"I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me." Now, wherefore all this, but that his own might enter into joy? Joy sometimes enters into us now, with much ado to get access, while we are compassed with sorrows; but then joy shall not only enter into us, but we, shall enter into it, and swim for ever in an ocean of joy; where we will see nothing but joy, whithersoever we turn our eyes. The presence and enjoyment of God and the Lamb, will satisfy us with pleasures for evermore; and the glory of our souls and bodies, arising from thence, will afford us everlasting delight. The spirit of heaviness, how closely soever it cleaves to any of the saints, shall drop off then; their weeping shall be turned into songs of joy, and bottles of tears shall issue in rivers of pleasures. Happy they who now sow in tears, which shall spring up in joy in heaven, and bow their heads there with a weight of glory upon them.

Thus far of the society in this kingdom of the saints. X. In the last place, The kingdom shall endure for ever. As every thing in it is eternal, so the saints shall have an undoubted certainty and full assurance of the eternal duration of the same. This is a necessary ingredient in perfect happiness for the least uncertainty, as to the continuance of any good with one, is not without some fear, anxiety, and torment: and, therefore is utterly inconsistent with perfect happiness. But the glorified shall never have fear, nor cause of fear, of any loss; they shall be ever with the Lord, 1 Thes. iv. 17. They shall attain the full persuasion, that nothing shall be able to separate them from the love of God, nor from the full enjoyment of him, for ever. The inheritance, reserved in heaven, is incorruptible; it hath no principle of corruption, in itself, to make it liable to decay, but endures for evermore it is undefiled; nothing from without can mar its beauty, nor is there any thing in itself, to offend those who enjoy it: And therefore it fadeth not away, but ever remains in its native lustre, and primitive beauty, 1 Pet. i. 4. Hitherto of the nature of the kingdom of heaven.

SECONDLY, Proceed we now, to speak of the admission of the saints into this their kingdom; where I shall briefly touch upon two things: (1.) The formal admis

sion, in the call unto them from the Judge, to come to their kingdom. (2.) The quality in which they are admitted and introduced to it.

I. Their admission, the text shews to be by a voice from the throne; the King calling to them from the throne, before angels and men, to come to their kingdom. Come and go are but short words, but they will be such as will afford matter of thought to all mankind, through the ages of eternity; since upon the one de pends everlasting happiness, and upon the other, everlast, ing misery. Now our Lord bids the worst of sinners, who hear the gospel, Come; but the most part will not come unto him. Some few, whose hearts are touched by his Spirit, do embrace the call, and their souls within them say Behold! we come unto thee: they give thenselves to the Lord, forsake the world and their lusts for him; they bear his yoke, and cast it not off, no not in the heat of the day, when the weight of it, perhaps, makes them sweat the blood out of their bodies. Behold the fools, saith the carnal world, whither are they going? But stay a little, O foolish world! From the same mouth, whence they had the call they are now following, another call shall come, which will make amends for all: "Comè, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom," &c.

The saints shall find an inexpressible sweetness in this call, to come: (1.) Hereby Jesus Christ shews his desire of their society in the upper house, that they may be ever with them there. Thus he will open his heart unto them, as sometimes he did to his Father concerning them, saying, "Father, I will that they be with me, where I am," &c. John xvii. 24. Now the travail of his soul stands before the throne, not only the souls, but the bodies he has redeemed; and they must come, for he must be completely satisfied.-(2.) Hereby they are solemnly invited to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. They were invited to the lower table, by the voice of the servants, and the secret workings of the Spirit within them; and they came, and did partake of the feast of divine communications in the lower house; but Jesus Christ, in person, shall invite them, before all the world, to the higher table. (3.) By this he admits them into the mansions of glory. The keys of heaven hang at the gir

dle of our royal Mediator: All power in heaven is given to him, Mat. xxviii. 18. and none get in thither, but whom he admits. When they were living on earth, with the rest of the world, he opened the everlasting doors of their hearts, entered into them himself, and shut them again, so as sin could never re-enter, to reign there as formerly and now he opens heaven's doors to them, draws his doves into the ark, and shuts them in there; so as the law, death and hell, can never get them out again. The saints, in this life, were still labouring to enter into that rest; but satan was always pulling them back, their corruption always drawing them down; in so much, that they have sometimes been left to hang by a hair of a promise (if I may be allowed the expression), not without fears of falling into the lake of fire: but now Christ gives the word for their admission; they are brought in, and put beyond all hazard. Lastly, Thus he speaks to them, as the person introducing them into the kingdom, into the presence-chamber of the great King, and unto the throne. Jesus Christ is the great Secretary of heaven, whose it is to bring the saints into the graci ous presence of God; and to whom alone it belongs, to bring them into the glorious presence of God in heaven. Truly heaven would be a strange place to them, if Jesus was not there: but the Son will introduce his brethren into his Father's kingdom; they shall go in with him to the marriage, Matth. xxv. 10.

f II. Let us consider in what quality they are introduced by him.

