- 254 THE NATURE OF HEAVENLY must not draw near, till the king hold out the scep- tre ; think then with what reverence thou shouldst approach him, who made the worlds with the word of his mouth, who upholds the earth as in the palm of his hand, who keeps the sun, moon, and stars, in their courses, and who sets bounds to the raging sea. Thou art going to converse with him, before whom the earth will quake, and devils do tremble, and at whose bar thou and all the world must shortly stand, and be finally judged. O think, " I shall then have lively apprehensions of his majesty. My drowsy spirits will then be awakened, and my irreverence be laid aside; and why should I not now be roused with the sense of his greatness, and the dread of his name possess my soul ?" Labour also to apprehend the greatness of the -work which thou attemptest, and to be deeply sensible both of its importance and excellency. If thou wast pleading for thy life at the bar of an earthly judge, thou wouldst be serious ; and y et that would be a trifle to this. If thou wast engaged in such a work as David against Goliath, on which the welfare of a kingdom de- pended ; in itself considered, it were nothing to this. Suppose thou wast going to such a wrestling as Jacob's, or to see the sight which the three disciples saw in the mount; how seriously, how reverently, wouldst thou both approach and behold ! If but an angel from hea- ven should appoint to meet thee, at the same time and place of thy contemplations ; with what dread wouldst thou be filled ! Consider then, with what a spirit thou shouldst meet the Lord, and with what seriousness nd awe thou shouldst daily converse with him. Con- sider also the blessed issue of the work ; if it succeed, it will be thy admission into the presence of God, and the beginning of thy eternal glory on earth ;, a means to make thee. live above the rate of other men, and fix thee in the next room to the angels themselves, that thou mavest both live and die joyfully. The prize being so great, thy preparations. should be answerable. There is none on earth live such a life of joy and bless- edness, as those that are -acquainted with this hea- venly conversation. The joys of all other men are but
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