SffiRM. XL1 LIVING ABOVE THE 1E-AH. 171 slow to anger, and swift to forgive, as God your Father is. When you hear a word of offence or reproach spoken, and feel the rising ferment of the blood, watch against it, subdue it : this is the hour of battle, see that ye come off conquerors: When there is a word of bit- terness upon your tongue, stifle it, and keep silence, sub- due the temptation, and prevent that sin ; give glory to God in this manner, which the saints inheaven cannot do. Dearlybeloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath : Be not overcome with evil ; but overcome evil with good :" Rom. xii. 19, '2 1. Love is a virtue that flourishes in heaven, it grows high, it spreads wide, and it shines bright in the upper world. Love is a grace that out-lives faith andhope, and endures for ever. There is no such union ofhearts, no such sacred bonds ofaffection, as are found among the saints on high. Heaven is the very element and regipn of love but it is all love to God, love to Christ, and to our fellow-saints : For love to enemies is not known in that country,. because there is no enemy there. To love them that hate us, to bless them that curse us ;; to pity, and .forgive, and pray for those that injure us; these are not only noble singularities of the christian religion, which are not known amongst all the catalogues ofheathen vir- tues, but neither are they practised in the heavenly world. As glorious and sublime as they are, yet they . are never found among the spirits of the just made per -. feet : Those holy souls, are all far above the reach of malice, hatred, and enmity : there are no objects there for them to exercise these divine virtues upon. Love to enemies therefore dwells only amongst the living saints: To forgive injuries, is the glory that is peculiar to Christians in this mortal state, and our blessed Saviour has a most peculiar revenue of honour from it But besides the honour that Christ and his gospel re- ceive from such a kind and charitable conduct, there is s; pleasure in this victory over resentment, that far ex- ceeds the pleasure of revenge which is the delight .of the wicked : And it is a pleasure also, which the saints above ,cannot partake of; for there are no offences, no inju- ries, no provocations there: This life alone is the time to forgive, and to be forgiven. Nowwho is there among us, that would not seize'the opportunity 'of every injury
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