perfection hereafter. And when the blessed Jesus is our friend, we need not doubt that He will raise us to all that felicity and honour of which our nature is capable. When He has become our Advocate; when he has undertaken to plead our cause, we may firmly trust that he will accomplish our salvation; that he will at last completely deliver us from this body of sin and death, and bless us with the everlasting possession of all the glorious privileges and enjoyments of the sons of God.

I SHALL NOW conclude with a few reflections, naturally suggested by this sublime and delightful subject.

THE prospect of the celestial state, for which we are destined, should, doubtless, fill us with the most ardent gratitude to God, and to Jesus Christ: to God, who originally prepared the mansions of glory for us, and to Jesus Christ, who has procured access to them, even after it had been justly forfeited by our sins. If we feel grateful to our fellow-creatures for their unexpected and unmerited beneficence, how should our hearts glow with gratitude to

God who hath loved us ever since we had a being; who created us only to make us happy, and to bless us with a glorious immortality! And what should be our feelings to Jesus Christ, who, when by our rebellion we had exposed ourselves to ruin,. suffered and died, to absolve us from our guilt, and to raise us to a greater than even our original happiness,-to a happiness unspeakable, inconceivable, eternal.— Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to • receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. My soul! magnify the Lord, and rejoice in God thy Saviour.'

FROM the gladsome prospect of eternal happiness, we should also learn to derive support and comfort amidst all the vicissitudes and trials of the present life. Here, the righteous are often left to struggle with adversity, while the wicked bask in the sunshine of prosperity, and flourish like the green bay tree. The pious and the pure pine in want, while the vicious and the profligate riot in excess. While sober virtue is doomed to be the victim of oppression and the prey of sorrow, lawless

vice often lifts her proud head, and reigns triumphant. But we ought not therefore to imagine that the poor despised, afflicted Christian, is disregarded by God, or that his labour of love is forgotten. Can a woman forget her sucking child?—Can she cease to have compassion on the son ⚫ of her womb?'-Yes, she may: but God will never forget, never forsake his children. And, if at present, the righteous receive not their adequate reward, it is because the season of full recompence is not yet come. But come it certainly will, and then shall be restored perfect order among the works of God: righteousness shall be exalted, liberty shall be given to the captive, joy to the mourner, and a just retribution to all. • The righteous shall then shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.' How well may such a prospect reconcile the soul to poverty, and reproach, and suffering, and death? I reckon,' saith an Apostle, that the sufferings of the present time,' (of this passing moment), ' are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed.'-Let us think of this, and never be weary nor faint in our mind. Let not our hearts be troubled,

neither let us be afraid. If we be faithful unto death, Christ will give us a crown of life. Soon will death come: soon shall Christ our Saviour return, and free us from every burden, dry up all our tears, and receive us into his kingdom.-O may we think of this: may we live in the hope of this, and be not only patient, but joyful

in tribulation!

LASTLY, let us all act such a part, and cultivate such a temper as will fit us for the society of blessed spirits, and for sharing their heavenly inheritance. We should pray, if we wish for such an inheritance, to be accepted through Christ: to be purified from the pollutions of the world, and adorned with every Christian grace. We should pray, without ceasing, that the Lord would wash us from all our iniquities, and cleanse us from all our sins, and make us partakers of his holiness. For unless we be holy here, how can we be happy hereafter? Unless we be adorned with grace, how can we expect to shine in glory? It has passed into an irreversible decree, (and the decree is founded in the nature of things), that the unrighteous shall not enter into

the presence of God. All those who wilfully and habitually transgress the laws of religion and morality, must be excluded from the blessed mansions of immortality.

Verily, verily, I say unto you,' (are the words of Jesus), 'except a man be born again, ' he cannot see the kingdom of God.'* -Since then such is the inseparable connection between holiness here and happiness hereafter; since the practice of goodness on earth is so absolutely requisite for the enjoyment of heaven, we should be sedulous indeed in preparing for that glorious place. Shall we there be divested of our animal nature, and enjoy those pleasures only which are pure and spiritual? Let us then now learn to rise above the objects of time and sense, and give all diligence to cultivate. our rational and immortal souls. Is heaven an inheritance undefiled, and which admits of nothing sinful and impure?—Then let us be anxious to correct every evil habit: to subdue every corruption, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. Is it a state where love for ever reigns: where charity never faileth? Let us now learn

* John iii, 3.

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