242 CONTEMPLATION ASSISTED [Ch.tp. 15. is rent, the sun is eclipsed, the dead bodies of the saints arise, and the standers-by acknowledge, " Verily this was the Son of God ;" O what a day will it be, when the dead must all arise, and stand before him ! when he " will once shake, not the earth only, but the heavens also !" when this sun shall be taken out of the firmament, and be everlastingly darkenedwith his glory ! and when every tongue shall con- fess him to be the Lord and King ! If, when he rose again, death and the grave lost their power ; if angels must " roll away the stone," terrify the keepers till they are " as dead men," and send the tidings to his disciples ; if he ascend to heaven in their sight ; what power, dominion, and glory, is he now possessed of, and which we must for ever possess with him ! When he is gone, can a few poor fishermen and tent-makers cure the lame, blind, and sick, open prisons, destroy the disobedient, raise the dead, 'and, astonish their adversaries 3 what a world will that be, where every one can do greater works than 'these ! If the preaching of the Gospel be accompanied with such power as to discover the secrets of the heart, humble the proud sinner, and make the most obdurate tremble; ifit can make men burn their books, sell their lands, bring in the price, and lay it down at the preacher's feet ; if it can convert thousands, and turn the world upside down ; if its doctrine, from the prisoner at the bar, can make the judge on the bench tremble ; if Christ and his saints have this power and honor in the day of their abasement,and in the time appointed for their suffering and disgrace ; what thenwill theyhave in their absolute dominion, and full advancement in their kingdom of glory ! Compare the glorious change thou shalt have at last, with the gracious change which the Spirit hath here wrought on thy heart. .There is not the smallest sincere grace in thee, but is of greater worth than the riches of the Indies ; not a hearty desire after Christ, but is more to be valued than the kingdoms of the world. A renewed nature is the very image of God ; Christ dwelling in us, and the Spirit of God abid- ing in us : it is a beam from the face of God ; the seed of God remaining in us ; the only inherent beauty of the ra- tional soul : it ennobles man above all nobility; fits him :to understand his Maker's pleasure, de his will, and receive his glory. If this grain of mustard-seed be so precious, what is " the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God !"
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=