,a! 468 THE HAPPINESS OF SEPARATE SPIRITS. [DISC. II. spirits of a more exalted station ? Or may not our. Lord Jesus Christ himself be the everlasting teacher of his church ? May he not at solemn seasons summon all heaven to hear him publish some new and surprizing dis- coveries, which have never yet been made known to the ages of nature, or of grace, and are reserved to entertain the attention, and exalt the pleasure of spirits advanced to glory ? Must we learn all by the mere contemplation of Christ's person ? Does he never make use of- speech to the instruction and joy of saints above ? Moses and Elijah came down once from heaven to make a visit to Christ on mount Tabor, and the subject of their converse with him was his death and departure from this world ;" Luke ix. 31. Now since our Lord is ascended to heaven, are these holy souls cut off from this divine pleasure ? Is Jesus for ever silent ? Does he converse with his glorified saints no .more ? And surely if he speak, the saints will hear and attend. Or it may be that our blessed Lord, evenas he is man, has some noble and unknown way of communicating a long discourse, or a long train of ideas and discoveries tomillions of blessed spirits at once, without the formali- ties ofvoice and language ; and at some peculiar seasons he may thus instruct and delight his saints in heaven. Thus it appears there may be something among the spirits of the just above that is analagous tó prayer and preaching, as well as praise. O how gustful are the pleasures ofcelestial worship ! What unknown varieties of performance, what sublime ministrations there are, and glorious services, none can tell. And in all this varietywhich may be performed in sweet succession, there is no wandering thought, no cold affection, no divided heart, no listless or indifferent wor- shipper. What we call rapture and extasy here on earth, is perhaps the constant anduninterrupted pleasure of the Fhurch on high in all their adorations. But let the worship of the glorified spirits be ever,so various, yet I cannot,persuade myself that mere direct acts or exercises of what we properly call worship, are their only and everlasting work. The scripture tells us, there are certain seasons when the angels, those sons ofGod, come to present themselves before the Lord ; Job i. 6, and ii, 1, It is çvidept tI ç;
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