caught up into the air,-the world and the wicked on fire,-and, lastly, the ascension of Christ, and of the whole army of saints and angels, from the clouds, to make their glorious entrance into "the kingdom of God."

From all that is revealed concerning that eternal abode, we may affirm with confidence, that neither on the one hand is it merely spiritual and visionary, or what is called a state; nor, on the other, is it grossly material, and imperfectly constructed, like our present earth. The expressions country, kingdom, city, mansions, are neither wholly metaphorical, nor altogether literal; but indicate some tangible residence, inhabited by distinguishable individuals in a social condition. Of the whole universe, which is the temple of the Deity, this heaven may properly be termed the "Holy of Holies," or most holy place; where is the manifestation of the Divine presence, called the "throne of the majesty in the heavens ;" and where, at "the right hand of God," the Saviour, in His glorified body, now intercedes for men. This is the true "Canaan" promised to the father of the faithful; who, as his spiritual seed, are, in this highest sense, "made heirs of the world." It must, however, be a world of material objects suited to the glorified organs and senses of the resurrectionbody; otherwise the resurrection could not be magnified as "the manifestation of the sons of God," their glorious "liberty," and their "adoption."

It is in this blessed state the soul attains to that perfect glorification of which in paradise, we suppose, it was not yet susceptible. This will consist in the elevation of its powers, considered in themselves; and in its union with the body.

The soul is greatly strengthened and enlarged in the intermediate state. But this improvement, we may judge, will be vastly exceeded in the eternal kingdom. There knowledge and the understanding, incapable of error, will act and re-act upon each other, with an energy unparalleled; mutually producing an extension of both, and unceasing in this increase. The holiest and the strongest charities of the saint will centre themselves in God, but will also reflect their fires upon the whole brotherhood of the redeemed. The will in all

its choices and determinations must be perfect and successful; and, what may seem to be impossible, it will be free and yet infallible. In the highest degree this is the character of God himself; who is most free to choose always that which is best; and who, for this very reason, is incapable of sinning. This freedom is a grand perfection, and the image of it He bestows as a gift upon His children in their state of full and indefectible resemblance of their Father. But holiness will be their noblest assimilation to God, and their highest fitness for beholding Him. The power and delight of vision are founded in conformity between the faculty and its object; and, in heaven, the latter will eternally purify and strengthen the former.

The risen body will be the perfect instrument of the soul; nay, more, it will be an essential part of the celestial man, complete now in his consciousness, as well as in his fitness for the noblest employ

ment. This is the least that can be said if a body be required at all. The intermediate state was in one sense unnatural; and, so far as defect extended, the consequence of sin: for, had there been no sin, there would have been no death. But now in heaven the powers of the mind begin also to experience a sort of resurrection. The saint may be supposed to feel surprise and pleasure at this new birth of the soul; as he who was blind but has his sight restored, or whose vision, suddenly assisted by the telescope, beholds new wonders in the starry heavens. In the same proportion he finds the actual measurement of his being (so to speak) enlarged, and feels a joy unknown before. Similar, but happier, will be the change in the glorified saint. His powers of thought and of sensation, of the enjoyment of the whole scenery around, of worship, but especially of engaging in the lofty exercise of praise, must be astonishingly increased and perfected by this union of the soul with the body. But the former in its nature is far nobler and more capacious than the latter; and even in heaven it may, at pleasure, as we experience in this life, employ its powers abstractedly, and possess some higher satisfactions than any that could arise in consequence of its connexion with the body.

