creation effect, without any intervention, his plans of benevolence, and allow none to co-operate with him in his efforts, none to assist in the accomplishment of his aims? No; it is certainly very strong proof of his attachment to the system of keeping his children employed, as a principle of his government, that he has consented to repose a trust in the hands of so unfaithful and cold-hearted a company as the church on earth. If he has work for such as we are to do, where shall we find servants of his, whom he will not confide in and employ?

4. We can approach still nearer to the point in regard to which we are inquiring. God's revelation has afforded us some glimpses of the spiritual world; and in that world, we see the Almighty acting in almost every case, through the agency of the holy and happy beings who inhabit it. Is there a rebellion among the hosts of heaven? The great Sovereign against whose authority it is raised, does not bring it to a close by a direct and overwhelming effort of his own power; he sends forth Michael and his angels to contend and to conquer. Is there an errand of mercy to be sent to a faithful servant upon the earth? Some messenger from heaven receives it in commission. Are God's children to be protected from some overwhelming calamity which is to come upon the earth, or are his enemies to be visited by some signal indication of his displeasure? He sends his angel to protect or to destroy. The Saviour of the world receives support and consolation in hours of darkness and despondency, by embassies from the world of spirits; it was by the same means that his followers were sustained in difficulty, directed when in doubt, and rescued when in danger; and when the great scenes of futurity were laid open to the view of the exile of Patmos, he saw those mighty movements in most cases carried onwards by the active agency of subordinate beings, who were guided and sustained in their efforts by the hand of the Supreme. It seems therefore evident that all the light which is afforded us, in our faint and limited view of the Almighty's operations, goes to show that he gives employment to his creatures in the execution of his plans; that he has brought them into existence, not merely to admire and to praise the exhibitions of the Creator's goodness and power, but to join heart and hand, in active exertion to promote the accomplishment of his purposes.

5. There is a strong argument in favor of the supposition, that the state of the redeemed in heaven, is a state of active employment, to be derived from the promised resurrection of the

body. A human being, as existing upon the earth, consists of two portions, the soul, and the body, which, however intimately united, are totally distinct in their nature, and in the ends which they accomplish. It is the soul which thinks, feels, and plans; it is the body which acts, -executes. Every faculty which the immaterial part possesses, and every particular of its structure, is most plainly designed to make it the subject of the various phenomena of thought and of emotion, and for these alone; while on the other hand, all the powers with which the material part is endued, are just as plainly designed to enable it to go forward in action in the execution of the designs which the spirit has conceived. It is the medium of intercourse between the mind within, and the various objects or persons without; and it is nothing more. There is not a fibre in the whole complicated system, whose design is not of this nature. The object of every part, is either to bring into our minds information of what there is without us, or to enable us to act upon what we thus perceive. Thus the eye and the ear, and all the senses, tell us who and what are around us, and the hand and the tongue, enable us to operate upon them. And every part of the system is either of the nature of one of these, or else its design is to minister to these, and to keep their powers in living play. Thus the whole design of the bodily system is to form a communication with surrounding objects, and thus to enable us to act upon them. With a living body, and without a rational mind, we might make effort, and produce effect, but we could not cherish thought nor feel emotion; and on the other hand, with a rational spirit, and without corporeal powers, the thought and the emotion might be possessed, but they must remain within our bosoms; they could never be followed by action, or lead to any result.

Now if our happiness in the eternal world was to consist alone in deep feelings of love and adoration for the glories of Jehovah's character; in emotions merely of wonder and praise, we might suppose that the thinking and the feeling spirit would be all which would survive the grave. But if it was designed that these emotions of love and gratitude should go forth in active effort in the service of the Being whose perfections called them forth, we might have expected that the body should be resuscitated too. And this is the fact. The resurrection of the body is one of the preludes to the entrance upon a world of glory; altered, indeed, purified from all its pollutions, divested of all its frailties, and clothed with powers and splendors, whose nature we can never know until we experience

them; but still it must be the same in its object. It must be still the medium of communication between what is within and what is without; still the instrument of action. And may we not suppose, that he who does nothing in vain, will preserve this instrument with a design that it shall be used?

6. In addition to these strong presumptions in favor of the supposition that the Saviour's true followers upon the earth, will be employed as fellow-workers with God in heaven, there is still more decisive testimony to this point, in the representations which the Scriptures make of the future state of those who shall be redeemed from sin. The metaphors which our Saviour adopts, and, the language which he uses, point most evidently, to stations of trust and responsibility, to which those will be elevated who have in this life been faithful to their Master. "I will make thee ruler over many things; "Have thou authority over cities;" "Ye shall sit on thrones, judg ing the twelve tribes of Israel;" are the expressions which he uses.

