CHARACTER OF THOSE FOR [Chap... but content and rest on earth, what roomwould therehave been for these rejoicings hereafter ? Besides, we are not capable of rest upon earth.Can a soul that is so weak in grace, so prone to sin, so nearly joined to such a neighbor as this flesh, have frill content and rest in such a case ? What is soul-rest, but our free- dom from sin, and imperfections, and enemies ? And can the soul have rest that is molested with all these, and that continually ? Why do Christians so often cry out, in the language of Paul, " 0 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me ?" What makes them " press toward the mark, and run that they may obtain, and strive to enter in," if they are capable of rest in their present condition ? And our bodies are incapable as well as our souls. They are not now those sun-like bodies which they shall be, when this " corruptible hath put on incorruption, and this mor- tal bath put on immortality." They are our prisons and our burdens ; so full of infirmities and defects, that we are fain to spend most of our time in repairing them and supplying their continual wants. Is it possible that an immortal soul should have rest in such a distempered habitation ? Surely these sickly, weary, loathsome bo- dies, must be refined, before they can be capable of en- joying rest. The objects which we here enjoy are insuffi- cient to afford us rest. Alas ! what is there in all the world to give us rest ? They that have most of it have the greatest burden. They that set most by it, and rejoice most in it, do all cry out at last of its vanity and vexation. Men promise themselves a heaven upon earth; but when they come to enjoy it, it flies from them. He that has any regard to the works of the Lord, may easily see that the very end of them is to take down our idols, to make us weary of the world, and seek our rest in him. Where does he cross us most, but where we promise ourselves most content? If you have a child you doat upon, it be- comes your sorrow. If you have a friend you trust in, and . judge unchangeable, he becomes your scourge. Is this a place or state of rest ? And as the objects we here enjoy are insufficient for our rest, so God, who is sufficient, is here little enjoyed. It is not here that he bath prepared the presence-chamber of his glory. He hath drawn the curtain between us and him. We are far from him as
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