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But this abundance of joy shall not have the effect it has on earthen vessels here, to crack and crush them, but shall strengthen all my inward man, that I may praise like angels,and love like seraphim. What raptures shall arise from that intimate communion my soul shall then enjoy with God, though now my words cannot express it, and my thoughts cannot conceive of it! Then there shall not be the least remains of sin in my soul, not a wandering thought, which now at iny best times troubles me, nor a frown in the countenance of God, and therefore no more grief or sorrow. Then I shall fear him out of the purest love, serve him, and not be afraid; approach and come close to his throne, and yet not be accused of presumption. I shall see him, and not die, and enjoy the nearest and sweetest fellowship with him for ever, without being in danger of a wound from spiritual pride. Then will God in very deed dwell with men, and in men; and then, O how full shall my soul be of God, and how satisfied with the society of the heavenly inhabitants! God stamped on every soul, dwelling in every breast, possessing every thought, the subject of every song, and the object of all our love, renders the whole celestial multitude happy, extremely and eternally happy!

MEDITATION CIV

INFINITE AND ETERNAL PROPERTIES OF THE BLISS

ABOVE.

Jan. 4, 1761.

HAD I but one moment's glance of the glorious, though created sun, which, while I began to gaze, were concealed, never to be seen again, such a view would

only kindle an anxious curiosity, but not satisfy one longing desire; even so, a passing glimpse of the celestial glory would only set on edge, but never satisfy the holy appetite of the heaven-born soul. There is an immortality in my soul, and there is an eternity in my portion. Vast are the demands of the renewed mind, such as the whole creation cannot satisfy ; but in God's sacred super-abundance, in his infinite fulness, there is enough and to spare. What divine harmony in all respects takes place above! God, the enjoyment of whom is paradise and bliss, is infinite, and every faculty of the soul is capacitated, in the highest degree, to enjoy much of God; and our divine communion and fellowship also is eternal. What keeps the worldling in perpetual anguish, but because his portion here is neither complete nor permanent? Yea, what would the bliss above be,if either infinity or eternity could be separated from it? for what would avail the possession of crowns and kingdoms, nay, of more substantial bliss, if but for a moment? and what would perpetuity itself profit, if spent but in gazing on a glow-worm, or enjoying a circumscribed good? Well, but it is otherwise here; for when wafted to the higher house, to the heaven of heavens, I shall find myself in the midst of ineffable glories, and plunged among infinite beatitudes, and all the unbounded emanations of a Deity, whose every perfection may through endless ages employ the whole multitude of glorified admirers. But while his eternal excellencies possess my ravished powers, and all his goodness passes before me, how would my finite mind be pained that I can comprehend so little of this almighty all, if not comforted on the other hand with this, that I shall go on, and grow in knowing God through eternity! O eternity, eternity! how much shall my soul know of God before ten thou

sand years are spent! and yet these cannot diminish the eternal duration one moment! And, as my portion, even after all that I shall have seen, adored, and enjoyed, will remain full and overflowing, being infinite; so the time of possession, communion, and enjoyment, even after ages of bliss are elapsed, will always continue the same, being eternal.

MEDITATION CV.

BAD COMPANY.

Hamoaze, January 11, 1761.

SOMETIMES our situation may be solitary, our friends being cut off from us by death, or we from them by distance; or our company may be such for a while as that the safety of our souls forbids us to converse with it. It is become customary with us to complain of this, and to cry out for the communion of the saints; and indeed it must be owned, that as iron sharpeneth iron, so doth the face of a man his friend. Yet, if grace is at work to find God in every circumstance, even this prejudice may be turned into a spiritual advantage; for, alas! I may fondly meet with my friends, and freely talk with them, and yet Christ have little of the conversation, though the kind Author of our bliss should often be the subject of our discourse; but when my company is such that I shun to sit with them, then I dwell alone, and seek after communion with God himself; and while faith gets a view of his divine love, and dazzling perfections, I can never want matter for meditation.

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Thus the right improvement of a cross, which in itself is heavy and afflicting, even sojourning in Mesech with the sons of consummate folly, may produce the greatest blessing, even communion with the Most High. And, though I am not to expect a voice from heaven to carry on a dialogue with me, yet, by his spirit speaking in the scriptures, and breathing on my soul, I may converse with God, and talk of the glories of the world to come. Yea, this situation, though in itself mournful, is not barren of useful instructions; for I learn, 1. What a pleasant place the church and Zion of God is, where saints may talk together of redeeming love, till their hearts burn within them. 2. That the expectants of the better country are too shy to tell to one another what God hath done for their souls, that all may give him praise. 3. That one Christian is readier to receive hurt from the wordly and carnal discourse of another, than from the belchings of the profane; for this drives him to God, but the other, though not to his profit, gains upon him by its seeming innocence. 4. That no confusion or confinement can hinder the rightly-exercised soul from walking at large in the promise, and with God. I may have neither field nor garden to walk into, and yet walk over the fields of bliss, and take a tour through the paradise of God; my situation may, in a great measure, forbid the use of my voice in my devotions, yet I may cry and be heard in the highest heavens. 5. To admire and adore the goodness of God that turns all things to the believer's advantage, who, when associated with men that seem incarnate devils, may entertain heavenly meditation, and maintain communion with the God of angels. 6. To put a proper estimate on the saints; to choose all the members of my family of such; and to be ready to break off other themes,

and begin the divine subject among them, And, 7. To look forward to that day when the wicked shall fall off round about us, as the falling leaves from a frostbitten tree, and we shall rise to dwell among glorious angels, and perfected saints, where we shall talk of him and to him for ever, and not a wretch break in to mar our dearest, our divinest theme.

MEDITATION CVI.

ON GOING BEYOND THE LINE.

Plymouth Sound, March 14, 1761.

COMMANDED by our Sovereign, with cheerfulness we leave our native land, and pursue our course through raging and extensive oceans, to unknown climes abroad, though we may meet with enemies, be overtaken with diseases, and must pant beneath a scorching sun. Why then, O my soul! afraid, at thy heavenly Sovereign's command, to pass the line of time into the wide ocean of eternity, and unknown worlds above, seeing thou hast his divine promise for thy protection in the hour of death, and the sure hope of a non-such friend before thee, who is Lord of all the unknown regions of glory?

The saint should even rejoice in the prospect of death, which turns out to his immense, his everlasting gain; for here he may have little or nothing, there is his inheritance; here he may be an exile, there he is at home; here a stranger, there among his friends; here often mourning without the sun, but there eternally with God.

One, from the large quantity of stores and provisions of all kinds which is brought aboard, might well

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