biSC. VIL] NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN. 441 . fortable affections prevail in the soul. I might cite par- ticular texts of scripture to exemplify all this. And when it is said, " there shall be no night in heaven," it may be very well applied in the spiritual sense; there shall be noerrors or mistakes amongst the blessed, no such igno- rance as to lead them astray, or to make them uneasy; the will shall never be turned aside from its pursuit of holiness and obedience to God ; nor shall the affections ever be ruffled with any thing that may administer grief and pain. Clearand unerring knowledge, unspotted ho- liness, and everlasting joy shall be the portion of all the inhabitants of the upper world. These are more com- mon subjects of discourse. But I chuse rather at present to consider this word, NIGHT, in its literal sense, and shall endeavour to repre- sent part of the blessedness of the heavenly state under this special description of it,. " There is no night there." Now, in order to pursue this design, let us take a brief survey of the several evils or inconveniences, which at- tend the night, or the season of darkness here on earth, and shew how far the heavenly world is removed, and free from all manner of inconvenience of this kind. 1. Though night be the season of sleep, for the relief of nature, and for our refreshment after the labours of the day, yet it is a certain sign of the weakness and wea- riness of nature, when it wants such refreshments, and such dark seasons of relief. But there is no night in heaven. " Say, O ye inhabitants of that vital world, are ye ever weary ? Do your natures know any such weak ness? Or are your holy labours of such a kind, as to expose you to fatigue, or to tire your spirits ?" " The blessed above mount up towards God as on eagles' wings, they run at the command of God, and are not weary, they walk on the hills of paradise, and never faint," as the prophet Isaiah expresses a vigorous and pleasurable state, chapter xl. 31. There are no such animal bodies in heaven, whose natural springs of action can be exhausted or weakened by the business of the day : There is no flesh and blood there to complain of weariness, and to want rest. O blessed state, where our faculties shall be so happily suit- ed to our work, that we shall never feel ourselves weary of it nor fatigued by it.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=