the Week of Proper 20 / Ordinary 25
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King James Version
Philippians 3:21
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who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by His working through which He is able to even subject all things to Himself.
He's going to swap this frail, weak body we currently live in for one that is indestructible and will last forever. And it is with this power that he will make every knee bow down under his control.
By whom this poor body of ours will be changed into the image of the body of his glory, in the measure of the working by which he is able to put all things under himself.
who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory, according to the working of [the] power which he has even to subdue all things to himself.
He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.
who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things to himself.
Who will transform our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, acccording to the mighty working, whereby he is able even to subject all things to himself.
who, in the exercise of the power which He has even to subject all things to Himself, will transform this body of our humiliation until it resembles His own glorious body.
Who shall change our vile bodie, that it may bee fashioned like vnto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able euen to subdue all things vnto himselfe.
who will transform our body of humiliation, for it to be conformed to His body of glory, according to the working of Him to be able even to subject all things under Himself.
which shal chauge or vyle body, yt it maye be like fashioned vnto his glorious body, acordinge to ye workynge wherby he is able to subdue all thinges vnto himselfe.
it is he, that will change our vile body into a like form with his glorious body, by displaying that power which is able to subdue all things unto himself.
who, by exerting that power which enables Him even to subject everything to Himself, will [not only] transform [but completely refashion] our earthly bodies so that they will be like His glorious resurrected body.
who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.
who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself.
which shall chaunge oure vile bodies that they maye be fassioned lyke vnto his glorious body acordinge to the workynge wherby he is able to subdue all thinges vnto hym silfe.
who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, [that it may be] conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things to himself.
Who will change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself.
who shall transform the body of our humiliation to its becoming conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working of his power, even to subject to himself the all things.
By his power to rule all things, he will change our humble bodies and make them like his own glorious body.
who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.
who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
has power over everything, and he will make these poor bodies of ours like his own glorious body.
He will change the bodies we have in this humble state and make them like his glorious body, using the power which enables him to bring everything under his control.
who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Who shall change our vile bodie, yt it may be fashioned like vnto his glorious body, according to the working, whereby hee is able euen to subdue all things vnto him selfe.
Who shall transform our poor body, to the likeness of his glorious body, according to his mighty power, whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things to himself.
He will change our humble bodies and make them like his glorious body through the power that enables him to bring everything under his authority.1 Corinthians 15:26-27,43, 48-49; Ephesians 1:19; Colossians 3:4; 1 John 3:2;">[xr]
21 who will change the body of our abasement to make (it) in the fashion of his glorious body, [fn] according to his great power, by which all is subjected unto him.
who will change the body of our abasement, that it may have the likeness of the body of his glory, according to his great power, whereby all things are made subject to him.
who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
He will change these bodies of ours of the earth and make them new. He will make them like His body of shining-greatness. He has the power to do this because He can make all things obey Him.
who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.
He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.
Who will transfigure our humbled body, into conformity with his glorified body, according to the energy wherewith he is able even to subdue, unto himself, all things.
Who will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory, according to the operation whereby also he is able to subdue all things unto himself.
who will transform our humble body to be conformed to his glorious body, in accordance with the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Who shall chaunge our vyle body, that it may be fashioned lyke vnto his glorious body, according to the working wherby he is able to subdue all thynges vnto hym selfe.
He will change our humble bodies and make them like his own glorious body. Christ can do this by his power, with which he is able to rule everything.
who will transform the body of our lowly condition into conformity with His glorious body, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all things under his rule.
