This is where you and I have
come to in the study of this epistle of Paul. We were looking
this morning at the last portion of verse 18, and as we come back
after our lunch just shortly, I want to consider verse 19 and
20 and 21. with you while it's fresh in
our minds this morning. Now let me begin reading here
in verse 15 again. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse
15. Wherefore I also, after I heard
of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love unto all the saints,
I cease not to pray for you, to give thanks for you, and to
make mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit
of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him, the eyes
of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the
hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of
his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his
mighty power. which he wrought in Christ when
he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and
power and might, and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and
has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head
over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all." You and I have come here to the
last portion of verse 18, and we are considering these three
requests that the Apostle Paul made for these Believers. The first one there was that
they might know that God has called them on purpose. That
He's called them to an end. He's called them to a good hope.
That they might realize that. And now we've come here secondly
to this second what. What is the riches of the glory
of His inheritance in the saints? That you might know this. Well,
before they could understand what this riches is, and before
you and I can understand what it is, we'll have to find out
what it means, won't we? What in the world could it mean
when He said that you may know, that you may recognize, that
you might perceive what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints? Now, there's two interpretations
to this that I know of. There's two views that all the
commentaries take on this, and let me give them to you right
quickly. The first view is, you may understand
it just by reading it. It says it like this, what is
the exceeding riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. His inheritance in the saints. In other words, the saints are
His inheritance. Now, that's an amazing thing.
But that's what the Apostle Paul seems to say here. And as we
look at the Scriptures, we can see that in other places. Let
me read a couple of Scriptures to you. In Deuteronomy chapter
32 and verse 9, listen to this. The Lord's portion is His people. And Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. The Lord has a people. And his
people is his portion. And he said in Psalms 33, verse
12, Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people
whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. He has a people. When God chose that small nation
of Jews, He passed by a host of other nations, greater and
mightier than themselves. And he says, I'm not so much
interested in those other nations. I have chosen you for this reason. You're my portion. I could have
all those other nations, and they're all mine. Humanity is mine. But he says,
I've chosen you for my portion. And you know it is the same way
when you and I are speaking of spiritual Israel, when we are
talking about the elect of God, the chosen of the Lord. The Lord
passed by a great host of fallen humanity. He passed by all the
fallen angels, and He set His choice upon His elect, His vessels
of mercy. And He said, You are my portion.
Everybody belongs to me. The world is mine, the earth
and the fullness thereof, but you're my inheritance. You're
my people. You're my chosen one. So that's
one of the ways to look at this. They're His inheritance by His
own choice, His people are. And then, of course, they're
His not only by His choice, a rich choice, but they're His by a
rich price. They're His inheritance because
He's paid for them. He's purchased them. You're not
your own. You are bought with a price. And when the Apostle Peter said
this, he said, You're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
a holy people, a peculiar. And that word there means you
are purchased. You are a purchased people. And
brothers and sisters, we're purchased at a great price. The greatest
price between the eternities. Eternity could not estimate the
price that it cost us, that it cost the Lord for His inheritance. And what was it? It was Christ
Himself. You are not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The worth of some things cannot
be estimated except by what they cost. They can only be determined
by what someone is willing to pay for it. What are you worth,
dear child of God? When I look at you and I consider
myself, to be honest, we're not worth very much, are we? Brother
Scott used to say we're about worth as much as a warm pitcher
of spit. And that's about it, ain't it?
But how can we estimate our price by what the Son of God paid for
us? He gave Himself. I tell you what, you can't add
anything to that, can you? He gave Himself. We're His inheritance
because He's purchased us by a rich price. And then thirdly
is this, we're His inheritance by rich labor. His labor. His work. Isaiah 43, verse 12
said this, this people have I farmed for Myself. I farmed them for
myself." We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus on two
good works. It is God which worketh in you. I tell you, sometimes what makes
an object so valuable is because who made it. You see
some old shack somebody's put up, and it reflects what kind
of character and skill the carpenter has. And you wouldn't hire him
to build nothing for you. But you see a beautiful mansion,
and you say, man, I've got to hire that guy. There's the guy
that I want to build my house. And look what a workman our Father
in Heaven is. He's created us anew in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Listen to what Solomon said.
