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454

NO

NICHT

41,7

HEAVEN.

[15IS6.

VII.

be no death,,

nor the

image

Of

it,

where the ever

-

living

God

ditiells

;and

shines with

his

kindest beams:

His

pre

-

sence

maintains

perpetual

vitality

in

every

soul,

and

keeps(the

new

éreature'inits

youth and

vigour for

ever.

The saints

shall never hávè

reason

to

mourn over their

Dithering

graces,

languid

Virtues

or

dying

comforts

;

nor

shall

they

%ever

complain

of

drowsy

faculties

or inactive

powers, where

God

and

the Lanib

are for ever

present

in

the

midst

ofthem.

Shall

I

invite

your thoughts to

dwell

a

little

upon

this'

[Here

this discourse may

be

divided.]

Shall

ive

make

a

more

particular

enquiry, whence it

comes to

-pass

that

there

is

no

night nor darkness

in

the

heavenly city

?

We are

told a

little before the

words

of

my text,

that

"

the glory

of God enlightens

it,

and the

Lamb

is the

light thereof.

There

is

no need

of

the sun

by

day,

or

of

the moon

by

night;"

there

is

no need

of

any

such change

of

seasons

as

day

and

night

in the

upper

regions,

new

any such

alternate

enlighteners of a

dark

world,

as

God

has placed in

our

firmament, or

in

this

visible

sky;

The

inheritance of

the saints, in

light,

is

sufficiently

irradiated

by

God

hiínself,

who

at

his

first

call made the light

spring

up

out of

darkness over a

wide

chaos

of

confusion, before

the

sun

and

moon

appeared;

and.the

beams

of

divine

light,

grace and

glory,

are

coin

inunicated

from' God;

the

original

fountain

of

it, by

the

Lamb

to all the

inhabitants of

the heavenly country.

It

Was

by

Jesus

his Son,

that God

made the light

at

first,

and

by

him he

conveys it to

all

the

happy

worlds.

There

is

no

doubt of

this in

the present

heaven

of

saints ,departed'

from

flesh;

who

are ascended to

"

the

spirits

of

the

just

made perfect."

It

is

one

of

their

pri-

vileges

that

they

'go

to

dwell,

not

only where

they

see

the

face

of God, but

where they

behold

the glory

of

Christ,

and converse with

"Jesus;

the

Mediator

of

the

new

co-

venant," Heb.

xii 23;

24.

and

are

"

for

ever

with the

Lord

who

redeemed them,"

2

Cor.

v.

8.

Since

his

me-

diatorial

kingdom

and

offices

are not yet finished

in

the

present

heaven

of

separate

souls,

we

may

depend

on

this

blessedness

to be

communicated through Christ,

the

Lamb

of

God,

and all

the

spiritual

enjoyments and

feli-

cities, which

are represented under

the

metaphor of

light,

are

conveyed

to them through Jesus, the Mediator.