Page images
PDF
EPUB

Devil, liable to pain and forrow, to the fears of lofing what few comforts we enjoy, and to the troublefome certainty of leaving them if they leave not us; in the kingdom of Glory we are in a state of fecure and perfect felicity, our crown is fixt upon our heads too firm to be fhaken, the flowers which bloom therein fhall always continue fresh; Sin fhall be difarmed of her fting, and Death be swallowed up in Victory.

In the kingdom of Grace, the good and the bad are mixed together, rewards and punishments are unequally diftributed, and the worldly condition of the greatest finner is preferable to that of the moft righteous man on earth; but in the kingdom of Glory the good shall be separated from the bad; thofe who have been faithful fervants of their Lord fhall be diftinguifhed from

the

the wicked and rebellious; the glorified Saint fhall no longer be the companion of the incorrigible Sinner; the latter shall be affigned over to everlasting punishment, and the former received into that glorious kingdom wherein is joy and peace for ever

more.

In the kingdom of Grace, we walk by Faith, we fee through a glafs darkly, our understanding is clouded, our reafon weak, and our will perverse; we are scarce able to comprehend the most obvious things, and the ways of God, and the difpenfations of his Providence, are far above out of our fight; but in the kingdom of Glory we fhall fee face to face, we fhall know even as we are known, all nature will be laid open to our view, and the God of Nature himself be fully manifefted to us. The ways of Providence, which in many re

fpects

spects appear to us dark, mysterious, and unintelligible, shall be then cleared up, the cloud which fits upon them at present will be totally difpelled, and they will appear to us juft and uniform, worthy of the fountain of light from whence they issued. The Nature of God, which in our present state we can have no adequate notion of, will then break forth upon us in its fullest tide of Glory, and these weak and frail bodies will be fo much ftrengthned as to be able to fee God and live; and our fouls be fo far exalted above their present state in knowledge, as to be able fully to comprehend, in purity, as to be able perfectly to enjoy the glorious object.

In the kingdom of Grace, upon account of our many fins, and the utter impoffibility of our making peace with God of ourselves, we are governed by our Mediator Jefus

Jefus Chrift; through the confideration of whofe meritorious fufferings and effectual interceffion, God overlooks our frailties, pardons our fins, and accepts of a fincere repentance instead of a perfect obedience. But in the kingdom of Glory, when we fhall no more be liable to temptation and fin, when our corruptible fhall have put on incorruption, and we bear the image of the heavenly, as we have borne the image of the earthly, there will be no occafion for a mediator, but we shall be governed immediately by God himself; the mediatorial office of Chrift shall then cease, and the kingdom be delivered up to God even the Father, and the Son alfo himself shall be fubject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

It remains for us to confider, in what fense we pray that these kingdoms of God

may come.

VOL. IV.

I

For

For the kingdom of Grace we pray, that our hearts and minds may be thoroughly, fubdued thereto, that we may be worthy fubjects of Chrift's kingdom; that all perfons who are within the Chriftian covenant may lead their lives answerable thereto, and every member of Chrift's holy church 'may in his vocation truly and godly serve him; that God would please to have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Hereticks, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of his 'word and commandment, and fo fetch them 'home to his Hock, that they may be faved among the remnant of the true If raelites, and be made one Fold under one Shepherd Jefus Chrift our Lord.

For the kingdom of Glory we pray, that God will of his mercy fpeedily release us from the dangers and troubles of this life, and inftate us with himself in joy and

peace,

« PreviousContinue »