what does this mean? What does it include ?-And what

III. Are THE PRINCIPAL CONSTITUENTS OF THE "HEAVENLY STATE?

Here we will not trifle, or pry into things which we have not seen. We shall not therefore enlarge on many topics which have commonly been connected with the subject; and the reason is, either because they are not so explicitly revealed, or because they are not so important in themselves, as those articles which we are going to enumerate.

It has been asked, Are there degrees in glory? We are persuaded there are. All analogy countenances the conclusion. We see diversities and inequalities pervading all the works of God. We know there are gradations among angels; for we read of thrones and dominions, principalities and powers. And though all Christians are redeemed by the same blood, and justified by the same righteousness, we know that there are degrees in grace. We know the good ground brought forth in some places thirty, in some sixty, in some a hundred fold. And the Apostle tells us, "Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour." But here we approve of the old illustration-however unequal in size these vessels may be, when plunged into this ocean, they shall all be equally filled.

It has been asked, Shall we know each other in heaven? Suppose you should not; you may be assured of this, that nothing will be wanting to your happiness. But O, you say, how would the thought affect me now! There is the babe that was torn

from my bosom; how lovely then, but a cherub now! There is the friend, who was as mine own soul, with whom I took sweet counsel, and went to the house of God in company. There is the dear minister, whose preaching turned my feet into the path of peace, whose words were to me a well of life. There is the beloved mother, on whose knees I first laid my little hands to pray, and whose lips first taught my tongue to pronounce the name of Jesus! And are these removed from us forever? Shall we recognize them no more. Cease your anxieties. Can memory be annihilated? Did not Peter, James, and John know Moses and Elias? Does not the Saviour inform us that the friends, benefactors have made of the mammon of unrighteousness, shall receive them into everlasting habitations? Does not Paul tell the Thessalonians, that they are his hope, and joy, and crown at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Some would ask, Where is heaven? The universe is immense; but what particular part of it is assigned for the abode of the blessed, we cannot determine. It will probably be our present system renovated. May we not infer this from the words of the Apostle Peter-"Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat-Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness."

But is it a place? Our Lord has a body like our own; and this cannot be omnipresent; and wherever he is corporeally, there is heaven-"Where I am, there shall also my servants be." Enoch and Elias have bodies; all the saints will have bodies; and

these cannot be every where. We read of "the hope laid up for us in heaven." Of "entering into the holy place." "And I go," says Jesus to his disciples, "to prepare a place for you." But though it is really a place, we must chiefly consider it as a state. Even now, happiness does not essentially depend on what is without us. What was Eden to Adam and Eve, after sin had and sorrow, and fear? But Paul in prison was infinitely happier than Cæsar on the throne of the nations.

filled them with shame,

What then are we allowed to reckon upon as the grand component parts of this exalted state? You may reckon upon

Pre-eminent knowledge. This is a world of action rather than of science; and the wiser men are, the more readily will they confess, that their present knowledge is unspeakably less than their ignorance. In whatever direction they attempt to penetrate, they are checked and baffled. Laboriousness attends every acquirement; and doubts and uncertainties diminish the value of every possession. The difference between the knowledge of Newton and the most illiterate peasant, will be far exceeded by the difference between the knowledge of the Christian on earth and in heaven. "The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun sevenfold as the light of seven days, when the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound." Now they understand as children, then they will know as men. Now they see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now they know in part, then they will know even as they are known. How delightful the thought-(amidst my present perplexities and obscurities, and under a

sense of the penury of my talents, and in the want of means and opportunities of improvement,) that "Messiah cometh who is called Christ; and that when he is come, he will tell us all things!"-You may reckon upon

Perfect Purity. This announcement has little attraction for those of you who never saw the beauty of holiness, and never abhorred yourselves, repenting in dust and ashes. But O! to a Christian it is worth dying for, to leave behind him the body of this death; this law in the members warring against the law of his mind; this inability to do the things that he would; this presence of evil ever with him; this liableness, this proneness to sin, even in his holy things, tarnishing every duty, wounding his own peace, vexing and grieving the Spirit of his best Friend. To be freed from the enemy, and to have nothing in me that temptation can operate upon! To be incapable of ingratitude, and unbelief, and distractions in duty! To be innocent as the first Adam, and holy as the second!-What wonder the Christian exclaims, with Henry, "If this be heaven, O! that I was there."-You may reckon upon

and

We are

The most delightful associations. formed for society. Much of our present happiness results from attachment and intercourse. Who knows not the comforts of love?" Yea, and who also knows not its sorrows? We must weep when the objects of our affection weep. The arrows that pierce, wound friends also. We tolerate, we excuse their imperfections, but we feel them. And the thought of absence, separation, death-is dreariness, pain, and anguish. Hence, some have been ready to envy the unrelated, unconnected individual, whose anxie

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ties and griefs are all personal. But it is not good for man to be alone in any condition. It is better to follow the course of Providence; to cherish the intimacies of life; to improve and to sanctify them and under the disadvantages which now mingle with them, to look forward to a state, where the honey will be without the sting, and the rose without the thorn; and attachment and intercourse without the deductions arising from pain, and infirmities, and pity, and fear. In the Revelation, heaven is always presented as a social state. You have now few holy companions; the many are going another way. But, says John, "I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."-And you will have access to them all. You will there have the most endeared society; for it will include those to whom you were so tenderly related by nature, or pious friendship, and at parting with whom you sorrowed most of all, that you should see their face and hear their voice no more; and also those you left behind you with reluctance and anxiety in a world of sin and trouble. With these, your fellowship, after a brief separation, will be renewed, improved, and perfected for ever. for ever. The society will also be the most dignified, and without its present embarrassments. There are now personages so superior, that you seem reduced to nothing at the thought of them. You esteem and admire them;