24.
They again object, Are those, then, to be deprived of every pious
wish, who, during the whole course of their lives, breathed nothing but piety
and mercy? I have no wish curiously to pry into what they do or meditate; but
the probability is, that instead of being subject to the impulse of various and
particular desires, they, with one fixed and immoveable will, long for the
kingdom of God, which consists not less in the destruction of the ungodly than
in the salvation of believers. If this be so, there cannot be a doubt that their
charity is confined to the communion of Christ's body, and extends no farther
than is compatible with the nature of that communion. But though I grant that in
this way they pray for us, they do not, however, lose their quiescence so as to
be distracted with earthly cares: far less are they, therefore, to be invoked by
us. Nor does it follow that such invocation is to be used because, while men are
alive upon the earth, they can mutually commend themselves to each other's
prayers. It serves to keep alive a feeling of charity when they, as it were,
share each other's wants, and bear each other's burdens. This they do by the
command of the Lord, and not without a promise, the two things of primary
importance in prayer. But all such reasons are inapplicable to the dead, with
whom the Lord, in withdrawing them from our society, has left us no means of
intercourse (Eccles. 9:5, 6), and to whom, so far as we can conjecture, he has
left no means of intercourse with us. But if any one allege that they certainly
must retain the same charity for us, as they are united with us in one faith,
who has revealed to us that they have ears capable of listening to the sounds of
our voice, or eyes clear enough to discern our necessities? Our opponents,
indeed, talk in the shade of their schools of some kind of light which beams
upon departed saints from the divine countenance, and in which, as in a mirror,
they, from their lofty abode, behold the affairs of men; but to affirm this with
the confidence which these men presume to use, is just to desire, by means of
the extravagant dreams of our own brain, and without any authority, to pry and
penetrate into the hidden judgments of God, and trample upon Scripture, which so
often declares that the wisdom of our flesh is at enmity with the wisdom of God,
utterly condemns the vanity of our mind, and humbling our reason, bids us look
only to the will of God.
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