glory of the Godhead, and exprefs image, or reprefentation of JEHOVAH. This glory he enjoys by virtue of his union with the divine nature, and as the Godhead fhines gracious through the Man, all the glories of the Deity shine with infinite rsdiancy through the human nature of CHRIST, he may with propriety be ftiled the brightness of his Father's glory; just as a bright crystal, fuppofing that there could be one large enough to contain the body of the fun, and we were to enjoy all its light, beams and rays through it, fhould we not call the cryftal a bright image and reprefentation of the glory of the fun? So in like manner the human nature of CHRIST, being filled with all the glory of the Deity, as the medium of communion in heaven, we fhall therefore fee his countenance fhine with infinite majefty, his looks with infinite glory, which will render his perfonal prefence the fount of blifs, and fource of every joy. This will engage our perpetual admiration, to look with open vifion, face to face, upon the glories of the GoD-Man, to fee him as he is, exalted as the Head, Husband, and Bridegroom of his Church, above all principalities and powers, and a name given him above every name that is named; adored and loved by every being; thrones, dominions and powers, cafting their crowns at his facred feet, finging, Salvation to him that fitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. And all this is agreeable to what the HOLY GHOST faith of him, Pfal. xxi. 5. His glory is great in thy falvation, honour and majesty haft thou laid upon him; the glory of the Man JESUS is adorably great in the falvation of his people, for by his personal union with the divine nature, he claims a relative glory to all the praifes and adorations of JEHOVAH from every Saint, Angel, and Archangel around the throne. This, O Chriftian, is the glory in which our eyes fhall behold him, as the Lamb in the midft of the throne, as one that had been flain; being crowned with glory and ho nour, Rev. xix. 12. and on his head were many crowns.

Now if the prefence of CHRIST, beheld by faith through a glafs darkly, filleth the mind with joy unspeakable and full of glory, what will the clear and open vifion of his effential, perfonal, and mediatorial glories be, which will fhine like a conftellation of glories, in the beauties of his face, in the joys of his prefence, and in all the irradiations of his love? When in heaven, being perfectly free from fin, darkness, and fear, we fhall then gaze upon the glories of our beloved with the ftrength of angels, yet fuch is the repleteness of his glories that they will be for ever new, eternaland tranfporting, Col. ii. 9. For in bim dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ;

heart, guilt, fear, and deep diftrefs of mind, that none but GOD and his own foul are acquainted with. This often brings the Chriftian exceedingly low, is like a mountain of forrows upon his foul; it clips the wings of his faith, vails the hopes of his mind, and damps his zeal; but death opens a channel of love to the heart of the Chriftian, it removes in a moment all these forrows, by exchanging trouble for joy, diftrefs for praife, defertion for fruition, darkness for light, temptation for victory, unbelief for love, carnality for fpirituality, earth for heaven, and prayer for praife, Ifa. xxxv. 10. And everlasting joy fhall be upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, forrow and fighing fhall flee away.

The love of GOD fhines at death to the Chriftian, in delivering him from all bodily infirmities and pains; we that are in this tabernacle, do groan, being burdened. As the body is a burden to the mind, fo the pains, anguish, and diftreffes that the body is fubject to, add fresh weight and burden to the mind, and are very great obftruction to its fpiritual warfare; for when the body is full of excruciating pains, from the ftone, cholic, or gout, what a trying exercife is this to the mind? how unfit does it render it to ferve God? O how weighty and manifold are the afflictions which the Christian is exercised with, not joyous but grievous: And befides these more weighty and extraordinary trials from the body, there are the common infirmities, as a conftant clog and burthen to the mind: all thefe, the Chriftian is delivered from by death, Rev. xxi. 4. And God fhall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there fhall be no more death, neither forrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are paffea away.

The love of GoD fhines at death, in delivering the Chrif tian from the evils of this world, and the temptations of fatan; and this is one end of CHRIST's death for them, Gal. i. 4. Who gave himself for our fins, that he might deliver us from this prefent evil world, full of evils without, and our hearts full within; and when thefe two meet together, theymake a dangerous place to the Chriftian, as an evil world is a bad place for an evil heart to relide in; therefore our dear LORD prays that his Father would keep them from the evil of it, John xvii. 15. and the Apoftle John faith, the whole world lieth in wickedness; which makes it a burthenfome refidence to the Chriftian; as the evil of its profanation, filthy conversation, deftructive pleasures and practices, grieves his righteous foul from day to day. Befides thefe evils, there are the temptations of the

wicked one, their implacable enemy, whofe temptations are fo frequently adapted to our tempers, which he knows by obfervation, that we are often furprizingly catched by them, led aftray from GoD, and into deep labyrinths of forrows, not easily aware of his temptations till we are caught in the fnare of the devil. Apolyon, the deftroyer, has fuch a multiplicity of devices to cool our zeal, to weaken our faith, to enfeeble our hope, to entangle our affections, to harden our hearts, that like a fish we are' not fenfible of the defign of the bait, till we are catched by the hook, for he well knows what fin our nature is most prone to. Is it beauty that charms us? then he will be continually fpreading it before us, in pleafing though delufive forms. Is it pride? he will then reprefent it in all honors and greatnefs. Is it covetoufnefs? he will then present a thousand needs for money, and the happiness of being rich. Are our affections fo vile, as too often they are, to break forth in unclean defires after carnal gratifications? Then he prefents fuitable objects and opportunities. Thus the Chriftian is continually harraffed by the ferpentine wiles of the wicked one. And these are but his weak and leffer temptations, for there are, besides these, what the scripture calls fiery darts, violent temptations, wicked and blafphemous fuggeftions, hard thoughts of Gon, murmuring at his difpenfations, difbelieving the word of God, immortality of the foul, and joys of hea ven; all which diftreffes the Chriftian to the laft degree. But, triumphant love fhines through the fhades of death, fets the tempted, haraffed Chriftian, free from all the evils of this world, and from all the subtle ftratagems of the wicked one, wherewith he often diftreffes the Chriftian, with fo much violence, as though he had never another to diftrefs in the world. But death puts a period to all his hopes; here the devil dies in defpair, while the Chriftian fings and triumphs in joys unknown; Rom. xvi. 20. The God of peace shall bruife Satan under your feet shortly.

