A Kind of Paradise

John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, in The Works of John Bunyan, Vol. 3, p. 132:

Now I saw in my dream, that Christian went not forth alone, for there was one whose name was Hopeful (being made so by the beholding of Christian and Faithful in their words and behaviour, in their sufferings at the Fair), who joined himself unto him, and, entering into a brotherly covenant, told him that he would be his companion.

Richard Sibbes on the means of grace known to Puritans as 'holy conference,' Bowels Opened, or, Expository Sermons on Canticles IV. 16, V. VI., in The Works of Richard Sibbes, Vol. 2, pp. 133-134:

We see there is excellent use of holy conference. The church coming to the daughters of Jerusalem, speaking of Christ her beloved, that she is 'sick of love,' &c., the daughters of Jerusalem are inquisitive to know Christ more and more. Here is the benefit of holy conference and good speeches. One thing draws on another, and that draws on another, till at length the soul be warmed and kindled with the consideration and meditation of heavenly things. That that is little in the beginning may bring forth great matters. This question to the church and talking with her, 'I charge you, if you find my beloved, to tell him that I am sick of love,' breeds questions in others, 'What is thy beloved?' &c. Whence, upon the description of her beloved, her heart is kindled, she findeth her beloved; so that talking of holy and heavenly things is good for others and ourselves also. 

It is good for others, as it was good for the daughters of Jerusalem here; for thereupon they are stirred up to be inquisitive after Christ. And it was good for the church herself, for hereupon she took occasion to make a large commendation of Christ, wherein she found much comfort.

2. Good conference, then, is good for ourselves; for we see a little seed brings forth at length a great tree, a little fire kindleth much fuel, and great things many times rise out of small beginnings. It was a little occasion which Naaman the Assyrian had to effect his conversion, 2 Kings v. 2. There was a poor banished woman, a stranger, who was a Jewish maid-servant. She told her lord's servants that there was a prophet in Jewry that could heal him, whereupon he came thither, and was converted and healed. And Paul sheweth that the very report of his bonds did a great deal of good in Cesar's house, Philip, i. 13. Report and fame is a little matter, but little matters make way for the greater.

This may put us in mind to spend our time fruitfully in good conference, when in discretion it is seasonable. We know not, when we begin, where we may make an end. Our souls may be carried up to heaven before we are aware, for the Spirit will enlarge itself from one thing to another. 'To him that hath shall be given more and more still,' Mat. xiii. 12. God graciously seconds good beginnings. We see the poor disciples, when they were in a damp for the loss of Christ, after he comes, meets them, and talks of holy things. In that very conference their hearts were warmed and kindled, Luke xxiv. 32. For, next to heaven itself, our meeting together here, it is a kind of paradise. The greatest pleasure in the world is to meet with those here whom we shall ever live with in heaven. Those who are good should not spend such opportunities fruitlessly.

And to this end, labour for the graces of the communion of saints; for there is such a state. We believe it as an article of our creed. How shall we approve ourselves to be such as have interest unto the communion of saints, unless we have spirits able to communicate good to others? pitiful and loving spirits, that we may speak a word in due season.

Brethren Together in Unity

James Buchanan, Comfort in Affliction, pp. 159-160:

As a social being, man is dependent on the society with which he mingles for a very large share of his personal happiness. By sympathy, he is so connected with others, that he must often weep when they weep, and rejoice when they rejoice. By this natural instinct, he shrinks from the contemplation of extreme suffering, and feels his happiness increased by the happiness of those around him; and, by his moral nature, the believer is disqualified from the enjoying the company of the wicked, and yearns after the fellowship of those who have kindred principles and feelings with his own. This is the ground of that strong love which, notwithstanding their petty differences, subsists betwixt all the sincere disciples of Christ on earth. But here the enjoyment of Christian fellowship is marred by various causes, arising from the imperfection both of our present condition, and of our Christian graces; partly by the diversities of opinions which flow from the limited range of our present vision, or the undue influence of prejudice; party by the difficulty of discovering the true followers of Christ in the midst of so many nominal or false professors, and the suspicion, or at least the caution; which frequent disappointment, in this respect, is fitted to inspire; partly, also, by the obstacles which the necessary business of life, or the established distinctions betwixt different classes of men, interpose to that free intercourse on which the enjoyment of society depends; and, most of all, by the weakness of love, both on our part, and on the part of others. But all these impediments to social happiness shall be removed in heaven. There, our little prejudices, whether against persons or parties, shall disappear. There, we shall be in no danger of misplacing our confidence, or of being deceived by hollow professors, but "shall know, even as also we are known." There, if there be not a perfect equality in point of capacity or dignity, there will at least be no pride on the one hand, and no servile fear on the other; and there, above all, love -- pure, generous, disinterested love -- which is the cement of all happy society, shall burn in every bosom, and prompt every word and action. Oh! blessed season, when the strifes of this lower world shall cease, and be forgotten, and when, superior to every prejudice and passion, we shall dwell as brethren together in unity!