Thou didst separate them from among the people of the earth
to be your inheritance." He separated them. What does it take to separate
a man from his sin? What does it take to separate
a man from his self-righteousness and trusting in it? What does
it take to separate a man from the pleasures of this world?
What does it take a man to bring his heart and cast it upon the
Son of God to be saved by Him? I'll tell you what it takes.
It takes the power of God. It takes the working of God the
Holy Spirit Himself. David said, Lord, save Your people,
bless Your inheritance, feed them, and lift them up forever. In other words, Lord, they're
Your work. Your workmanship. Lift them up forever. If you
and I are God's inheritance, then I tell you what, He chose
us to it. And He's purchased us with a
rich price, and He's working in us to separate us to Himself
for His glory and His worship. We're His inheritance. And also
consider this about this. His inheritance can be said to
be the richest of the glory of his inheritance because he dwells
in his inheritance. He dwells there. When the Lord told the children
of Israel that he was giving them the land of Canaan, their
hearts began to long to be there. That was their inheritance. They
long to be in their inheritance. And when they were driven out
of it into other lands, they'd open the window towards their
inheritance. They long to dwell in their inheritance. Well, you know something? The
church is God's inheritance, and He dwells there. I will dwell
in them, and I'll be their God, and they shall be My people.
Christ dwells in your heart, thy faith. You know what made
the land of Canaan so pleasant? The Lord dwells there. You know
what made the temple of the Lord so beautiful? The Lord dwells
there. You know what makes the church
so glorious? The Lord dwells there. You know what makes heaven
so desirable? The Lord dwells there. I tell
you, if the Lord dwells in you, you are worth something. Riches
of His glory. We are indeed His inheritance. So Paul prays for these believers
and he said, I hope you realize, I hope you know, the riches of
the glory of what it means to be God's inheritance. You're
His. You're His. That's the first
way to look at this. That's the first way. Some people
say that's the way. And if you have that view, that's
fine. I say, scripturally, I can't find anything wrong with it.
But here's another view that some look at, and it's also scriptural,
that when Paul was praying here, that they might know the exceeding
riches of God's inheritance in the saints, that he was saying
this, that you may know what the riches of the glory of His
inheritance to the saints, that He has laid up for His saints. And we've been looking at that
in the first few verses of this chapter already. Paul has mentioned
that. In verse 14, he says that we
have this earnest of the inheritance, and it's in us. It's God's inheritance. It is that. He's the one that
created it. He's the author of it, and He's
the giver of it, so it's His. But He's given it to His people,
and He's already put the earnest of it in our hearts. That is,
the Holy Spirit. Now, I want you to write just
a minute in Colossians chapter 1. The Apostle Paul mentions, almost
in the same identical language, here to these Colossians, as
he does to the Ephesians. And look what he says here. He
changes just one thing, and I think it seems to me to teach that
when Paul prays for them, he's praying that they might really
realize, really know the inheritance that God has laid up for His
people. That's the way I prefer to look at this anyway. But look
over here in Colossians 1. He says almost the same thing
as he says to those Ephesians when he's writing to them. Look
in verse 3. I thank God. I give thanks to God, the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. That's the same
thing he said to the Ephesians. And look at this. He said this
to them too. Since we heard of your faith
in Jesus Christ and love which you have to all the saints, for
the hope which is laid up for you in heaven were all of you
heard before in the words of the truth of the gospel." The
only difference, he says, he calls it God's inheritance in
the saints. And here he says, the hope which
is laid up in heaven for you. So here's the view that I prefer
when we look at this this morning. I prefer that the Apostle Paul
is saying this, I pray the eyes of your understanding be enlightened
that you may know, that you may realize in your heart the riches
of the glory of this inheritance that God has laid up for you,
that He has prepared for you. It's already prepared and you'll
have it at the end of your way. To me, that's the way that I
like to look at that. I like this view better because
to me it seems to fit in with the context that you and I have
been studying about. The Apostle Paul had just prayed
that they might know the hope of their calling. That God has
called you to this glorious end. He's not called you without a
purpose. He's called you to an end, a glorious end, and then
He turns right around and says, here is that end. And what is
it? this glorious inheritance that God has made up for His
people. Now, with that in mind, let me
say this about this. First of all, let me say this.
