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I66

THE

PRIVILEGE

OF

THE

[SLRM.

-XL.

and

to

discover

in

what respects

a

living

christian

may

be said

to

have

sgme

advantage over the saints

that

are

dead.

L

The

first grace

I

shall

mention, which

belongs

only

to this

life,

is,

faith

of

things unseen, whether pre-

sent or future:

for

in heaven this

sort

of

faith

is

ended

and

lost

;

it

vanishes into sight.

__

2

Cor.

v.

7.

Here

in

this

world

we

walk

by

faith, and

not

by

sight;

but

in the

world

above,

we

shall live by sight, and

not

by

faith.

"

Blessed

are

those souls

on

earth

who

have

not

seen,

and

yet

have

believed,"

John

xx.

99.

Hereby

the

living

christian

Both

much

honour

to

God,

and

offers him

a revenue

of

such

glory, as

can never

be

offered to him

among

all

the saints

and

angels

on high.

To

believe

that

there

is

a God

who

made

all things,

among,

a

world

of

atheists,

that

deny him

that

made

them;

to

carry it toward

an unseen

God

with a

solemn

awe

of

his

majesty,

and

deep reverence

and submission

to

his

will,

in

the midst

of

thoughtless sinners

who

deride

religion, and

live

without'

God

in

the world;

to believe

that

the bible

is

the

word

of

God, notwithstanding

all

the

difficulties

contained

in

it,

and

all

the bold

and sub-

tle

cavils

that

infidels

have raised against

it;

to

make

this word the

ground

of

our religion, the

rule

of our

practice,

and the

foundation

of

our

hopes,

in

the midst

of

an

age

of

deists

and heathens,

that

laugh

at

our

bible

ançl

our belief together

;

These are noble

instances.

of

a

militant

faith

in

a world

of

infidelity.

To

believe

thatJesus

of

Nazareth,

who was

hanged

'upon

a tree without

Jeru-

salem,

and died

there,

is

the only begotten

Son

of

God,

'the

Maker

and the Saviour

of

the world, to believe

that

he

now lives

and

governs

all

things

at

the

right-hand

of

his

Father,

and to

trust

in

him

who

died

upon

the

'cross

to

give

us

a

crown

of

eternal

life

;

these

are

such exercises

of

the

grace

of

faith, as have no place in

the world

of

sight,

where every

saint

beholds

him face to

face:

Sgch

acts

as

these,

are

only

suited

to

our present state

of

ab-

sence

from

the

Lord,

and yet

they are

highly

honour-

able

to

God and

our

Redeemer,

"

whom having

not

seen

we

love,

And

in whom,

though now

we

see him

not, yet

believing,

we

rejoice with

joy

unspeakable,"

1

Peter

i.

8.

To

believe

that

there

is

a heaven

of

glory far above th9

clouds, where

our Lord Jesus Christ

has dwelt

in

his