DISC. X.1 THE FORETASTE OF HEAVEN. 545 in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our ;od." Now when the souls of the saints here on earth are raised to such divine contemplations, what transporting satisfaction and delight must arise from the surprising union and harmony of the attributes of the blessed God in these his transactions ? And especially when the soul in the lively exercise of grace and view of its own pardon, justification, and restored holiness, looks upon itself as one of these happy favourites of the majesty of heaven : It cries out as it were in holy amazement, " What a di- vine profusion is here of wisdom and power, glory and grace, to save a wretched worm from everlasting burn- i-ngs, and to advance a worthless rebel to such undeserved and exalted glories !" SECTION V. " The wonders of divine perfections united in the suc- cess of the gospel" give an extasy of joy sometimes to holy souls. Not only do these views of the united per- fections of God, as they are concerned in the contriv- ance of the gospel, entertain the saints above with new and pleasurable contemplations, but the wonders of di- vine wisdom, power, and grace, united and harmonizing in the propagation and success of this gospel, become a matter ofdelightful attention and survey to the saints on high. This is imitated also in a measure by the children of God here on earth. Have you never felt such a sur- prising pleasure in the view of the attributes of God, his grace, wisdom, and power in making these divine designs so happily efficacious for thegood of thousands of souls ? If " there be joy in heaven among the angels of God at the conversion of a sinner ;" Luke xv. 7, 10. what perpe- tual messages ofunknown satisfaction and delight did the daily and constant labours of the blessed apostle Paul send to the upper world.? What perpetual tidings were carried to the worlds on high of such and such souls, converted unto God from gross idolatry, from the wor- ship of dumb idols, from the vain superstition of their heroes and mediator-gods, and from the impure and bloody sacrifices of their own countrymen, whereby they intended to satisfy their gods for their own iniquities and to reconcile themselves to these invented gods, these VOL. II. 2 N
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