SERMON XL. 571 "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: Be not overcome with evil ; but overcome evil with good ;" Rom. xii. 19-21. Love is a virtue that flourishes in heaven, it glows high, it spreads wide, and it shines bright in the upper world. Love is a grace that out-lives- faith and hope, and endures for ever. There is no such union of hearts,, no such sacred bonds of affec- tion, as are found among the saints on high. Heaven is the very element and region of love ; butit is all love to God, love to Christ, and to our fellow-saints : For love to enemies is not known in that country, because there is no enemy there. To love them that hate us, to bless them that ourse us ; to pity, and forgive, and pray for those that injure us; these are not only noble singularities of the christian religion, which are not known amongst all the catalogues of heathen virtues, but neither are they practised in the heavenly world. As glorious and sublime as they are, yet they are never found among the spirits of the just made perfect: Those holy souls, are all far above the reach of malice, hatred, and enmity ; there are no objects there for them to exercise these divine virtues upon. Love to enemies therefore dwells onlÿ amongst the living saints : To forgive injuries, is the glory that is peculiar to Christians in this mortal state, and our blessed Saviour has a most peculiar revenue of honour from it. But besides the honour that Christ and his gospel receive from such a kind and charitable conduct, there is a pleasure,.in this victory over resentment, that far exceeds the pleasure, of revenge whichis the delight of the wicked: And it is a pleasure also, which the saints above cannot partake of ; for there are no offences, no injuries, no provocations there : This life alone is the timeto forgive, and to be forgiven. Now whois there among us, that would not seize the opportunity of every injury and offence to practise a glorious-duty, and enjoy a pleasure which the blessed in heaven cannot taste ? VII. Self-denial and mortification of sin, belongs also to this life alone. It is the first lesson in the school of Christ, to deny ourselves daily, if we will be his disciples ; Luke ix. 23. but it is the lesson of the school and not of the palace; a lesson for earth and not for heaven ; for in the world above, our duty is all delight, and there is no need of contradicting our own pleasure, or our interest, in order to please or serve our God, or our brother. In those holy regions every part of our work is congenial to our sanctified natures, and with resistless appetite and inclination we shall pursue all the duties that belong to that happy state. Nor are there any sins to be mortified there : The bodyof i
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