Personal Religion.

HEAVENLY ANTICIPATIONS.

A Sermon by the Rev. Joseph Pike, who was struck with death while preaching it to his Congregation, at Gorleston, Suffolk, on Sunday Morning, January 17, 1858.

As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness."-PSA. xvii. 15.

THE change which the grace of God makes in the heart of a believer is most wonderful. It is a change out of darkness into God's marvellous light. It most emphatically makes him to differ; and to differ not only from the ungodly around him, but from his former self. Hence, while others are engrossed in the cares and concerns of time, eternity with its sublime realities occupies his thoughts. While others are vainly attempting to fill their immortal minds with the fleeting pleasures and transitory enjoyments which this world affords, he rises above them, and seeks superior bliss. And being thus elevated in spirit above the sublunary things of time, he exclaims, "Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee." While others are wrapped in creature comforts, and will sacrifice religion and divine things at the shrine of ease and pleasure, he exclaims, “Lord, lift thou upon me the light of thy countenance." While others make this world their portion and their home, he disclaims all such pretensions, and declares plainly that he is seeking a better country.

In noticing this passage, let us,—

I. GLANCE AT THE SPIRIT WHICH ANIMATED THE WRITER. Now mark the words attentively :-" As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness." Do they not breathe the spirit of a man free from envy? In the psalm he had been speaking of the wicked. He calls them "men of the world, who have their portion in this life." He says, "They are enclosed in their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly." And again, he says, "They are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes." But David did not envy them. He envied not the rich man, the proud man, the worldly man. He envied not their heaps of glittering

dust, for he felt that he possessed something infinitely superior, even "the pearl of great price ;" and therefore he turns his face heavenward and says, "As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness." Oh, my friends, what a mercy it is to have a spirit free from envy,—that hateful, cursed passion, which has wrought so much mischief in the church and in the world! It seems to be inherent in the human heart, and nothing but the grace and spirit of God can expel it. Oh, to have a calm, contented mind, free from envy; to be able to find consolation amidst our own straits, privations, and difficulties, in thinking of the possessions and comforts of others. If God gives my neighbour riches and prosperity, why should I envy him? I ought rather to rejoice in his prosperity, and to pray for him, that he may have grace to use it for God's glory and the good of others. Why should I make myself miserable by cherishing dissatisfaction with my lot, and casting an envious and jealous eye upon his possessions and comforts? Surely that man need not be envious of this world's good, however bright and dazzling it may appear, who can lift to heaven an unpresumptuous eye, and say, "My Father, I will behold Thy face in righteousness." Again: Do not these words breathe the spirit of a man who is looking into the future? If you look at these words again you will see that they have a special relation to futurity. They have nothing to do with the present. He does not say, As for me, I do behold, and I am satisfied, but I shall, at some future time. The psalmist looks beyond death and the grave, into the glorious eternity that follows. Oh, happy is the man who, while here, walks not by sight but by faith; who looks "not at the things which are seen and temporal, but at the things which are not seen and eternal;" and who is content to have his evil things now, and his good things hereafter. The apostle says, "We are saved by hope." The Christian minister, the Christian missionary, the Christian parent, and the Christian labourer generally, must look to the future for most of their reward. The present yields but a scanty supply; the present is the ploughing time, and the sowing time; the harvest is in the future, and will come by-and-bye. Then "they that sow in tears now shall reap in joy, and he that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him;" "and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteous

ness as the stars for ever and ever." Let us then learn to look into the future; let us live upon the future, and draw daily encouragement to faith and hope by having respect to the recompense of reward in the future.

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And then, once more: Do not these words breathe the spirit of a man who was full of faith and holy confidence? There is no hesitation, no perhaps about his language: "As for me, I will, I shall.” There are different degrees of faith. Some have "little faith," and would be afraid of speaking the language of assured confidence, lest they should be guilty of fanaticism and presumption. Others are "weak in faith." They are sincere believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, but are always full of doubts and fears, and are never happy, never can rejoice, never feel satisfied of their safety. Others are "strong in faith, giving glory to God." David was so at this time. Job was so when he could say triumphantly, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another." Paul was so when he exclaimed, "I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." And should not every Christian be so too? We have the immutable word of God to rest upon; we have exceeding great and precious promises. We have "the witness of the Holy Spirit with our spirits that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." Oh, what a glorious thing it is to be full of faith! How happy such persons must be! "They dwell on high; their place of defence is the munitions of rocks. Bread shall be given them; their water shall be sure."

