Forgotten Honour - William Cowper and Madame Guyon

Madame Guyon

It's been a while since I delved back in Church History and took a look at how much honour and shame dynamics were part of the thinking and writing of Christians in centuries past.

Recently I came across another hymn - one which I had never heard of before - from around the late 15th century, which has its whole theme as the issue of sin being our shameful usurping of the place that God's honour should have in our lives. In fact it is given as the description of our lack of love for God. And it is no short explanation….it is 10 verses! It was once asked of me, that if honour is so important, why is the 'greatest commandment' about loving God and doesn't say about honouring God?…maybe this hymn goes some way in explaining that issue, as it points out how much the issues of love and honour are intrinsically linked together. 

It's a hymn that is not in modern hymnbooks, but was known by, and quoted by, Spurgeon in his devotional for December 19. He was speaking about trusting God to provide and care for us in the midst of our anxieties, saying "You are meddling with Christ's business, and neglecting your own when you fret about your lot and circumstances." and he went on to quote the 9th verse of this hymn:

My soul! rest happy in thy low estate,

Nor hope, nor wish, to be esteemed or great,

To take the impression of a will divine,

Be that thy glory, and those riches thine.

His point of persuasion with this verse, is that the cause and solution for our anxieties is 'glory' based. When we have our glory/honour focus in the right direction (on God not ourselves) we can be like the hymn-writer and have rest and happiness for our soul. And who doesn't want rest and happiness? We all do. But they are to be found by getting our 'glory' focus right.

This hymn was translated by British Poet William Cowper (probably around 1782) from the original French by Madame de la Mothe Guion written probably around a century earlier. Cowper is most famous for producing the 'Olney Hymns' hymnbook with his pastor (the well known John Newton who wrote 'Amazing Grace'). Read more about the hymn and William Cowper and Madame Guyon here and the hymn is explained verse by verse here.

The 10 verses are filled with words which are worth reading over and over:

Oh loved! but not enough—though dearer far

Than self and its most loved enjoyments are;

None duly loves thee, but who, nobly free

From sensual objects, finds his all in thee.

Glory of God! thou stranger here below,

Whom man nor knows, nor feels a wish to know;

Our faith and reason are both shocked to find

Man in the post of honour—Thee behind.

Reason exclaims—"Let every creature fall,

Ashamed, abased, before the Lord of all;"

And faith, o'erwhelmed with such a dazzling blaze,

Feebly describes the beauty she surveys.

Yet man, dim–sighted man, and rash as blind,

Deaf to the dictates of his better mind,

In frantic competition dares the skies,

And claims precedence of the Only wise.

Oh, lost in vanity, till once self–known!

Nothing is great, or good, but God alone;

When thou shalt stand before his awful face,

Then, at the last, thy pride shall know his place.

Glorious, Almighty, First, and without end!

When wilt thou melt the mountains and descend?

When wilt thou shoot abroad thy conquering rays,

And teach these atoms, thou hast made, thy praise?

Thy glory is the sweetest heaven I feel;

And, if I seek it with too fierce a zeal,

Thy love, triumphant o'er a selfish will,

Taught me the passion, and inspires it still.

My reason, all my faculties, unite,

To make thy glory their supreme delight:

Forbid it, fountain of my brightest days,

That I should rob thee, and usurp thy praise!

My soul! rest happy in thy low estate,

Nor hope, nor wish, to be esteemed or great,

To take the impression of a will divine,

Be that thy glory, and those riches thine.

Confess him righteous in his just decrees,

Love what he loves, and let his pleasure please;

Die daily; from the touch of sin recede;

Then thou hast crowned him, and he reigns indeed.

Forgotten Honour - Spurgeon and the Easter Story

One of the most well-known names from more recent church history is Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892).

He has been described as the Prince of Preachers. Not only is there extensive record of his powerful sermons over 40 years of preaching at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, and so we have much accessibility to his prolific preaching, but there is another reason why I think we should take note of Spurgeon's sermons.

His preaching and writing is saturated with looking at Scripture and life with strong realisation of the realities of honour and shame.

That might surprise you…as it did me a few years back.

Honour and Shame are not new ideas to be wary of.

