TO BE EXPECTED ON EAIj.TH. 191 thou still lie under thy imperfections ? Hath thy sin proved so profitable a commodity, so necessary a companion, such a delightful employment, that thou dost so much dread the parting day? May not God justly grant thee thy wishes, and seal thee a lease of thy desired distance from him, and nail thy ears to these doors of misery, and exclude thee eternally from his glory_ ?" It shows that we are insensible of the vanity of the creature, when we are so loth to hear or think -of a removal. " Ah, foolish, wretched soul! doth every prisoner groan for freedom ? and every slave desire his jubilee ? and every sick man long for health ? and every hungry man for food ? and dost thou alone abhor deliverance ? I)oth the sailor wish to see the land ? I)oth the husbandman desire the harvest, and the labourer to receive his pay ? Doth the traveller long to be at home, and the racer to win the prize, and the soldier to win the field ? And art thou loth to see thy labours finished, and to receive the end of thy faith and sufferings ? Have thy griefs been only dreams? If they were, yet methinks thou shouldst not be afraid of' waking. Or is it riot rather the world's delights that are all mere dreams and shadows? Or is the world of late become more kind ? We may at our peril reconcile ourselves to the world, but it will never reconcile itself to us. O unworthy soul ! who hadst rather dwell in this land of darkness, and wander in this barren wilderness, than be at rest with Jesus Christ ! who hadst rather stay among the wolves, and daily suffer the scorpions' stings, than praise the Lord with the host of heaven !" § 20. This unwillingness to die, doth actually im- peach us of high treason against the Lord. Is it not choosing of earth before him, and taking of present things for our happiness, and consequently making them our very god ? If we did indeed make God our end, our rest, our portion, our treasure, how is it possible but we should desire to enjoy him? It moreover discovers some dissimulation. Would you
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