which schal reforme the bodi of oure mekenesse, that is maad lijk to the bodi of his clerenesse, bi the worching bi which he mai `also make alle thingis suget to hym.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
shall: 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 1 Corinthians 15:48-54
that: Matthew 17:2, Colossians 3:4, 1 John 3:2, Revelation 1:13-20
the working: Isaiah 25:8, Isaiah 26:19, Hosea 13:14, Matthew 22:29, Matthew 28:18, John 5:25-29, John 11:24-26, 1 Corinthians 15:25-27, 1 Corinthians 15:53-56, Ephesians 1:19, Ephesians 1:20, Revelation 1:8, Revelation 1:18, Revelation 20:11-15
Reciprocal: Genesis 18:14 - Is Leviticus 11:33 - ye shall break it Leviticus 15:12 - vessel Job 14:14 - will I wait Job 19:26 - in my flesh Psalms 17:15 - with Psalms 18:39 - subdued Psalms 47:3 - subdue Song of Solomon 1:11 - General Mark 5:41 - Damsel Mark 9:2 - transfigured Mark 10:27 - for Mark 12:24 - neither Luke 1:37 - with Luke 9:31 - appeared Luke 20:36 - can John 5:19 - and John 5:28 - for John 6:39 - but John 11:25 - I am John 11:39 - Lord John 11:44 - he that Acts 24:15 - that Acts 26:8 - General Romans 8:11 - he that raised Romans 8:23 - waiting Romans 8:29 - to be 1 Corinthians 6:14 - by 1 Corinthians 15:28 - all things 1 Corinthians 15:35 - with 1 Corinthians 15:43 - in dishonour 1 Corinthians 15:45 - a quickening 1 Corinthians 15:51 - changed 2 Corinthians 5:6 - whilst Philippians 4:1 - Therefore Colossians 3:1 - seek 1 Thessalonians 4:14 - God 2 Thessalonians 3:5 - and into 2 Timothy 1:12 - he is Titus 2:13 - Looking Hebrews 2:18 - he is Hebrews 6:2 - resurrection Hebrews 7:25 - he is Hebrews 9:28 - unto 2 Peter 1:16 - the power
Cross-References
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord , my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Who shall change our vile body,.... Which is defiled with sin, attended with frailty, and is mortal; and being dead, is sown and laid in the grave in corruption, weakness, and dishonour: in the Greek text it is, "the body of our humility"; sin has subjected the body to weakness, mortality, and death; and death brings it into a very low estate indeed, which is very humbling and mortifying to the pride and vanity man: now this vile body, in the resurrection morn, shall be stripped of all its vileness, baseness, and meanness; and be changed, not as to its substance, nor as to its form and figure, which shall always remain same, as did the substance and form of our Lord's body after his resurrection; but as to its qualities, it shall be changed from corruption to incorruption, 1 Corinthians 15:42, from mortality to immortality, from weakness to power, from dishonour to glory, and be free from all sin: so the Jews say b, that
"the evil imagination, or corruption of nature, goes along with man in the hour of death, but does not return with him when the dead arise:''
and this change will be made by the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he shall descend from heaven; who as he is the pledge, the first fruits, the exemplar, and meritorious cause, so he will be the efficient cause of the resurrection of the saints; who will be raised and changed by him, by his power, and by virtue of union to him:
that it might be fashioned like unto his glorious body; or "the body of his glory", as it is now in heaven, and of which his transfiguration on the mount was an emblem and pledge; for glory, power, incorruption, and immortality, the bodies of the saints in the resurrection shall be like to Christ's, though not equal to it, and shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The Jews c have a notion, that
"the holy blessed God will beautify the bodies of the righteous in future time, like the beauty of the first Adam:''
but their beauty and glory will be greater than that, it will be like the glory of the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, whose image they shall then bear: and whereas this requires almighty power, of which Christ is possessed, it will be done
according to the working, the energy of his power and might; or as the Syriac version renders it, "according to his great power"; which was put forth in raising himself from the dead, and whereby he was declared to be the Son of God: and
whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself; not only sin, Satan, and the world, but death and the grave; and so consequently able to raise the dead bodies of his saints, and to change the qualities of them, and make them like unto his own: and now who would but follow such persons, who are citizens of heaven, have their conversation there, look for Christ the Saviour from thence, Philippians 3:20, who when he comes will raise the dead in Christ first, put such a glory on their bodies as is on his own, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, and take them to himself, that where he is they may be also? see
