DISCOURSE VIII. 160 from sin, and a deliverance from every temptation ? Do we em- ploy ourselves with pleasure in the work and business of heaven, in the holy contemplation of God, in a delightful survey of the person and offices of his Son Jesus, his wondrous condescension, and his amazing compassion ? Do we take pleasure in convers- ing with God our Father by holy addresses of praise and thank- fulness ? Do we love all the saints, and delight in their society, and do we rejoice to spend our time with them in heavenly con- versation, though they may be amongst the lower ranks of life here on earth ? And do we diffuse our love through all who wear the image of God, and take a pleasing satisfaction of soul in their increase of holiness, and rejoice in their joys ? If God has thus fitted thee, " O christian in this manner, for the mansions of the happy world, then surely he has set thee apart for himself, he has begun eternal life in thee, the dawn of eternal glory is risen upon thee, and he will bring thee into the complete noon of blessedness, into the overflowing light of divine beatitudes." Arise and shine, O christian, for thy life is come, the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee ; Is. lx. 1. thou hast no need to ascend into heaven to search for thy evidences among the decrees of God, and to pry into the rolls of electing grace ; for if thou hast been transformed into a heavenly temper, thy name is surely written in the Lamb's book of li /e; heaven is be- gun within thee, and God will fulfil his own work. II. " What a solid comfort is it to poor, mourning, troubled, afflicted souls, under all their sorrows, their frailties, their temptations, and infirmities here on earth, that they have a clear evidence of heaven within them." 'l'itis is such a peace as Jesus Christ left to his disciples by legacy ; John xiv. 27. Such as the world cannot give, and such as the world can- not take away. This is a spring of constant and divine consolation to 'those who seem to be worn out with old age or infirmities of nature, and they complain they are fit for no service in this world ; but if they can feel in themselves this holy fitness for the enjoyments of heaven, they have a rich and living fountain of pleasure in their own breasts, ever springing, ever -flowing, and such as will fol- low them with daily supplies of pleasure, if they are not wanting to themselves through all this wilderness, till they arrive at that laud where all the rivers of blessing meet and join in afull stream to make the inhabitants for ever happy. " It may be, O christian, thou art afraid that thou bast felt but little of this divine preparation ; thou west so many defects in thyself daily, so much unlikeness to God, so much working of iniquity, such restless efforts of the body of sin, so much preva- lence of temptation, so much coldness in duty, such deadness in acts of devotion, such frequent returns of guilt and pain in a
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