SERMON XLIIL 625 ,quire that thou shouldestfall in love with astate of guilt and pain, a state that has so much sin and temptation; só much burden and fatigue in it; lie gives thee leave to groan after the hour of re- lease and deliverance. In this tabernacle we groan earnestly, being burdened; 2 Cor. v. 2. Consider further, O my soul, what is there in this world that should make thee fond of continuing among the inhabitants of it ? Has not the world, thou thvellest in, sufficiently disco- vered itself to thee, as a land of mere vanity and vexation, and art thou fond of the tents of Mesherh and Kedar, where thy soul has so little peace ? Art thou afraid to change thy dwelling, place ? Hast thou not been teased hmg enough with the com- pany of sinners, or the foolish and unfriendly carriage of those whoare imperfect saints` ? 1-Iast thou not been often ready to say, O that Ihad the wings ofa dove, tofly awayfrom the windy storm and tempest? Ps. lv. 6, 7. to get afar offfrom the rage and malice of enemies, from the troublesome infirmities of friends, afar off from the peevishness, the envyand the passion of some of thy fellow-christians ? How often hast thou wished even for a wilderness where thou mayest be at rest? Behold the door of deathwill shortly open itselfto thee, and would let thee in, not to ä wilderness, but to a paradise, to a place ofeternal rest and free- domfrom all uneasy society ; and yet thoudelayest and hangest backward, and art afraid to go. " In that upper world the saints have no follies about them, no vicious and fretful humours, no springs of vexation ; they leave all their weaknesses, their envy, and their anger behind them in the grave. In the heavenly country, every companion is an everlasting friend, and all thy dear and piouskindred, who are departed, have put off every thing that once made thee or them uneasy. They are far bettercompany above than ever they were, or could be, here on earth; and dost thóu not want to see them all in their hest raiment of grace and glory ; and to hold sweet communion with them in the purest intercourses of love ? " But there are still sweeter allurements to a holy soul ; God, even thy God, dwells' in the midst , of his saints on high, and that in the full glories of his love : Jesus thy Saviour, whom thou hast known, and whom thou hast loved, though thou hast never seen him ; Jesus is Lordof that country, he waits for thee there ; God himself dwells there as the fountain of felicity, and shall be no more absent from thee. Thou shalt no more com- plain of the withdrawings of the light of his countenance, or the short visits of his grace : Thou shalt sit solitary no more, nor mourn under the dark eclipses of the Sun of righteousness. It is the pleasure of that heaven thou hopest for, to be for ever
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