there they hunger and thirst no more. Wonderful change! Here, O my Soul, thou art ever thirsting afterGod,as the dry Land thirfteth after Water; there thou fhalt be fatisfied with him to all Eternity; here thou longest after the hidden Manna, there it will never be taken from thee; here, like Solomon's Bride, by night on thy Bed thou seek'ft him, who is altogether lovely; there his Beauty and Prefence will ravish thee for ever. Here, though thy defires after the Bleffings of God's left hand, be subordinate to thy defires after fpiritual Mercies, and thy efteem of God preponderates, and is higher than thy esteem of any outward felicities; yet, while fo nearly allied to Senfe, thou canst not fo abandon Nature, as to have no longings at all after External comforts, and conveniencies; but in Heaven, all perishing fublunary objects are forgotten; there thofe Friends and Relations, thofe Children,thofe Honours, thofe Riches, which too often made too great an encroachment on thy Love, will be no attractives; there thou wilt be contented without Bread, fatisfied without Drink; the want of Cloaths will not trouble thee; thou wilt have nobler Friends than Father, and Mother, and Brethren andSifters to converse withal;nobler Food, than the Delicacies of this World; nobler attire, than Silk, or the fofteft Down can make; there will be no need of contriving how to get a livelihood: Palaces will not tempt thee, Gardens will not entice thee, Gold will not dazzle thee,the greatnefs of the World will affect thee no more than Pebbles; the glittering Diamond will make no impreffions on thee, and all thy wants

and

and neceffities will be fully fupplied by an immortality of Joy, and Glory. Here the warm Sun of profperity makes thee fometimes forget, and neglect the great work of thy Salvation, makes thee apt to grow weary of Fafting and Prayer, and Mortification, and Self-denial, and apt to yield unto Satan's Temptations; but there the Tempter muft tempt thee no more, he dares not fully thofe Chryftalline walks with his steps, he dares not come near that Holy place, it's paft his skill, how to incommode, or moleft, a glorified Spirit. Here often, like Jonas, thou fitteft rejoicing under thy Gourd and Vine, and while thou art folacing thy felf, the Gourd withers, and the Sun fcorches thy Body, and thou groweft faint; there this annoyance will have an end, there thou wilt live above the Sun, and that which is now thy Cieling, fhall be then thy Footstool. On Earth, when Chrift is pleased to communicate himself unto thee, it's here a little, and there a little, and he gives thee but fprinklings of his Grace; for while thou art in this Tabernacle of Flefh, thou art not capacious enough to receive or entertain that ftupendious Light in its full Virtue, and Power, and Majefty; but when thy Veffel of Clay, thy Body, fhall be fhattered in Duft and Atomes, and thou shalt be freed from thy Prison, and live like thy felf, all Understanding, all Intellect, all Spirit, the Sun that fhines in the highest Heavens, and irradiates the Throne of God, even the Lord Jefus Chrift, will then reveal himself to thee, in his full Splendor and Glory; thine Eyes will then be strong enough to look upon that

glorious

glorious and immenfe Globe of Light, and thou fhalt be like unto the Angels of God; thy extravagant paffions will then ceafe for ever; thy grief, thy forrows, will have no admittance into thofe Seats of Blifs, thou'lt be refined then from all those turbulent motions, which do now so often difcompofe thy reft. Here the Death of a near Relation troubles thee, there thou wilt be above all trouble and vexation; here thine anger, like that of Mofes, doth often wax hot, because thou feeft thy God difhonoured, and his Commands trampled upon; there thou wilt fee no fuch difmal fights; here a fin thou fall'ft into against thy will, makes thee wish for Rivers of Tears, there thy grief will be buried in eternal exultations, there thy paffions will be all calm, and, like water after a ftorm, look fmooth and quiet; there will be no diforder in thy affections, but like a Choir of tunable Voices, they'll meet in everlasting harmony; there no affliction must come after thee. Here, with Mofes, thy Body may be thrown into the Water, with Joseph caft into Prifon, with Shadrack, Mefbeck, and Abednego, flung into a fiery Furnace, with Daniel hurried into a Lion's Den, ftoned with the Prophets, crucified with St. Peter, thrown down from a Precipice with St. James, caft into a Kettle of boiling Oil with St. John, thrust through with a Launce as St. Thomas, bound to a Tree with St. Andrew, fley'd with St. Bartholomew, burnt with Polycarp,torn by wild Beasts with Ignatius, in all which afflictions thou canst not but sympathize with thy individual companion, for it's by thee that thy Body feels the torments it en

dures;

dures; but, in that Heaven, that glorious Heaven, no Enemy can reach thee; no Devil fright thee, no storm furprize thee, no Monarch frown on thee, no Sickness break thee, no Distemper crush thee, no Age wafte thee, no Danger shake thee, no Tyrant threaten thee, no Lyons meet thee, no Tyger tear thee, no Sword pierce thee," no publick Commotions startle thee; the Sun fhall not light on thee, nor any heat, for thou art secure under the fhadow of the Almighty's Wings for ever. The Lamb, which is in the midit of the Throne, fhall feed thee by his everlafting Society. Here it is, A little while, and you fhall not feeme; and again a little while, and you fhall fee me; but there, with open face, and without a Glafs, thou wilt look upon his Majefty for ever: Here Chrift comes and departs; there he will never remove out of thy fight; there his everlasting love will fupport thee, there his kindness will be fubject to Clouds and Eclipfes no more, there thou wilt not be able to turn thy Eyes away from him. This is that Lamb, that will give thee to drink of his everlasting Springs, Springs which can never be drawn dry; Springs, which can no more decay, than the Son of God decays; He is the everlasting Fountain of Delight, and in this Fountain thou fhalt bath and recreate thy felf for ever; his Attributes, his Kingdom, his Beauty, fhall charm and ravish thee for ever; there thou fhalt be in an everlasting ecftafie of joy, there thou wilt not need to cry out with St. Bernard, Hold, Lord, for my Heart is not able to contain thofe Foys which thou doft fo liberally pour out upon

me;

me; that everlasting Fountain of joy and content and fatisfaction, fhall both fill and enable thee to bear that fulness of joy and delight, which shall then appear unto thee; the remembrance of Chrift's Merits, and Benefits,and what Chrift had done for thee, will then transport thee into everlafting Praises and Celebrations of his Goodness, Songs as endless as thy duration will be. The Rivers that water that Garden of God fhall be a perpetuum mobile, running and flowing to all Eternity. In this Paradise are living, no standing Waters; when Millions of Ages are paft, thy Glory shall be still green and lively, and after many thousands of years, thy happiness, like Aaron's Rod, fhall bud and bloffom,and bear Fruit. O my Soul, when that inexhaustible Fountain fades, and not till then, need'ft thou be afraid that thy delights will fade; there God will put an end to all thy Tears; What Rhetorick can reach the favour? The Tears thou did'ft fhed for fin, the Tears which a deep fense of thy_Spiritual poverty did force from thee, the Tears which Tribulation and Anguifh did command from thine Eyes, thefe will all then be washed a

way.

How amiable are thy Tabernacles, Lord God of Hofts! My Soul longeth, yea even fainteth, for the Courts of the Lord: My heart and my flesh cryeth out for the Living God, When fball Icome to appear before thee? When fhall I fhake off this Clog of the Flesh, and praise thee day and night in thy Temple? When shall I be freed from this Earth and Drofs, and do thy Will, O my God, without Let or Interruption?