It's almost as if you and I are afraid to think about or to talk
about this inheritance. We're almost at the point if
we say that if we talk much about it or we dwell on it, that it
may be presumptuous on our part. Do you ever feel that way about
this? We talk of electing love. We talk of redeeming blood. We
talk of irresistible grace and the perseverance of the saints
and so on. But we feel almost compelled
to stop here. Oh, we believe that the saint
has life eternal. We believe that the saint will
endear. He shall never fall away. But then we feel almost compelled
to stop there, don't we? Well, that's not the end, brother.
That's not the end, dear sisters. When we've endeared to the end,
what's beyond the end? And that's what the Apostle Paul
is confronting us with to think about and even pray about. You
and I love to meditate upon that passage where we are told that
God the Father has prepared His Son a body that He may suffer
in it and redeem us from our sin. But we don't want to meditate
seemingly upon that passage that talks about Him preparing a kingdom
and an inheritance for His people. Listen to this. Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you." Prepared. He's prepared Christ
the body to suffer in and we glory in that. That's all our
salvation. But he said, I've prepared more
than that. And just as you should meditate upon the body and the
soul of the Lord Jesus, you should meditate upon this inheritance. to know more of it. Those old
men in the Old Testament, those dear saints, this is what was
said of them, that they desired a better country, that is, than
heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God,
for He hath prepared for them a city. Preparations, prepared
city. You and I may be apprehensive
to talk about this inheritance in heaven, Because we've seen
so many people profess a false hope of going there. You read
your obituaries and somebody that you knew, oh, old Ned, he
departed this life and he's gone to be with the Lord. Old Ned? When did he even profess the
Lord? Oh, he didn't. Where did he attend worship?
Never did. But he's gone to be with the Lord? He's gone to heaven
to this inheritance? And we see that and sometimes
we say, well, we better not talk about that. Some people think
we're like old Ned. And we see others that profess
a false hope. They talk about going to heaven.
You meet them in the grocery stores and they say, hallelujah,
I'm going to heaven. But you listen to them just a
few minutes and they have no real hope of it. They have a
false hope of it. And you and I, sometimes, we
shy away from talking about it because of that, don't we? But
listen, brothers and sisters, there's a good hope through grace. There's those who have no hope.
They have the hope of a hypocrite that will perish. But there's
those who have a good hope through grace. And the Apostle Paul has
already given it to us here in this epistle. He said, this is
what it is. You heard the gospel of truth.
And you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's your hope. He's your salvation. And the
Apostle Paul said there that you were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. And that's why he began there
in verse 18 and says, you know that He's called you effectually.
You're not playing around with this. You just didn't decide
one day that you were going to be a Christian, so you made yourself
one. He's called you to this. He's
irresistibly called you to this. You come to Christ because you
had no place else to go. You've got a good hope. You've
got a real hope. And you can meditate upon this
and you can pray as the Apostle Paul encourages us to, Lord,
open my understanding that I may know the riches of this inheritance
that you've laid up for me, that which awaits me. He doesn't say
it would be presumptuous for you to think on this, does he? It would be presumptuous of you
to desire this inheritance. That's not what he says at all.