Our Employment Lies In Heaven

John Eliot, in Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, The Ecclesiastical History of New England, Vol. 1, p. 535:

Behold, the ancient and excellent character of a true Christian; 'tis that which Peter calls 'holiness in all manner of conversation;' you shall not find a Christian out of the way of godly conversation. For, first, a seventh part of our time is all spent in heaven, when we are duly zealous for, and zealous on the Sabbath of God. Besides, God has written on the head of the Sabbath, REMEMBER, which looks both forwards and backwards, and thus a good part of the week will be spent in sabbatizing. Well, but for the rest of our time! Why, we shall have that spent in heaven, ere we have done. For, secondly, we have many days for both fasting and thanksgiving in our pilgrimage; and here are so many Sabbaths more. Moreover, thirdly, we have our lectures every week; and pious people won't miss them, if they can help it. Furthermore, fourthly, we have our private meetings, wherein we pray, and sing, and repeat sermons, and confer together about the things of God; and being now come thus far, we are in heaven almost every day. But a little farther, fifthly, we perform family-duties every day; we have our morning and evening sacrifices, wherein having read the Scriptures to our families, we call upon the name of God, and ever now and then carefully catechise those that are under our charge. Sixthly, we shall also have our daily devotions in our closets; wherein unto supplication before the Lord, we shall add some serious meditation upon his word: a David will be at this work no less than thrice a day. Seventhly, we have likewise many scores of ejaculations in a day; and these we have, like Nehemiah, in whatever place we come into. Eighthly we have our occasional thoughts and our occasional talks upon spiritual matters; and we have our occasional acts of charity, wherein we do like the inhabitants of heaven every day. Ninthly, in our callings, in our civil callings, we keep up heavenly frames; we buy and sell, and toil; yea, we eat and drink, with some eye both to the command and honour of God in all. Behold, I have not now left an inch of time to be carnal; it is all engrossed for heaven. And yet, lest here should not be enough, lastly, we have our spiritual warfare. We are always encountring the enemies of our souls, which continually raises our hearts unto our Helper and Leader in the heavens. Let no man say, ''Tis impossible to live at this rate;' for we have known some live thus; and others that have written of such a life have but spun a web out of their own blessed experiences. New-England has example of this life: though, alas! 'tis to be lamented that the distractions of the world, in too many professors, do beecloud the beauty of an heavenly conversation. In fine, our employment lies in heaven. In the morning, if we ask, 'Where am I to be to day?' our souls must answer, 'In heaven.' In the evening, if we ask, 'Where have I been to-day?' our souls may answer, 'In heaven.' If thou art a believer, thou art no stranger to heaven while thou livest; and when thou diest, heaven will be no strange place to thee; no, thou hast been there a thousand times before.

The Sweetest Rest

John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress, in Works, Vol. 3, p. 89:

As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place, where was a den; and I laid me down in that place to sleep: as I slept, I dreamed a dream.

Richard Baxter, The Saints' Everlasting Rest in Practical Works, Vol. 2, p. 330:

There remaineth a rest to the people of God.

