I>Isc. vItl.1 A SOVL 'PREPARED FOR .iIEAVEN. 475 Is the sweet society of Jesus to be enjoyed in the hea- venly region, then those that are prepared for this hap- piness, who feel in themselves " a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better than the most plea- surable scenes on earth ;" Phil. i. X13. I am willing, and rejoice in the thought of it, rather " to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord ;" Coy, v. 8. I behold in the light of faith, the dawning glory of that day, when Jesus shall return from heaven, when he shall revisit this wretched world, and put an end to these wretched scenes of vanity, " Behold he cometh in the clouds, and every eye shall see him ;" Rev. i. 7. " r- He comes into our, world to them that look for him, not to be made a sacrifice for sin, but to complete our salva- tion ;" Heb. ix. 28. " I long to behold him, and I love the thought of his appearance ;" Q Tim. iv. 8. Is there not only 'a freedom from pain and sorrow among the saints on high, but is there also an eternal release from all the bonds of sin and temptation ? Then that soul discovers a degree of preparation for it, who can say with a holy groan and grief of heart, " O wretched man. that I atn, who shall deliver me from this body of sin and death Rom. vii. 24. " In this taber- nacle we groan, indeed, being burdened, and are desk- bus rather to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, with our holy state of immortality ;" e Cor. v. 4. That God who has wrought these divine breath- ings in the soul will one day fulfil them all; and he is working up the christian to a blessed meetness for this felicity by awakening these wishes in the very centre of the heart. Happy heart, which feels these holy aspira- tions, these divine breathings. 5. The blessed God is pleased to work us up- to a preparation for the heavenly world by forming the tem- per of our minds into a likeness to the inhabitants of heaven, that is, to God himself, to Christ Jesus, the Son of God, to angels and saints, to the spirits of the just made perfect. From the children of folly and sin we must be transformed into the children of God, we must be created a -new after his image, and resemble our hea- venly Father, that we may be capable of enjoying his love, and rejoicing in his presence. We must be con- formable to the image of his only -begotten Son Christ Jesus, and walk and live as he did in this world, that we
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