On

Heaven must also be the utmost perfection of the social state. this subject our conceptions are assisted by the assumption of the body, as being the medium of communication with which we are best acquainted; for we cannot, though we admit the fact, so easily imagine how disembodied spirits should have any correspondence with each other, whether by sight, or sound, or through any other medium. Language with us is in no small degree founded on necessity. In other respects it is in itself a source of much pleasure, and an admirable mode of fostering and interchanging virtuous and pious affections. In these respects, and in these alone, we may conjecture, it will be employed by the citizens of heaven. The perfect knowledge they must have of minds,-what we should call " the discernment of spirits;" their adequate comprehension and feeling of the subjects of their contemplation; their accurate perception of all possible signs of such subjects, or methods of imparting and receiving the knowledge of them; their absolute command of all the bodily organs fitted for this conveyance; and, above all, the power of God which works in eternity by a constant succession of what we now call "miracles;" must enable them to fall at once into a language, universal or various, just as may be proper, but not from necessity, either to augment their own felicity, or to advance the Divine glory. But language, such as we now speak, if used at all, may not be their only language. It is not indeed the only medium, or in all respects the best, that we ourselves possess. Painting, music, the countenance, action, and the mathematical sciences, are all so many dialects, each of which has its peculiar excellence in giving light and power to the subjects they express. Heaven may be justly thought to furnish an infinity of superior means. But, in that world of perfection, knowledge may neither be acquired nor conveyed by trains of reason

ing and discourse. These objects will probably be gained by more summary plans; by most rapid accumulations of intuitive perceptions; all expressed in the praises of God, and in their mutual interchange of friendship, by methods too wonderful-too lofty-for our present comprehension.

But whatever be the modes of their fellowship, we are sure that heaven must be essentially a social state; one vast fraternity of souls, all actuated by one spirit of sublime affection,-sweet, and strong, and generous, infinitely beyond what we can now anticipate. What must that friendship be which binds countless myriads of holy and illustrious intelligences in one perfect band of brotherhood, and pours the whole extent of its collective knowledge, and love, and power, into a common stock, which each may call his own; and which, not in fiction, but in absolute reality, he appropriates and enjoys,-enjoys it the more because the rest do not on this account enjoy the less, but from this very circumstance augment the tide of their enjoyments; as if the blessedness, and even the being, of all were summed up in every single soul! Here individual existence seems lost in that of the public, as a drop in the ocean;—as a star in the infinity of stars which constitute the unbroken light of the galaxy. All are one, and one is all. O happy day! when, in the company of all the Prophets and Apostles and celebrated saints of ancient times, we shall retrace the history, and sound the depths, and see the grand results, and sing the still increasing glories, of REDEMPTION; the great "multitude which no man could number, crying with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."

It has frequently been questioned, whether saints who have enjoyed friendship together in this world will recognise each other in that heavenly association; the whole frame of society being so widely different from everything we now experience. The principal argument against this supposition is, that our friendships here are comparatively trivial, and will there most probably be forgotten in the far nobler bond of universal benevolence. But universals consist of particulars; and he, for example, who is possessed of genuine philanthropy, cannot be incapable of the narrower affections of domestic and of social life. This, no doubt, is the invariable tendency of the larger affection, whatever be the apparent exceptions arising from the inconsistency of men at present. Impressions arising from the view of immensity do not naturally dispose the mind to contemn the examination of the minute objects which immensity includes; except those objects are really undeserving of regard. He who loves to look at nature on her grandest scale, is no less pleased to stoop from his height, and to admire the nearer and almost imperceptible parts, each of which contributes to the extent of the scale.

It is difficult to conceive how the final judgment should be managed without a distinct recollection, on our part, of all the persons with whom we have associated, and all the transactions in which we have been engaged: and this seems to include a recognition

of our relatives and friends. The objection seems also inconsistent with that perfect knowledge of all men, and of all things, which we presume will be possessed by the citizens of heaven; whose boundless intercourse, we think, must furnish, to complete this knowledge, the delighted recollection of our friendships here below. St. Augustine says," In heaven, all shall be known by each; and each be known by all."

Besides, the extinction of our virtuous friendships would appear not only to do violence to the social principle so essential to our nature; but we may justly suppose it would also wipe from our remembrance innumerable causes of special thankfulness and praise to God, and of gratitude to others, connected with our spiritual advancement on earth. We need not check our fondness for the supposition because we can hardly surmise by what signs, or other means, the celestial inhabitants shall attain to this reciprocal knowledge; whether from inspiration, or immediate revelation, or mutual communication. The fact itself must interest us most; and we may confidently leave both it, and the means of its accomplishment, to Him who will do "all things well." Luther infers it from the circumstance that Adam knew Eve the moment he beheld her. Lazarus knew Abraham; and the Apostles seem to have come to the knowledge of Moses and Elias on the mount of transfiguration by the same power of intuitive apprehension.

