---

I. IS NOT WHOLLY IN THE FUTURE WORLD. This life begins here at the moment of conversion, when the soul passes from death into life. He that hath the Son hath life. The righteous do enter into life, become heirs of life, enjoy ante-pasts of the infinite fulness which is to be hereafter revealed. These foretastes involve freedom from condemnation, communion with God, and growing likeness to Him. The soul is divested of the fear of death, and Christ fills the believer with His joy, and that joy is full. Satisfaction comes from what we are, and not from what we get. I have seen homes of princely wealth which were but brilliantly garnished sepulchres, their luxury a solemn mockery; and I have seen homes of poverty full of the joy of God, the peace of the eternal life begun. It is false to conceive of the Christian life as a joyless way of self-denial trod by us to purchase a bliss beyond.

II. IS THE SAME AND IS NOT THE SAME TO EVERY SAVED SOUL.

1. Heaven is not a sea of bliss in which each of us is to float in equal content. In heaven, as here, there is an infinite variety. What a vast transition from an oyster to the leviathan! There is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, another of the stars. The penitent thief is saved as truly as Paul; but one has built on hay, wood, and stubble, and is "scarcely saved"; the other receives "an entrance abundantly"; one gives the tag-end of a godless life to Christ and is "saved so as by fire"; the other can say, "I have fought a good fight." The riches, joys, and capabilities of the celestial life are measured by the service rendered; "to every man according to his works," "five cities," or "ten cities," as the case may be. Secular papers often make merry about the statement that "scaffold penitents" are received to heaven. It is true that grace does save such. But their heaven is not Paul's heaven.

2. In three respects heaven is the same to all.

(1) In freedom from sin. Harlots and murderers, washed in the cleansing blood, are as free from defilement as angels. The malefactor is made as pure as a babe.

(2) In freedom from physical and mental pain and sorrow. There will be no anxiety, distrust; no pang or grief.

(3) No death. Perpetual freedom from all these is a common blessing to all.

3. It may be objected that if one is wholly happy, according to his capacity, what matters it if there be those of larger capacities than his? A snail is happy, I answer, so is a lark. Is there nothing to choose between them? There is a short radius to a child's circumference of happiness. A man has a thousand-fold larger scope. Is there no preference? The ear of one is satisfied with a rude melody; another man is thrilled to the depths of his being by delicious harmonies. Is there no preference? There is no room for question. What a contrast between one who is a single remove from a laughing idiot, and an angel of God! We are to "seek for honour and glory," even an entrance that shall be "administered abundantly."

III. IS INCREASINGLY GLORIOUS FOREVER. Memory shall lose nothing, the mind pervert nothing, and the heart shall repel nothing. All that God has shall be spread out and open to us forever in riches of grace inconceivable in their glory and infinitude. The possibilities of the soul are beyond conception. God reveals Himself to the righteous through the ages, their capacities ever enlarging and the reality forever increasing — joy, power, blessedness, beyond all thought! These all are the gift of God, bought, and given to believers,

(Prof. Herrick Johnson.)

---

---

KJV: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

WEB: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.