“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).

Think of it,-God has one only begotten Son, the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person; He is the well beloved. But, O, the wideness of His love, that He is able to take us into it, to adopt us into His family and make us share the same title that His only begotten Son shares.

The world did not recognize Him as the divine Son of God, the heir of heaven; so it will not recognize us as the sons of God and heirs of heaven. But we are the children of God now, just as much His sons now as we ever will be. The glory of the Sonship is not manifest in us, but when Christ shall appear we shall be like Him.

That throne to which we come and make our petitions is both a throne of grace and a throne of glory. The grace that is bestowed is equal to the measure of the glory that there is in that throne. That glory is by and by going to be revealed in us, so that this poor, vile body will shine like the sun. This is our assurance that the measure of that grace may be revealed in us now.

Just as our sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed, so the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the grace that is given us at this present time to endure them. The grace is equal to the glory.

By looking at these promises this way, we can see how heaven begins right here on earth. To have the Spirit of God and be the sons of God is entering upon the riches of our inheritance now. And if we continue to be the sons of God, we continue in our inheritance right along through eternity, the only difference being that when the Son of God comes, we shall have the full inheritance and glory of it.

Jones, General Conference Bulletin, 1895, pp. 267, 268