# John 14:3 Heb 6:12.
b Midrash Tillim apud Galatin. de Arcan. Cathol. ver. l. 12. c. 2. c Midrash Hanneelam in Zohar in Gen. fol. 69. 1.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Who shall change our vile body - compare the notes at 1 Corinthians 15:0: The original words, which are rendered here as “vile body,” properly mean “the body of humiliation;” that is, our humble body. It refers to the body as it is in its present state, as subject to infirmities, disease, and death. It is different far from what it was when man was created, and from what it will be in the future world. Paul says that it is one of the objects of the Christian hope and expectation, that this body, so subject to infirmities and sicknesses, will be changed.
That it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body - Greek, “The body Of his glory;” that is, the body which he has in his glorified state. What change the body of the Redeemer underwent when he ascended to heaven, we are not informed - nor do we know what is the nature, size, appearance, or form of the body which he now has. It is certain that it is adapted to the glorious world where he dwells; that it has none of the infirmities to which it was liable when here; that it is not subject; as here, to pain or death; that it is not sustained in the same manner. The body of Christ in heaven is of the same nature as the bodies of the saints will be in the resurrection, and which the apostle calls “spiritual bodies,” (notes, 1 Corinthians 15:44); and it is doubtless accompanied with all the circumstances of splendor and glory which are appropriate to the Son of God. The idea here is, that it is the object of the desire and anticipation of the Christian, to be made just like Christ in all things. He desires to resemble him in moral character here, and to be like him in heaven. Nothing else will satisfy him but such conformity to the Son of God; and when he shall resemble him in all things, the wishes of his soul will all be met and fulfilled.
According to the working ... - That is, such a change demands the exertion of vast power. No creature can do it. But there is One who has power entrusted to him over all things, and he can effect this great transformation in the bodies of people; compare 1 Corinthians 15:26-27. He can mould the mind and the heart to conformity to his own image, and thus also he can transform the body so that it shall resemble his. Everything he can make subject to his will. (Matthew 28:18, note; John 17:2, note.) And he that has this power can change our humbled and debased bodies, so that they shall put on the glorious appearance and form of that of the Son of God himself. What a contrast between our bodies here - frail, feeble, subject to sickness, decay, and corruption - and the body as it will be in heaven! And what a glorious prospect awaits the weak and dying believer, in the future world!
Remarks On Philippians 3:0
1. It is a privilege of the Christian to rejoice; Philippians 3:1. He has more sources of real joy than any other persons; see 1 Thessalonians 5:16. He has a Saviour in whom he may always find peace; a God whose character he can always contemplate with pleasure a heaven to look forward to where there is nothing but happiness; a Bible that is full of precious promises, and at all times the opportunity of prayer, in which he may roll all Iris sorrows on the arms of an unchanging friend. If there is anyone on earth who ought to be happy, it is the Christian.
2. The Christian should so live as to leave on others the impression that religion produces happiness. In our contact with our friends, we should show them that religion does not cause sadness or gloom, sourness or misanthropy, but that it produces cheerfulness, contentment, and peace. This may be shown by the countenance, and by the whole demeanour - by a calm brow, and a benignant eye, and by a cheerful aspect. The internal peace of the soul should be evinced by every proper external expression. A Christian may thus be always doing good - for he is always doing good who leaves the impression on others that religion makes its possessors happy.
3. The nature of religion is almost always mistaken by the world. They suppose that it makes its possessors melancholy and sad. The reason is, not that they are told so by those who are religious, and not that even they can see anything in religion to produce misery, but because they have fixed their affections on certain things which they suppose to be essential to happiness, and which they suppose religion would require them to give up without substituting anything in their place. But never was there a greater mistake. Let them go and ask Christians, and they will obtain but one answer from them. It is, that they never knew what true happiness was until they found it in the Saviour. This question may be proposed to a Christian of any denomination, or in any land, and the answer will be uniformly the same. Why is it, then, that the mass of persons regard religion as adapted only to make them unhappy? Why will they not take the testimony of their friends in the case, and believe those whom they would believe on any other subject, when they declare that it is only true religion that ever gives them solid peace?
