Heaven is styled the Temple of God; (Rev. vii. 15) to denote the character of its inhabitants as being all virtuous, and their employments as being all sacred. In this Temple, it is said, they serve God religiously day and night; to denote, that, however they may be employed, their minds are in a perpetual state of devotion. Wherever they are, piety is their predominating character. Still, the Scriptures plainly appear to teach us, that their employments are not merely those, which are involved in the word worship.

The Redeemed are made Kings, as well as Priests, unto God; and will reign with him for ever and ever.

In the sentence of approbation, pronounced upon them immediately after death, it is declared, that they shall be Rulers over many things, as well as, that they shall enter into the joy of their Lord. They have overcome, and according to the promise of Christ, will sit with him in his Throne, even as he overcame, and is set down with his Father in his Throne. Whatever difference of opinion may exist concerning the exact meaning of these declarations, there will, I presume, be no doubt concerning their general import. That they indicate high dignity of character, station, and employment, will not, I think, admit of a dispute.

In the Universe, the immense Kingdom of JEHOVAH, order, in the perfect sense, extends from the Infinite Ruler through all the gradations of virtuous beings, down to the humblest of its inhabitants. In such an Empire, the services, necessary to this order, and the accomplishment of the purposes for which it is established, are of necessity endless in their multitude, and sufficiently comprehensive to furnish his own part to every virtuous being. For this part each individual was formed, and destined; and both his faculties, and attainments, were directed by the Divine prescience so, as to qualify him to act, in it, in a better manner than any other being. Thus no individual will be useless, forgotten, or unemployed. Every one will labour in his own place, and will perform the duties of that place, in the happiest manner.

The system fills immensity, and endures through eternity. The plans, persons, faculties, attributes, and employments, are fitted by supreme wisdom to the extent of the system. Ample room, therefore, is here furnished for the operations of every virtuous being; a boundless scope for every endowment, acquisition, and effort.

In this vast Kingdom, the Redeemed will fill the honourable stations, indicated by the passages quoted above, and by the character delineated in the preceding discourse; and will be designated to employments of superlative honour and glory. They are sons, and Kings, and Priests, to God the Father. They are Brethren of Christ, and joint-heirs with him to the Heavenly inheritance. Angels are their fellow-servants, and of their Brethren. They will, therefore be united with Angels in the magnificent employments which

I have attributed to them in the second discourse concerning these illustrious beings.

Of the happy agents, who are thus employed, it is to be observed, that many, who are now last, and humblest, in the mediatorial Kingdom, will then be exalted to stations of peculiar distinction: as those angels who kept not their first estate, will become the last, and lowest, of all Intelligent creatures. The meek and humble virtues will then rise to their own proper estimation; and, while they shine with their inherent lustre and beauty, will be seen, and acknowledged, as copies pre-eminently lovely, of the meek and lowly Redeemer.

In the exercise of these offices there will be no emulation, jealousy, nor hatred. The system will be planned by God himself; and acknowledged with reverence and delight as his perfect work. In it, wisdom will be displayed, and goodness operate, without limits. The single employment will be to do good, and glorify its

Author.

3. Another Employment of the Redeemed will be to befriend each other.

Heaven is the world of friendship; of friendship unmingled, ardent, and entire. The disinterested love of the Gospel dwells here in every bosom. Selfishness, since the ejection of the fallen Angels from these delightful regions, has been here unknown and unheard of, except in the melancholy tidings, which have reached the happy inhabitants, of its deplorable effects on our apostate world. Here, every individual in the strictest sense fulfils the second great command of the Moral Law; and literally loves his neighbour as himself. No private, separate interest, is even proposed. A common good is announced by the voice of God; so great, as to comprise all individual happiness; so arranged, as to furnish every one his proper portion, the part which he is to fulfil, and the means by which he is to act in it with absolute efficacy; and so noble, as to fix every eye, engross every heart, and summon every effort. It is a good, involving not only all that can be acquired, but all that can be wished, all that can exist. This great truth is, also, admitted with perfect confidence by every celestial mind. Every individual completely realizes the import, and the truth, of that glorious declaration of Christ, the foundation of all pure and lasting good, whether personal or social: It is more blessed to give than to receive. Under its influence, all the hearts and hands, all the mighty faculties and unwearied efforts, of the Heavenly inhabitants, are completely occupied in doing good. To what a mass must this good arise, where the work is carried on by saints and angels, in the great field of Heaven, throughout the endless ages of duration !

As there are here no separate interests, and no selfish affections; there can of course be no jealousy, hatred, nor contention. Every individual will feel, that his own place and portion are contrived

by the wisdom which cannot err, and the love which cannot injure; that they are necessary and desirable parts of a perfect system of good; that no other being could so well fill the station which he occupies; and that he could not so well fill any other station. In a word, he will see, that, had the whole arrangement of providence been left to his own choice, he should have chosen exactly what God has chosen for him. All his wishes therefore, all his views, will be satisfied.

