"In YOUR Presence Is Fullness Of Joy! At YOUR Right Hand There Are Pleasures Forevermore!"

That one majestic, inconceivable and expressive word!

(John Angell James, "The Death of Mrs. Sherman" May 28, 1848)

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"And this is the promise that HE HIMSELF 

made to us: eternal life." 1 John 2:25

In the infinite comprehensiveness 

of this one promise are included:
  all that the omniscient mind of the FATHER in 

    the exercise of HIS love has contrived in eternity; 

  all that the incarnate SON has obtained by 

    HIS sacrifice upon the cross;
  all that the Divine SPIRIT has revealed 

    upon the page of Scripture; and
  all which is contained in that one majestic, 

inconceivable and expressive word--HEAVEN!

I do not need flamboyant descriptions 

and eloquent representations of 

the celestial state, to raise my 

desires and hopes. It is enough 

to know that it is GLORY--

first prepared, then promised, and 

ultimately bestowed by JEHOVAH as 

the concentration of HIS infinite 

beneficence and the full manifestation 

of HIS boundless benevolence!

Heaven is . . .
  the absence of all evil, natural and moral;
  the possession of all possible good;
  a glorified body united with a perfect soul;
and all this in the immediate presence of GOD!

  There we shall see GOD!

  We shall not only see HIM, but love HIM!

  We shall not only love HIM, but serve HIM!

  We shall not only serve HIM, but enjoy HIM!

  We shall not only enjoy HIM, but hold such 

communion with HIM as will assimilate us 

to the all-perfect source of our felicity!

The objects of . . .
  our contemplation,
  our situation,
  our companions,
  our personal constitution,
  our constant exercises of holy 

intellect, heart and volition--

will be so many distinct sources of bliss!

Perfect knowledge,
perfect holiness and
perfect love must of necessity
open the fountain of perfect joy!

No secondary concern will call off our 

unwearied attention from the service of GOD; 

no sin or pain will interrupt us in it; 

nor will death ever dismiss us from it. 

The business and the blessedness 

of that happy state are the same--

our supreme delight will be our 

constant employment!
Every sense will be an inlet,
every faculty a capacity, and
every energy a pulsation--

of the purest bliss!

Heaven will be "life" . . .
  life in perfection,
  the life of the soul,
  the life of GOD,
  the life of eternity!

But to describe it, how vain and 

arrogant the attempt, when even 

to conceive of it is impossible! 

"In YOUR presence is fullness of joy! 

At YOUR right hand there are pleasures 

forevermore!"  (Psalm 16:11b)

Neither language nor thought can go 

beyond this! Mind cannot conceive more. 

GOD HIMSELF can tell us no more, than 

that Heaven consists in HIS presence 

and the enjoyment of HIS favor--

forever and ever!

"No eye has seen,
 no ear has heard, and
 no mind has imagined
the things that GOD has prepared 

for those who love HIM!" 1 Corinthians 2:9

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Something to ponder: "When GOD wants to judge 

a nation, HE gives them wicked rulers!" (John Calvin)

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