now sweet or bitter? O see how the Judge smiles upon you! There is love in his looks; the titles of Redeemer, Husband, Head, are written in his amiable, shining face. Hark! he calls you. O joyful sentence pronounced by that blessed mouth! "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!" See how your Saviour takes you by the hand; the kingdom is yours; there is your place before his throne. The Father bids you welcome to the crown of glory; however unworthy, you must be crowned. This was the project of redeeming grace, this the purpose of eternal love. O blessed grace ! O blessed love! O the frame my soul will then be in! O how love and joy will fill my bosom! But I cannot express it! I cannot conceive it!

This is that joy which was procured by sorrow; this is that crown which was procured by the cross. My Lord wept that my tears might now be wiped away; he bled that I might now rejoice; he died that I might now live. This weeping, wounded Lord, shall I behold this bleeding Saviour shall I see, and live with him that died for me. O free mercy, that can exalt so vile a wretch! free to me, though dear to Christ! O sovereign grace that has chosen me, when thousands were forsaken!

Here I shall live with all the saints! O comfortable meeting of my old acquaintance with whom I prayed, and wept, and suffered,-with whom I spake of this day and place! I see the grave could not contain you; the earth and sea must give up their dead. This is not like our cottages of clay; nor like our prisons, or earthly dwellings. This voice of joy is not like our old complainings, our groans, our sighs, our impatient moans; nor this melodious praise like the scoffs and revilings, the oaths and curses which we heard on earth. This body is not like the body we had, nor this soul like the soul we had, nor this life like the life we lived. We have changed our place, we have changed our state, our thoughts, our looks, our language; we have changed, for the greater part,

our company, and the rest of our company is itself changed. Where is now the body of sin, which vexed themselves and all about them? Where are now our different judgments, our divided spirits, our exasperated passions, our strange looks, our uncharitable censures? Now we are all of one name, of one judgment, of one heart, of one glory. O sweet reconciliation! O happy union! which makes us first to be one with Christ, and then to be one among ourselves!

Thou shalt never suffer thy old temptations from Satan, the world, or thy own flesh. Thy body will no more be such a burden to thee; thy pains and sicknesses are all now cured; thou shalt be troubled with weakness and weariness no more. Thy head is not now an aching head; nor thy heart an aching heart. Thy hunger and thirst, thy cold and sleep, thy labour and study, are all gone. O what a mighty change is this! From the dunghill to the throne! from a vile body, to a body as bright as the sun in the firmament! from complainings under the displeasure of God, to the perfect enjoyment of him in love! from all my fearful thoughts of death, to this most blessed joyful life! O what a blessed change is this! Farewell sin and suffering for ever; farewell my hard and rocky heart; farewell my proud and unbelieving heart; farewell my atheistical, worldly, sensual, carnal heart; farewell repentance, confession, and supplication; farewell the most of hope and faith; and welcome love, and joy and praise. Welcome most holy, heavenly nature, which as it must be employed in beholding the face of God, so is it full of God alone, and delights in nothing else but him. O who can question the love which he so sweetly tastes, or doubt of that which with such joy he feels? Whatever mixture is in the streams, there is nothing but pure joy in the fountain. Here I shall be encircled with eternity, and come forth no more; here I shall ever live, and ever praise my Lord. My face will not wrinkle, nor my hair be gray; but this mortal shall have put on immortality, and this corruptible incorruption, and death shall be swallowed up in victory. O death, where is now

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thy sting! O grave where is thy victory!" When millions of ages are past, my glory will be but beginning; and when millions more are past, it will be no nearer ending. Every day is all noontide, and every month is summer, and every year is there a jubilee, and every age is full manhood, and all this is one eternity. O blessed eternity! The glory of my glory! the perfection of my perfection!

SECTION II.

Actings of Faith.