But he says, I pray that the Holy Spirit open your understanding
that you may believe it and know it and live in the light and
in the joy of it, as Brother Larry was talking this morning. The Lord appeared to Abraham
and called him out of Mesopotamia. And he said, Abraham, I'm going
to give you the land of Canaan. I'm going to give it to you."
And no sooner had he told him that, and this is what he said
to do. He said, I want you to walk through the length of it.
I want you to walk through the breadth of it. I want you to
acquaint yourself with this land. I've given it to you, and now
I want you to know something about it. It's your inheritance,
and don't you be afraid to walk through it. and look at it, feel
this ground under your feet, view the beauty of it and the
vastness of it with your eyes, listen to the sound of it with
your ears. I want you to go up there in
Lebanon, and I want you to see the mighty cedars like you've
never seen in all your life. They're yours. And on your way
up there, I want you to go through a little place called Bethlehem,
and I want you to drink from a well there that's the coldest
water ever tasted in anybody's lips. And while you're there
in the northern part of your inheritance, I want you to cast
your net in the Lake of Galilee, and you talk about catching some
fish you'd like you'd never seen in all your life. And walk back
down those beautiful banks of the Jordan River and sit there
in the peaceful tranquility of that place. And come back down
through the brook of Eskrow and I want you to see some grapes
there on those hills that if you cut a cluster off it would
take two men to carry them. and go on with the Mediterranean
Sea and walk up on the hillsides of Joppa and overlook the beautiful
Mediterranean and get a view of its beauty. Acquaint yourself
with this land. It's yours. I've given it to
you. It's your inheritance. Don't
be afraid of it. Don't be apprehensive about it.
Don't be doubtful of it. There's nothing there that can
harm you. I've made it. I've given it to you. It's yours. It's yours. And now the Apostle
Paul comes here and he says this to us, God has given you that
inheritance. Don't be shy about praying over
it, investigating it, looking into it, and learning and knowing
more of it, and living in the hope and in the joy of it. But brothers and sisters, how
few of us do that. Do you meditate upon this? Do
you read about it? Do you pray about it? Oh, I want
to go to heaven, don't you? I want to know more about that
place. Whatever your thoughts have been
on this subject in the past, if God has affectionately called
you to the Lord Jesus Christ, I hope you make it a matter of
prayer and study concerning this inheritance. That's the first
thing. The second thing is this. I want
to say this about this inheritance. Those who lived in the hope of
it have been some of the most godly people, have been some
of the most self-denying people that this world has ever known. Look over here with me in Hebrews. Turn right over to your right
in the book of Hebrews. If you don't have your Bible
with you, Pick up a few Bibles there and turn to the book of
Hebrews, wouldn't you? Chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. And look at this. Here are some
people that lived in the hope of that inheritance. They looked
to the future. Look here in chapter 11 and look
in verse 8 and verse 16. By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, he obeyed, and he went out, not knowing
whether he went. And by faith he sojourned in
the land of promise as in a strange country, and he dwelt in those
tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder
and maker is God, And by faith Sarah herself received strength
to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past
age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore spring
there even of one, and him as good as dead, as many as the
stars in the sky for multitude, and as the sand which is by the
sea sure enumerable. And these all died in faith,
not having received the promises, but they seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and
embraced them, and they confessed that they were pilgrims and strangers
on this earth. Why did they do that? Because
they saw something that was coming. A reward that was ahead. And
look in the same chapter, look over in verse 24. By faith Moses. When he was come to years, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to
suffer afflictions with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt." And look at this, "'For
he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.'" He was looking
for the reward. He turned his back on the pleasures
of Egypt. Probably heir of that throne. He had no regard for the fear
and the wrath of Pharaoh. And he went out into the wilderness.
He had respect unto the recompense of the reward. Not of works,
but of grace. That God was going to dwell among
them. And they would be His people. And He would give to them the
land of Canaan. And finally, eternal glory. And
what did such a hope do? Made him turn his back on everything.
