beauty and glory of it was inexpressible.
There, said they, is "the Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the
innumerable company of angels, and the spirits of just men made
perfect." You are going now, said they, to the paradise of God, where
you shall see the tree of life, and eat of the never fading fruits
thereof: and when you come there you shall have white robes given you,
and your walk and talk shall be every day with the King, even all the
days of eternity. There you shall not see again such things as you saw
when you were in the lower region upon the earth; to wit, sorrow,
sickness, affliction, and death; "For the former things are passed
away." You are going now to Abraham, to Isaac, and Jacob, and to the
prophets, men that God hath taken away from the evil to come, and that
are now "resting upon their beds, each one walking in his
righteousness." The men then asked, What must we do in the holy place?
To whom it was answered, You must there receive the comfort of all your
toil, and have joy for all your sorrow; you must reap what you have
sown, even the fruit of all your prayers, and tears, and sufferings for
the King by the way. In that place you must wear crowns of gold, and
enjoy the perpetual sight and vision of the Holy One; for "there you
shall see him as he is." There also you shall serve him continually with
praise, with shouting and thanksgiving, whom you desired to serve in the
world, though with much difficulty, because of the infirmity of your
flesh. There your eyes shall be delighted with seeing, and your ears
with hearing the pleasant voice of the Mighty One. There you shall enjoy
your friends again that are gone hither before you; and there you shall
with joy receive even every one that follows into the holy place after
you. There also you shall be clothed with glory and majesty, and put in
an equipage fit to ride out with the King of Glory. When he shall come
with sound of trumpet in the clouds, as upon the wings of the wind, you
shall come with him; and when he shall sit upon the throne of judgment,
you shall sit by him; yea, and when he shall pass sentence upon all the
workers of iniquity, let them be angels or men, you also shall have a
voice in that judgment, because they were his and your enemies. Also,
when he shall again return to the city, you shall go too with sound of
trumpet, and be ever with him.

Now, while they were thus drawing toward the gate, behold a company of
the heavenly hos