no ray of hope for them; who, therefore, knaw their very chains in the anguish of despair, and, with redoubled howlings, and severest remorse, bewail themselves banished for ever from the glory of his power, that shines in such an assembly, that beams brightly in redeeming love; and shall feel the superadded sense of divine displeasure teeming into every power and faculty of the soul for ever. Oh! how must the torments of sinners, the anguish of damnation, be heightened, sharpened, and screwed up to the highest pitch, by this sad reflection, that their state is. fixed, and their misery shall endure to all eternity, in the fullest meaning of the word, in spite of all that witless votaries for hell have said to the contrary!

9. Wherever the saints, the ransomed of the Lord, may dwell, it must be in heaven, and they shall be blessed with the presence of the man Christ; for he is their Head, and they are his members. Angels, and all the happy worlds, are related to him as their Creator and supreme good, but the saints claim him as their Brother, their Husband, their Head; and, by this relation, have an honour superior to any other created intelligence; for "he took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham."

10. Whatever delight and satisfaction all these intelligent beings may find in searching into the wonders of creation, into that astonishing variety that may prevail among the inhabitants of the numerous systems (since even among the angels that are all immaterial beings, we find thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim ;) yet, every happy adorer will join the psalmist of old, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon the earth," none in all

the systems, none in any world, "that I desire besides thee." And though the students on divine subjects shall be innumerable, yet every divine perfection, being infinite, shall afford them ample scope for their searches. For I am of opinion, that their knowledge shall be so acute and comprehensive, that the motions, laws, and universal connexion that the systems have with one another, shall be familiar and easy to them. But, with what growing wonder, and holy delight, shall they admire that Power that produced such numerous worlds from mere nothing, pure nonentity! and called such mighty spirits as the angels into being with a word! And how will the most penetrating geniuses of angels, or of men, or other intelligent beings, find themselves lost in searching into his self-existence and essence! His is so infinite, that it defies, and will for ever defy, their researches, and, compared with him, all these millions of angels, and millions of worlds, with their inhabitants, are but as an atom to space, or a point to ubiquity! In this infinite essence, the happy inquirers will find glories for ever new! Moreover, how will they be completely ravished to think (though no creature can understand how) that this great God, in three con-substantial, co-equal persons, must have existed from a necessity of nature, from a necessary perfection, and must have existed with all the necessary attributes of infinity, omnipotence, omniscience, an immutability, as well as holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, from all evermore! Likewise, the works of Providence in every world, and respecting every individual, will be a noble theme to the heirs of felicity; and, among these works, the salvation of sinners, by the incarnation, sufferings, and satisfaction

of the Son of God, will be the wonder of all the glorious intelligences, as well as the song of the redeemed.

Finally, the Lord shall rejoice in all his works, and his glory shall continue for ever; while to millions of millions he communicates of his goodness through eternity! compared with whom, what a small handful shall underlie his burning indignation for ever! But, O melancholy thought! perhaps my dear acquaintance, my daily companions, or my near relations, may be among the unhappy persons! O that they may be made to flee from the wrath to come!

To add no more, how dark are our views, and how ignorant are we of the world to come! But this may fill us with solid joy, that it is wholly in his hand, who will make his people happy in and with himself for ever, whose presence is fulness of joy, and to be at whose right hand is pleasure evermore.

MEDITATION CXLV.

A PROSPECT OF DEATH.

A DISPUTE has long subsisted between my mor

tal frame and death; and though I have long maintained the struggle with a life subject to disease and pain, I must at last yield to the universal conqueror, and be led to the house appointed for all living. In a little, the king of terrors will advance toward me, harnished to slay, and I shall not always escape the keen destroyer. But here is the comfort of a Christian, that he may die, and yet not be hurt of the second death; yea, he may enter undismayed the lists

with him who is the terror of kings, as with a conquered foe, and with cheerfulness view the silent grave; for though his dust rot, yet his hope shall flourish for ever. O what an unspeakable privilege is an interest in the Son of God, whereby that which sets the secure world a trembling, fills the believer's mouth with songs of triumph! Happy would the wicked be, if freed from the fears of approaching death; but this advancing day, when he is dissolved, to be with Jesus, kindles joy in the believer's breast.

Reluctant nature, indeed, may struggle in the last pangs, but disclosing glories shall scatter every gloom. My relatives may weep about me, but my soul shall be all harmony within. My body may toss and tumble on a death-bed, but my hope shall be fixed within the vail. Mourning and weeping may attend my decease, but my departed soul shall soar to everlasting song; and, while my sad friends inter my lifeless clay, my immortality shall enter into the joy of my Lord. Such views as these refresh the expectant of glory; and whatever clouds may darken his evening sky, yet his state is secure, and he shall never walk alone, through the dark shadow, the solitary valley of death. The same divine Saviour, who has been a cloud and a shadow to him all the days of his life, will also be the shining of a flaming fire to him in the night of his death. Hence dissolution itself, like the cloud of old, when kindly interposed between flying Israel and pursuing Egypt, though it be terror and darkness to depraved mortals, yet it is joy, light, and transport to adopted sons.

If, on the approach of the decisive moments, fierce disease will allow my soul so much tranquillity as to think, with what delight will I bid the world adieu,

'how will my joys swell to see myself on the brink of an eternity of glory! And, if I can use my tongue, how shall my dying breath speak of the excellencies of my divine Redeemer, and commend religion to the sons of men! How shall I expatiate on the bliss, the entrancing joys found in his presence, even below, when the soul dwells with great delight under his shadow, and eats his fruits, while paradise blooms around him! How shall I also endeavour to set forth a little of that triumphant state that is before the throne! Then, taking my last, mine eternal farewell of all created things, I shall fix my soul on all the boundless bliss, and everlasting glory, that is in his presence, and, while he graciously begins to shed eternal noon about me, shall breathe my soul out among his beams, and rise in his irradiation to the very throne.

MEDITATION CXLVI.

A STATE AFTER DEATH.

INDEED, the most part of men live as if there were no futurity, no hereafter; as if they should altogether drop out of being the moment they drop their mortal frame. But, notwithstanding the confined views of depraved mortals, a noble prospect opens beyond death, the hope of the heaven-espoused breast. Surely, as the prisoner, long detained in the dreary dungeon, when allowed to pass the envious door, to be possessed of liberty once more, looks with delight on unbounded fields of day, and, with a kind of greedy joy, glances the whole surrounding skies; so, when