Rest; how sweet a word is this to mine ears! Methinks the sound doth turn to substance, and having entered at the ear, doth possess my brain; and thence descendeth down to my very heart: methinks I feel it stir and work, and that through all my parts and powers, but with a various work upon my various parts. To my wearied senses and languid spirits it seems a quieting, powerful opiate; to my dulled powers it is spirit and life; to my dark eyes it is both eye-salve and a prospective; to my taste it is sweetness; to mine ears it is melody; to my hands and feet it is strength and nimbleness. Methinks I feel it digest as it proceeds, and increase my native heat and moisture; and, lying as a reviving cordial at my heart, from thence doth send forth lively spirits, which beat through all the pulses of my soul. Rest, -- not as the stone that rests on the earth, nor as these clods of flesh shall rest in the grave; so our beasts must rest as well as we: nor is it the satisfying of our fleshly lusts, nor such rest as the carnal world desireth: no, no; we have another kind of rest than these: rest we shall from all our labours, which were but the way and means to rest, but yet that is the smallest part. O blessed rest, where we shall never rest day or night, crying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of sabbaths:" when we shall rest from sin , but not from worship; from suffering and sorrow, but not from solace! O blessed day, when I shall rest with God; when I shall rest in the arms and bosom of my Lord; when I shall rest in knowing, loving, rejoicing, and praising; when my perfect soul and body together, shall in these perfect actings perfectly enjoy the most perfect God; when God also, who is love itself, shall perfectly love me; yea, and rest in his love to me, as I shall rest in my love to him, and rejoice over me with joy and singing (Zeph. iii. 17,) as I shall rejoice in him! How near is that most blessed, joyful day! It comes apace; even he that comes will come, and will not tarry. Though my Lord do seem to delay his coming, yet a little while and he will be here. What is a few hundred years when they are over! How surely will his sign appear, and how suddenly will he seize upon the careless world! Even as the lightning that shines from east to west in a moment, he who has gone hence will even so return. Methinks I even hear the voice of his foregoers; methinks I see him coming in the clouds, with the attendance of his angels, in majesty and glory.

Heavenlize Your Spirit

Bartholomew Ashwood, The Heavenly Trade, pp. 144-146:

Fifthly, Dwell much in the meditation of Heaven; this will heavenlize your spirit: 'Twas this made the Apostles persons of such heavenly spirits; they did often look to things above. 1 Cor. 4.18. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. No affliction could discourage them from owning and professing Christ; nor earthly comforts allure their desires and delights from Christ; and that which so strongly guarded their hearts from either of these dangers, was a firm persuasion of an interest in future glory, and a diligent observing eye upon this glory: a levelling look at this mark does wonderfully raise the heart towards it, and put in a new spirit and life into the soul, strongly engaging all its attempts towards the enjoyment of it: Frequent contemplations of Heaven do much wean the heart from this Earth. If thou remembrest thou art not of this world, earthly things shall only be admitted into the Court of the Temple, not into the heart, which is the Holy of Holies, [Anthony Burgess] on 17. John. How contemptibly did those Worthies of old look on this world, when once they got sights of Heaven! Heb. 11, They counted themselves strangers and pilgrims on the Earth; were not mindful of their own Country; went out from it; would no more return to it; sought an heavenly Country; were persuaded of those great and glorious things above, and embraced them; laid hold of them by faith: and made after them: and that which did so powerfully work over their spirits to these things above, was their believing sights of them. V. 13. These all died in the faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off; that, the things promised, (viz.) heavenly things, of which Canaan was a type. So [David] Pareus refers the participles here to the things signified of the promise, that heavenly Country which they only desired. Things nearest Heaven (saith one [Thomas Adams]) take least care of the Earth: The Fowls of the Air neither plow nor sow. The glory of the world seems little to one that dwells much on the believing views of Heaven. 'Tis said of Fulgentius, That when he beheld the splendour and joy of Rome, the glory of the Roman nobility, the triumphant pomp of King Theodorick, he was so far from being taken with it, that it raised up his desires after heavenly joys the more, saying, How beautiful may the Celestial Jerusalem be, when [terrestrial] Rome so glittereth! If such honour be given to lovers of vanity, what glory shall be imparted to the Saints, who are lovers and followers of truth! Serious thoughts of Heaven will inflame desires after it: Our conversation is in Heaven (saith Paul) whence also we look for the Saviour, who shall change our vile bodies into the likeness of his glorious body. Phil. 3.20. We wait, hope for, and expect Heaven, to be where this blessed Country is; the breadth and length of which we now look into by faith. If your thoughts be much on Heaven, your longings will be much for Heaven. I have read of one being in his journey towards Jerusalem, though he saw famous Cities in his way, and met with many friendly entertainments; yet would often say, I must not stay here this is not Jerusalem: So will thy heart say (if thou conversest much in Heaven now) when thou meetest with the most desirable comforts of this life; yet this is not Heaven; my affections must not stay here. Allow time every day to take some turns in the upper world, and to get thy heart held in the galleries above; where are the sweetest delicacies, and most delighting views to take thy heart, and sublimate thy affections to these pure and eternal things?

