dice, error, temptation, or sin, | Herod cut off the preacher's whatever it may be. In one head. So it is now, men may, circle it will be of one kind, in with comparative ease, be bro't one of another. The soldier to hear any truths, and even to must be attacked on the ground be fond of hearing them; but of his insolence, the tax-gather- while the preacher rests in gener for his oppression, and the erals, the sinner is not reprovmultitude for their general sel- ed. Why have we so many fishness; and in this consists, mere hearers who seem to know indeed, one of the great difficul- every truth that is to be known, ties of preaching. and yet are nearly as ungoverned in their tempers and as lax in their lives as a great part of the unbelievers? One of the reasons I apprehend to be this, that congregations are too seldom instructed in the nature of their own particular faults. There are few John the Baptists to specify their sins; there are few who like Nathan apply the parable, and say, Thou art the man.' 66 This is The idle and superficial preacher, on the other hand, has learnt to shine on a particular topic. Some doctrine which he can handle well is always his chosen ground. Say what you will, he returns to this subject. He thinks of no heresy, but that which he has skill to combat. Other errors as pernicious gain ground without being noticed. Sometimes it even happens that these superficial teachers agree- Let me not, however, be ing in this respect with their thought to discourage a due proequally superficial hearers, as- portion of doctrinal preaching, cribe to timidity, or to want of or to undervalue evangelical light, the procedure which I am truths. By no means. recommending, and venture to the very way in which those judge and condemn the minister truths are found to take effect. who has a larger knowledge of Would you invite a man to behuman nature and of the gospel. lieve in Christ? first convince Would not such men have blam- him of sin. Would you coned the Baptist on the same vince him of sin? name then ground? Had the soldiers ask- some particular sin, and prove ed them, What shall we do? | that sin upon him. When broWould they not have affirmedken under a sense of it, he will some doctrinal point, in the be more disposed to confess his preaching of which they con- general iniquity, and to acknowceive all boldness to consist? ledge, like David, recollecting But was there not more cour- his act of murder and adultery, age in exhorting the soldiers to "Behold I was born in sin and be content with their wages and shapen in iniquity, and in sin to do violence to no man, than did my mother conceive me." in proclaiming to them the most This is also a mode which private repulsive general truth? When Christians may sometimes adJohn preached generally to Her- vantageously follow in their reliod, the king "heard him glad-gious conversation with individly" but when John descended uals. When a man is curious to particulars, and said it is not about doctrines, reply to his relawful to have thy brother's wife, ligious questions as John an swered those of the publicans and soldiers, by pointing to his own besetting sin. Do not indulge in doctrinal disputation. Enter not the thorny path of controversy. Beware of metaphysical niceties and of deep and abstruse questions. These, indeed, are topics on which he will be glad to enter, and perhaps your skill in such disquisitions may tempt you to accompany him into this field of debate. But remember that all doctrine is ill understood, while the conscience is unfeeling. Prove then his sin upon him, and though you proceed no further, you will send him away prepared for the reception of further truth. Some other person, as I admit, may enter into your labors; but that ought to be a consideration of little moment. There is, indeed, no want of men who are ready to administer the consolations of Christianity, or to become instructors of others in the more high and disputable points. S. P. mitted to return from that unknown country to satisfy our curiosity, and to answer the numerous questions we should be eager to make concerning its nature and enjoyments. The book of God, indeed, which informs us of every thing that is most necessary for man to know, has partly removed the vail; and though it has not told us enough to satisfy curiosity, it has done what is far more important: it has given us such a representation of the glory of the world to come as, without explaining its precise nature, may serve to elevate our expectations to the highest pitch, kindle our warmest desires, inspire us with fortitude to bear the evils of this transitory life, and dispose us to consider the attainment of heaven as the only object which may justly claim our anxious solicitude and most strenuous endeavors. But let us consider what those circumstances are which constitute the happiness of heaven. 