567 / 674
]nsc.
x.]
THE FORETASTE
OP
HEAVEN.
547
make
them
happy
in
perfection,
and for ever
?
All
crea-
tures are under
his
present
view
and immediate
com-
mand
;
there
is
not
the
least
of
them
can
give
disturbance
to any
of
the
favourites
of
heaven,
who,
dwell
in
the
midst
of
their
Creator's
love
;
.
nor
is
there any
creature
that
can
be
employed towards the complete happiness
of
the saints
on high,
but
is
for
ever tinder the disposal
of
that God
who
has made
all
things,' and
it
shall
be
em>
ployed
upon
every
just
occasion for the display
of
his love
to his
saints.
Some have imagined
that
that "
perfect satisfaction
of
soul which arises from a good
conscience, speaking
peace,
inwardly
in
the
survey
of
its sincere
desire
to
please
God
in all things,
and
having
with
uprightness
of
heart_
fulfilled
its duty,"
is,
the supreme
delight
of
heaven
but
it
is
my
opinion God
has
never made
the felicity
of
his
creatures
to
be
drawn
so
entirely
out of
themselves, .or
from the
spring
of
their
own
bosom,
as this
notion
seems to imply.'
God
himself
will be
all in all to his
creatures
;
'and all
their original springs
of
blessedness
as
well
as being,
are
in
him
and must
be
derived from
him
:
It
is
therefore the
overflowing sense
of
being beloved
by
a,
God, Almighty
and
Eternal,
that
is
the
supreme fountain
of joy and
.bless-)
edness to
every,
reasonable nature,
and
the endless secu-
rity
of,
this
happiness
is
joy
everlasting
in
all the regions
of
the blessed above.
Now a
taste
of
this kind
is
heavenly blessedness even
on.
this
earth,
where
God
is
pleased to bestow it
on his
creatures ;.
and the
glimpses
of
it
bring such extasies
into
the soul
as
can
hardly
be
conceived,
or
revealed to
others,
.
but
it
is
bestfelt
by
those
who
enjoy. it.
SECTION
VII.
"
Foretastes
of
heaven
in
the fervent emotions
of
soul
in
love to
Jesus Christ."
What
the
love
and strong affections
of
the blessed
saints
above
,towards
Jesus Christ their Lord and
Saviour may impress
of joy
on
their
spirits,
is
not
possible for
us
to
learn
in
the present
state
;
but there
are
some
who
have
even
here on
earth
felt such
trans-
cendent
affections to
Jesus
the
Son
of God,
even
thóugh
they
have
never
enjoyed
the sight
of
him,
yet
they love
him
with
most intense
and
ardent
zeal
;
their
devotion almost
swallows
them
up
and carries
them
2N2