DISCOURSE XIII. 801 perdition ? Mark viii. 30. Dare any of us 'venture an eternal state of torment to gain the flattering and delusive joy of a short hour, or a winter's day ? What are all the gratifications of flesh and sense ? What are all the swelling titles of honour amongst men ? What are all the treasures of this perishing world ? How short is their dura- tion, and how 'short is thy possession of them ? All earthly feli- cities perish in the using, and are no sooner enjoyed but are quickly lost again, or expire in the enjoyment : But if the ruin of a soul, and a lost heaven; be the price of them, how mad is the purchase, and how wretched is the purchaser? IV. How patiently should we bear all the labours and fatigues, the pains and miseries of this mortal life, when we have any hope of our deliverance from the pains and sorrows of imniortality ?" As for our maladies and sorrows here on earth, blessed be God they are not eternal: There are some intervals to relieve, and there is some period to finish them. When we ask a friend who is sick and in pain, " how fare you ? I- am its pain now, says he, but I hope I shall be easy anon : I am sick to -day, but 1 trust I shall be in health to-morrow." This is a sweet mitigation of the present uneasiness, and gives relief to the patient. But how dreadful and piercing would these accents be if we should hear our friend make this answer to us, " I ans all over in extreme pain and anguish, and I shall never, never be eased of it: I lie under exquisite torment of the flesh, and horror in my soul, and I shall for ever feel this horror and this torment." Such is the case of the damned sinners in hell, and therefore their agonies are intolerable. But if you have any comfortable prospect of the pardon of sin, and a well - grounded hope of eternal salvation through the blood of Christ, and by the rules and promises of the gospel, all the temporal toils and plagues that can possibly stand between us and heaven should be despised and disregarded by us, and we should learn to triumph over them with the victorious songs of thankfulness and praise. Blessed be the name of our God, though he has smitten us sorely, yet he has not given us over to everlasting death. Let our thoughts ascend to the heavenly regions, and let es ask those who are arrived thither out of the land of temptation and conflict, out of these tabernacles of sin and sorrow ; let us ask them, what gave them so divine a courage and so firm a pa- tience in the midst of all their trials ? With one voice they will all make answer, it was the view of our deliverance from an eternal hell, and the hopes of obtaining salvation by Christ Jesus with eternal glory; it is this that supported us under every burden, and bore us on with a spirit of faith and victory through every hardship ou earth. It was for this we laboured, and suf -.
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