and whatever we may have done, or whatever we may have attained, without that, we have done nothing, and attained nothing. Suppose us to have laboured successfully, and ac- quired crowns and kingdoms, what would they he in compari- son of pardon, and peace, and holiness? Ask Solomon, who possessed a greater measure of earthly joys than any other man, what he thought of them ? He pronounced them all to be " vanity and vexation of spirit :" so far were they from rendering him truly " blessed." The man possessed of earthly things knows not how soon he may have to relinquish them, and to curse the day that he ever attained them : but the man whom David pronounces " blessed," is prepared for every thing. He is prepared either for life, or death. If God seefit that he should live, he is prepared to fill up any station either of action or of suffering. In action, he will do every thing for God's honour ; and in suffering, he will receive it all as from God, and improve it all for the advancement of his soul's eternal welfare. On the other hand, if God see fit to call him hence, he is ready to depart, at whatever hour his Lord shall call him. In fact, though willing to continue on earth his appointed time, " he is longing to be dissolved, that he may be with Christ." He numbers death amongst his richest treasures ; and, in whatever shape it may come, he welcomes it, as Jacob did the waggons that were to bear him to the presence of his exalted and beloved Joseph.
I ask then now again, is not this man justly called "blessed?"]
3. In him is the felicity of heaven already begun —
[Wherein does the blessedness of heaven consist ? Is it not in near access to God, in an assured consciousness of his love, and in an incessant ascription of praise to him ? All this is begun in the believing and renewed soul. " God has shined into the heart of him whom he has pardoned and sanctified, and has revealed to him all the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ"." He even dwells in the bosom of the believer, and sheds abroad his love there, and enables him to " rejoice in the Saviour with a joy that is unspeakable and glorified," that is, of the very same nature with that which the glorified saints and angels possess in heaven. True, he enjoys these things but in part : but still the little he does enjoy, is both an earnest and a foretaste of what he shall one day be filled with to the utmost extent of his capacity for ever and ever.
It is needless that I pronounce him " blessed :" for I am well assured that there is not a soul here present that has not already anticipated me in this, and said, " O that I were that happy man!"]
» 2 Cor. iv. G.