Thus

you see the writer of the text had a mind free from envy; he was looking into the future; and he was full of faith. The Lord so bless us that we may cherish the same dispositions, and breathe the same spirit. Let us now pass on to consider,—

II. THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS TEXT :

It has reference, you perceive, to that glorious world of light and blessedness into which the righteous enter when the spirit is emancipated from the burden of the flesh: "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake

with thy likeness." The happiness of heaven will consist principally in two things-the glorious vision of God, and the full satisfaction arising from complete resemblance to the Divine image.

1. In heaven we shall behold God's face in righteousness. But who can speak of this in an intelligible manner? Who can conceive or express the full weight of glory involved in seeing the face of God in righteousness? We wait the tongue of some bright archangel to give us some description of it. We can speak a little of God's hand, for we see tokens of it everywhere around us; in the rolling river, in the majestic ocean, in the sky decked with stars, and in the earth gemmed with flowers. We see it in the lightning flash; in the stormy wind, the hurricane, and the tempest; and in the gentle breeze, the soft and silent showers, and in the sun shining in his strength and beauty. We see it in the heat of summer, and in the cold of winter. We know something of God's voice, too, in the deep bass thunder which rolls over our heads, which makes the earth to shake and tremble, and the hearts of men to fear and quake. But oh, what must it be to behold God's face! Moses once prayed, "I beseech thee show me thy glory;" and God said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." Then he adds, "Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live." And the Lord said, "Behold there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And back parts;

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I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my but my face shall not be seen." Poor human nature cannot bear the full brightness of the Divine glory; it is too brilliant, too dazzling for mortal vision. Flesh and blood cannot receive such a revelation. Blessed be God, however, we can see his back parts! Standing on the immutable Rock of Ages, hiding in the Cleft Rock, the pierced side of the crucified Lamb, we can behold the glory of the Divine perfections, and can rejoice in the wisdom, power, faithfulness, love, and grace, of our God and Father. But oh, the vision of God in heaven! to see him face to face! to behold him in the full splendour of his glory! Who can tell what it is! We must each of us go there to know what it is. But one thing we know that the sight

of the beatific vision will fill all hearts with bliss unutterable, "for in his presence there is fulness of joy, at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

And then rejoice, O dear friends! we know the way to it; we know how it must be realized. Mark well the words, "I will behold thy face in righteousness." What! shall we enter through the gates into the city, and stand before God in our own righteousness? No, not one of us. All who are there are redeemed spirits, justified ones, sanctified ones. Hence they are described as having "washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb," and as being clothed with white robes. And if we would enter into that blessed world, we must have on the robes of the Saviour's righteousness, and the garments of salvation; we must be transformed into the Divine image, by the renewing and sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost. This is the order in the economy of Divine grace : "Whom he did predestinate them he also called, and whom he called them he also justified, and whom he justified them he also glorified." Justification by the righteousness of Jesus gives us a title to glory; sanctification by the Spirit of Jesus, gives us a meetness for glory. We must have both these, or else we cannot be saved; for it is written, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God;" and again it is written, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."

2. In heaven we shall enjoy full satisfaction, arising from complete resemblance to the Divine image. What a contrast will heaven present to earth's highest pleasures and richest enjoyments. In this world man is never 66 satisfied." If you go through all ranks and classes of society, from the beggar to the monarch, you will find in every heart a restlessness, an anxiety for something different and something better. Even an Alexander, who had conquered the world, was constrained to weep that he had not another world to conquer. There is an "aching void" in the human breast, which the world can never fill. This is not our rest. It never was intended to be our rest. It is unsuited, altogether unsuited, for the immortal mind. Even the Christian, the child of God who has found the true rest, who has the grace of God in him as a wellspring of happiness, is not quite satisfied yet. He wishes for brighter, holier, happier days. He aspires after higher attainments in knowledge, holiness, and happiness. He desires to be "able