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ing that in which the bearing of the cross is inculcated," He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me ;*" and in another place, " He that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple." Now, my brethren, inquire if there be any beloved lust, which you are unwilling to give up, any gratification of the senses, which you are in the habit of enjoying, to part with which you feel reluctance. I am not supposing that you are grossly vicious and profane, as those reprobates, who have no fear of God before their eyes, nor yet that you are indifferent about religious duties, but I am presuming that you may profess the Christian religion, and entertain a certain respect for the worship of God, while yet you want that growing conformity to the image of Christ, which it becomes you to seek after. Inquire, then, if you love the world and the things thereof, what is the hook which connects you with them, and know, that what are in many cases lawful enjoyments, and even commendable duties, may assume the name and character of sinful attachments, if they draw your affections from God, whom you ought to love supremely, and concerning whom you should be able heartily to express yourself

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in the words of the Psalmist, "Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I desire beside thee."* If you are sincere Christians, I shall not find it difficult to bring you to this acknowledgment. "O Thou, who art the Searcher of all hearts, well dost thou know that mine has been too much taken up with the love of this present evil world." Yet, would I hope, you have been struggling for deliverance, and praying for victory. Looking back to times past, you can declare, "Several things, which I once highly prized, have lost their value with me; I have met with so many crosses and disappointments; I have been deprived of so many friends, and perhaps very dear relations, and I have met with such treachery and deceit from others, who I had little reason to suspect would have treated me so unkindly, that I cannot think of the world, and love it as I once did." This is well; it marks advancement. Your earthly affections are dying, but not yet dead. You will find, so long as life remains, that the conflict must be continued; but go on, fight manfully, and all enemies shall shortly be bruised under your feet.

3. As a further mark of growing in grace, you will be desirous to depart, and to be with Christ. As, by the Gospel, life and immortality

*Ps. Ixxiii. 25,

are brought to light, and as a glorious prospect of permanent happiness is set before the believer, he acquires, by degrees, that state of mind, which will fit him for the presence of God, and for that blessed society, with whom he soon hopes to lift up his voice in praise to his glorious Redeemer. Even before the separation which death makes of soul and body, he has his conversation in Heaven, and, as it is written in the twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews," He is come unto Mount Sion, and unto the City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of Angels, to the general Assembly of the Church of the first-born, which are written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant;" that is, he is so connected with all these, that though he sees them not, yet is he placed among them, and in some measure enjoys their presence; for a divine peace, which passeth all understanding, and which he knows not how to describe, pervades his soul, and he can say with the Spouse, in the Song of Solomon, " My beloved is mine, and I am his."* He thinks it painful, that he should be so long separated from the object of his desire, therefore he adopts the words of the holy Psalmist, and cries out "O that I had

* Song of Solomon, xi. 16.

wings like a dove, for then would I fly away, and be at rest." And again, "As the Hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God! My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God, when shall I come and appear before God?" Death, which to the wicked only presents a scene of terror, or of gloom, becomes to the advanced Christian, a subject of pleasant meditation. He perplexes not himself with the chilling thought of the coldness of the grave, of corruption, and of worms, but stretches his imagination beyond all these. Jesus, he remembers, is the Resurrection and the Life, and is become the firstfruits of them that sleep. Hence, he is assured, that he shall himself also rise from the dead in due time; then shall this corruptible put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality; and if an unbelieving thought should, for a moment, intrude itself, then does he immediately check it, and exclaim with afflicted, but blessed, Job. "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and though worms shall destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." Has this lively hope, my brethren, taken possession

of your souls? Does it raise your minds above the world, and make you long for that inheritance, which will be allotted to all the subjects + Ps. lxii. 1, 2.

* Ps. lv. 6.

of the Redeemer's Kingdom? Does it, consequently, give you victory over the fear of death, and make you ready and willing to depart, in whatsoever manner, and at whatsoever time, it shall please the Lord? Are your hearts so filled with Divine Love, that you can say, with Saint Paul, "Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that hath loved us; for I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor heighth, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."* You see from hence, to what a state of holy triumph a Christian may attain, and how, in the midst of such misfortunes and distress as would sink the most lofty spirits into despair, the servant of God can rejoice, yea and rejoice the more, the more he is oppressed; for "These light afflictions," he says, " are but for a moment, and shall work out for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."†

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