were, on the top of a high hill or mountain, and there is no way to it but by upward and arduous steps. But though the ascent be difficult and the way full of trials, still it is worth your while to meet them all for the sake of coming and dwelling in such a glorious city at last. Be willing, then, to undergo the labor, meet the toil, and overcome the difficulty. What is it all in comparison with the sweet rest that is at your journey’s end? Be willing to cross the natural inclination of flesh and blood, which is downward, and press onward and upward to the prize (Phi 3:14). At every step it will be easier and easier to ascend; and the higher your ascent, the more will you be cheered by the glorious prospect before you, and by a nearer view of that heavenly city where in a little while you shall forever be at rest.

Fourth, in all your way let your eye be fixed on Jesus, Who has gone to heaven as your forerunner (Heb 6:20). Look to Him (Heb 12:1). Behold His glory in heaven, that a sight of it may stir you up the more earnestly to desire to be there. Look to Him in His example. Consider how, by patient continuance in well-doing, and by patient endurance of great suffering, He went before you to heaven. Look to Him as your mediator, and trust in the atonement that He has made, entering into the holiest of all in the upper temple. Look to Him as your intercessor, Who forever pleads for you before the throne of God (Rom 8:34). Look to Him as your strength, that by His Spirit He may enable you to press on and overcome every difficulty of the way. Trust in His promises of heaven to those that love and follow Him, which He has confirmed by entering into heaven as the head, representative, and savior of His people. And,

Fifth, if you would be in the way to the world of love, see that you live a life of love—of love to God and love to men. All of us hope to have part in the world of love hereafter, and therefore we should cherish the spirit of love, and live a life of holy love here on earth…Only in this way can you be like them in excellence and loveliness; and like them, too, in happiness, rest, and joy. By living in love in this world you may be like them, too, in sweet and holy peace, and thus have on earth the foretastes of heavenly pleasures and delights. Thus, also, you may have a sense of the glory of heavenly things, as of God, Christ, and holiness; and your heart be disposed and opened by holy love to God, and by the spirit of peace and love to men, to a sense of the excellence and sweetness of all that is to be found in heaven. Thus shall the windows of heaven be as it were opened, so that its glorious light shall shine in upon your soul. Thus you may have the evidence of your fitness for that blessed world, and that you are actually on the way to its possession.

And being thus made meet, through grace, for the inheritance of the saints in light, when a few more days shall have passed away, you shall be with them in their blessedness forever. Happy, thrice happy those, who shall thus be found faithful to the end, and then shall be welcomed to the joy of their Lord! There “they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Rev 7:16-17).

From Charity and Its Fruits, “Heaven, a World, of Charity or Love.”

Richard Baxter
Quotes

Below are 29 of our favorite Richard Baxter quotes. We hope you find them helpful in your daily walk with the Lord.

“Let no man think to kill sin with few, easy, or gentle strokes. He who hath once smitten a serpent, if he follow not on his blow until it be slain, may repent that ever he began the quarrel. And so he who undertakes to deal with sin, and pursues it not constantly to the death.”

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Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Quotes

“I am not afraid of being charged, as I frequently am, of trying to frighten you, for I am definitely trying to do so. If the wondrous love of God in Christ Jesus and the hope of glory is not sufficient to attract you, then, such is the value I attach to the worth of your soul, I will do my utmost to alarm you with a sight of the terrors of Hell.”

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