1. It is the peculiar residence of the Almighty. There will be exhibited open displays of the divine glory. There also will be exhibited the most stupendous acts of divine power; there the mind will be continually astonished, delighted, and elevated by proofs of wisdom, not obscure, or sparing, or dubious, but clear and manifest; and there also will be poured forth in the richest variety and abundance the treasures of divine goodness, without any mixture of alloy or restraint of enjoyment. In the most striking and expressive way will the love of the Father and of Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, be manifested in all its fulness of good. There too the holiness and purity of the di- | is transitory, fading, uncertain. vine nature will shine forth in rays of lustre; not such, indeed, as will scorch the beholder, but rather illuminate him with their splendor, and transform him into the same divine image from glory to glory. All the good which God here exhibits is equally shared by the wicked and corrupt. His wisdom and power are displayed upon things comparatively of little worth. The leaf of a weed may discover wonderful art; the shell of a contemptible fish may display the richest coloring; the body, of the vilest of men may shew astonishing wisdom: yet all these things are only, as infinite wisdom. They are intended only for a moment. They will soon be burnt up as things of no worth. I do not pretend to explain, or even to conjecture, in what way the glorious proofs of the divine perfections will be exhibited to us above. It is sufficient for me to know that God will exhibit them; and I see enough of his unsearchable wisdom here below to make me give him full credit for a display glorious, infinitely glorious, above what the eye hath seen or the heart of man can conceive. The infant this moment born into the world may possibly as well conceive the nature of the world in which it finds itself, as man, with all his boasted sagacity, can con Thus God dwells in heaven by the boundless manifestation of every thing great and glorious and good. Upon this earth, indeed, we see on every side proofs of infinite wisdom, pow-it were, the rough sketches of er, and goodness. The endless variety of natural productions ornamented with all the vividness of color and elegance of form; the magnitude of the heavenly bodies, the skill of their arrangement, and swiftness of their motions; the wonderful structure of the human body, and the diversified powers of the human mind: all these and much more proclaim the presence and hand of a master, whose wisdom must be infinite and power uncontrolable. But yet these no otherwise give us an idea of the skill of the great Architect, than the broken columns, the disjointed arches, and the mouldering capitals, of some ruined edifice convey to us an adequate idea of the beauty and grandeur of the original build-ceive the nature of the world to ing. We live here in the ruins of a world, once, indeed, fair and good, but now forsaken by its great master, and suffered to fall into decay; and the traces we meet with of greatness and splendor are comparatively few and mean. Here every thing is marked by imperfection. Light is obscured by darkness, truth is debased by error, good is polluted with evil, pleasure is alloyed by pain, health is clouded by sickness, and every enjoyment come. Let us rest satisfied that it will be a perfect, as well as glorious, display, of every divine attribute: such a display as throughout eternity will excite our gratitude, our admiration, our love, our humility. 2. The inhabitants of heaven are related to God as his people. It was evidently his intention in separating them from the world, to exalt them, to purify them, to deliver them from every evil and imperfection, to make them partakers of a new and divine | we shall glory in it as our no nature, to assimilate them to blest privilege. himself, and to glorify and beatify them with himself in a bet-be ever forgotten while we speak ter and purer state. In heaven they will be his people: singled out, as it were, that they may receive the most abundant communication of his grace and mercy; and that the glory of his goodness, truth, love, and holiness, may be wonderfully displayed in the perfection of their felicity, the purity of their nature, and the completeness of their beatification. 