4. We cannot depend on any external advantages of birth or blood for salvation; Philippians 3:4-6. Few or no persons have as much in this respect to rely on as Paul had. Indeed, if salvation were to be obtained at all by such external advantages, it is impossible to conceive that more could have been united in one case than there was in his. He had not only the advantage of having been born a Hebrew; of having been early trained in the Jewish religion; of being instructed in the ablest manner, but also the advantage of entire blamelessness in his moral deportment. He had showed in every way possible that he was heartily attached to the religion of his fathers, and he began life with a zeal in the cause which seemed to justify the warmest expectations of his friends. But all this was renounced, when he came to see the true method of salvation, and saw the better way by which eternal life is to be obtained.
And if Paul could not depend on this, we cannot safely do it. It will not save us that we have been born in the church; that we have had pious parents; that we were early baptized and consecrated to God; that we were trained in the Sunday school. Nor will it save us that we attend regularly on the place of worship, or that we are amiable, correct, honest, and upright in our lives. We can no more depend on these things than Saul of Tarsus could, and if all his eminent advantages failed to give him a solid ground of hope, our advantages will be equally vain in regard to our salvation. It almost seems as if God designed in the case of Saul of Tarsus, that there should be one instance where every possible external advantage for salvation should be found, and there should be everything that people ever could rely on in moral character, in order to show that no such things could be sufficient to save the soul. All these may exist, and yet there may not be a particle of love to God, and the heart may be full of selfishness, pride, and ambition, as it was in his case.
5. Religion demands humility; Philippians 3:7-8. It requires us to renounce all dependence on our own merits, and to rely simply on the merits of another - the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are ever saved, we must be brought to esteem all the advantages which birth and blood and our own righteousness can bestow as worthless, and even vile, in the matter of justification. We shall not despise these things in themselves, nor shall we consider that vice is as desirable as virtue, nor that a bad temper is to be sought rather than an amiable disposition, nor that dishonesty is as commendable as honesty; but we shall feel that in comparison with the merits of the Redeemer all these are worthless. But the mind is not brought to this condition without great humiliation. Nothing but the power of God can bring a proud and haughty and self-righteous sinner to this state, where he is willing to renounce all dependence on his own merits, and to be saved in the same way as the vilest of the species.
6. Let us seek to obtain an interest in the righteousness of the Redeemer; Philippians 3:9. Our own righteousness cannot save us. But in him there is enough. There is all that we want, and if we have that righteousness which is by faith, we have all that is needful to render us accepted with God, and to prepare us for heaven. When there is such a way of salvation - so easy, so free, so glorious, so ample for all, how unwise is anyone to rest on his own works, and to expect to be saved by what he has done! The highest honor of man is to be saved by the merits of the Son of God, and he has reached the most elevated rank in the human condition who has the most certain hope of salvation through him.
7. There is enough to be gained to excite us to the utmost diligence and effort in the Christian life; Philippians 3:10-14. If people can be excited to effort by the prospect of an earthly crown in a race or a game, how much more should we be urged forward by the prospect of the eternal prize! To seek to know the Redeemer; to be raised up from the degradation of sin to have part in the resurrection of the just: to obtain the prize of the high calling in heaven - to be made everlastingly happy and glorious there - what object was ever placed before the mind like this? What ardor should it excite that we may gain it! Surely, the hope of obtaining such a prize as is before the Christian, should call forth all our powers. The struggle will not be long. The race will soon be won. The victory will be glorious; the defeat would be overwhelming and awful. No one need fear that he can put forth too much effort to obtain the prize. It is worth every exertion, and we should never relax our efforts, or give over in despair.
