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THE
SCALE
OF
BLESSEDNESS.
[SERM.
XII.
Me
iii
sickness
and sorrow, in anguish and
mortal
agonies,
and ready
to
receive
my
departing spirit
into the
arms
Of
his
love
!
o
that
the formal
and
nominal christian,
who
attends
divine worship,
would
but
once
be
persuaded,
that
if
be
come one
step
nearer
to
Ged,
his
happiness
will
re-
ceive
almost an infinite advance
!
Let
the shadows lead
him to the
substance; let
the
image in
The
glass.
allure
him to converse with the
original
beauty,
and
the
ordi-
nances
òf
grace bring
him
near
to
the-God
of
grace
!
Let
him
nelonger
content
himself
with
pictures
of
happiness,
but
give
himself
up..
entirely
to
the Lord,
and
be
made
possessor
of
solid
and substantial
felicity. Blessed
is
the
man
who has
renounced
sin
and the
world,
and
his
heart
is
over-powered
by
-
divine-
goodness,
and
brought near
to
God
in
his holy
covenant.
Yet there
äre degrees
of-
blessedness among
the'saints
on
earth.
Blessed
is
every-soul
whose
state and nature
are changed;
whó
is
not.a stranger, but
a son
:
but
more
blessed are those
sens
who
are
most like
their
heavenly
Father,
and keep closest
to him
in
all
their
ways!
Bless
-
ed
are
they
abOve-
others
in the holy family,
who
seldom
wander
from
their God,
whose
hearts
are
always in
a
heavenly
frame,.
and
whose
graces and virtues brighten
and improve
daily,
and make
a
continual and joyful
ad-
vance toward the
state
Of
glory!
-
Third
degree
of
13LESSEDNESS.-
III.
Now
let
us
raise
our
thoughts, and wonder
at
the
blessedness
of
-the
saints
-and
angels
in
the
upper world:
and
blessed
are
those spirits,
whether
they belong to bo-
dies' or
not, whom the
Lord
has chosen, and caused to
approach
so
near
him, as to dwell
and
abide
in his
higher
teourts!
:They'are
fully satisfied with
the goodness
of
his
house, even
of
his
holy temple.
The
saints are esta-
blished as
pillars
in
this
temple of God,
and
shall go
-no
more-out
They approach
him
in
their
sublime methods
of
worship,
without
the medium
of
types
and ordinances
:
They
see-
God
face_
to face,
1
Cor.
áiii.
12.
Though
,ordinances.
in
the
church
on
earth
are means
of
drawing
near;
yet
in
that
very
thing they
are
also
tokens of
some
degree
of
estrangement..
The
saints
above are
conk
atautly
before the
throne, or
night-
a4
d
day serving the