806 AN EXAMPLE OF and sorrows, my fears and tears, and possess the glory which was the end of all ! If one 'drop of lively faith was mixed with these considerations, what a heaven - ravishing heart should I carry within me ! Fain would , I believe : Lord, help my unbelief. § 18. " How sweet, O my soul, have ordinances been to thee ! What delight hast thou had in prayer, and thanksgiving, under heavenly sermons, and in the so- ciety of saints, and to see the Lord adding to the Church such as should be saved ! How then can my heart con- ceive the joy, which I shall have to see the perfected church in heaven, and to be admitted into the celestial temple, and with the heavenly host praise the Lord for ever ? If the word of God was sweeter to Job than his necessary food; and to David, than honey and the, ho- ney -comb and was the joy and rejoicing of Jere - miah's heart ; how blessed a day will that be, when we shall fully enjoy the Lord of this word, and shall no more need these written precepts and promises, nor read any book but the face of the glorious God ! If they that heard Christ speak on earth were astonished at his wis- dom and answers, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth ; how shall I then be affected to -behold him in his majesty ! 19. "Can the prospect of this glory make others welcome the cross, and even refuse deliverance ; and cannot it make thee cheerful under lesser sufferings? Can it sweeten the flames of martyrdom ; and not sweeten thy life, or thy sickness, or thy natural death ? Is it not the same heaven which they and I must live in ? Is not their God, their Christ, their crown, and mine, the same ? And shall I look upon it with an eye so dim, a heart so dull, a countenance so dejected? Some small foretastes of it have I myself had ; and how much more delightful have they been, than any earthly things ever were ; and what then will the full enjoyment' be. ¢ 20. "WThat a beauty is there here in the imperfect graces of the Spirit ! Alas, how small are these, to what we shall enjoy in our perfect state! What a happy life should I here live, could I but love God as much as I
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