vrsc> will A SOUL PREPARED FOR HEAVEN. 463 future blessings. The observation which shall be the subject of my discourse, is this : " Those who shall enjoy the heavenly blessedness hereafter, must be pre- pared for it here in this world, by the operation of the blessed God." Here we must take notice, in the first place, that since we are sinful and guilty creatures in ourselves, and have forfeited all our pretences to the favour of God and hap- piness, we must be restoted to his favour, we must have our sins forgiven, we must be justified in his sight with an everlasting righteousness, we must be adopted as the children of God, and have a right and title given us to the heavenly inheritance, before we can enter into it, or possess it; and this blessing is procured for us, by the obedience and death of the Son of God. It is in his blood that we find an atonement for our iniquities, and we must be made heirs of glory, by becoming the adopted children of God, and so we are joint-heirs with his Son Jesus, and shall be glorified with him; Rom. viii. 17. And it is by a true and living faith in the Son of God, that we become partakers of this blessing. " God has set förth his Son Jesus, as a propitiation for sinners through faith in his blood ;" Rom. iii. 25. " We are justified by faith in his blood, and have hope of eternal life through him Rom. v. 2. We also receive our adoption, and " become the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus ;" Gal. iii. 26. and thereby we ob- tain a title to some mansion in our Father's house in heaven, since Jesus our elder brother, and our fore- runner, is admitted into it to take a place there in our name. This is a very considerable part of ournecessary preparation for the heavenly world, that we should be believers in the Son of God, and united to him by a living faith ; and this " faith also is the gift of God ;" Eph. ii. 8. We are wrought up to it by his grace. But as this does not seem to be the chief thing designed in the words of my text, I shall pass it over thus briefly, and apply myself to consider what that further fitness or preparation for heaven intends, for which we are said here to be wrought up by God himself. The former preparation for heaven, may rather be said to be a rela- tive change, which is included in our pardon orjusti icaP VOL. 7Y, Ii
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