3. But let not the Son of God or think of heaven. To him we owe every thing. He purchased us by his precious blood. He sought us when we had wandered far from our father's fold. To his loving kindness, patience, and bounty, we owe every hope in time and eternity. He is the bond of union between us and his father. He is the center of the relation which will exist between the redeemed and their God. Behold here the perfect accomplishment of his labors. For this he travailed and suffered death on the cross- -that he might thus restore man to God, and reconcile God to men; that a blessed, holy, and eternal relation might thenceforwards subsist between them; he in them and they in him, that they all might be one with God, even as Christ is one with the Father. But in order that this relation may subsist in perfection, it is absolutely necessary that a previous conformity in nature should take place between man and God. And such a change does take place. A restoration to the original state of purity in which he was created takes place thro' Christ, who is the resurrection and the life. No longer blinded by ignorance and enslaved by sin, men are enlightened to know the inestimable privileges to 4. The blessed above are dewhich they are called, and the in- livered from every evil-freed finite value of the relation in for ever from pain, from sorrow, which they stand to God. No from death. In heaven every guilt causes them to hide them-source of evil will for ever be cut selves from him like Adam.They love their God whose perfections they now understand; and they love all his precepts, the excellency of which they can now clearly discover. There the will is rectified; it coincides with the judgment. The affections are purified; they will be fixed only upon proper objects. No more will there be a struggle between inclination and duty, between conscience and in-ness. terest. The relation we shall bear to God will be the matter of our highest exultation; our most honorable distinction: and off. The justice of God will be satisfied, and his displeasure against us be for ever forgotten. Ourown minds will have become perfectly pure and holy, and therefore no corruptions can ever disturb our tranquillity. And all around us will be partakers of the same holy nature; so that they will be disposed only to contribute by every means in their power to our peace and happi Oh, glorious state! where envy shall never corrode the breast; where passion and resentment shall never ruffle the peace of our minds; where pride shall never instil a vain heaven with an earnestness in conceit of ourselves; where a some degree proportioned to its mean jealousy shall never be excellence. Do you meet with harbored in the soul; where ig- difficulties? Is self-denial requirnorance shall never lead us a- ed? Consider whether you will stray, or temptations seduce us not be richly repaid in the end. from the path of duty. Oh, Do you encounter the frowns or happy state in which a pure the ridicule of your associates ? benevolence shall expand every Think how extreme that folly bosom; in which fervent love must be which will give up such shall dictate the performance of a glorious and eternal inherievery duty; in which you will tance, on account of the laugh of never see any thing in your a sinful worm of the earth. No, neighbor to give you pain or heaven is worth all you can sufgrief. Here, alas! even good fer, though your life were requirmen are too often suspicious of ed as the purchase: heaven is each other, and discern such fail-worth all you can do to obtain it. ings and imperfections in them- And as for you, who have selves and others, as prevent the full exercise of Christian love. But there all shall love their neighbor truly as themselves; and love their God with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their strength. Oh, blessed state! in which no fear of danger or apprehension of change shall ever for a moment disturb our tranquillity and joy. Happy state in which a weak and corrupt body shall no longer be the clog of the soul; in which sickness shall no longer impede us in doing our duty; or death separate us from those we love. Happy state! where no enemies shall alarm, and no voice of threatening or violence shall ev-tain this; and blessed be God er be heard. See, Christian, what a glorious prize is set before you! You are contending not for an earthly kingdom, but for what is infinitely more valuable, for a crown of glory. Ponder upon the eternal happiness which the redeemed enjoy above, and then say is it not worth all your pains and endeavors to secure such an inheritance? Gird up, therefore, the Joins of your mind, and seek for truly repented of your sins, who have truly applied for pardon through Christ, and who manifest the sincerity of your faith by your works let me exhort you to make your calling and election sure. See that you are well grounded in faith and hope, and be not deceiving yourselves in this matter. Death may come very unexpectedly, and very soon; and it will be a dreadful thing then to be in doubt about your state. You can have no comfort from the consideration of the glory of heaven, till you have first a well founded hope of your having an interest in it.— It is worth a whole world to ob it may be obtained. The promises of God offer it, and the Redeemer we serve will give it to those who faitfully seek it. And let the contemplation of the world to come serve to wean your affections from every thing here below, and teach you to look upon death without fear.— What, indeed, is death to the real Christian but the beginning of a glorious and immortal life, the joyful day of his release from |