Revelation 7:15-17 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple… I. IT IS PARTLY CONSTITUTED BY AN EXEMPTION FROM ALL THOSE PAINS AND SORROWS WHICH EMBITTER AND POISON THE CUP OF EARTHLY FELICITY. 1. It is exempted from error, and consequently from suffering upon this account. 2. It is exempted from sin, and all its attendant train of evils. 3. It is exempted from the snares to which we are exposed in this world, and the sufferings to which we are subjected by falling into them. 4. It is exempted from temptations, and all their attendant dangers and mischiefs. 5. It is exempted from the disappointments to which mankind are exposed in this life. 6. It is exempted from the real and unavoidable calamities to which mankind are subjected in this world, and which constitute a large proportion of human misery. II. IT IS COMPLETED BY THE UNION OF ALL THOSE INGREDIENTS WHICH CAN IMPROVE OR SECURE THE BLISS OF THE HEAVENLY INHABITANTS. 1. The vision and enjoyment of God, and the resemblance and conformity of our nature to the Divine. 2. The enlargement of our faculties, and the employment of these upon objects suitable to and worthy of them. 3. A progressive improvement in knowledge and goodness. 4. The society of angels, and of the spirits of the just made perfect, and especially of those virtuous persons with whom we were, in this world, connected by the ties of reciprocal love and friendship. (W. Duff, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. |
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