8. Let us, like Paul, ever cherish an humble sense of our attainments in religion; Philippians 3:12-13. If Paul had not reached the point of perfection, it is not to be presumed that we have; if he could not say that he had “attained,” it is presumption in us to suppose that we have, if he had occasion for humiliation, we have more; if he felt that he was far short of the object which he sought, and was pressed down with the consciousness of imperfection, such a feeling becomes us also. Yet let us not sink down in despondency and inaction. Like him, let us strain every nerve that we may overcome our imperfections and win the prize. That prize is before us. It is glorious. We may be sensible that we, as yet, have not reached it, but if we will strive to obtain it, it will soon be certainly ours. We may feel that we are far distant from it now in the degree of our attainments, but we are not far from it in fact. It will be but a short period before the Christian will lay hold on that immortal crown, and before his brow will be encircled with the diadem of glory. For the race of life, whether we win or lose, is soon run; and when a Christian begins a day, he knows not but he may end it in heaven; when he lies down on his bed at night, he knows not but he may awake with the “prize” in his hand, and with the diadem of glory sparkling on his brow.
9. Our thoughts should be much in heaven; Philippians 3:20. Our home is there, our citizenship is there. Here we are strangers and pilgrims. We are away from home, in a cold and unfriendly world. Our great interests are in the skies; our eternal dwelling is to be there; our best friends are already there. There is our glorious Saviour with a body adapted to those pure abodes, and there are many whom we have loved on earth already with him. They are happy now, and we should not love them less because they are in heaven. Since, therefore, our great interests are there, and our best friends there; and since we ourselves are citizens of that heavenly world, our best affections should be there.
10. We look for the Saviour; Philippians 3:20-21. He will return to our world. He will change our vile bodies, and make them like his own glorious body And since this is so, let us:
(a) bear with patience the trials and infirmities to which our bodies here are subject. These trials will be short, and we may well bear them for a few days, knowing that soon all pain will cease, and that all that is humiliating in the body will be exchanged for glory.
(b) Let us not think too highly or too much of our bodies here. They may be now beautiful and comely, but they are “vile” and degraded, compared with what they will soon be. They are subject to infirmity and to numerous pains and sicknesses. Soon the most beautiful body may become loathsome to our best friends. Soon, too offensive to be looked upon, it will be hidden in the grave. Why then should we seek to pamper and adorn these mortal frames? Why live only to decorate them? Why should we idolize a mass of moulded and animated clay? Yet,
(c) let us learn to honor the body in a true sense. It is soon to be changed. It will be made like the glorified body of Christ. Yes, this frail, diseased, corruptible, and humbled body; this body, that is soon to be laid in the grave, and to return to the dust, is soon to put on a new form, and to be clothed with immortality. It will be what the body of Christ now is - glorious and immortal. What a change! Christian, go and look on the creeping caterpillar, and see it changed to the happy and gilded butterfly - yesterday, a crawling and offensive insect; today, with gaudy colors an inhabitant of the air, and a dweller amidst flowers; and see an image of what thy body shall be, and of the mighty transformation which thou wilt soon undergo. See the change from the cold death of winter to the fragrance and life of spring, and behold an image of the change which thou thyself wilt ere long experience and a proof that some such change awaits thee.
“Shall spring the faded world revive?
Shall waning moons their light renew?
Again shall setting suns ascend.
And chase the darkness from our view?
Shall life revisit dying worms.
And spread the joyful insect’s wing?
And, oh, shall man awake no more,
To see thy face, thy name to sing?
Faith sees the bright, eternal doors.
Unfold to make her children way;
They shall be cloth’d with endless life,
And shine in everlasting day.”
Dwight.
11. Let us look for the coming of the Lord; Philippians 3:21. All that we hope for depends on his reappearing. Our day of triumph and of the fulness of our joy is to be when he shall return. Then we shall be raised from the grave; then our vile bodies shall be changed; then we shall be acknowledged as his friends; then we shall go to be forever with him. The earth is not our home; nor is the grave to he our everlasting bed of rest. Our home is heaven - and the Saviour will come, that he may raise us up to that blessed abode. And who knows when he may appear? He himself commanded us to be ready, for he said he would come at an hour when we think not. We should so desire his coming, that the hours of his delay would seem to be heavy and long and should so live that we can breathe forth with sincerity, at all times, the fervent prayer of the beloved disciple, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly;” Revelation 22:20.
