FIFTY-FIRST SERMON.
ON THE ETERNITY OF THE JOYS OF HEAVEN.
Subject.
1. In the kingdom of heaven alone shall all joys be eternal; 2. In the kingdom of heaven alone shall the elect be certain and assured that their joys shall last forever. Therefore in heaven alone is the true and perfect happiness that we should all strive for.—Preached on the feast of All Saints.
Text.
Gaudete, et exultate; quoniam merces vestra copiosa est in cœlis.—Matt. v. 12.
“Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven.”
Introduction.
To-day all heaven opens itself before the eyes of our minds, and exhibits to us the countless hosts of the saints of God, who there rejoice with Him in all imaginable pleasures, and cry out to us who still sigh in this wretched vale of tears, and call to us, and invite us to follow them, that we too may one day be their companions in happiness. O heaven! O land of joy! O glorious dwelling of the saints! ah, would that we were there! But supposing we go there, as we hope, how long shall we be there to rejoice together? In this world there are wretched, miserable pleasures; when we think we have caught one of them we find that it has come to an end; at one moment this is wanting, at another that; never is our joy complete. “Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven.” Faithful servants of God, a far different festival awaits you! You shall find it in the kingdom of heaven, where all imaginable delights of body, as well as of soul, are prepared for you to your full satisfaction by the Almighty God, as we have seen in different meditations during the course of the year. And, best of all, never shall there be decrease or end of all those delights; they shall last forever without change. This we shall now consider by way of further encouragement in the service of God.
