A. The members of the invisible church have communicated to them in this life the first-fruits of glory with Christ, as they are members of Him their head, and so in Him are interested in that glory which He is fully possessed of;¹ and as an earnest thereof, enjoy the sense of God’s love,² peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, and hope of glory;³ as, on the contrary, sense of God’s revenging wrath, horror of conscience, and a fearful expectation of judgment, are to the wicked the beginning of their torments which they shall endure after death.⁴

We saw in our previous question that ‘communion in glory’ refers to the blessings, which members of the invisible church shall receive from Christ in the life to come. However, we also noted that we do not have to wait till we die to enjoy those blessings. The fact is that union with Christ and thus eternal life begins in this life, and therefore even in this life we can enjoy a foretaste of the blessings that awaits us. This is what the apostle Paul is suggesting when he says:

Our catechism refers to this foretaste as the ‘first-fruits of glory with Christ’ which are ‘communicated’ (i.e. bestowed) to the members of the invisible church in this life. These members are said to be ‘interested’ in the glory which Christ, their Head, is "fully possessed of." This does not mean that they are curious about it or eager to learn about it, but simply that they are entitled to a share of it. To have an interest in an inheritance is to have a claim or a share of the inheritance. Our inheritance in Christ is, in a word, heavenly glory.

Today, we are unable to receive this inheritance fully for two reasons: First, God has determined that a remnant of corruption should still remain in us while we are in this world (1 Jn 1:8); and secondly, our present body cannot accommodate this glory (1 Cor 15:40; 50).

However, it pleases God to give us an ‘earnest’ or a guaranteeing-deposit of the inheritance that awaits us. This is given to us chiefly through the Holy Spirit, who is sent to indwell us, as "the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory" (Eph 1:14). By the Holy Spirit, we enjoy a conscious sense of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy and hope of glory to come (cf. Rom 5:5).

Because of the remnant of corruption, we do not enjoy these things constantly in this life, just as we may not enjoy full assurance at all times. But when we do enjoy them, the experience can be described as ‘heaven on earth.’ This is the blessed experience of the children of God.

On the other hand, it pleases God that the wicked and unbelieving should also have a foretaste of the things to come. But for them it is curses rather than blessings. Their experience may take the form of a foretaste of "God’s revenging wrath, horror of conscience, and a fearful expectation of judgment." They may experience these things under the preaching of the Word of God, or when the civil law catches up with their crime, or when providence brings them to their knees. But many experience these horrors especially when they feel the approach of death. These horrors are not experienced by all unbelievers equally. But when they do experience it, it is like hell on earth for them. W

Culled from 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2000) and elsewhere

• Thomas Paine (noted American infidel and author): "I would give worlds if I had them, that The Age of Reason had never been published. O Lord, help me! Christ, help me! O God, what have I done to suffer so much? But there is no God! But if there should be, what will become of me hereafter? Stay with me, for God’s sake! Send even a child to stay with me, for it is hell to be alone. If ever the Devil had an agent, I have been that one."
• Francis Newport: "Oh, that I was to lie a thousand years upon the fire that never is quenched, to purchase the favor of God, and be united to Him again! But it is a fruitless wish. Millions of millions of years would bring me no nearer to the end of my torments than one poor hour. Oh, eternity, eternity! forever and forever! Oh, the insufferable pangs of hell!"
• David Strauss (outstanding representative of German rationalism, who spent years of his life trying to dispense with God): "My philosophy leaves me utterly forlorn! I feel like one caught in the merciless jaws of an automatic machine, not knowing at what time one of its great hammers may crush me!"
• Sir Thomas Scott: "Until this moment I thought there was neither a God nor a hell. Now I know and feel that there are both, and I am doomed to perdition by the just judgment of the Almighty."
• M. F. Rich (an atheist): "I would rather lie on a stove and broil for a million years than go into eternity with eternal horrors that hang over my soul! I have given my immortality for gold; and its weight sinks me into an endless, hopeless, helpless hell."

• John Calvin: "Thou, Lord, bruisest me, but I am abundantly satisfied, since it is from Thy hand."
• Martin Luther: "Our God is the God from whom cometh salvation: God is the Lord by whom we escape death."
• John Knox: "Live in Christ, live in Christ, and the flesh need not fear death."
• Samuel Rutherford (Scottish Commissioner to the Westminster Assembly): "I am in the happiest pass to which man ever came. Christ is mine, and I am His; and there is nothing now between me and resurrection, except—Paradise."
• Thomas Cranmer (Archbishop of Canterbury at the stake): "I see Heaven open and Jesus on the right hand of God."
• Hugh Latimer (Bishop of Worcester being burned at the stake with Nicholas Ridley): "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England as I trust shall never be put out."
• John Bunyan: "Weep not for me, but for yourselves. I go to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will, through the mediation of His blessed Son, receive me, though a sinner, where I hope we shall meet to sing the new song, and remain everlastingly happy, world without end."
• Charles Simeon (Great 19^th century English preacher): "Do you know what comforts me just now? I find infinite consolation in the fact that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.… Why, if God can bring all the wonder of the worlds out of nothing, He may still make something out of me."
• Adoniram Judson (American missionary to Burma): "I go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school. I feel so strong in Christ."