In our current era of history, we can feel that the 'honour and shame' perspective is something new, novel and maybe even to be viewed suspiciously. Some suppose that this way of looking at life and the gospel could be a diversion or even departure from the 'traditions passed down' in the church through history. Some see it as possibly useful in missions, and maybe even in counselling, but to bring it into every area of Christian discipleship and Biblical exegesis is going too far and bordering on the heretical.

I know many who read this blog have travelled with us for years, and are enthusiastic about a renewed awareness of the dynamics of honour and shame, but still many are not too sure if we are making too much of something and at risk of over-emphasis and even heresy.

Yet, (as mentioned before), to not be daily living and breathing and navigating the dynamics of honour and shame, would have seemed strange and neglectful to those theologians of past centuries. It seems only we in the last century or so have forgotten its importance and priority.

Honour and Shame are 'normal', but yet even can be missed in the Easter Story

Spurgeon on the other hand has much to teach us about the 'normalness' of factoring in the dynamics of honour and shame to every page of scripture. For Spurgeon they were not concepts that were strange or or only part of 'other cultures'.

I could take you to multiple examples, but as we are about to once again ponder and celebrate the events of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, I thought I would highlight just one rarely spoken of part of the events leading to the Cross, and how Spurgeon walks into such a verse of Scripture without hesitation that there are, first and foremost, honour and shame factors to be observed, pondered and applied.

Here is what he says in his 'Morning and Evening' devotional for the morning of April 5th

"On him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus."

Luke 23:26

We see in Simon's carrying the cross a picture of the work of the Church throughout all generations; she is the cross-bearer after Jesus. Mark then, Christian, Jesus does not suffer so as to exclude your suffering. He bears a cross, not that you may escape it, but that you may endure it. Christ exempts you from sin, but not from sorrow. Remember that, and expect to suffer.

But let us comfort ourselves with this thought, that in our case, as in Simon's, it is not our cross, but Christ's cross which we carry. When you are molested for your piety; when your religion brings the trial of cruel mockings upon you, then remember it is not your cross, it is Christ's cross; and how delightful is it to carry the cross of our Lord Jesus!

You carry the cross after him. You have blessed company; your path is marked with the footprints of your Lord. The mark of his blood-red shoulder is upon that heavy burden. 'Tis his cross, and he goes before you as a shepherd goes before his sheep. Take up your cross daily, and follow him.

Do not forget, also, that you bear this cross in partnership. It is the opinion of some that Simon only carried one end of the cross, and not the whole of it. That is very possible; Christ may have carried the heavier part, against the transverse beam, and Simon may have borne the lighter end. Certainly it is so with you; you do but carry the light end of the cross, Christ bore the heavier end.

And remember, though Simon had to bear the cross for a very little while, it gave him lasting honour. Even so the cross we carry is only for a little while at most, and then we shall receive the crown, the glory. Surely we should love the cross, and, instead of shrinking from it, count it very dear, when it works out for us "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

(last paragraph emphasis mine)

What a refreshing, and encouraging lesson!

But the reality of the whole lesson, the impact of it, the counsel of it, the comfort of it, the motivation for perseverance of it, the glory of God in it….is lost to us without viewing from the awareness that we are meant to 'see' the dynamics of honour and shame in it and apply it to our own lives in terms of honour and shame.

We begin to rediscover the depth of meaning and blessing in the words of Scripture, when we rediscover the awareness and alertness to honour and shame dynamics that for Spurgeon and many others of his time and before him, took as a 'given'. 

Honour and shame are not just the dynamics of some cultures in the world, or the culture of bible times, but are the dynamics of life….its just that the church seems to have forgotten about them and become blind to them …and thus separated from their truth and blessing, and guidance toward seeking and finding true glory.

As we progress through the days of 'Easter' this year, let us ask the Lord to teach us afresh of the richness and 'weight' of the glory/honour that comes from Him and to Him, all that He may be exalted and lifted up.

Forgotten Honour - John Bunyan

After the Bible, probably the most well known and most widely published book is 'Pilgrims Progress' by John Bunyan.

John Bunyan lived from 1628 -1688 and his famous book which he began to write while he was in prison, and was published in 1678

In this series of 'Forgotten Honour' in which we look at how the concepts of honour and shame permeated the thinking and theology throughout most of Church History, we see it once again in how Bunyan's described the loss of Pilgrim's 'sin burden'. 