And look at one more verse here in this, look in verse 35. Women
received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured,
not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Now, ain't that wonderful? They
looked for a better resurrection. I tell you, these were some of
the most gracious and helpful and caring people this world
has ever known. And those people who live in
this world with this hope brightly shining in their hearts, they're
the same way. Some of the most gracious and
helpful and caring people that that have ever been in this world
and in this world right now are those who live in this world
with this hope of heaven in their breast. Now that's so. It's those
people who have no hope that are a bunch of stingy guts and
just think about themselves. Well, that's my time. He's inching
in on my time. This is my damn time. Nobody's
getting my time. They begrudge, begrudge, begrudge. But you take those who've got
a hope of heaven And I tell you, they're the generous people you've
ever seen, and the caring and the lovingness. Ain't that what
the Master said? He said, Come, you blessed of
my Father, in hurry the kingdom prepared for you. And then immediately
he says this, I was hungry and you fed me. They were looking
for that place. They had hope in it. But he said,
What did you do while you were on earth? I was thirsty and you
gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited
me. I was in prison and you came
unto me." Some of the best people this earth has ever known is
people who've lived with this hope in their breath. You've
heard that old saying, some people are so heavenly minded they're
no earthly good. That's not so. That's not so. You let men and women begin to
grasp this hope. and live in the reality of it.
There's nothing they won't give up. There's nothing they won't
suffer for heaven's sake. Now, that's so. These lived in
hope of heaven, but they did more good to the souls and bodies
of men than any government or social program ever thought about
doing. And that's so. That's the truth.
And you read history. And you'll see where congregations
of saints, though they may have been small and they may have
been poor, but they started schools in poor districts, they built
orphanages, they built hospitals for the sick, soup kitchens for
the hungry. All the time they were believing
and preaching this gospel of hope. So let us begin, brothers and
sisters, to live in the light of this hope of heaven and see
if it is not a stimulus to us. If you have not been living there
in time past, dear child of God, then change your attitude about
it and see if it is not a stimulus to you. We talk about a stimulus
package. That is all we hear about now, a stimulus package.
Well, here is a stimulus package, the hope of glory. the riches
of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Nothing of this
life is worthy to be compared to it. Worldly mansions would
not be a dumb hill in heaven. The most precious metals of this
earth, they would use it to pave the streets in heaven. And that's
the soul. Paul said, I pray for you, dear
saints, that the eyes of your understanding be enlightened,
that you may know and believe and live. your present life in
this sure and certain hope of heaven when this life is over. And thirdly is this. What is
this inheritance? What's it made of? What's it
contain? We've talked about it, that we
should pray over it and know some more about it, but what
is it? And Paul said here that you may know. You may know. He said something else over here
in the 3rd chapter about knowing too. Look what he says in the
3rd chapter in verse 18. He was praying here that you
might be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth,
the length, the depth, and the height, and to know the love
of Christ which passeth knowledge. What can we know about the love
of Christ? What's the greatest knowledge
we can attain concerning the love of Christ? It's this, that
it passeth knowledge. Oh, my understanding of it, it
passeth my knowledge in the vastness of it. That's the same thing
in regard to this inheritance. The riches of it, the glory of
it, it passeth knowledge. What can we say about it? In its riches, and in its glory
it passeth knowledge." I'm going to try to explain it by reading
some Scriptures to you. And that's all I can do. I'm
sorry, that's all I can do. If you want these Scriptures
later, and these are just a very few of them. But let me just
quote a number of Scriptures to you concerning the riches
of this glory. that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. This word glory means splendor,
magnificence, radiance, honor, bliss, excellence, perfections
of beauty, renown, exaltation, and go on and on and on and on
and on. What our commentaries and dictionaries
have found out, they cannot aptly describe this word, glory. It's what God is. Glory. It's what He does. It's what
He makes. It's what He gives. Glorious.