The book of Revelation also represents those whom Christ has redeemed, as reigning with him forever and ever, as being made kings and priests in their heavenly abode, and asserts plainly, that those who have been rescued by the Saviour's sufferings from sin and misery, shall unceasingly serve him, who has redeemed them in his temple forever. Much of this language is metaphorical; but it is plainly employed to designate stations of trust and responsibility, where vigorous exertion is to be made, and fidelity exemplified.

The way then, in which the inhabitants of the holy world will praise and glorify Jehovah, will be not merely by raising ascriptions to his name, but by embarking with all their energy and zeal in carrying forward his plans. Just as in this life God is praised and glorified most acceptably, not by the uninterrupted and idle devotion of the monastery or the hermitage, but by the incense of constant and active exertion in obedience to his commands, and in the accomplishment of his purposes.

The efforts and the services, however, to which God's people will be called in their future abode, will, in many respects, stand in striking contrast to the labors to which they devote themselves here; for, everything which constitutes the enjoyment of effort, will there be heightened and improved; and on the other hand, whatever upon earth makes exertion a burden will disappear. When a man designs the accomplishment of

some favorite object upon earth, he is in the first place met by the difficulty of forming a wise plan of operations. He is very partially acquainted with the circumstances which ought to have influence upon his proceedings; his judgment is weak and fallible, and he, knowing this, is perplexed with doubts and fears; and he may, after the greatest care in his selection, enter upon a course, which will be very far from conducting him to the object at which he aims. Thus it is, that many a one, whose efforts are made with an enterprise which nothing can discourage, with industry which is never weary, and perseverance which never fails, has after all nothing but disappointment and vexation for his reward, just because it was the wisdom of so ignorant and erring a being, by which his efforts were guided.

Again; in the employments in which earthly beings are engaged, besides the danger of injudiciously devising their measures, there is weakness and inefficiency in their execution. There are innumerable difficulties constantly arising, with which the human strength is hardly able to contend; and exertion soon passes from a pleasure to a weariness and a toil. The powers of the body or of the mind will faint in long protracted effort. Rest may for a moment restore their strength, but it restores it only to be again exhausted when the exertion is renewed; and thus, through the frailty of human powers, effort is very often weariness and pain, and the object of pursuit is relinquished, because the weariness and the pain will not be repaid by the acquisition.

Again; efforts upon earth, are often wasted in a cause which God has not destined to succeed. How many patriots and heroes have brought forward all their treasures of wisdom and valor into action for a country which they could not save? How many have embarked all their hopes and their interests in a sinking cause? How many have toiled for wealth, which has been accumulated only to be sunk in the waters or consumed by the flames? How many efforts are thus made fruitless by disasters beyond human control?

Now in all these particulars, and in every other in which exertion in this world is a source of pain, exertion in another world will be a source of pleasure. In the first place, with the expanded powers and knowledge which become the possession of glorified spirits above, and under the guidance and direction of an all-wise and omnipotent Leader, there will be no doubts and fears to infuse distraction into councils, or hesitation and faltering into effort. He who shall there embark in an enter

prise which God has pointed out, and in the way which God has pointed out, will go forward in it with confidence and certainty.

Again; as there will be no doubt or hesitation in design, so there will be no weakness or weariness in the execution. Susceptibility of fatigue is a frailty, which will not survive the resurrection. But the glorified spirit which is admitted to stand before the throne of God, will stand there endued with powers of unfailing vigor; with faculties which will neither be wearied with exercise, nor become torpid with rest.

Again; the employments in which God's servants shall be occupied, in a future world, will be efforts which success must invariably crown. They are to be engaged in executing the plans of that great Being who holds the universe in his hands, and to the accomplishment of whose design, every movement which takes place in its remotest corner, directs its tendency. In the service of such a Being no effort will be wasted on a fruitless plan.

God

Such are the prospects of immortality, which the Bible opens to the Christian's view, and let us all remember that one design, which is intended to be accomplished by our probation here is, that we may prepare ourselves by the discipline which we undergo, for admission to these scenes. has given us a work to do upon the earth, that by the fidelity, the patience, and the perseverance which we here may exemplify, these traits of character may be strengthened and prepared to be called into exercise in that wider sphere. Our journey through life is nothing but a series of opportunities of evincing and confirming our attachment to Jehovah by making efforts to promote his cause. He designs that these opportunities. should be improved; that all who profess to serve him should be active and energetic in his service; and those who are so, will find themselves growing in attachment to their Creator, and in fitness for heaven.

On the other hand, remissness in God's service here, will chill the affections of the heart, if there are any affections going forth at all to the Creator and the Saviour; and such remissness will constitute but a poor preparation for the duties of God's service above. Let us then evince the influence of our anticipations of an active immortality, by serving God with diligence and zeal, while he shall keep us here. Let no difficulties divert us from our course, no allurements entice, no disappointments. discourage. Let us not be weary with any effort, however protracted, nor sink under any burden, however heavily it may