Thomas Watson, A Body of Practical Divinity, p. 448:

1. Are we heavenly in our Contemplations? Do our Thoughts run upon this Kingdom? Do we get sometimes upon Mount Pisgah; and take a Prospect of Glory? Thoughts are as Travellers: Most of David's Thoughts travelled Heaven's Road, Psalm 139.17. Are our Minds heavenliz'd? Psalm 4812. Walk about Zion, tell the Towers thereof, mark ye well her Bulwarks. Do we walk into the heavenly Mount, and see what a Glorious situation it is? Do we tell the Towers of that Kingdom? While a Christian fixeth his Thoughts on God and Glory, he doth as it were tread upon the Borders of the heavenly Kingdom, and he peeps within the Vail: As Moses, who had a sight of Canaan, tho' he did not enter into it; so the heavenly Christian hath a sight of Heaven, tho he be not yet entered into it.

On My Candle Burning Out

Heiman Dullaart (1639-1684), was a student of Rembrandt van Rijn, who has come to be better known for his poetry than his paintings.

Heiman Dullaart, On My Candle Burning Out (trans. by Frank J. Warnke, in Harold B. Segel, ed., The Baroque Poem: A Comparative Survey, p. 161):

O rapidly extinguished candle flame,
Since thou dost fail me in my busy search
For useful knowledge hid in volumes rich
For the eye which lust of knowing still doth claim.
Supply me with a book wherein to learn
My life's too brief and quickly running hour:
A lesson which the virtuous heart may pour
Into the heart of him who can discern.
Emblem which doth our transient life define,
Thou chok'st in darkness as thy light doth die,
But I through death from our my darkness fly
To the unquench'd light which doth in Heaven shine.

Heiman Dullaart, On My Candle, About to Burn Out (Martijn Zwart & Ethel Grene, Dutch Poetry in Translation: Kaleidoscope, p. 75):

O candle with your near-extinguished flame! You try
Your best to help me as I diligently look
To glean some wisdom out of every learned book,
So richly laden for a scholar's greedy eye;
And you give me a book that teaches me to start
To see these last hours of the mortal life I live,
A basic lesson that a virtuous heart could give
If an attentive man would take it to his heart.
But, living symbol of this fleeting life of mine,
You smother in the darkness with your light's last breath;
While I shall go out from my darkness now through death
To Heaven's quenchless light, that shall forever shine.

The Benefit of Meditation

Joseph Hall, The Art of Divine Meditation in Works, Vol. 7, p. 44:

It is not, I suppose, a more bold than profitable labour, after the endeavours of so many contemplative men, to teach the Art of Meditation: a heavenly business, as any that belongeth either to man or Christian; and such as, whereby the soul doth unspeakably benefit itself. For, by this, do we ransack our deep and false hearts; find out our secret enemies; buckle with them, expel them; arm ourselves against their re-entrance: by this, we make use of all good means; fit ourselves to all good duties: by this, we descry our weakness; obtain redress; prevent temptations; cheer up our solitariness; temper our occasions of delight; get more light into our knowledge, more heat to our affections, more life to our devotion: by this, we grow to be, as we are, strangers upon the earth; and, our of a right estimation of all earthly things, into a sweet fruition of invisible comforts: by this, we see our Saviour, with Stephen; we talk with God, as Moses: and, by this, we are ravished, with blessed Paul, into paradise; and see that heaven, which we are loth to leave, which we cannot utter. This alone is the remedy of security and worldliness, the pastime of saints, the ladder of heaven; and, in short, the best improvement of Christianity. Lean it who can, and neglect it who list: he shall never find joy, neither in God nor in himself, which doth not both know and practise it.

Evening Solace

The Brontë Sisters, Poems, by Currer, Acton, and Ellis Bell, p. 121-122:

Evening Solace (by Currer Bell, aka Charlotte Brontë)

The human heart has hidden treasures,
In secret kept, in silence sealed; --
The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures,
Whose charms were broken if revealed.
And days may pass in gay confusion,
And nights in rosy riot fly,
While, lost in Fame's or Wealth's illusion,
The memory of the Past may die.

But, there are hours of lonely musing,
Such as in evening silence come,
When, soft as birds their pinions closing,
The heart's best feelings gather home.
Then in our souls there seems to languish
A tender grief that is not woe;
And thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish,
Now cause but some mild tears to flow.

And feelings, once as strong as passions,
Float softly back -- a faded dream;
Our own sharp griefs and wild sensations,
The tale of others' sufferings seem.
Oh! when the heart is freshly bleeding,
How longs it for that time to be,
When, through the mist of years receding,
Its woes but live in reverie!

And it can dwell on moonlight glimmer,
On evening shade and loneliness;
And, while the sky grows dim and dimmer,
Feel no untold and strange distress --
Only a deeper impulse given
By lonely hour and darkened room,
To solemn thoughts that soar to heaven,
Seeking a life and world to come.

