HEAVENLY MEDITATION. 3O7 would ; could I be all love, and always loving ! O my soul ! what wouldst thou give for such a life ? Had I such apprehensions of God, such knowledge of his word as I desire; could I freely trust him in all my straits; could I be as lively as I would in every duty; could I make God my constant desire and delight; I would not envy the world their honours or pleasures. What a blessed state, O my soul ! wilt thou shortly be ,in, when thou shalt have far more of these than thou canst now desire, and shalt exercise thy perfected graces in the immediate vision of God, and not in the dark, and at a distance, as now. # 21. Is the sinning, afflicted, persecuted church of Christ, so much more excellent than any particular gracious soul? What then will the church be, when it is fully gathered and glorified ; when it is ascended from the valley of tears to mount Sion ; when I shall sin and suffer no more ! The glory of the old Jerusalem will be darkness and deformity to the glory of the new. What cause shall we have then to,shout for joy, when we shall see how glorious the heavenly temple is, and remember the meanness of the church on earth ! # 22. "But, alas! what a loss am I at in the midst of my contemplation ! I thought my heart had all the while attended, but I see it doth not. What life is there in empty thoughts and words, without affec- tions? Neither God, nor I, find pleasure in them. Where hast thou been, unworthy heart, while I was opening to thee the everlasting treasures? Art thou not ashamed to complain so much of an uncomfortable life, and to murmur at God for filling thee with sor- rows ; when he in vain offers thee the delights of an- gels ? Hadst thou now, but followed me close, it would haçe made thee revive and leap for joy, and forget thy pairis and sorrows. Did I think my heart had been so backward to rejoice ! 23. " Lord, thou hast reserved my perfect joys for heaven, therefore help me to desire till I may possess, and let me long, when I cannot (as I would) rejoice. O my soul, thou knowest to thy sorrow, that thou art not yet at thy rest. When shall I arrive at that safe
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