Then Christian gave three leaps for joy, and went on singing,

Thus far did I come laden with my sin;

Nor could aught ease the grief that I was in

Till I came hither: What a place is this!

Must here be the beginning of my bliss?

Must here the Burden fall from off my back?

Must here the strings that bound it to me crack?

Blest Cross! blest Sepulchre! blest rather be

The Man that there was put to shame for me.

It was the last two lines of the above paragraph that Charles Spurgeon quoted in his 'Morning and Evening' morning devotional for February 1st and it piqued my interest.

We in the 21st century Western world might find it strange that Bunyan's primary way to describe salvation and the cross is in terms of shame. But we can be assured this was no accidental choice of words, but his would have carefully crafted what he said in order to convey maximum meaning and understanding. He would have also believed that his readers would have identified and understood what he was talking about. 

The bliss he knew the cross to give, he understood in terms of loss of shame. He saw the burden of sin as a burden of shame, and he saw what Christ 'bore' for him on the cross was his burden of shame. His burden was released because Christ bore the shame of his sin. His sin was gone because his shame was dealt with.

And he wanted his readers to understand their situation through the eyes of the main character, Christian,…and in doing so he spoke in terms of honour and shame.  Thus his message to us also is to think more about the cross in terms of Christ bearing our shame…and letting that truth be what motivates us to sing, and jump for joy and praise our Lord!

Something further to think about in relation to this that was also brought to my attention by someone recently…..To not emphasise the shame aspects of the cross not only reduces a person's ability to fully understand the meaning of sin and the fullness of the release of the load, but also therefore lessens the amount and significance of joy and praise given back to God. 

To grow in our understanding of salvation in terms of honour and shame, grows our appreciation and thankfulness of all that God has done for us in Christ, and thus gives more glory to God….so to not help others understand such cross realities actually holds them back from giving God the glory he deserves. And so we then need to ask ourselves how God views a situation where we are not giving him the glory he should have?

Forgotten Honour - Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry, the son of a Preacher, was born in Wales in 1662 and died in Cheshire, England in 1714. Apparently he could write Latin and read part of the Greek New Testament at the age of nine!

He is probably one of the most well known Bible Commentators from Church History, possibly because, though part of the Puritan era, his exegetical commentary is more devotional and practical in style than academic. It has impacted many across the centuries and you have probably seen it or read part of it - at least the concise one volume edition or online at places like biblehub.com, if not the 6 volume edition.

I have mentioned him before on this blog in relation to honour and shame, but I recently came across yet another reference to his work in which he pointed his readers to these dynamics, when he was quoted by Nancy Ganz in her commentary on Leviticus (part of her excellent and highly recommended 'Herein is Love' bible commentary series for children).

Here is his comment (emphasis mine) on Leviticus 13:45 (ESV): ""The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, 'Unclean, unclean.'"

When the priest had pronounced the leper unclean, it put a stop to his business in the world, cut him off from his friends and relations, and ruined all the comfort he could have in the world. He must humble himself under the mighty hand of God, not insisting upon his cleanness, when the priest had pronounced him unclean, but accepting the punishment. Thus must we take to ourselves the shame that belongs to us, and with broken hearts call ourselves Unclean, unclean; heart unclean, life unclean; unclean by original corruption, unclean by actual transgression; unclean, therefore deserving to be for ever shut out from communion with God, and all hope of happiness in him; unclean, therefore undone, if infinite mercy do not interpose. The leper must warn others to take heed of coming near him. He must then be shut out of the camp, and afterward, when they came to Canaan, be shut out of the city, town, or village where he lived, and dwell with none but those that were lepers like himself.

Here we have a situation where in Leviticus - one of the most 'law-oriented' books of the bible, Matthew Henry automatically assumes a shame interpretation and application to the passage. We might look at the passage and see it is about being unclean. And so does he…but he has no hesitation in understanding that uncleanness is to be rightly understood in terms of shame.

Not only this, but in commentating on this 'law-oriented' book of Leviticus, we see here that he did not see the 'transgression' of the law as the primary problem of the sinner. In fact he saw that transgression was one of several aspects of the main problem of shameful uncleanness and a cause of being unclean and shameful - 'heart unclean, life unclean; unclean by original corruption, unclean by actual transgression;'

In our Western world we have come to think that our main sin problem is a guilt-transgression problem. But here Matthew Henry saw the main problem as a shame problem that is described by the term 'unclean'. And he saw being unclean as a problem that is not the outcome of shame but a contributor to shame.

