rtf1ansiansicpg1252deff0deflang1033fonttblf0fnilfcharset0 Georgia;f1fnilfprq2fcharset0 Padua; colortbl ;red0green128blue0; viewkind4uc1pardf0fs24 par b The Earthly and the Heavenly.b0 par par cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_7:13cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24. par par cf11ulbf1fs22 1Jo_3:2cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24. par par cf11ulbf1fs22 1Co_15:49cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24. par par 'These in white robesu8212?who are they?' They are sons of Adam. 'Where did they come from?' From the horrible pit and the miry clay. 'We shall be like Him.' When? Not just yet, but when He shall appear; then He shall change our vile body, that it may be like His own glorious body. par par 'We shall be like Him.' b In what?b0 In all things in which it is possible for the created to be like Jesus. Even now are we the sons of God, but then shall we really be, in all respects, soul and body, what we are now only by title. par par 'We shall be like Him.' b Who?b0 Those who are His! Those who have received this crucified and risen Christ as their Lord and God. He who believes on Him now, shall wear His likeness when He appears. par par 'We shall be like Him.' b How long?b0 Forever! No losing of that likeness in the process of the ages. No feature nor line of a feature becoming effacedu8212?but ever deepening and deepeningu8212?likeness to Jesus becoming greateru8212?perfection becoming more perfectu8212?throughout eternity. par par 'Resurrection' is presented to us as the consummation of our hope; and yet there is blessedness even before it comes. Not until then is the likeness complete; but there are white robes before. Resurrection perfects the transformation of the earthly into the heavenlyu8212?but we read of 'the spirits of the just made perfect.' par par In a dying world like ours, it soothes and cheers to think of resurrection. Yes, resurrection! How bright the thought and dear the word! But what is that to be to us? For there are two resurrections. Is ours to be the resurrection of the justu8212?the resurrection unto life? The two lasts of these three passages speak of the latter; for they refer to those who belong to the risen Head. They are the 'we' to whom he refersu8212?they whom the Son of man came to save, died to quicken, lives to glorify. The white robes are theirs, and likeness to their Lord is theirs. par par b I. We have borne the image of the earthly man.b0 This image or likeness is something which we 'bear' or carry about with us. It is not a casual or occasional thing, but something cleaving to us; inherent in usu8212?evil, carnal, low, unholy. What then is this image of the earthly man? It is something pertaining to spirit, soul, and bodyu8212?it is of the earth, earthly. par par (1) It is b human.b0 We are flesh and blood as he was; born of the flesh; as thoroughly human as was our first fatheru8212?for that which is born of the flesh is flesh. par par (2) It is b sinful.b0 The image is not that of uprightness and perfectionu8212?but of his sinfulness. Sin pervades us, actuates, us, fills us. par par (3) It is b mortal.b0 Death reigns in us, as well as over us. Mortality was Adam's lotu8212?it is ours. Dust we are, and unto dust we return. Corruption, disease, pain, decay, imperfection of every kindu8212?make up the sad image. par par This was our lot by birth; it is still in part our lot, though we have been born again. Sad lot! Sad image! Do we not shudder at it? Do we not shrink from ourselves? We are earthly, not heavenly! We are like him who is earthlyu8212?no, we are his sons! We bear his image on us, all over! par par b II. We shall bear the image of the Man from heaven.b0 The 'as' declares (1) the certainty, (2) the completeness of the resemblance. As certainly and as completely as we have borne the one image, we shall bear the other. The 'Man from heaven' is of course the last Adam, the Lord from heaven, who was made a quickening Spirit for us. 'We shall be like Him' hereafter. We begin to be like Him now, as soon as we are begotten again. The outline of His image is traced upon us at conversion; our life is to be the filling up of this; the consummation is when He comes again, to raise and glorify us. par par Two processes go onu8212? par 1. The erasing all the lines of the first Adam's portrait in usu8212?the effacing of our former selves. par 2. The becoming more and more unlike the earthly manu8212?and more and more like the heavenly Man. Line by line, feature by feature, the latter takes its place. Intermixed they often areu8212?the one contending for mastery with the other, like dissolving viewsu8212?but in the end the heavenly predominates and prevails; the carnal and grosser elements are struck out or chiseled away, and nothing remains but what is spiritual and celestial. This image, after which we are modeled, isu8212? par par (1) b Divine.b0 We were created 'in the image of God'u8212?and the new creation restores this lost imageu8212?no, adds to it, intensifies it, establishes it forever. We are made partakers of the divine nature; and thus we take on the image of the heavenly Man. We are 'born of the Spirit;' 'born from above;' made sons of God; heirs of God; conformed to the image of His Sonu8212?we are in Christ, and He in us. All that can be communicated of the divine and the celestial, belongs to our regenerated nature. We are raised to a higher level; and while not less truly human, we are yet more identified with the divine. par par (2) b Holy.b0 We take on unholiness at our first conceptionu8212?'Behold, we were shaped in iniquity.' We begin to part with this, and to take on the holiness, at our being begotten again; for 'of His own will begat He us.' We are 'born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible.' Sin, like the troops of a conquered city, begins to evacuate our conquered being; and holiness, like the troops of the victorious army, enters in to fill up all the room. Sin, all sin, of every form and name, is cast outu8212?holiness, all holiness, of every name and form, in word and deed, takes its place in us. It is after the image of the Holy One that we are modeled. par par (3) b Immortal.b0 The heavenly Adam is immortal. He died once, but He dies no moreu8212?and His immortality is for us. By it we are made immortalu8212?not, indeed, now