The love of GOD fhines at death to the Chriftian, in delivering him from the continual torments of inbred fin, the tinder of the devil in his heart, the feed of hell in his nature: I mean, proneness and difpofition in his heart to that which is evil. This inmate of hell, made the great Apoftle groan, 0 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? for when I would do good evil is prefent with me; and the good that I would do, that I do not; and the evil that I would not do, that do I. This is the inward fpring of every trouble, the fountain from whence all the forrows that the Chriftiza

Friendly. Were you ever acquainted with any who went off in fuch raptures of foul?

Truth. Yes, with many, but efpecially, a young lady, who rejoiced with exceeding joy for many hours before the entered into the full poffeffion of the joy of her LORD. She was a perfon of extraordinary piety, a clofe walker with God, a perfon of uncommonly ftrong, ardent, and conftant defires after the enjoyment of the love of GoD, and fealings of his love, with which the was favoured about a year before she died, and walked therein with much serenity and joy. Her indifpofition confined her usefulness, but her holy refignation to the will of God, and her longing to depart to be with CHRIST, were useful leffons of divine refignation to thofe about her; and when the time of her delightful exit drew near, fhe asked a relation fitting by her, if the thought it was death? As her relation remained filent, fhe faid, do not be afraid to tell me; do not think I am afraid to die: Her relation faid, Coufin, I believe your diffolution to be near. Then, in rapture, she said, bleffed be God that it is death! bleffed be God I am fo nigh my heavenly home! At this time her father came into the room weeping, to whom she said, Father, what, weep! rather rejoice with me that you have a daughter now going to Heaven; I am now going to glory, going home to my dear LORD; O help me to praife, help me to adore and love him for ever her mother came into the room, to whom the faid, O dear mother, you are now come to take leave of your daughter, but I hope to meet you in the heights of glory, and in the feats of blifs, there to fing with our golden harps, tuned with immortal lays, to him that fitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb! Her mother wept to hear this moving language, but the faid, Mother, do not weep, but rejoice and praise with me that I am going home to my LORD, to dwell for ever with him! O, faid the, I am happy? O how happy I am! rejoice with me! Then the called for her fifters, and upon their coming into the room, fhe faid, O dear fifters help me to praife, come and rejoice with me, for my fins are pardoned, my foul is fafe, my Saviour loves me! I know he has loved, and given himfelf for me! I feel his love fhed abroad in my heart, and I am going, as I long to love him! O my dear fifters, help me to love and adore my dear LORD! my beloved is mine, and I am his! O love him with, and praife him for me! O how fweet is his prefence! death, where is thy fting? My foul can triumph, my foul can rejoice in the views of death! Adieu,

my dear fifters, till I meet you in the realms above! Come, LORD JESUS, come quickly! he is come, he is come, I fee him, I fee him! and thus the fell asleep in the arms of her beloved. What she saw was not asked her, but no doubt but fhe faw CHRIST by faith, or perhaps as Stephen did, As vii. 55. But he being full of the Holy Ghoft, looked up steadfastly into Heaven, and faw the glory of God, and Fejus ftanding on the right hand of God.

My dear Friendly, this one inftance may serve to prove those divine raptures which fome Saints enjoy at the hour of death, and, I doubt not, but many of the children of GOD have experienced joys of a fimilar nature with this dear Saint of GOD; when they have been upon the confines of eternity, their fouls have entered into the joy of their LORD, partook, in a great measure, of the blifs of the upper world, and have expreffed themselves with joy unfpeakable and full of glory.

Friendly. Do you think that Angels attend as guards and convoys to the Saints?

Truth. I believe that every elect foul has an elect Angel to attend him both in life and death; it is believed by moft Chrif tians, that Angels conftantly encamp about them that fear the LORD, are their under-guides, watchers in life, and their fafe-guards to glory at death, Heb. i. 14. Are they not all miniftering fpirits, fent forth to minifter for them who shall be heirs of falvation?

But to return, the love of GoD fhines at death, it delivers the faint from all outward forrow and trouble; Job faith, man is born unto trouble as the fparks fly upwards. And in short, what does the Chriftian find here but fucceffive waves of trouble, wants, loffes, croffes, fickneffes, poverty, and dif grace? Want of friends, peace, eafe and comfort; one trouble upon the neck of another, continually rolls on, and every new day brings its new forrows upon us, until the Chriftian fays with the Pfalmift, I am so troubled that I cannot speak; and the troubles of my heart are enlarged; O bring me out of my diftreffes. Now death is a difplay of divine love to the Chril tian, it delivers him from all thefe forrows and painful anxieties at once, Jab iii. 17. There the wicked ceafe from troubling, and there the weary be at reft.

The love of GoD fhines towards the Chriftian at death, in delivering him from all inward troubles and foul conflicts. O what fears and diftreffes (at times) has the Chriftian concerning the ftate of his foul, he finds fo much darkness, detection, backflidings, ftrong corruptions, abounding carnality in his