Aн drowsy, earthly heart, how coldly dost thou think of this reviving day! Dost thou sleep when thou thinkest of eternal rest? Art thou inclining earthward, when heaven is before thee? Hadst thou rather sit down here than walk in the court of the palace of God? Dost thou now remember thy worldly business, thy carnal pleasures, thy merry company? Wretched heart! Is it better to be there than above with God? Is the company better? Are the pleasures greater? Come away, make no excuse, make no delay. Gird up thy loins, ascend the mount, and look about thee with the eye of faith. Look not back upon the way of the wilderness, except it be when thine eyes are dazzled with the glory of God, or when thou wouldst compare the kingdom with that howling desert, that thou mayest perceive more sensibly the mighty difference. Fix thine eye upon the sun itself, and look not down to earth as long as thou art able to behold it, except it be to discern more clearly the brightness of the one, by the darkness of the other. Yonder, is thy Father's glory,-yonder must thou dwell when thou leavest this earth,-yonder must thou remove, O my soul, when thou departest from this body; and when the power of thy Lord shall raise it again, and join thee to it, yonder shalt thou live with God for ever. There is the New Jerusalem, the gates of which are of pearl, the foundations of precious stones, the streets and pavement of transparent gold.

Beholdest thou that sun which lights all this world? It shall be taken down as useless there, for the glory of God will darken and extinguish it.

What thinkest thou, O my soul, of this most blessed state? What! dost thou stagger at the promise of God, through unbelief? Though thou say nothing, or even profess belief, yet thou speakest so coldly and so customarily, that I much suspect thee. I know thy infidelity is thy natural vice. Didst thou believe indeed, thou wouldst be more affected with it. Why, hast thou not it under the hand, and seal, and oath of God? Can God lie? Has God made thee a promise of rest, and wilt thou come short of it, and shut out thyself, through unbelief? Thine eyes may fail thee, thy ears deceive thee, and all thy senses prove delusions, sooner than a promise of God can delude thee.

And is this rest so sweet and so sure? O then, what mean the careless world? Do they know what it is they so neglect? Do they know for certain that the crown is before them, while they thus sit still, or follow trifles? Surely they act like men beside themselves, to mind so much their provision by the way, to strive, and care, and labour for trifles, when they are hasting so fast to another world, and their eternal happiness lies at stake. Had they one spark of reason left, they would never sacrifice their rest for toil, or sell their rest for worldly vanities, or venture heaven for the pleasures of sin. Ah, poor sinners! would that ye considered what you hazard, and then you would scorn these tempting baits. O blessed for ever be that love, that has rescued me from this bewitching darkness!

SECTION III.
Actings of Love.

DRAW yet nearer, O my soul; bring forth thy strongest burning love. Here is matter for it to work upon; here is something truly worth thy loving. O see what beauty presents itself. Is it not exceedingly lovely?

Is not all the beauty in the world united here? Here is a feast for thine eyes; a feast for the powers of thy soul. Dost thou need to be entreated to feed upon it? Canst thou love a little shining earth? Dost thou love a piece of animated clay? And wilt thou not love that God, that Christ, that glory which are so truly, so immeasurably lovely?

Thou lovest thy friend because he loves thee; and is the love of any friend like the love of Christ? Their weeping or bleeding for thee does not ease thee, nor stay the course of thy tears or blood; but the tears and blood that fell from thy Lord and Saviour have all a sovereign healing virtue, and are a balsam to thy wounds. O my soul! if love deserve, and should beget love, what incomprehensible love is here! Pour out all the store of thy affections here; and all is too little. O that it were more!

O my soul! dost thou love excellence? Why, thou seest nothing here below but baseness, except as they relate to thy enjoyments above. Yonder twinkling stars, that shining moon, this radiant sun, are all but as lanterns hung out from thy Father's house, to light thee while thou walkest amidst the darkness of the earth. But little dost thou know (ah little indeed,) the glory and blessed mirth that are within!

Dost thou love what is suitable? Why, what person more suitable than Christ! His Godhead, his Manhood, his fulness, his freeness, his willingness, his constancy, all proclaim him most suitable as thy friend. What more suitable to thy misery, than his mercy? Or to thy sinfulness than his pardoning love? What place more suitable to thee than heaven? Thou hast had sufficient trial of this world. Dost thou find it agree with thy nature or desires? Are these heavy sufferings, these substantial vanities suitable to thee?

Or dost thou love for interest and near relation? Why, where hast thou better interest than in heaven! or where hast thou nearer relation than there !

Dost thou love for acquaintance and familiarity? Why, though thine eyes have never seen thy Lord, yet he is never far from thee. Thou hast heard the