Among the several texts which seem to bear upon this question, the strongest is perhaps that of St. Paul, where he says, "What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, at His coming? For ye are our glory and joy." How could this be affirmed, unless he believed that he should know his converts? In this sense both Macknight and Paley most decidedly interpret the words of the Apostle.

We must, however, keep in mind, that in that blessed world we shall know and love one another, not so much because of the friendship and relation which formerly subsisted amongst us, as on account of the knowledge and holiness which we possessed. All friendship inconsistent with benevolence and piety must perish with the present life.

But infinitely far above the joy even of this amazing friendship, must be that of seeing God "face to face." This is now the privilege of angels, and will then in the same angelic sense be that of saints. It is called by divines the beatific or blissful vision. To see God is the simplest language that can be conceived. It is expressive, notwithstanding, of a subject that exceeds our utmost stretch of thought. It is not difficult to imagine how we may see our Saviour in His glorified humanity; but the nature of the vision by which we shall see GOD, who is a SPIRIT, and who fills all space with His own eternal essence, may well be supposed to surpass our comprehension. Our present experience may perhaps furnish us with some slight analogies; but the exact kind of vision, and, above all, the great extent to which it may go, "what angel tongue can tell?" If it imply that

we shall see God by the eye of the mind, there must be some high and supernatural sense of mental sight intended: otherwise why should the privilege be represented as peculiar to heaven? For in the obvious sense of intellectual vision, or of seeing God by faith, we have now that privilege on earth.

We are sure, however, that it must comprise the most enlarged and just, the most accurate and unclouded, discoveries of God and His perfections; producing, of course, such a perfect conviction of His greatness, goodness, holiness, and nearness to the soul, as could not be fixed upon the understanding in this world, where outward objects far more sensibly affect us than the presence of God; who is not, we are always naturally inclined to think, immediately investing us, and in us, but above all nature, and, as it were, beholding us from some vast distance. And corresponding impressions must be made upon the soul for instance, new strength to our vision, and increased love to God, which will give both sensibility and capacity to receive a still deeper sense of His majesty and grace; a sense communicated by Himself, in such revelations of His love to us, and in such touches of His power, as will amount to a more absolute manifestation of His presence than belongs to the vision of our faith on earth.

And more than this, the mind shall see God in all things; or, to speak perhaps more justly, shall see all things in God. For He is the universal Agent. "In Him we live, and move, and have our being." All creatures are but as small dependent particles of existence; swimming, if we may use the expression, in the illimitable sea of His essential life. But do men seem to know this? Just the contrary. Earth and sky to them seem all things, and God is scarcely adverted to; and when at any time they turn their attention to Him, it is only with a transient glance, as if we thought His existence but secondary, shadowy, and even doubtful. Some ideal being, called nature, is their idol; and this idol is only worshipped when the sensual mind lifts itself, with some effort, above its grosser pursuits. This nature is the sovereign of their little world of what just strikes their senses. But they think not of a power behind the throne greater than the throne itself.

It will be otherwise in heaven, where nothing in the whole scale of creation can be seen but as issuing from God, sustained by God, reflecting God, and full of God. Creation then will have nothing to entertain us apart from God himself. God—the manifest God-will be ALL in all. We shall no doubt be charmed to behold the pictures of His perfections: but we shall see them in the presence of the inimitable Originals, and with ineffable awe and wonder contemplate the resemblance; and then with rapturous worship give the praise, not to the shadow, but to the living, the infinite Substance, the Supreme.

Some evidence of this inseparable union between God and His works may be found in our present state: first, when we bring the mind directly to the question; and in the light of revelation, and of reason, make it the subject of devout reflection;-and, secondly, when under certain circumstances, and without thought on our part, it