Furthermore he understood that the concept of the leper was not only that he/she was 'unclean' but that the uncleanness meant being 'shut out from communion with God' because of being shut out of the camp. They were 'cut off' (another term that permeates the book of Leviticus) from fellowship with God and with others.  This is what sin does to us - it cuts us off from God and others.

Here Matthew Henry calls his readers to take the 'shame' seriously and be willing to come to a place of humility and 'take to ourselves the shame that belongs to us'. If we are to know cleansing from shame through Christ, we have to first recognise that we are shamefully unclean….unclean before God and deserving of being shut out and cut off.

It is this being 'shut out', and 'cut off' eternally from which Christ rescues us….because he took that shame of ours onto himself. 

Do you ever feel unclean for sin?  If you don't then Matthew Henry believes you need to, and feel the shame of it. But if you do, then there is good news for you at the Cross and in Christ, by whom you are made clean and reconciled to God, because Jesus took your shame!

…and this was something John Bunyan recognised and highlighted in his famous book 'Pilgrims Progress'…..as we will take a look at in another blog!

Forgotten Honour - Easter Hymns 3

I recently learnt that the Hymn 'Beneath the Cross of Jesus' was written by a Scottish lady in the mid 1800s, Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane, who died when she was only 38. Only two of her hymns are still sung today - 'There were Ninety and Nine' and this one.

She describes what the cross means to her and the comfort it brings and the hope in the midst of her and our, own unworthiness.

However it is the last few lines of the hymn, the culmination of her thoughts, that is worth looking at.

1 Beneath the cross of Jesus

I fain would take my stand,

the shadow of a mighty Rock

within a weary land;

a home within the wilderness,

a rest upon the way,

from the burning of the noontide heat

and the burden of the day.

2 Upon the cross of Jesus

mine eye at times can see

the very dying form of One

who suffered there for me:

and from my stricken heart with tears

two wonders I confess,

the wonders of redeeming love

and my unworthiness.

3 I take, O cross, thy shadow

for my abiding place:

I ask no other sunshine than

the sunshine of his face;

content to let the world go by,

to know no gain nor loss;

my sinful self my only shame,

my glory all the cross.

Once again we see a hymnwriter as understanding the purpose of the cross in terms of shame and honour [glory].

She realises that there is no shame to be concerned about but the shame of our sinful self. While others might seek the 'sunshine' of the face of the world (in other words the approval and applause and welcome of the world), she is content to let that go by, to not seek the world's glory. She is not motivated by seeking gain and avoiding loss in this world, but is able to rest in the fact that her glory, her honour, rests in the honour of another - Christ of the cross. The Cross is the place where  she can rest from all worthless strivings for status and approval in this world. The shame that the world fears, she is not concerned about, and she has the assurance that the only shame she should be concerned about - her sinful self, is taken care of in the cross. Instead of seeking for worth in this world, she knows that unsurpassed satisfying honour is hers in the midst of her total unworthiness for it. God's redeeming love has brought her all the glory and honour she will ever need.

Understanding the shame context of the cross and the glory it gives us brings rich and joyous hope!

Forgotten Honour - Easter Hymns 2

At the Secondary School I attended I was part of the 'Sacred Choir' and at almost every Easter we sang the hymn 'O Sacred Head Now Wounded' and I often felt its accompanying mournful tune so helpfully re-inforced the significance and weightiness of Christ's death.

It was written by Bernard of Clairvaux, abbot, and doctor, a Frenchman of the middle ages, born in 1091. It was then translated to German around 1660 by Lutheran hymnwriter Paul Gerhardt and then English around 1850 by James Alexander, son of the first Professor of Princeton Seminary.

But I must admit that my mind glossed over not only one of the words in the first lines - 'shame', but I also failed to appreciate the impact of the meaning of the whole first verse that focuses on the context of shame.

 O sacred Head, now wounded,

with grief and shame weighed down,

now scornfully surrounded

with thorns, thine only crown!

O sacred Head, what glory,

what bliss till now was thine!

Yet, though despised and gory,

I joy to call thee mine.

Are you like me, and you sing these Easter songs without thinking deeply about the extent of what they mean. Since 'shame' has not been focused on in much of the Christian teaching that fills the pages of our Christian books, commentaries and study bibles, we are apt to also slip over the important meaning bound up in these concepts.

