thou Lord wilt shew us the path of life,— shew us Jesus the Saviour of men unveiled, -and through Him, all the effulgence of Divinity. Placed in the light of his countenance, seeing Him as He is, all the holy city shall ring with jubilee,' and a tide of the purest, most exalted pleasure flow in upon every faculty-all the beauties of heaven charm the eye, and all the glories of the new Jerusalem gleam upon the mind. The shades of night with which we are now encompassed, shall then split asunder, and sin and sorrow for ever fly away. God himself shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. He shall conduct us in flowery paths, and to living fountains of waters. He shall lead us under those verdant shades where the sun shall not light on us, nor any heat; but where, without interruption, our souls shall overflow with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

AND while our joy shall be thus pure and perfect in the kingdom of our Father, it shall also be eternal. Unlike the joys of this world, which are uncertain and transient,it shall never, never, have an end. And as this joy shall never have an end, so it

shall never be at its height: while eternally enduring, it shall be eternally increasing. Yes, through all eternity, God shall behold all his children shining forth like the sun, more and more beautifying in his eye; and receiving brighter and brighter accessions to their glory.-Most elevating hope!-Astonishing, transporting prospect! Let us fix our faith delighted on the view, stretch the pinions of the mind, rise above this lower orb, and inhale the spirit of our heavenly region. O thus to set our affections upon things above; even now to have within us an emanation of the Deity, and at last to be satisfied with his likeness, changed into the same image from glory to glory! Thou Holy Spirit! come down into our hearts! Lord Jesus take possession of our spirits!-Deny us what thou wilt,-deny us riches,-deny us health,-nay, all the comforts of the world ;-but deny us not this high felicity, -the full joys of heaven,-the inexpressible pleasures of eternity. Jesus! it is thy name we plead. Shew us thy mercy. Ọ lead us to thy glory!

THE

GLORY OF THE RIGHTEOUS IN

HEAVEN.

MATTHEW xiii, 43.

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

THE idea of another and a better world seems to be congenial to the human mind. It has been generally entertained in every. age. The philosophers of ancient times, who had nothing but the dim light of nature to direct them, cherished the ennobling notion of immortal existence. Even the untutored savage, flatters himself with the pleasing prospect of being one day transported into happier regions, and an

ticipates the pleasure which he will there enjoy in the company of his fathers. All feel within themselves the pleasing hope, the fond desire, of immortality. But though Nature has given to all her children some conceptions of immortality; still it must be acknowledged that her information is far from proving satisfactory. Hence we find the most eminent sages of the heathen world, even while desiring and hoping for such a state, confessing themselves unable to demonstrate its existence.-Doubtful and insecure were all their prospects. While towards futurity they bent their longing eyes, a thick cloud, impenetrable by unassisted reason, intercepted their view. But from this state of painful anxiety we, in these latter days, are happily relieved. To us immortal life is clearly revealed, more clearly than it was even to those ancient worthies to whom God graciously revealed himself and committed his oracles. During the dispensation under which they lived, the prospect of a better world was afforded them; but by dark and distant allusions. The city of God was seen only from afar ;—its glory was obscured by intervening shades. But by the gospel these shades are dispelled;

:

the sun of righteousness has arisen: eternal objects brighten: heaven, with all its glory, opens to our eyes.-There we behold the righteous,'-those who are justified by grace, and devoted to the service of their Saviour, adorned with all the holiness, filled with all the happiness, and clothed with all the honour, which can be conferred upon their nature.-Here they are as a city set upon a hill: they are the light of the world; but all this is not worthy to be named, when we think of what they shall be when they shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.'-There sin and pain shall never enter: old things shall have passed away, and all things have become new. The happiness there enjoyed shall have every thing to increase, and nothing to diminish its value. In its nature it shall be full and satisfactory, and as to its duration, it shall be lasting as eternity.

It shall be complete and satisfactory: it shall be the happiness of the whole man, the maturity of all our powers, and the gratification of all our best and noblest feelings. Recovered from this state of