XVIII.

A CHECK FOR NOT MEDITATING ON DIVINE THINGS.

Jan. 1.

DOES my faith expect a kingdom, an heavenly kingdom, and a crown of glory that fadeth not away? and can I live days and weeks, months and years, without a real ardent desire to be put in possession of the promised land? I wonder not so much that the wicked think nothing of heaven (for who admire unknown lands?) as that the saints think so little of it, though now and then allowed to pluck the fruits of paradise. Were the day fixed, on which I should make my appearance at an earthly court, to be created a peer, and continue in my prince's favor and presence ever after till death,how often would my thoughts revolve the auspicious day, and feast on the imaginary, the transitory grandeur! And in the mean time, were it notified to me, that my sovereign would not only permit me, but would take it kindly, and expected that I should often meditate on the majesty of his throne, on the equity of his sceptre, on the immutability of his laws, on the wisdom of his government, on the riches of his treasures, on the sweetness of his favour, on the munificence of his love, on all his admirable perfections, and on the amiable person of the prince-royal, the heir of his crown, and beloved of his soul, I would not need a second invitation to these meditations. Now, when all these supposed excellencies in an earthly monarch are realized in the King Eternal, and in the King's Son; and I am not only permitted, but invited and commanded to meditate on him, assured that the day is on wing when I shall be

brought into the palace of the King, crowned with immortality, and serve him in his temple evermore; what a shame, what a sin, yea, what a loss is it, that my whole soul, in all her thoughts, meditations, desires, delights, longings, and outgoings, is not on God, and the things of God!

XIX.

APPROBATION OF TRYING PROVIDENCES.

Dec. 1770.

O GOVERNOR of men and angels! how well does it become me to be conformed to the Captain of my salvation, who was made perfect through sufferings! Who ever expected to find bright noon in the dark night, or serene summer in the middle of stormy winter, or grottos, arbors, and flower-gardens, in a barren desart? why then am I surprised that I stumble while travelling in the night, or that it rains and is sometimes very tempestuous in the winter-season? or that I find barrenness in the desart, and lose sight of my fellow-travellers in the dark? I will count my afflictions then, but I dare not quarrel; I will plead for compassion, but I will not complain. Death has so often preyed around me, that I only am escaped alone to tell, that I have neither father nor mother, sister nor brother, nephew nor niece, nor any nearer relative. Yet, when the Son of righteousness shall arise on me, I shall share an eternal day above the reach of night, a serene summer where winter shall return no more; and a blooming paradise, and arbours

of bliss, where there is no barren desart. Also, while I leave all my infirmities, and all my afflictions in the vale of misery behind me, I shall find treasures of glory, rivers of pleasure, in thy presence, fulness of joy at thy right hand for ever: Moreover, I shall find my religious friends in the better country,whose death I now bewail; but verily I believe, I shall lose and overlook them, and all the heavenly crowd, while entertained with better company, and admitted to more divine communion with Jehovah and the Lamb.

XX.

FAITH'S TRIUMPH OVER AFFLICTION.

Sept. 26, 1772.

IN a little I shall be where I never was before, and where I now am, I shall never be again. With every immortal, I shall be in eternity, and bid a final farewell to time. I shall just be in that heavenly place where my happy meditations now are. In thy presence, O Saviour! at thy throne, O King of kings! shall I find my heaven. Sure, then, it can never become an expectant of so much bliss, to be sad for any thing but sin, or to joy in any thing but in God. When I am no more numbered with the living, but lamented over as a broken vessel, I shall mingle with the hosts of the living God, with the armies of light, and exult in my celestial privilege for ever.

Like the rest of Adam's discontented family, I am often grumbling at my griefs, complaining of my afflictions, and on the brink of quarreling at the conduct

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of Providence itself. To be without afflictions is impossible below, where man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward; not to feel when afflicted, is a stoical, is an impious stupidity; but to sink under troubles of any kind, is beneath the character of the Christian. Yet, when I reflect on that eternity of bliss which is before me, on that world of glory of which I am an heir in minority, I wonder that my afflictions are not rather more, than that they are so many. Is it much for me to stumble among the rough stones of adversity, to have my flesh pricked with the thorns of trouble, who shall walk the golden streets of heaven, and wear a crown of immortal glory? Though the whole earth should rise up against me, if heaven, and the God of heaven be for me, I am in perfect safety, and may sing my requiem in the midst of all the storms and tempests, whirlwinds and hurricanes, that can blow.

XXI.

A SWEET PROSPECT OF FUTURE BLISS.

Nov. 20, 1773.

HOW soon I shall mingle with the inhabitants of the invisible world, I cannot say; but I may assure myself it cannot be long. Why then converse I so seldom with the unseen world? why daily strike my roots deeper into this world, like an old tree, when, like an old tree, I must shortly be cut down? By kind providences, and gracious promises, I am hired to be heavenly-minded, and by afflictions am I chastened for my carnality; but could my faith get one sip of

the heavenly banquet, I would long to sit down at the marriage-supper of the Lamb. What a rich feast is found in the kingdom of God, which entertains thousands and ten thousands of happy souls through eternity; and shall my immortal soul feed on the refuse of creation! I tread under foot the flowers of this footstool, and rise in my ambition to the bliss of heaven, to the fruition of God. O what beams of glory shine on me! what treasures open in my view! the all-sufficient good enjoyed through everlasting day by all the powers of my expanding, wondering, ravished, and enlarged mind.

XXII.

THE RAVISHING EMPLOYMENT OF SAINTS IN GLORY.

May 22, 1774.

IT is owing to the richness of grace, and stability of love, that I do not forfeit my title to the heavenly inheritance, by taking so little delight in divine things, and being so captivated with the perishing creature! O fool that I am! to be busied about dust and ashes, and to delight in a thing of nought; for the whole creation shall at last be set on fire, and deceive for ever all the votaries of sense. Then, when admitted into thy unclouded and beatific presence, what a strange change shall take place.in my pursuits? I shall feel a frame of mind superior to the claim of my faith, and my soul shall be filled with raptures never felt, never known below. My soul shall largely open to the sacred emanations of the Deity, and exert all her ravished powers in searching the divine perfections,and through