The Life of Faith. 507 ourgreat concernments, and repyce in our felicity; and (hail we be fo fwinifhly ungrateful, as feldom to look up, and re, membcr_their highand blcflèd (late ? Many think that they have nomore bends with their de ceafed friends, than to fee them decently interred, and to mourn over them, as iftheir removal were their lois ; or to grieve for our own lofs, when weperceive their places empty; but we farce look up after themwith an eye offaith, much letsdo wedaily maintain our communion with them in Heaven When Chriff was taken up, his Difciples gazed after him, A. r. ro. Stephen locked up ffedfaffly into Heaven, and f rr .Cbritf fitting at the right hand of God, As 7. 55. And how feldome, how (lightly do we lookup, either to Jefus, his Ann gelr, or his Saints, I tell you Sirs, you have not dyne with your friends when you have buryed their flafb. They have left you their holy examples : They arc entered before you into rcfl : You arc battening after them, and mutt be quickly with them, if you arc true Believers : You mutt fee them every day by faith: When you look to Chrifl, you mutt look to them, as his be- loved friends, entertained byhim in his family ofglory. When you look up to Heaven, remember that they are there: When you think of coming thither, remember that youmull there meet them. You mutt honour their memories more thanyoudid on earth, becaufe theyare more honourable, being more honoured ofGod. You mutt love them better than you did when they were on earth, becaufe they are better, and fo more lovely : You mutt rejoyce much more for their felicity, than youdid whiiett they were on earth ; becaufe they arc in- comparably more happy than they were. Either you believe this, or you do not. If you do not believe that the dead arc bleffed that die in the Lord, and ref( from their labours, and arc with Chrifi in Paradife, why doyou feem Cbriffians ? If you do believe it, why do you not more rejoyce with your glo- rifiedfriends, than. you would havedone, ifthey had been ad- vanced to the greaten honours in the world ? It is the Natural dutyoffriends, to mourn with them that mourn , and to rejoyce With them that rejoyee ; and if one member be ho- noured or dishonoured, the rest of the body are accordingly E c c e 2 affeecd.
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