“My faith shall triumph o’er the grave,
And trample on the tombs;
My Jesus, my Redeemer, lives,
My God, my Saviour, comes;
Ere long I know he shall appear,
In power and glory great;
And death, the last of all his foes,
Lie vanquish’d at his feet.
Then, though the worms my flesh devour.
And make my form their prey,
I know I shall arise with power,
On the last judgment day;
When God shall stand upon the earth,
Him then mine eyes shall see;
My flesh shall feel a sacred birth,
And ever with him be.
Then his own hand shall wipe the tears.
From every weeping eye;
And pains, and groans, and griefs, and fears,
Shall cease eternally.
How long, dear Saviour! Oh, how long.
Shall this bright hour delay?
Fly swift around, ye wheels of time,
And bring the welcome day.”
- Watts.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Philippians 3:21. Who shall change our vile body — Ὁς μετασχηματισει το σωμα της ταπεινωσες ἡμων· Who will refashion, or alter the fashion and condition of, the body of our humiliation; this body that is dead-adjudged to death because of sin, and must be putrefied, dissolved, and decomposed.
That it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body — Εις το γενεσθαι αυτο συμμορφον τῳ σωματι της δοξης αυτου· That it may bear a similar form to the body of his glory. That is: the bodies of true believers shall be raised up at the great day in the same likeness, immortality, and glory, of the glorified humanity of Jesus Christ; and be so thoroughly changed, as to be not only capable through their immortality of eternally existing, but also of the infinite spiritual enjoyments at the right hand of God.
According to the working — Κατα την ενεργειαν· According to that energy, by which he can bring all things under subjection to himself. Thus we find that the resurrection of the body is attributed to that power which governs and subdues all things, for nothing less than the energy that produced the human body at the beginning, can restore it from its lapsed and degraded state into that state of glory which it had at its creation, and render it capable of enjoying God throughout eternity. The thought of this glorious consummation was a subject of the highest joy and confidence amongst the primitive Christian. This earth was not their home; and they passed through things temporal so as not to lose those which were eternal.
1. THE preceding chapter, to which the first verse of the succeeding should be joined, contains a fund of matter the most interesting that can well be conceived. The apostle seems to stand on the verge of eternity, and to have both worlds opened to his view. The one he sees to be the place in which a preparation for the other is to be attained. In the one he sees the starting place, where the Christian is to commence his race; in the other the goal at which his course terminates, and the prize which he is there to obtain. One is the place from and over which the Christian is to run; the other is that to which he is to direct his course, and in which he is to receive infinite blessedness. In the one he sees all manner of temptations and hinderances, and dangers standing thick through all the ground; in the other he sees the forerunner, the Lord Jesus, who has entered into the heaven of heavens for him, through whom God calls him from above, της ανω κλησεως του Θεου, Philippians 3:14: for what he hears in the Gospel, and what he sees by faith, is the calling of God from above; and therefore he departs from this, for this is not his rest.
2. The nearer a faithful soul comes to the verge of eternity, the more the light and influence of heaven are poured out upon it: time and life are fast sinking away into the shades of death and darkness; and the effulgence of the dawning glory of the eternal world is beginning to illustrate the blessed state of the genuine Christian, and to render clear and intelligible those counsels of God, partly displayed in various inextricable providences, and partly revealed and seen as through a glass darkly in his own sacred word. Unutterable glories now begin to burst forth; pains, afflictions, persecutions, wants, distresses, sickness, and death, in any or all of its forms, are exhibited as the way to the kingdom, and as having in the order of God an ineffable glory for their result. Here are the wisdom, power, and mercy of God! Here, the patience, perseverance, and glory of the saints! Reader, is not earth and its concerns lost in the effulgence of this glory? Arise and depart, for this is not thy rest.
