502 / 674
482
A
SOUL,
PREPARED
TOR
HEAVEN
[DISC. VIII.
thee, and
joy
in the
Lord, for
thy
salvation and
thy
fe-
licity
shall
be
completed."
Remark
III.
"
How
vain,
and
idle,
and
unreasonable,
are
all
the
hope
of
sinners,
that
they shall ever
arrive at
.heaven without
any
preparation
for
it
here
?"
.
There
is
nothing
divine and holy begun
in
them
in
this world, and
yet
they hope to
be
made happy
in
the
world
that
is
to
come
;
there
is
nothing
of true
grace wrought
in
their
hearts
here,
and yet
they vainly
expect
to be made
per-
fect
in
pleasure and
glory
hereafter.
"
Think
with
thyself,
O carnal
creature,
that
heaven
will be a
burden to
thee;
the powers, the,
appetites,
and
passions
of
thy sinful
nature,
will
not
suffer thee
to
re-
lish
the
joys of
the heavenly state.
Dost
thou
imagine
that
a
worm
or
serpent of
the earth, or a
swine which
is
ever tumbling
in
the
mire, can
be
entertained
with
the
golden ornaments
and
splendors
of
a
palace
?
Or
will
the stupid
ass
be
delighted
with
the harmony
of
,a
harp,
or
viol
?
No
more can a soul
of
a carnal and sensual taste,
.
and
which
is
ever
seeking
and groveling after earthly
gra-
tifications,
be
pleased
or
gratified
with
the refined enjoy-
ments
of
the
heavenly
world.
Thou
must have a
new
nature,
new
appetites and
affections,
ere thou canst
partake
of
divine joys;
or
relish them
if
thou wert
placed
in
the midst
of
them.
Holy adoration
of.
God,
and humble converse
with him
in
worship, converse
with
the saints
about
divine things,
perfect purity
and devo-
.
tion,
with the
meditation
of
the excellencies
of
Christ,
and the
sight
of
him
in his
ordinances, have never yet
been
the
object of
thy
delight or
joy:
nay, they have
ra-
ther
been thy
aversion
;
and shouldst thou
have the gates
of
heaven
open before
thee,
and
see
what
business
the
holy souls
there are
employed
in,
thou wouldst
find no
desire
to such
sort of
satisfactions; the
place and the
company would
be
thy
burden,
if
thou couldst
be
let
at
once into the midst
of
them.
" Think
again,
O
sinful wretch,
thy
carnality of
soul,
thy supreme
love
of
sensual
and
brutal
joys, the secret
malice, or
envy,
the pride and impiety
of
thy heart, have
prepared
thee for
another sort
of
'company; thou
art
fitted for
hell
by
the
very
temper of
thy
spirit, for
such
are
the inhabitants
of
that
miserable world,
and
in
thy
pre-
sent
state
there can
be
no admission for.thee.into. heaven,