Chap. 14.] HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION. 221 was, and is to come ; who liveth, and was dead, and behold, he lives for evermore ; who hath made thy peace by the blood of his cross," and hath prepared thee with himself a habitation of peace : his office is the great peace-maker ; his kingdom is the kingdom of peace ; his Gospel is the tidings of peace; his voice to thee now is the voice of peace ! Draw near, and behold him. Dost thou not hear his voice? He that bade Thomas come near, and see the print of the nails, and put his finger into his wounds ; he it is that calls to thee, " Come near, and view the Lord thy Savior, and be not faithless, but believing ; peace be unto thee, fear not, it is I." Look well upon him. Dost thou not know him ? It is he that brought thee up from the pit of hell, reversed the sentence of thy damnation, bore the curse which thou shouldst have borne, restored thee to the blessing thou hadst forfeited, and purchased the advancement which thou must inherit for ever. And dost thou not yet know him? His hands were pierced, his head, his side, his heart, were pierced, that by these marks thou mightst always know him. Dost thou not remember when he " found thee lying in thy blood, and took pityon thee, and dressed thywounds, and brought thee home, and saidunto thee, LiveV' Hast thou forgotten, since he wounded himself to cure thywounds, and let out his own blood to stop thy bleeding? Ifthou knowest him not by the face, the voice, the hands, thou mayst know him by that heart ; that soul-pitying heart is his ; it can be none but his ; love and compassion are its certain signatures: this is he, who chose thy life before his own ; who pleads his blood before his Father, and makes continual interces- sion for thee. If he had not suffered, what hadst thou suf- fered ? There was but a step between thee and hell, when he stepped in, and bore the stroke. And is not here fuel enough for thy love to feed on? Doth not thy throbbing heart stop here to ease itself, and, like Joseph, " seek fora. place to weep in ?" or do not the tears of thy love bedew these lines ? Go on, then, for the field of love is large ; it will be thy eternal work to behold and love ; nor needest thou want work for thy present meditation. How often hath thy Lord found thee, like Hagar, sitting, andweeping, and giving up thy soul for lost, and he opened to thee a well of consolation, and also opened thine eyes to see it ! How often, in the posture of Elijah, desiring to die
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=