MEDITATION XLIV.
MEDITATION XLIV.
THE COMPANY OF THE WICKED.
Spithead, July 8, 1758.
When for our continual company we have the wicked, we cannot but continue our lamentation, and repeat our complaint, "Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech, and dwell in the tents of Kedar!" When I have considered the carnal men, who know nothing of the power of true religion; and the abandoned wretches, who have not even the appearance of morality; how should I esteem the company of saints here below, and the communion of the glorious multitudes above! When the day of my dissolution comes, how shall I be transported to find myself among an assembly of sanctified ones, where true religion, in its purity, is their eternal theme! Not an idle word among all the amazing multitude, nor one vain thought among the vast throng! Their society is holiness, and their conversation shall comfort forever.
No doubt but the wickedness of the present world will to the saints sweeten the sanctity of the world to come; and their own corruption, from which they cannot wholly rid themselves now, dignify that noble change, when corruptible shall put on incorruption, and mortality be swallowed up of life; so will their imperfect graces aggrandize their perfection in glory. What, then, shall be my happiness when my fellow saints shall be spotless flames of love, and I adore with them in the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of perfect and perpetual peace! when the moving of their tongues in the praises of my dearest Lord, shall assuage all my former grief, and charm my ravished ear! when every soul shall attempt the loudest song, and highest praise on our best Beloved! and when among the adoring throng, not one sinner, which are now so numerous, nay, not one hypocrite shall stand!
O how shall we speak to one another of Him who is altogether lovely, and being transformed into his likeness, how amiable and agreeable shall we be to one another! For, like lines in a circle pointing to the center, the nearer to which they come, the nearer to others they approach, until running into the center, they unite in one another!
Just so, dwelling in Christ, we shall be united to one another in love. Then I shall not only be free from my wicked company—but from everything in my soul that can disquiet or give pain. No pollution from without, no corruption within—but all is perfect sanctity. O triumphant state of perfect liberty! where my companions shall not, as now, drive me from God—but, as it were, draw me to the very throne: "Come, let us worship the Lord; I will go also." The forethought of that happy state shall comfort me until the days of my mourning be ended.
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