174 7'iiE PRtvrLñGE Tilt fsfiF(Hf. XL cross blossoms with grace and glory. Put them in mind of the examples of divine deliverance, when there has been no outward prospect of help and hope. Lead then to a meditation of the heavenly state : Point their thoughts upward : Direct their faith and their hope thi- ther: teach them to look at the things that are unseen and eternal, that they may be able in the language of faith to say, " These light afflictions which are but :for a moment, are working for us an eternal weight of glory," Col. iv. 17. . There are no sorrows among the inhabitants ofheaven, no sufferings there, no pain, no complaint ; nor is there any need of your consolations: This is a work you can- not do in paradise, but God delights to see his children here comfort one another in their travels through this valley of tears, this tiresome wilderness : I Thess. iv. 18. Then let us give our fellow-Christians their due of conso lation, and offer to our God the sacrificeofhis-delight. VI. Forbearance and forgiveness of real or supposed injuries, is a grace to be practised only by the living christian. Christ Jesus our Lord demands it, and Iays a bar upon your hopes of the forgiveness of God, ifye re-- fase it to your fellow-creatures : IWat. vi. 14, 15. And the great apostle entreats you to practise it; put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels ofmercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, .long suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man bath a quarrel against any :Even as Christ forgave you, . so also do ye; Col. iii. 12, 13. Charity, or love, as it should be translated, suffers long, beareth all things, and hopeth all things ; and though . considered in the general notion of love to the saints, it lives for ever in heaven ; yet these special exercises of it belong to this world. Charity or love is not easily pro yoked, it thinketh no evil, gives every thing the best turn that it will bear, and puts the best sense upon all things that are. spoken. O that every. living christian might adorn his profession with the exercise of this. virtue ; 1 Cor. xüi. 4-8. Meekness is a grace which has no place in theupper world, in this respect, that it has no trials there. Glorify God your Saviour therefore in the days ofyour trial here below, and be ye. meek and lowly as he was ;.be :ye
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=