"The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Beholding with open face his glory, we shall be changed into the same image, from glory to glory." From all this there will flow a joy and happiness inconceivable, boundless and inexhaustible.

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Every grievance shall be redressed: every pain and sorrow shall flee away; and every dignity and delight shall be conferred, which a God of love can bestow, or our limited but enlarged capacities can receive. We shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of his house, and he will make us drink of the river of his pleasure. We shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on us, nor any heat: for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed us, and lead us unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. We shall enter into the joy of our Lord, inherit all things, and be for ever filled with his fulness.

Is this the end of your faith? Are these the blessed fruits of your religious labours and expectations? the glorious results of living by faith and dying in the Lord? Why then should you shrink from the approach of death, and eagerly and timidly cling to life? The men of the world, who have lived to themselves, and by their carelessness, and crimes, have treasured up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath; may tenaciously cleave to that world which contains their little all, and deprecate the advance of the king of terrors, who comes to drag them to the bar of an offended God, and plunge them into the horrors of a ruined eternity. But, O why should you, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope that is set before you; you, who have your treasure in heaven, and your conversation there; why should you recoil from the appearance of death, and dread that hour which sets you free from all the sins and sufferings of mortality, and puts you in full possession of the love and salvation of the

Lord? Does the captive exile fear to be loosed, and restored to the bosom of his family, and the society of his friends? Does the bride deprecate the day of her espousals and of the gladness of her heart? Does the heir mourn because he has reached the time appointed of his father, for passing from under the restraints of tutors and governors, and for taking the complete possession of his titles and estate? Does the son of a king, who has been long retained in the hands of his enemies, and doomed to bear their insult and scorn, their outrage and cruelty; regret the arrival of the day which is to release him from their galling insolence and tyranny, and send him back to the arms of his father, and the palace of his ancestors?

And complaining that you are condemned to darkness and sorrow, to a state of restriction and bondage; will you mourn the dawn of that day, which shall throw down the walls of your prison, deliver you from the body of this death, and introduce you into the glorious liberty of the sons of God? Is Jesus the beloved of your souls, all your salvation and all your desire? And yet will you repine because the day of his marriage is come, when your union to him shall be complete, and your joy shall be full? Are you at present only in the infancy of your being, where all your powers are imperfect, and your comforts mixed with trouble and sorrow? And yet will you lament that you are to reach the stature of perfect men in Christ, and be put in complete possession of the purchased inheritance? Professing to be pilgrims and strangers upon earth; bewailing that you are obliged to dwell in Mesech and sojourn in the tents of Kedar; crying, O that we had the wings of a dove, then would we fly away and be at rest; will you grieve at the call which commands you to arise and depart, to return to the house of your Father, and become kings and priests unto God and the Lamb? Do you love communion with Jesus; delight in the knowledge of his glory; long for conformity to his image, and the enjoyment of his presence and favour? And yet will you betray alarm at the prospect of the consummation and crown of dignity and bliss, in being placed in his

immediate presence, and seated with him upon his throne?

You know well what a mighty loss our souls sustained by the fall of Adam. Would you like to have the effects of our apostasy repaired? Would you rejoice to be restored to paradise? If its beauty and fertility were again to be made to spring up, and the cherubim of glory to be withdrawn from its gates; would you gladly bend your steps to Eden, and eagerly enter its green and flowery arbours? Would you impatiently seek there a retreat from the stormy wind and tempest? from the blasphemies of the profane, and the filth and nauseousness of the impure? from the clamours of contention, the outrages of violence and oppression? from the languors of disease, and the ravages of death? Would you exult there to regain the image and favour of your Creator and Lord, and wait in patience till the God of love should call you up from its sacred joys and ennobling employments to the scenes and services of the world of glory?

With such a prospect before you, would you grudge no toil, and decline no danger to reach its pure and inviting shelter; but resolutely and perseveringly urge your unwearied way to its blissful abodes, though continents should stretch their breadth, mountains raise their awful forms, and oceans roll their raging billows between?

And in the arms of Immanuel, in the bosom of your Saviour and your God; have you all this and more? Have you there a refuge from every storm, and a defence from every foe? Have you there exemption from every toil and trial, and deliverance from every grief and fear? Do the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary live in unbroken rest? Shall no lion be there, neither any ravenous beast go up thereon? Shall it not once be found there? Shall the inhabitant never say, I am sick? Are the people all righteous? Shall your sun no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself? Shall the Lord be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning be ended? And while freed from every evil, shall you be invested with every blessing? Shall you see, and be

like your God? and be feasted with the goodness of his house, and made exceeding glad in the light of his countenance?

Is all this, and more, awaiting you in the heaven of heavens? And yet will you still desire to linger on in this world of tears and trials, and deprecate the thoughts of dying? O learn to cultivate the spirit of the children of Zion; and when you hear Jesus saying, Surely I come quickly; instead of entreating a longer delay of his coming, invite his descent, welcome his advent, and demonstrate your joy at his approach, by cordially replying, "Amen, even so come Lord Jesus. The voice of my Beloved lo, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. Now is come salvation, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him: we will be glad, and rejoice in his salvation.”

"To Jesus, the crown of my hope,

My soul is in haste to be gone;
O bear me, ye cherubim, up,

And waft me away to his throne."

CHAPTER XIII.

ON THE EVIDENCES OF A STATE OF GRACE.

In prayer my soul drew near the Lord,
And saw his glory shine;
And when I read his holy word,

I called each promise mine."

We have now seen that to those who apply to Christ, no sin is too great to be forgiven; that as long as any sorrow is felt for iniquity, and any desire entertained for reconciliation to God, no soul can be charged with having committed the sin against the Holy Ghost; but that the universal calls and free offers of the Gospel, are an ample warrant and security to every individual to come to Christ, and believe on him for his own salvation. We have seen that whilst the soul counts all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, it has no real cause of alarm on account of its want of humiliation and contrition for its past offences; that that faith is sound and saving, which, however weak, shuts the soul up to Christ, endears him to the heart, and leads us to yield ourselves to him entirely and rest on him alone for salvation; that though there can be no faith without a persuasion of the truth of what we believe, many have an interest in Christ without enjoying the assurance of their own salvation; that while remaining corruption is resisted and hated, and, in spite of all its efforts to rule, is prevented from reigning, the soul is safe, and not under the law but under grace. And we have also seen, that whilst the man follows hard after God, and longs for the enjoyment of the Divine favour, however dark and disconso