We tend to think in terms of Jesus being weighed down with our guilt, but here the hymnwriter says he was weighed down with 'grief and shame'. We might think of a crown of thorns being physically painful, but the writer says such a crown was about being scorned - shamed, ridiculed, mocked.

But then he contrasts the image of what was humanly seen with what was being eternally accomplished…..the wounds won glory [honour] and the grief and shame became bliss, so that though it all looked and felt horrible and despicable [shameful], we rejoice because it brought us reconciliation with God, by being counted in the Son!

Can you join with me to sing 'though despised and gory, I joy to call thee mine'!

Forgotten Honour - Easter Hymns 1

Following on from the last blogpost, I want to take some further looks at how theologians, church leaders, preachers and hymnwriters of the past had the contexts of honour and shame quite prominent, and certainly not neglected, in their thinking and teaching. This is far from being a 'new' concept within the truth of the gospel.

While it may not have had much of a focus in our recent Western Christianity, we only have to take a look at some of the Easter Hymns to see how much this was part of their thinking and critical in their understanding of the gospel.

Lets take a look at one of the most well known Easter hymns - 'The Old Rugged Cross'.

It was written by George Bennard who was born in 1873. He wrote this hymn in 1913.

1 On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,

the emblem of suffering and shame;

and I love that old cross where the dearest and best

for a world of lost sinners was slain.

Refrain:

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,

till my trophies at last I lay down;

I will cling to the old rugged cross,

and exchange it some day for a crown.

2 O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,

has a wondrous attraction for me;

for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above

to bear it to dark Calvary. [Refrain]

3 In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,

a wondrous beauty I see,

for 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,

to pardon and sanctify me. [Refrain]

4 To that old rugged cross I will ever be true,

its shame and reproach gladly bear;

then he'll call me some day to my home far away,

where his glory forever I'll share. [Refrain]

First we see that the author had two major concepts he wanted to convey as he wrote about the cross - that of 'suffering and shame'.

Then, in the repeated refrain he wanted to emphasise that the more we cling to or embrace the suffering and shame of the cross, the more we will understand that it brings an eternal gift of the very opposite of shame…..a 'crown'.  

2nd verse he talks about the cross - the thing despised [dishonourable/shamed] by the world is the very thing that is something special and valuable to the Christian, because it was the honour [glory] of heaven and being with the Father which Jesus willingly gave up for us.

3rd verse brings the concept of the shame of the fact that God the Son spilt his blood, something horrible and shameful that becomes something valuable and beautiful, because his life was given to pardon us so that we could look forward to a future crown.

4th verse reminds us that our accepting the cross - the Christ of the Cross - means we share in the shame and reproach of being followers of the one who died a shameful death on a cross, but we gladly bear it because our identity and hope is not bound up in this world, but in the world to come, where instead of earth's shame we will share in Christ's glory [honour].

So 'shame' and 'honour' are the themes of this hymn. 

When the hymnwriter thought of the cross and wanted to explain it, he wrote about it in honour-shame contexts. The whole hymn is about how we who know Christ can join him in 'despising the shame' because of the 'joy set before him'. We don't need to fear the shame, because the shame won honour. Jesus' shameful death gained our eternal honour - not honour of ourselves, but honour assigned and gifted to us because of Christ. We can rest his honour and be welcomed back into relationship with our heavenly Father. It is thus this honour and not the world's that we should seek.

As we sing this hymn again this Easter, join with me in remembering, that Jesus death for our sin, means he bore our sin's shame and reproach so that we can be given his honour and welcome from the Father, thus we can be willing to bear any temporary shame on this earth for being followers of Christ, because our hope of life and honour lies beyond this earth where 'his glory forever I'll share'.

Forgotten Honour - James Meikle, and Facing Death with the Hope of Heaven

James Meikle - have you ever heard of him?

I certainly had not - and maybe that shows my ignorance, as I discovered that he was a Puritan writer/pastor who lived in the 1700's. I recently read a short piece of his writing on Challies.com in relation to that topic we all wonder about, but rarely discuss - death.

Although death - both physical and eternal - is to be feared by those who are not 'in Christ', it can still cause 'wondering' and even anxiety in the heart of a Christian. 