Monday Morning Meditation

Peter Toon, Longing for Heaven: A Devotional Look at the Life After Death, p. 134:

We have been saved to live to the praise of God's glory (Eph. 1:12). And, on earth, there is nothing more wonderful than a company of Christians whose hearts have been recently in heaven joining together to sing praises to God. Faith and hope will not be needed in the kingdom of heaven of the age to come; but there your love will be magnified and enriched. Praise will be your primary employment in heaven, and the more you are familiar with heaven on earth, the more will you praise the Lord here below. In face, your love will be purified by your praising of the Lord as you make your pilgrimage heavenward.

The Heavenly Meditant

James Meikle, Solitude Sweetened, pp. 13-14:

Meditation I.

On Meditation

The heavenly meditant has the happiest life in the world, and the most enriching commerce with the celestial Indies, from whence he returns loaded with an unseen store of immortal joy, and spiritual consolation. As he continues to meditate on the great things of God, such amazing plenitudes are displayed before his eye, that he finds in the divine fulness sufficient subjects for meditation through eternity itself. Meditation, like the spies sent from Israel in the wilderness, returns with a good account of the good land, presents some of the fruits of paradise, and produces refreshing grapes pulled from the true VINE. Here the weary soul retires to rest in the bosom of the promise, in the love of God, in spite of all surrounding troubles; and drinks at the river before the throne, which makes her forget her miseries, as waters that flow away. O the high estate of the sons of God in meditation! They walk in the fields of glory, associate with the angels of light, and hold communion with God himself. Thus having been in the mount with God, their soul is beautified; thus, their face shines, and their conversation seems as if in heaven, nobly opposing the base practices of the men of the world.

O my soul! while mortals are combating for crowns below, meditate thou on thy crown above; view the beauties of the better country; ruminate on the happiness of the inhabitants there; think on the fulness of the heavenly glory; talk of the love of God, and dwell on the adorable excellencies of the divine Redeemer. This work is its own reward, and assimilates the soul to "the bright and morning Star." Be ashamed henceforth to occupy thyself in meditating how to raise thy fortune, how to make thyself famous, and how to plan thy lot in the world; this last commit to God, and cast the rest away: But let him, whose favour is better than life, be the object of thy love, and the subject of thy meditations! Thus shalt thou begin heaven, anticipate bliss, and prepare for eternity and glory.

The Earthly Sabbath a Type of the Heavenly

Thomas Downie, "The Earthly Sabbath a Type of the Heavenly," in The Believer on Pisgah: Sabbath Evening Meditations on Heaven, pp. 7-8:

What renders the Sabbath in an especial manner precious to the believer is, that it is a type of the eternal Sabbath which he hopes to spend with the Redeemer in the mansions of bliss. Like John in Patmos, when he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, he obtains visions of celestial glory, which stimulate him to increased diligence in preparing for the high destiny that awaits him.

The earthly Sabbath is a type of the heavenly as regards the rest which it provides for man. The Sabbath is a day of rest: 'In it thou shalt not do any work' (Ex. xx. 10). For the comfort and refreshment of man the Sabbath was appointed. To the sons of toil, oppressed by labour and hardship during the week, how welcome is the return of the Sabbath! When Saturday evening comes, what gladness fills their hearts as they can. take up the language of Moses, and say, 'To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord!' To the merchant, whose mind has been oppressed with worldly care, what a load is lifted from his spirits as the morning of the Sabbath dawns upon him, and he has the prospect of devoting one day to the attention of matters higher than those of time. Nor is it only during the hours of the Sabbath that its advantages as a season of rest are enjoyed: the prospect of its return, amid the toil and bustle of the week, is as water to the weary and thirsty traveller.

Viewing the earthly Sabbath as a day of rest, how appropriately is it an emblem of the heavenly Sabbath—the rest that remaineth for the people of God. In his eternal home, the believer enters into repose, which no storm will ever arise to disturb. The careworn labourer, when he reaches the Saturday evening of life and falls asleep in Christ, awakes in a world on whose horizon no cloud of care or sorrow shall ever be seen. There will be rest from every calamity that on earth harasses and grieves the people of God. Disease, which in this vale of tears often causes its victims months or years of suffering, will never invade the eternal home of the redeemed. Crosses and disappointments, which here below frequently wring the heart with anguish, will be unknown there. Bereavement, which so often enters the household on earth, and leaves desolation and woe behind, will never be experienced in our Father's house of many mansions. There will be rest from sin, with all the misery which it entails. The moment the believer enters upon the possession of his heavenly inheritance, his nature will be made perfectly holy, and never again will he have to contend with the storms of temptation from without, or the workings of unbelief from within. Satan will not enter the regions of bliss to disturb his peace; he shall for ever be beyond the reach of the ungodly influence with which on earth he had daily to contend; with his warfare ended, he shall wear the diadem of victory, and repose in safety in the arms of infinite love. Time's week of labour has ended, and the eternal Sabbath of rest and enjoyment has begun.

