( 444 ) IISCOUR.SE VII. NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. itsv. xxi. 2.5. For there shall be no night there. LENGTH of night, and over-spreading darkness in the winter- season, carries so many inconveniences with it, that it is generally esteemed a most uncomfortable part of our time Though night 'and day necessarily succeed each other all the year, by the wise appointment of God in the course of nature, by means of the revolu- tion of the heavenly bodies, or rather of this earthly globe, yet the night- season is neither so delightful, nor so useful a part of life, as the duration of day-light. It is the voice of all nature, as well as the word of Solo -. mon, " Light is sweet, and a pleasant thing to enjoy the sun-beams," Eccles. xi. 7. Light gives a; glory and beauty to every thing that is visible, and shews the face of na ture in its most agreeable colours; but night, as it covers all the visible world with one dark and undistinguishing veil, is less pleasing to all the animal parts of the crea- tion. Therefore as hell, and the place of punishment, is called utter darkness in scripture, so heaven is repre- sented as a mansion of glory, as " the inheritance of the saints in light," GO. i. 1. And this light is constant, i ithout interruption, and everlasting, or without end, So my text expresses it, there shall be no night there." Let it be observed, that, in the language of holy writers, light is often ascribed to intellectual beings, and is used as a metaphor to imply knowledge and holiness and joy. Knowledge, as the beauty and excellency of the mind, holiness as the best regulation of the will, and joy as the harmony of our best affections in the posses- sionOf what we love: And, in opposition to these, igno- rance, iniquity, and sorrow, are represented by the me- taphor of darkness. Then we are in darkness, in a spi- ritual sense, when theunderstanding is beclouded or led into mistake, or when the will is perverted or turned away fromGod and holiness, or when the most uncom- 1
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