$9ft lita :4 D.41' Wqr ar 'rar,s asrz. S$x. Y.' I:. pleasures; but now I taste, tläeni; with delight, and I re- joice in the, hopes of a, sefiter- awl; .more complete taste of.. them on high. (Flee 1 ],14d: no love to God : it is true, I feared him as some unknown used G traordinary terror; I?u,t I had no. deli-g ty,in him,. no desireafter him. Now he is the object of my warmest love,. and of my sweetest meditations, 1leayen, itself, as it is described in the, word of God, was not pleasant-to me. . What ! The everlasting cóntinuiar3Ge of a sabbath ? Perpetual employments of worship and service o be dóne. for God, everla$ir gly ? These are things that were not agreenllle io carnal. nature; but by the.; influence @,f this gospel, of Christ my heart is. new-moulded, and I; delight in the farethoughts, of such a, heávep a/ the. gospel. deseril?es." Such ins,tahces,as.these otì tlpe;sweet eflieá,cy of the gospel/ upon the soul, ofman, turnixg it into a, divine temper and' fitting it: for the enjoyment 'of God; are sn many proofs the powet.of this, gospel unto salvation, anal: so may grourtds,a.nd, reasons why thebeliever cannot be ashamed,of it But I must add,: in;the fifth place, it is the gospel of Christ that brings believers to the final, possession of beaven. Then, and. net till then, is the: salvation per- fect, it is the gospel, that has given us- an unchangeable premise of heaven, when our state of trial is ende.d;here on earth, and Christ is bound. to fulfil it. The gospel assures- us, thatwhen we are absent from the body,''we- shall he present with the Lord. When_ we see: the: heavens open at the death of Stephen the first martyr; and. Jesus,. Christ standing there to receive his departing spirit ; we believe that: the same Jesus will fulfil the same kind office to us also, and receive.our spirits, if we have been found faithful:to the death. The same gospel also gives,us a more. distant hope and glorious assurance of the resurrection of our bodies from the. prison of the grave. When we behold the body of our blessed Saviour. rising from the tomb, and ascending to glory, and when we are told,. that his resurrection_ is apledge and pattern of ours ; then with a joyful, expec, tation we wait for the same blessedness. The gospel lays an obligation upon Christ; himself to raise his.saints from the dead; for. he himself tells .us, that.it'is the will of his Father, that everyone which_ seeth. the Son, and
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