Thus, wherever the mind roves through the immense regions of Heaven, it will find among all its innumerable millions, not an enemy, not a stranger, not an indifferent heart; not a reserved bosom. Disguise, here, and even concealment, will be unknown. The soul will have no interests to conceal, no thoughts to disguise. A window will be opened in every breast; and snow to every passing eye the rich and beautiful furniture within.

In this world of depravity, where the man who knew it better than any other, speaking with the voice of inspiration, could say, and say with obvious propriety, A faithful man who can find? A few friends, nay, even one, is regarded as an invaluable treasure. In that world, all will be friends; and the soul will, like the happy regions in which it dwells, contain ample room for the admission of all.

At the same time, this friendship will endure for ever. No degeneracy will awaken alarm and distrust; no alienation chill the heart; no treachery pierce the soul with anguish. No parent will mourn over an apostate child; and no child over a profligate parent. No brothers, nor sisters, will be wrung with agony by the defection, and corruption, of those, who, inexpressibly endeared to them in this world by the tender ties of nature, and the superior attachments of the Gospel, have here walked with them side by side in the path of life, and have at length become their happy companions in the world of Glory. Husbands and wives, also, here mutually and singularly beloved, will there be united, not indeed in their former earthly relation, but in a friendship far more delightful, and, wafted onward by the stream of ages without a sigh, without a fear, will become, in each other's eyes, more and more excellent, amiable, and endeared, for ever. That the Redeemed, who have been known to each other in the present world, will be mutually known in Heaven, I have shown in a former discourse. That this knowledge will prove the means of mutual happiness, cannot be doubted. At the same time it is to be remembered, that their characters, universally excellent, their stations, universally honourable, and their employments, universally useful, will be endlessly diversified; so as to present to every eye, worth, beauty, and glory, in forms always peculiar, and with loveliness always new.

Of the several ingredients which constitute this happiness of the Redeemed, and which have been mentioned in these discourses.

it is to be universally observed, that they will be continually progressive towards higher and higher perfection. Concerning Him, whose name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Father of the everlasting age, and the Prince of peace, it is declared, that of the increase of his Government, and of his peace, there shall be no end. The word government, here denotes the administration itself, and the displays which it involves of the greatness, wisdom, and goodness, of the Ruler. Peace often denotes in the Scriptures prosperity; and here intends the whole happiness of his subjects. Their residence, their bodies, their minds, their knowledge, their virtue, their stations, their employments, and their enjoyments, will form a system of glory, and of good, refining, brightening, and ascending for ever. Their possessions will be rapturous, their prospects will be ecstatic.

To the eye of man, the sun appears a pure light; a mass of unmingled glory. Were we to ascend with a continual flight towards this luminary, and could, like the eagle, gaze directly on its lustre; we should in our progress behold its greatness continually enlarge, and its splendour become every moment more intense. As we rose through the heavens, we should see a little orb changing, gradually, into a great world; and, as we advanced nearer and nearer, should behold it expanding every way, until all that was before us became an universe of excessive and immeasurable glory. Thus the Heavenly inhabitant will, at the commencement of his happy existence, see the Divine system filled with magnificence and splendour, and arrayed in glory and beauty; and, as he advances onward through the successive periods of duration, will behold all things more and more luminous, transporting, and sunlike, for ever.

SERMON CLXXII.

CONCLUSION.-GENERAL REMARKS.

PROVERBS VIII. 6.-Hear! for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.

ness.

IN a long series of discourses I have now gone through a System of Theology. I have considered the Existence, Character, Decrees, and Works, of God; the Creation, and Primitive state of Man; his Apostacy, and Condemnation; the state of Human Depravity, and the Impossibility of Justification by our own RighteousI have inquired at length into the Character of Christ; the Offices which he sustains as Mediator; the Justification which we obtain by his Righteousness, and the Faith, by means of which we are justified; the Character of the Holy Spirit; his Agency in our Regeneration, the Nature and Necessity of that work, its Antecedents, Attendants, Consequents, and Evidences; the Law of God, the principal Precepts into which it is distributed, and the principal Duties which they require; the Nature of our Inability to obey the Law, and the Manner of our Restoration to Obedience. I have also discussed the Means of Grace; and exhibited a view of the Church, its Officers, and Duties. Finally, I have examined the Nature of Death. and its Consequences; particularly the Resurrection, the Judgment, and the Retributions of the Righteous and the Wicked.

Thus have I brought my original design to a termination. As a natural and proper close of the whole, I propose to make some general remarks on this great subject in the following dis

course.

In the Text, Mankind are commanded to listen to the things, spoken by the Wisdom of God, because they are right and excellent things. So far as the present purpose is concerned, it is of no consequence whether we suppose these things to be spoken by the Wisdom of God, literally understood; or by CHRIST, elsewhere called the Wisdom of God, and generally, and in my view justly, considered as speaking throughout this chapter. The things, here referred to, are the things, contained in the Scriptures. All these were spoken by the Wisdom of God. All, also, were spoken by the Spirit of Christ, who inspired alike the Writers of the Old and the New Testament. Hence the Old Testament is called the Word; and the New, the Gospel, of Christ. (See Col. iii. 16; and 2 Cor. iv. 4.)