DISCOURSE H. 095 23. It is God who makes each of us meet for our own inheri- tance among the saints in light ; Col. i. 12. and then he bestows on us that inheritance. As grape fits the soul for glory, so a lar- ger degree of grace advances and widens the capacity of the soul, and prepares it to receive a larger degree of glory. The work pf grace is but the means, the reward of glory is die end : Now the wisdom of God always fits and adjusts the means in a dueproportion toanswer the end he designs, and the same wisdom ever makes the end answerable to the means he useth ; and there- fore he infuses more and higher glories into vessels more en- jargedand better prepared. Some of the spirits in heaven may be trained up by their stations and sacred services on earth for more elevated employ- ments and joys on high. Can we imagine that the soul of David, the sweet psalmist, the prophet, and the king of Israel, is not fitted by all his labours and trials, all his raptures of faith, and love, and zeal, for some sublimer devotion and nobler business than his own infant child, the fruit of his adultery? And ÿet our divines have generally placed this child in heaven, because David ceased to mourn for him at his death, and said that he himself should go tohint ? 2 Sain. xii. 20, 23. Deborah, theprophetess, judged Israel, site animatedtheir armies, and sung their victories : Is not Deborah engaged in some more illustrious employment among the heavenly tribes, than good Dorcas may seem to be capable of whose highestcharacter upon record is, that she was All gl'alnzs-deeds, and made coats and garments for the poor; Acts ix. 36, 39. And yet perhaps Dorcas is prepared too for some greater enjoyments, some sweeter relish ofmercy, or some special taste of the divine goodness above 'Rahab the harlot; Rahab, whose younger, character was lewd and infamous ; and the best thing that we read of her is, that her faith under the presentterror of the armies ofIsraeltaught heronce tocover and conceal theirspies : And unless she made great advànces after, ward in grace, surely her place isnot very high in glory.' The worship of heaven, and the joy that attends it, may be exceedingly different in degree according to the different capa- city of spirits; and yet all may be perfect and free from sinful defects. Does not the sparrow praise the Lord its Maker upon the ridge of a cottage, chirping in its native perfection ? and yet the lark advances in her flight and her song as far above the sparrow, as the clouds are above the house top. Surely superior joys and glories must belong to superior powers and services. Can we think that Abraham and Moses, who were trained up in converse with God face toface, as a man converses with hisfriend, andwho followed him through the wil- derness and unknown countries in a glorious exercise of faith, were not prepared for a greater intimacy with God, andnearer
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