The way to the highest honour a funeral sermon, on John XII, 26, preached…The way to the highest honour a funeral sermon, on John XII, 26, preach'd…

I will briefly glance at the several Degrees of the Reward that shall be conferred upon all whom the King of Glory delights to honour in the next World.

1. The Scripture reveals, that the Souls of just Men first come to the perfection of Glory. If Adam had continued in his holy State after a short Immortality upon Earth, he had been translated Alive, and entire in Soul and Body, to Heaven: The everlasting Doors had been opened wide for his Reception: But since our Disobedience, tho our Guilt be pardoned, the Gate is so strait that the gross Spoils of our Flesh must be left behind us. Now immediately ⟨p. 94⟩upon the dissolution of the Saints, God sends a Guard of Angels, his most noble Creatures, to convoy their Souls into the Courts of his Honour, into the Chamber of his glorious Presence. Divine Dignity! This is the privilege of his chosen Friends and Favourites, of the most illustrious and blessed Creatures. In Heaven the Divine Majesty is seen in its Glory: And if one Ray of it, reflecting upon Suffering Stephen, adorned him with Angelical Glory, how much more will the Face of God most radiant and resplendent transform the Soul into an admirable Similitude of his Perfections? When we shall see him as he is, we shall be like him, by his everliving Spirit, the principle of the Divine Life and Beauty in the Soul, as the Soul is of the natural Life and Beauty in the Body. There will remain no shadow of Error in the Mind, no mixture of ⟨p. 95⟩Evil in the Will, no Pollution in the Affections, but the full Likeness of God in Holiness and Joy. This is the highest Honour an immortal Spirit is capable of. The State of Innocence wherein Man was created is called a State of Honour: The Angels are dignified with the Title of Saints: And God is glorious in Holiness: It follows therefore, when the Spirits of just Men are made perfect they partake of the Heavenly and Divine Honour. If the Joy that springs from believing whilst we are in this Vale of Tears be unspeakable and full of Glory, how glorious is the Joy that springs from the clearest Sight and the most intimate Fruition of the blessed God, the Joy that is without defect or end? as the Psalmist expresses, In thy Presence is fullness of Joy, at thy right Hand are Pleasures for evermore.