All Creation Sings

John Wells, "How We May Make Melody In Our Hearts to God in Singing of Psalms" in The Morning Exercises at Cripplegate, Vol. 2, pp. 76-77:

1. Singing is the music of nature. The Scriptures tell us, the mountains sing (Isai. xliv.23;) the valleys sing; (Psalm lxv.13;) the trees of the wood sing (1 Chron. xvi.33.) Nay, the air is the birds' music room, where they chant their musical notes.

2. Singing is the music of ordinances. Augustine reports of himself, that when he came to Milan and heard the people sing, he wept for joy in the church to hear that pleasing melody. And Beza confesses, that at his first entrance into the congregation, and hearing them sing Psalm xci., he felt himself exceedingly comforted, and did retain the sound of it afterwards upon his heart. The Rabbis tell us, that the Jews, after the feast of the Passover was celebrated, sang Psalm xci., and the five following psalms; and our Saviour and his apostles "sang an hymn" immediately after the blessed supper, (Matt. xxvi.30.)

3. Singing is the music of saints. (1) They have performed this duty in their greatest numbers, (Psalm cxlix.2.) (2) In their greatest straits, (Isai. xxvi.19.) (3) In their greatest flight, (Isai. xlii.10, 11.) (4) In their greatest deliverances, (Isai. lxv.14.). (5) In their greatest plenties. In all these changes singing hath been their stated duty and delight. And indeed it is meet that the saints and servants of God should sing forth their joys and praises to the Lord Almighty; every attribute of him can set both their song and their tune.

4. Singing is the music of angels. Job tells us, "The morning stars sang together", (Job xxxviii.7.) Now these morning stars, as Pineda tells us, are the angels; to which the Chaldee paraphrase accords, naming these morning stars, aciem angelorum, "a host of angels." Nay, when this heavenly host was sent to proclaim the birth of our dearest Jesus, they delivered their message in this raised way of duty, (Luke ii.13.) They were [Grk.], delivering their messages in a "laudatory singing", the whole company of angels making a musical choir. Nay, in heaven, there is the angels' joyous music, they there sing hallelujahs to the Most High, and to the Lamb who sits upon the throne, (Rev. v.11, 12.)

5. Singing is the music of heaven. The glorious saints and angels accent their praises this way, and make one harmony in their state of blessedness; and this is the music of the bride chamber, (Rev. xv.13.) The saints who were tuning here their psalms, are now singing hallelujahs in a louder strain, and articulating their joys, which here they could not express to their perfect satisfaction. Here they laboured with drowsy hearts, and faltering tongues; but in glory these impediments are removed, and nothing is left to jar their joyous celebrations.

Apples of Gold

Edward Taylor, Preparatory Meditations:

42. Meditation Rev. 3.22. I WILL GIVE HIM TO SIT WITH ME IN MY THRONE (1691).

Apples, of gold, in silver pictures shrin'de
Enchant the appitite, make mouths to water.
And Loveliness in Lumps, tunn'd, and enrin'de
In Jasper Cask, when tapt, doth briskly vaper:
Brings forth a birth of Keyes t'unlock Loves Chest,
That Love, Like Birds, may fly to 't from its nest.

Such is my Lord, and more. But what strang thing
Am I become? Sin rusts my Lock all o're.
Though he be ten thousand Keyes all on a string
Takes out, scarce one, is found, unlocks the Doore.
Which ope, my Love crincht in a Corner lies
Like some shrunck Crickling: and scarce can rise.

Lord ope the Doore: rub off my Rust, Remove
My sin, And Oyle my Lock. (Dust there doth shelfe)
My Wards will trig before thy Key: my Love
Then, as enlivend, leape will on thyselve.
It needs must be, that giving handes receive
Again Receivers Hearts furld in Love Wreath.

