the world, and the flesh! And yet my Lord hath set me fairly above all hazards and difficulties: my feet for ever stand now within the glorious land of Emmanuel's blessed conquest. All the united strength of blessed saints and angels could not have brought me hither. Sirs, shall we not be telling to one another, throughout eternity, what God hath done for us in time? that eternity may be filled with a song to JEHOVAH, and the Lamb. Who should exalt, and love, and fear, and obey, and serve thee, if not we? Didst thou love us from eternity; and shall we not praise thee to eternity? And can we fail to extol thee? not so much because thou art good to us, as because thou art good in thyself. But, oh how is my heart inflamed, to think how thy love from eternity brake forth in time! how didst thou show forth the acts of thy free sovereign love, in that thou hadst written my name for eternal life! How bravely have all exigencies and cross dispensations conspired to my welfare! Now I see, All things work together for the good of those that love thee, Rom. viii. 28. The saddest and most cross junctures of providence have been the best when thou seemedst to be smiting, thou wast healing! when thou appearedst to be destroying, thou wast making up! Shall I not for ever declare thy wonderful ways? Happy I, who shall ever have eternity before me! thy ways to me in time, are the matter of an eternal song ! all exigencies of time did so run together, as every one has proved a step to this inexpressible glory. Free redeeming love has been written on all the passages of my pilgrimage! and most in the last G water: when I began to sink, thou didst hold me up in thy arms, and put my head in thy bosom, and said, "Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee; fear not, but rejoice exceedingly; for thy God, thy Head, thy Lord, thy Husband, thy Saviour is here, holding thee in his arms. Have I bought thee so dearly, suffered so many griefs, and woes, and pains; yea, death itself for thee? carried thee through the hazardous wilderness, so circumspectly and tenderly, and shall I let thee perish now? Never fear; am I not willing? am I not able? have not I overcome death and hell? I have dried up this river with the soles of my feet; nothing remains for thee to do, but enter in and possess. 30. The fellowship every one of his, as intimate and fami one. And hath not the sound of thy betwixt Christ and welcome, on this side of the water, liar as if he had but an immortal permanency on my heart? The impression is indelible: in my first landing, on the shore of this sweet land, didst not thou run, and fall on my neck, and embrace and kiss me; saying, “Welcome a thousand times, with all my soul, to this purchased possession? With desire have I desired thine intimate fellowship, and could not rest till I had brought thee hither, that strong loves might be satiated with full and mutual enjoyment. And now shall these arms receive thee: we shall for ever be joined in the nearest connexion of love, in the boundless ocean of delights. Hast thou been faithful over a few things; and shall I not make thee ruler over many things? Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord, thy love," Matt.xxv. 23. Seest thou not the treasures of all joys and blessedness, I have laid up for thee, even for thee? I had not forgot thee, while I was on earth; and no wonder, since from eternity I loved thee. What are thy thoughts of such great preparation? is not this a blessed place? how is it stored with all manner of delights, suitable to thy highest capacity! does not thy sight show, that thy imagination of these on earth was nothing? Lo, all this is the fruit of my sufferings and death and now, how shall I entertain thee, since thou hast come hither? Thou didst long, in thy pilgrimage, for the immediate enjoyment of me; and now enjoy me, as thy heart can desire. Thou art mine, and I am thine, Sol. Song ii. 16. I will satiate thee with my choicest favours, and fill thee to the full with my eternal overcoming sweetness. These victorious brows do I adorn with this massy diadem of glory: with these fair and resplendent robes of righteousness do I array thee, that all the spectators shall admire thy majesty and glory. Thy excellency on earth was obscured by the vail of corruption and mortality: now have I removed all thy infirmities, healed all thy diseases, raised up thy faculties to such a wonderful pitch, as thou art fit for conversing with me face to face. And didst thou, my delight, desire nothing more than the immediate and full enjoyment of me? and despise the world, in its most smiling condition, in comparison of my matchless excellency; looking on all pains, sufferings, and difficulties, for my name's sake, as delightsome; making my glory and exaltation thy chief joy and aim; and shall I not deck thee with surpassing majesty and glory? This, this is the man, O my friends, whom I have honoured, and will honour him; for he is worthy: 'Because he set his love upon me, therefore have I delivered him: I have set him on high, because he hath known my great name,' Psa. xci. 14. This is the man, O my Father, who has been with me in my temptations, who has glorified me on earth, and done great things for me: even this is the man, who has kept the word of my patience; who has known, that all things, whatsoever thou hast given me, are of thee; for I gave unto him the words which thou gavest me, and he has received them; and did know surely, that I came out from thee, and believed that thou didst send me. How great a friend was he to me on earth! When I was hungry, he gave me meat; when thirsty, he gave ine drink; when a stranger, he took me in; when naked, he clothed me; when sick and in prison, he visited me, Matt. xxv. 35, 36. Verily, in my eyes he is worthy of eternal glory. Whatever thou hast been, in my sight thou art worthy of eternal glory and renown. Heroically done! thy sufferings and actions for my name's sake, I heartily acknowledge as excellent service: receive, then, these enriching palms of victory into thy valiant hands, as an everlasting sign of thy conquest over the devil, the world, and the flesh : and thy majestic head be graced with these laurels of triumph, while thine enemies shall for ever lie under thy feet. All that thou beholdest are thine; for they are mine, and I am thine and now thy happiness superabounds, and overflows its banks. Now do I rest in my love to thee, : and thou dost rest in thy love to me: I rejoice over thee; yea, I exceedingly rejoice with singing." How shall we ever dwell in these everlasting delights! how shall we be filled with love throughout eternity! my Wellbeloved! 31. Visible things, a most imperfect representation of invi sible Oh inexpressible raptures of love! oh most holy, sweet, and condescending nature of Every hour of eternity is like the first hour: thy love is green and blooming through neverending ages. Is not this a sweet life, O inhabitants? this soil overflows with milk and honey. Have we not undergone an advantageous transportation? the outfields of this land wonderfully excel the lower world! Indeed, the very earth is full of thy glory: what passing delight have I found in meditating on thy works of the lower world! how did every thing I heard, or saw, show forth thy eternal power and Godhead! But oh, the difference betwixt heaven and earth could never enter within my conceptions on earth! Oh glorious world! should we, in the state of mortality, have strained our conceptions to the highest, and imagined all the glory our eyes could then behold, augmented and perfected more stages higher than there are atoms in the creation; yet, should such a world have been a deformed mass to thee. Lower excellency, gradually perfected, will never attain unto that excellency which is essentially of a higher degree. I thought, in my childhood, that the lower world might somewhat resemble the higher; howbeit, I knew the difference was inconceivable; and that here should be no ebbings or flowings, bloomings |