SEAM. XL.] LIVING ABOVE THE DEAD. 169 and divine original, by keeping the soul pure, and holy,and humble, in the midst of all this darkness, and this dis- consolate state ; " He that hath thishope will purify him- self, even as Christ is pure," 1 John iii. 3. Apresuming hope that carries no spring of holiness in it, can neither honour God nor profit men. But there are other occasions also in this life, for the exercise of the grace of hope, viz. amidst huge and threatening difficulties, that relate to the public interests of religion. When the feeble and doubting christian sees the affairs of the church of Christ sinking daily, he is at- most ready to sink and die too, and to despair for Zion; and it is the language of his unbelief, " by whom shall Jacob rise, for he is small ?" But the stronger christian, who knows how to live upon a promise, can reply, that the God of Jacob is almighty, the king of Israel is the true God and everlasting king, and the interest of the church shall rise again, even though it were drowning; for not all the floods on earth, nor even the gates of hell shall prevail against the church that is built upon Jesus the rock ofages :" And Jesus himself receives his special tribute of glory from his saints on earth, while they tri- umph in this hope. There are also some seasons wherein a living saint ho- árours God in this world, by maintaining his hope in the midst of various trials that attend him in his private af- fairs, and especiallywhen poverty and distress overtake him like an armed mari, and he hath no other help nor hope left, but in some gracious words of promise, and some unknown appearances of providences in his behalf. Blessed are the poor who can live by faith ! A christian honours God also greatly in the days of sickness, and the hour of death, when he feels nature sinking, and flesh dissolving; yet he can look upon his withering limbs without dismay, in the hope of the re- surrection, and speak in the language of holy Job, "Though after my skin worms devour this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God," Job xix. 26. I grant that the saints who are in heaven, the spirits of the just made perfect, wait also, and hope for the resur- rection of the body, and all the promised blessings of that day ; but they have a bright and sure prospect of it by the light of glory, in which they read all the pro-
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