SECT. It.] THE HAPPINESS OF SEPARATE SPIRITS. 383 tempteth, " nothing that defileth ;" Rev. xxi. 27. It is the mixture of sinful thoughts and idle words, sinful ac- tions and irregular affections, that makes our state of ho- liness: so imperfect here below. We groan within our- selves, being burdened ; we would be rid of these crimi- nal weaknesses, these guilty attendants of our lives : But the spirits above are under a sweet necessity of being for ever holy : their natures have put on perfection ; the image of God is so far compleated in them, that nothing contrary to the divine nature remains in all their frame; for they see God in all the fairest beauties of his holi- ness, and they adore and love. They behold him with- out a veil, and are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, 2 Cor. iii. 18. If these words are ap- plicable to the state ofgrace, much more to that of glory. They see Christ as he is, and they are made com- pletely like him, 1 John iii. 2. which is true concerning the state ofseparate spirits, as well as the hour of resur- rection. As their love to God is perfect, so is their love to all their fellow-saints. We try to love our fek'3w-creatures and fellow-ehris- tians here onearth ; but we,thave so many corrupt passions of our own, and so many infirmities and imperfections belong to our neighbours also, that mutual' love is very imperfect. " Love is the fulfilling of the law ;" Rom. xiii. 10. But we shall never fulfil that law perfectly till we arejoined to the spirits of the just in glory, where there is no inhabitant without the flame of sacred love, no sin- gle spirit unlovely or unbeloved. In those happy mansions there is noenvy raised by the perfections or the honours of our neighbour spirits ; no detracting thought is known there, no reproachful word is heard in that country ; and, perhaps, no word of re- proach is to be found ,in the whole heavenly language. Malice and slander, and the very names of infamy, are unknown in those regions ; and wrath and strife are eter- nal strangers. No divided opinions, no party quarrels, no seeds of discord are sown in heaven. Our little angry- jars and contentions have no place there, and the noise of war and controversy ceases for ever. There are no offences given, and none are taken in that world of love. Neither injury, nor resentment, is ever known or prac- 1
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