Unkey my Heart; unlock thy Wardrobe: bring
Out royall Robes: adorne my soule, Lord: so,
My Love in rich attire shall on my King
Attend, and honour on him well bestow.
In Glory he prepares for his a place
Whom he doth all beglory here with grace.

He takes them to the shining threashould cleare
Of his bright Palace, cloath'd in Grace's flame.
Then takes them in thereto, not onely there
To have a Prospect, but possess the same.
The Crown of Life, the Throne of Glorys Place,
The Fathers House blancht o're with orient Grace.

Can'an in golden print enwalld with jems:
A Kingdome rim'd with Glory round: in fine.
A glorious Crown pal'de thick with all the stems
Of Grace, and of all Properties Divine.
How happy wilt thou make mee when these shall
As a blesst Heritage unto me fall?

Adorn me, Lord, will Holy Huswifry.
All blanch my Robes with Clusters of thy Graces:
Thus lead me to thy threashould: give mine Eye
A Peephole there to see bright glories Chases.
Then take mee in: I'le pay, when I possess,
Thy Throne, and thee the Rent in Happiness.

The Sabbath a Season for Meditation

William Bates, "On Divine Meditation," in The Works of William Bates, Vol. 3, pp. 127-128:

The sabbath day, is a season for meditation. This should be the temper of every christian to be in the Spirit on the Lord's day. On that day when our Saviour did arise from the earth, our souls should ascend to heaven.

Consider with yourselves, the Lord's day is a type of heaven, and contemplation is the work of heaven. The rest of the sabbath is but an abridgment of that long eternity which the saints shall enjoy with God; and the employment of heaven is contemplation. The glorified spirits above are always exercised in a steady view and consideration of God's infinite glory. Now the sabbath being a type of heaven, and meditation being the work of heaven, certainly this day is the most fit season for meditation. As for you who disrelish this duty, and are unacquainted with it, do you expect heaven? Your indisposition to this duty will be a bar to keep you from blessedness, and hinder you from entering into that rest. A gracious soul upon the Lord's day by his meditation may converse with God; he may discourse with the inhabitants of another world, he may enjoy as much of God as this interposing veil of flesh and blood may admit; the only difference between a saint in heaven, and a saint upon earth who meditates upon God, is in respect of the degrees and the manner of their fruition. For otherwise a saints upon earth enjoys heaven especially on the Lord's day, when every duty receives a special blessing, and therefore the duty of meditation.

Will We Know Each Other in Heaven?

Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, Vol. 4. pp. 360-361:

The Saints Will Recognize each Other in Heaven

Question: Will there be mutual recognition in heaven?
Answer: Even though such knowledge will not be what it is here (it being associated with a physical relationship and affections), we nevertheless believe that ministers will know their members, members their minister, the husband his wife, the wife her husband, parents their children, and children their parents. Relatives and acquaintances will know each other. Furthermore, all men of renown in the Bible, and all who excel in glory will be known by all. All who are in heaven will mutually know each other by divine revelation and through the eternal fellowship they will have with each other. No one will be a stranger to each other or be considered as such by anyone, for there will be no loss of memory. Ignorance is a weakness, and there will be no imperfection. Mutual fellowship will be perfect there; it will not be engaged in ignorantly, but knowledgeably. I believe that they shall recount to each other the ways in which the Lord had led them. They shall then praise and magnify the perfections of God which manifested themselves at each step of the way. They shall thus not be occupied with the immediate beholding of God only, without thinking of each other. Rather, as glorified men they shall fellowship together, unitedly glorifying God. The disciples knew Moses and Elijah when they were on the holy mountain (Mat. 17:3). The poor will know their benefactors when "they may receive you into everlasting habitations" (Luke 16:9). The absence of relatives will not engender sorrow since all physical relationships and affections cease there. The righteousness of God will give as much reason for joy and rendering of glory to God as His goodness.

That they shall have the ability to speak is evident from the fact that inability to speak is an imperfection. How else would they be able to sing praises? Moses and Elijah spoke with Christ, its purpose being to render glory to God. We believe, however, that the difference between languages will cease, this being a consequence of sin. However, which language will be spoken there is not known. It may possibly be the language that Adam spoke, which up to the moment when the languages were confused (a period of nearly two thousand years) was the only language -- the Hebrew language. Perhaps it will be a language enabling the saints to express the essence of heavenly matters better than any earthly language, which is generally derived from temporal matters. Whatever the language will be, however, it will be the glorification of God.