First, He brings them in as the blessed of his Father so runs the call from the, throne; "Come, ye blessed of my Father," &c. It is Christ's Father's house, they are to come into; therefore he puts them in mind, that they are blessed of his Father; dear to the Father, as well as to himself. This is it, that makes heaven home to them; namely, that it is Christ's Father's house, where we may be assured of welcome, being married to the Son, and being his Father's choice for that very end. He brings them in for his Father's sake, as well as for his own; they are the blessed of his Father, who, as he is the fountain of the Deity, is also the fountain of all blessings conferred on the children of men. They are these to whom God

designed well from eternity. They were blessed in the eternal purpose of God, being elected to everlasting life: at the opening of the book of life, their names were found written therein. So that, bringing them to the kingdom, he doth but bring them to what the Father, from all eternity, designed for them; being saved by the Son, they are saved according to his (i e. the Father's) purpose, 2 Tim. i. 9. They are these, to whom the Father has spoken well. He spake well to them in his word, which must now receive its full accomplishment. They had his promise of the kingdom, lived and died in the faith of it; and now they come to receive the thing promised. Unto them he has done well: A gift is often, in scripture, called a blessing; and God's blessing is ever real, like Isaac's blessing, by which Jacob became his heir; they were all by grace justified, sanctified, and made to persevere unto the end; now they are raised up in glory, and, being tried, stand in the judgment: what remains then, but that God crown his own work of grace in them, in giving them their kingdom, in the full enjoyment of himself for ever? Finally, They are these, whom God has conse crated; the which, also, is a scripture-notion of blessing, 1 Cor. x. 16. God set them apart for himself, to be kings and priests unto him; and the Mediator introduceth them, as such, to their kingdom and priesthood.

Secondly, Christ introduceth them, as heirs of the Kingdom to the actual possession of it: "Come, ye blessed, inherit the kingdom," &C. They are the children of God, by regeneration and adoption: "And if children, then heirs heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ," Rom. viii. 17. Now is the general assembly of the first-born before the throne: their minority is overpast, and the time appointed of the Father, for their receiving of their inheritance is come. The Mediator purchased the inheritance for them, with his own blood; their rights and evidences were drawn long ago, and registered in the Bible: nay, they had infeftment of their inheritance, in the person of Jesus Christ, as their proxy, when he ascended into heaven, whither the Forerunner is for us entered, Heb. vi. 20. Nothing remaineth, but that they enter into personal possession thereof; which, begun at death, is perfected at the last day; when the

saints, in their bodies as well as their souls, go into their kingdom.

Lastly, They are introduced to it, as these it was prepared for, from the foundation of the world. The kingdom was prepared for them in the eternal purpose of God, before they or any of them had a being; which shews it to be a gift of free grace to them. It was, from eternity, the divine purpose, that there should be such a kingdom for the elect; and that all impediments, which might mar their access to it, should be removed out of the way; and withal, by the same eternal decree, every one's place in it was determined and set apart, to be reserved for him, that each of the children coming home at length into their Father's house, might find his own place awaiting him, and ready for him; as, at Saul's table, David's place was empty, when he was not there to occupy it himself, 1 Sam. xx. 25. And now that the appointed time is come, they are brought in to take their several places in glory, set apart and reserved for them, till they should come at them.

USE. I shall shut up my discourse on this subject, with a word of application. (1.) To all who claim a right to this kingdom. (2.) To these who have indeed a right to it. (3.) To these who have not a right thereto.

First, Since it is evident, there is no promiscuous admission into the kingdom of heaven; and none do obtain it, but these whose claim is solemnly tried by the great Judge, and, after trial, sustained as good and valid; it is necessary that all of us impartially try and examine, whether, according to the laws of the kingdom, contained in the holy Scriptures, we can verify and make good our claim to this kingdom? The hopes of heaven, which most men have, are built on such sandy foundations, as can never abide the trial; having no ground in the word, but in their own deluded fancy: such hopes will leave those who entertain them, miserably disappointed at last. Wherefore, it is not only our duty, but our interest, to put the matter to a fair trial in time. If we find, we have no right to heaven, indeed we are yet in the way; and what we have not, we may obtain ; but if we find we have a right to it, we will then have the comfort of a happy prospect into eternity, which is the greatest conte