!SA A SOUL PREPARED POR HEAVbtt. [DISC. V1Yi. Father created anew in us, and do we walk as our Lord Jesus Christ also walked, while he was in this wilderness travelling to his Father's house ? Are our earnest desires towards this sort of felicity excited and raised high ? Have we a_ strong tendency of soul to the holy enjoy- ments of the upper world ? Do we sigh and groan after a complete freedom from sin, and a deliverance from every temptation ? I)o we employ ourselveswith pleasure in the work and business of heaven, in the holy contem- plation of God, in a delightful survey-of the person and offices of his Son Jesus, his wondrous condescension, and his amazing compassion ? Do we take pleasure in conversing with God our Father by holy addresses of praise and thankfulness? Do we love all the saints, and delight in their society, and do we rejoice to spend our time with them in heavenly conversation, though they may be amongst the lower ranks of life here on earth ? And do we diffuse our love through all who wear the image of God, and takea pleasing satisfaction of soul in their increaseof holiness, and rejoice in their joys? If God has thus fitted thee, " O christian, in this man- ner, for the mansions of the happy world, then surely he has set thee apart for himself,- he has begun eternal life in thee, the dawn of eternal glory is risen upon thee, and he will bring thee into the complete noon of blessed- ness, into the overflowing light of divine beatitudes." " Arise and shine, O christian, for thy light is come, the glory of the Lord is risen upou thee," Is. lx. I. thou hast no need to ascend into heaven to search for thy evi- dences among the decrees of God, and to pry into the rolls of electing grace ; for if thou hast been trans- formed into a heavenly temper, thy- name is surely " written, in the Lamb's book of life ;" heaven is begun within thee, and God will fulfil his own work. Remark II. " What a solid comfort is it to poor, mourning, troubled, afflicted souls under all their sor- rows, their frailties, their temptations, and infirmities here on earth, that they have a clear evidence of heaven within them." This is such a peace as Jesus Christ left to his disciples by legacy; John xiv. 27. Such as the world cannot give," and such as the world cannot take away. This is a spring of constant and divine consolation to those who seem to be worn out with old age or infirmities
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