Richard Baxter, The Saint's Everlasting Rest, pp. 39-40, 141:

But yet it much sweeteneth the thoughts of that place [heaven] to me, to remember that there are such a multitude of my most dear and precious friends in Christ: 'with whom I took sweet counsel, and with whom I went up to the house of God, who walked with me in the fear of God, and integrity of their hearts:' In the face of whose conversation there was written the name of Christ: whose sensible mention of his excellencies hath made my heart to burn within me. To think such a friend that died at such a time, and such a one at another time, and that all these are entered into rest: and we shall surely go to them. It is a question with some, Whether we shall know each other in heaven or no? Surely, there shall no knowledge cease which now we have; but only that which implieth our imperfection. And what imperfection can this imply? Nay our present knowledge shall be increased beyond belief: it shall indeed be done away, but as the light of the stars is done away by the rising of the sun; which is more properly doing away our ignorance than our knowledge; indeed we shall not know each other after the flesh; but by the image of Christ, and spiritual relation, and former faithfulness in improving our talents, beyond doubt, we shall know and be known. Nor is it only our old acquaintance, but all the saints of all ages, whose faces in the flesh we never saw, whom we shall there both know and comfortably enjoy. Yea, and angels as well as saints will be our blessed acquaintance. Those who now are willingly ministerial spirits for our good, will willingly then be our companions in joy for the perfecting of our good: and they who had such joy in heaven for our conversion, will gladly rejoice with us in our glorification. I think, christian, this will be a more honourable assembly than ever you heave beheld; and a more happy society than you were ever of before. Then we shall truly say as David, 'I am a companion of all them that fear thee: when we are come to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; to the general assembly, and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of th enew covenant.' So then I conclude: This is one singular excellency of the rest of heaven. 'That we are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.'
...
I must profess, from the very experience of my soul, that is the belief that I shall love my friends in heaven, that principally kindles my love for them on earth. If I thought I should never know them after death, and consequently never love them more when this life ended, I should, in reason, number them with temporal things, and love them comparatively but a little: even as I love other transitory things, allowing for the excellency in the nature of grace. But now I converse with some delight with my godly friends, as believing I shall converse with them for ever, and take comfort in the very dead and absent, as believing we shall shortly meet in heaven: I love them, I hope, with a love that is of a heavenly nature, while I love them as the heirs of heaven, with a love which I expect shall there be perfected, and more fully and for ever exercised.

The last reason that I give you, to move you to bear the loss or absence of your friends, is, that it gives you the loudest call to retire from all the world, and to converse with God himself, and to long for heaven, where you shall be separated from your friends no more.

Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity, p. 585:

We shall, in the kingdom of heaven, have sweet society with glorified saints; then the communion of saints will be illustrious. O what a blessed time will it be when those who have prayed, wept, suffered together, shall rejoice together! We shall see the saints in their white linen of purity, and see them as so many crowned kings: in beholding the saints glorified, we shall behold an heaven full of suns. Some move the question, whether we shall know one another in heaven? Surely our knowledge shall not be diminished, but increased. It is the judgment of Luther and Anselm, and many other divines, that we shall know one another -- yea, the saints of all ages, whose faces we never saw; and, when we shall see the saints in glory without their spots, viz. their infirmities, pride, and passion, this will be a glorious sight. We see how Peter was transported when he saw but two prophets in the transfiguration, Mat. xvii. 3.; but, what a blessed sight will it be when we shall see such a glorious company of prophets, and martyrs, and holy men of God! How sweet will the music be, when they shall sing together in concert, in the heavenly choir! And though, in this great assembly of saints and angels, "one star may differ from another in glory," yet no such weed as envy shall ever grow in the paradise of God; then there shall be perfect love, which, as it casts out fear, so also envy; though one vessel of glory may hold more than another, yet every vessel shall be full.

Martin Luther after the 1542 death of his daughter Magdalena:

As Adam, when he awoke from sleep, recognized the newly created Eve at once as flesh of his flesh....Even so and far better shall we, who have been renewed in Christ, recognize one another there.

All Things Shall Be Made Known

1 Cor. 13.12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Robert Bolton, The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven, p. 115 (on heaven):

We shall clearly see and comprehend the vanity and rottenness of all heretical cavils, antichristian depths, popish imposture, the very bottom of that most wicked and abhorred mystery; the true, full, and sweet meaning of all God's blessed book; whether Job's wife bid her husband bless or curse God; whether Jephthah sacrificed his daughter, or only consecrated her to virginity; whether Naaman was a true or unsound convert; what is the meaning of that place, 1 Cor. xi. 10; and that, 1 Cor. xv.29, &c.