208 T ÑE SCALE ÓF BLESSEDNESS. tSERM. X1/. ruins of our first defection fromGod, yet we are not left in the darkness of heathenism, on the very confines of hell: But God has exalted us neat to heaven and himself, in the ministrations of his word, and led us in a way to his everlasting enjoyment. He has built his sanc- tuaries amongst us, and established his churches in the midst of us. We are invited to behold the beauty of the Lord, to return to our obedienceand his love, and thus be made happy for ever. This is a matter of divine choice and peculiar favour. Blessed England, whom he bath chosen, and caused to approach thus far towards himself ! And why was not the polite nation of China chosen too : And why not the poor savages of Africa, and the barbarous millions of the American world? Why are they left in a dismal estrange - ment from God, Even so, Father, because it pleased thee, whose counsels are unsearchable, and whose ways ofjudgment and mercy are past finding out. Blessed are the people who hear and know the joyful sound, Ps. lxxxix. 15. But there are degrees of this blessedness, even in the lands which enjoy the gospel. Blessed are they above others, who dwell near to the places of public worship, who sit under an enlightening, a powerful and persuasive ministry, who have opportu- nity to hear the word of God often, and who have skill to read it. Blessed are they who are born of religious parents, and trained up in the early forms of piety; these are still brought nearer unto God ; they are nursed up, as it were, in his churches, and dwell in his courts. And blessed are those who are devoted to the service of the sanctuary, like the priests and levites of old, who were brought nearest to God, among all Israel; for their civil employment, as well as their religious duty, led them continually toward God, heaven and happi- ness. DA all these glorious privileges are not sufficient to ensure eternal felicity, unless we come one step farther irI approaching to God. Second degree of Blessedness. II. Happy are those souls who have been taught to im- prove their outward advantages of nearness to God, so as to obtain reconciliation with him by the blood of .5
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