or hereu8212?but in the ages to come, when death is swallowed up in victory. He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like His glorious body. When we awake, we shall be satisfied with His likeness. Resurrection will complete the conformity to the image of the heavenly. Perfection of body as well as soul! No suffering and no sinning! par par Is not this hope glorious? Does it not (1) stimulate, (2) sanctify, (3) comfort? Should it not quicken prayer and watchfulness? Such a prospect should not be idle or vain! par par In connection with all this, let me notice the apostle's words in another placeu8212?'When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away' (cf11ulbf1fs22 1Co_13:10cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24)u8212?where we have the imperfect present, contrasted with the perfect future. par par We love to contrast things. We cannot help doing itu8212?the past and the present, the present and the future, yesterday and today, winter and summer, old-age and youth, last year and this. Sometimes the contrast is between evil and good, or of death and life. Sometimes it is between the perfect and imperfect, as when we speak of the increase of knowledge. Sometimes it is between the part and the whole, as when we compare the seed and the tree, infancy and old-age, the progress of a year, and the progress of a thousand years. These contrasts are profitable. They reprove, or they quicken, or they comfort. par par The apostle's object here is to quicken and to comfort. His comparison or contrast is between the present and the future, and this in one special aspect. The present is the imperfectu8212?the future is the perfect; the present the fragmentaryu8212?the future the complete. It is not a comparison between the sin of the one and the holiness of the other; between the sorrow of the one and the joy of the other. It is the comparison between the part and the whole; between infancy and manhood; between the blossom and the fruit; between the small fountain and the mighty lake into which its waters expand. par par It is of divine revelation, or of our knowledge of it, that the apostle is speaking; and he contrasts the imperfection of our knowledge here, with the perfection of our knowledge hereafter. 'We know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be down away.' par par All that we have here are but fragments; perfect in their way and measureu8212?but still fragments. The Bible is but a fragmentu8212?perfect in its different parts, perfect in truth and language, but still a fragment; and if the fragment be so glorious, what will the whole be? It is like photographs or pictures of the different parts of Palestine; each is faithful, but still it is only a part. You have Bethany, or Bethel, or Shiloh, or Nazareth; but these are not the land itself. It is like chips from the temple-wall; true pieces of the very temple; yet mere fragments; not the mighty temple itself. par par John says that he gave but a few of the events of his Master's life, telling us that the world could not contain the books that would be written, if the whole story were told. So is it with revelation in general. All we get here is but a drop; a little light, a little truth, a little knowledge; but we wait for more. And how excellent will that coming fullness be, if the fragments which we have at present be so divinely excellent! O how eagerly should we press forward to this glorious perfection! par par b I. There is perfectionb0 u8212?Blessed thought! Perfection inu8212?wisdom, light, holiness, love, and glory! Men speak of the ideal, as if perfection were only to be found there; but the perfection announced by the apostle is real. It is perfect reality, and it is real perfection. We only get glimpses of it nowu8212?but it exists. We see so much evil here, and this is such a broken world, that we sometimes asku8212?Is perfection possible? It is possible! It is; it shall beu8212?as truly as there is perfection in and with God, so surely is there perfection for usu8212?perfection for heaven and earthu8212?perfection for the universe. par par b 2. It will come in due timeb0 u8212?God does not mean to keep it for Himselfu8212?nor to withhold it from us. He means to give itu8212?fully, truly, everlastingly. That which is perfect shall come! It may not come immediately, or at once, but in due time it shall. This is God's assurance. Each revolving sun brings it nearer. Nothing shall be able to hinder its arrival and revelation. par par b 3. That which is 'in part' shall be done awayb0 u8212?The partial, the fractional, the fragmentary, is a necessary part of the present. But it shall cease, and all shall be complete, full-summed, and perfectu8212?in the glorious future. Nothing of the imperfect shall be carried into the world to come. No vile body there, but the incorruptible, the immortal, the glorified. No dim eye, or dull ear, or falling hands, or feeble knees, or fainting limbs. No ignorance, nor unbelief, nor unteachableness, nor weariness of spirit, nor slowness of comprehension. No haltings, nor stumblings, nor uncertainties, nor doubtings. All that is 'in part' shall be done away. No half-light, nor half-love, nor half-knowledge, nor half-faith, nor half-desires. All that is 'in part' shall be done away. par par All that we know here we know imperfectly; then shall we know as we are known. Truth we know but in part. Christ we know but in part. His person, His work, His blood, His kingdom, we know but in part. All the things of God, both the natural and the spiritual, we know but in part. But all this is to end. These parts shall become wholes. These beams shall become suns. These drops shall become seas. These fragments of scattered blue in our cloudy sky shall become a glorious sky. That which is in part shall be done away. No more dimness, or cloud, or vagueness, or guessing, or groping. All shall be fullness, and perfection, and glory forever! par par What blessedness is in this prospect! How it cheers! How it makes us content with weakness and imperfection for a time! How it quickens us to press forward to the perfect and the glorious! par par What misery to miss all thisu8212?to come short of such perfection; no, to lie down in darkness and sorrow! To have sin, and imperfection, and uncertainty, and weariness, and misery, for our eternal portion!