And they can't describe it. But that has to do with that
inheritance. And listen to this verse. Brother
Larry read it to us this morning. or light afflictions, which are
but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding eternal
weight of glory." Glory? We can't describe that. And now
he adds this to it, a far more exceeding and eternal. It's not
only glory, but it's eternal glory. How can you describe that? And yet it has to do with that
inheritance. Our conversation is in heaven,
from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile bodies and fashion it like unto His
glorious body. Now, how can we understand that? fashion our vow bodies like His
glorious body. If you and I, brothers and sisters,
could live in the reality of this, that this vow body is going
to be changed and made glorious like His, wouldn't it help us
to subdue the passions that we feel in this old body now? It
would. Those martyrs in Foxe's Book
of Martyrs, if you've never read that book, I encourage you to
read it. They gave their bodies to the fire to be burned. They
gave them to the wild beast to be ate, and to the boiling oil
to be cooked. They put them on machines and
pulled them limb from limb, and they gave their bodies, even
with joy, while they prayed for their persecutors. And it was
all because of this, this glory that awaited them. Glorious body,
a glorious body. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that he
might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing. holy without blemish before Him. That has to do with this inheritance
that the Apostle Paul is talking about. Father, I will that those
whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may
behold My glory. That has to do with this inheritance.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we appear
with Him wherein glory." Whatever glory means, that's where they'll
appear. And with Him. And like Him. And sit with Him in His throne.
And walk with Him in white. That's astounding, ain't it? Absolutely astounding. The Apostle Paul tells us that
we have access unto God by the Lord Jesus Christ, and we rejoice
in hope of the glory of God. Hope of God's glory. He has this
glory that He fully intends to share with His redeemed people. And He will share it with them.
He will share it with them. that he might make known the
riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy. In Revelation 21, John
said, The angel carried me away in the Spirit to this great and
high mountain, and he showed me that great city, the holy
Jerusalem coming down from heaven from God, and it had the glory
of God upon her. And the city had no need of the
sun, nor the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations
of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it, and
the kings of this earth shall bring their glory into it, and
there shall never enter into it anything that defileth or
maketh abomination, or worketh a lie, but those whose names
are written in the Lamb's book of life. And every tear will
be wiped away, and no more pain, and no more sorrows. These former
things have passed away, and all things are new. Oh, that
you and I may know, the Spirit of God may flood the eyes of
our hearts, that we may begin to see a little bit of what God
has prepared for those who love Him and live in the hope and
in the joy of it. I tell you, it would change my
life drastically if I could do that. It would change me drastically
if I could do that. Why can't we better explain this
inheritance? And I can't. I can't. I read
these Scriptures to you, and one of the reasons I read all
the Scriptures to you is because I can't comment on it. What can
you say about it? When I used to work a public
job, I remember While I was driving down the road in that old truck,
I used to think, boy, I need to get out of this job and go
home to my study and spend time reading and meditating so I can
go preach to people. I'm just wasting my time. I need
to be reading and meditating and preaching to people. There's
things that need to be said. And then when I quit my job and
started trying to preach, And then I come here and try to deal
with these things, I start thinking, man, I need to get out of the
ministry and go get me a job. And it's because of these things,
like this. How do you explain them? The
Apostle Paul was caught up into the third heaven. And he came
back down to this earth. And they said, Paul, where have
you been? He said, I've been to heaven. Tell us about it.
He said, I can't. I heard things that's impossible
to utter. You and I are not only so fallen
in our humanity, but our language is so weak and vile, we can't
express these things. If God in heaven sent an angel
down here to teach us these things, we'd have no idea what He was
talking about. He gives us these things, part
of a verse here and part of a verse there, and it's glorious. But He tells us like He told
Abraham, walk through the length and the breadth of the land.
Acquaint yourself with these things. This is the inheritance
that your Father has laid up for you. The elders which are among you
I exhort, who also am an elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ, and a partaker of the glory which shall be revealed,
when the cheap shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown
of glory that fadeth not away." The sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with a glory.