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THE
PRIVILEGE
OF
THE
[srnm.xL:
banished
from heaven, because
it
is
a state
of
perfect
joy
and
peace.
IX.
Patience and
submission
to
the
will
of
God
under
all
manner
of
painful providences,
give
glory to
God
here
on
earth,
such
as
the saints
in
heaven
cannot
give
him.
We are taught indeed
to
say,
"
Lord,
thy
will be
done
on
earth,
as
it
is
in heaven
:"
But
it
is
the precep-
tive
will
of
God, or the
will
of
his
commands,
which
is
here
signified,
not
his
providential
will,
whereby he pu-
nishes
;
for
there
is
no affliction in
heaven, and therefore
there
is
no such
sort of
submission, no exercise
of
pati-
ence there
:
They
obey the
will
of
his
commands
in per-
fection there,
and God himself
has no
will
that
they
should
suffer,
or
endure
sorrow.
Shew then,
O
believers,
your
submission to
the
will
of
God
here,
as
dear
and obedient children,
when
your
heavenly
Father
sees
it
needful to chasten you
;
Heb.
xii:
7,
'I9.
"
If
ye
endure
chastening,
God dealeth
with
you
as with sons
;
for
what
Son
is
he whom
the
Fa-
ther
chasteneth
not
?
Give
him
reverence therefore
when he corrects
you,
and
be ye
in
subjection
to
the
Father
of
spirits
and
live."
It
is
only
children
under
age
that
their earthly
fathers scourge and chastise; such are
christians
in this world, the sons
of God
in
their infant
state
;
but
when the
children are
grown
up to manly
age,
they
have no
more
chastisement;
such
are the saints
in
heaven,
who
are
grown to the fulness
of the
measure
of
that
stature
which
God
designs for them
in
Christ. This
life
therefore
is
the
only time when you
can honour
the
sovereignty and the
wisdom
of
God your Father,
when
he sees
fit to
take
his
rod
in
hand,
and to instruct
you in
righteousness.
X. A sacred compassion for perishing sinners, and
longing desire and
labour
for
the conversion
of
souls,
is
a
business
that
belongs to
this
life
only.
When
we
are
past
the line
of
time,
and
entered
into eternity,
we
cari
add
no new subjects to
the kingdom
of pur Lord:
Thi§
is
a
service
that
can
be
performed
no where
but
in
the
present
state
:
It
is
the
living,
and
they alone
that
have
this work
intrusted
with
them.
When
the
lips
are
closed
in the grave
they
cannot
speak for God, nor
exhort
sin
-
ners
to
be-saved.