We know that eternally we are with Christ, but what about how that transpires in our consciousness once our heart stops beating? 

Here is the piece I recently read in which this 18th Century Pastor addresses those questions which are present in every generation (and then I want to make a further observation):

Why so much complaint of death? It is true, death is the fruit of sin, for by sin, death came into the world. But it is also true, that death is the finisher of sin to the godly—for by death sin shall be cast out forever. Sin, conveyed to us in our conception, is so interwoven with the human frame, that the tie must be dissolved between the soul and body, before a full and final separation can take place between the soul and sin. Who then, would fear the furnace, which is only to consume the dross, that the gold may come forth without alloy? What candidate for heaven would be averse to lay down mortality—in order to take up immortality; to put off this corruptible body—in order to put on incorruption? to have his body sown in dishonor—in order to be raised in honor and glory; and to have the soul dislodged from his body—that sin might be dislodged from his soul?

Why, then, should I be displeased at such a glorious exchange? To lay down frail flesh, feeble nature, all my lusts and passions, all my occasions and temptations to sin, all my infirmities and imperfections—and to be clothed with perfect beauty and eternal glory—should rather transport than perplex me. Why tremble at the ghastly gloom, that shall beam into a boundless noon; or startle at the dark step that shall usher me into eternal day? If my separation for a few years from my friends, issues in uninterrupted communion with God, is not the change most happy? If my distant views, and dim glances of the land afar off, and the King in his beauty, pass away—that the nearest approaches, most steady views, and brightest visions, may eternally take place—am not I a gainer to the highest degree?

Then, Lord, take away the sting of death, and at your appointed time, through faith, I shall fly into death's arms, not dismayed at his cold embrace—but burning with a heavenly desire to be forever with the Lord—which is far better than all the happiness of crowns and thrones below!

His words are so filled with hope and comfort!

But I want to alert you to something else profoundly instructive in what he says…in relation to the matter of honour.

What seems unique or 'new' in our generation is 'normal' in past generations

There are many who when we mention the matters of honour and shame are concerned that this is a 'new' theology and is in danger of diluting or damaging or even destroying what they believe is the 'true' need of man - that of forgiveness for guilt.

As I continue to research honour and shame, as concepts both in culture and in Scripture, I am amazed at how much we seem to have been a unique generation in that we are the only ones to not have our doctrine and life permeated with honour and shame. The more I read from preachers and writers of history, the more I see honour and shame as 'given' realities that fill the thinking and practice of their sermons and how they frame and explain the Christian life. The last half of the 20th Century seems to have been one where the prominence of honour in both the human psyche and God's Word was 'forgotten' in our gospel understanding.

Just look with me for a moment at what this Pastor Meikle says. He frames the whole experience of death in the context of what he calls the 'glorious exchange' - and that does not mean 'wonderful exchange', though it is that. It means the exchange of glory [honour], which he mentions in the first paragraph as 'body sown in dishonour - in order to be raised in honour and glory'. He makes the challenge that what we leave behind in our earthly death is surpassed by greater things. Honours of 'crowns and thrones below' pale into insignificance in the light of 'eternal glory'.

Heaven's Hope

Here he does not bring the news of a new body as comfort and hope and assurance to his readers, but he brings the promise of new honour and glory (essentially two words describing the one concept), as the means by which his hearers would be encouraged. He highlights that the resurrection is not just about new bodies, but about new glory - new honour - and a higher glory and honour that surpasses all the glories and honour we can spend our lives seeking for on earth. In the 'glory exchange' we let go of what appears to bring happiness on this earth, in order to gain something far greater and to the 'highest degree'.

We often think of victory over death for the Christian as being only a release from our sin-ridden and pain-filled bodies and our sin-infected world of temptation and ruin. But here this Puritan pastor is focusing on the fact that eternal life for the Christian is all about being ushered into a happiness of glory [honour] of the greatest and highest degree more than any honour received or hoped for on earth can ever give.

We may not know exactly what we will feel or experience on the other side of death, but above all, the recognition, acceptance, significance, worth, value, welcome, approval, love and dignity every human being seeks, will be fulfilled and known 'in Christ' to the 'highest degree', and that will be a level of happiness and peace that will not disappoint!

Heaven will be where the hope of true honour is fulfilled and we are bathed in happiness to the highest degree!