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443

NO

PAIN

AMONG

THE BLESSED.

DISC. IX.

away

so much

of

the

ease

and pleasure

of

life, while

any

of

us

lie

under the acute

sensations of

them.

Pain

will

make

us

confess

that

we

are

flesh

and

blood,

and force

us

sometimes

to cry

out

and groan. Even a stoic

in

spite

of

all

the

pride

of

his

philosophy,

will

sometimes

be

forced,

by

a

sigh

or a

groan, to confess himself

a man.

What

are

the

greatest

part of

the

groans

and outcries,

that

are

heard all

round

this

our

globe

of

earth, but

the

effects

of

pain,

either felt or

feared

?

But

in

heaven, where

there

is

no

pain,' there

shall be

no

sighing

or

groaning,

nor

any

more

crying,

as my

text

expresses. There

shall be

nothing

to make the

flesh

or

the spirit

uneasy,

and

to

break the

eternal thread of

peace

and pleasure

that

runs through the whole

duration

of

the

saints

:

Not

one painful moment to

interrupt

the

ever-

lasting

felicity

of

that

state.

When

we

have

done

with

earth

and mortality,

we

have

done

also with

sickness

and

anguish of nature, and

with

all

sorrow

and vexation for

ever.

There

are

no

groans

in

the

heavenly world

to

break

in

upon

the harmony

of

the

harps

and the

songs

of

the

blessed

;

no

sighs,

no

outcries, no anguish

there

to

disturb

the

music

and the joy

of

the

inhabitants. And

though

the

soul

shall be

united

to

the

body

new

-

raised

from

the dead to

dwell

for ever

in

union,

yet

that

new-

raised

body shall have

neither

any springs

of

pain

in

it,

nor

be

capable

of

giving

anguish

or

uneasiness to the

indwelling

spirit

for

ever.

Another

evil which

attends

on

pain

is

this,

that

"it

so

indisposes

our nature

as

often

to

unfit

us

for

the

busi-

nesses

and duties

of

the present state." With

how

much

coldness

and

indifferency do

we go

about our

daily

work, and perform

it

too

with

many

interruptions,

when

nature

is

burdened

with

continual

pain, and the vital

springs

of action

are overborne

with

perpetual uneasi-

ness

?

What

a listlessness do

we

find to

many

of

the

du-

ties

of

religion

at

such

a season, unless

it

be

to

run

more

frequently

to the

throne

of

God, and pour out our

groan

-

ings

and

our

complaints there?

Groanings and

cries

are

the language of

nature, and the children

of God

address

themselves in

this

language

to

their heavenly

Father

:

Blessed be

the name

of

our

gracious

God,

who

hears

every

secret

sigh,

who

is

acquainted

with

the sense

of

every groan,

while

we

mourn

before

him,

and

make

our

4