20 — Christ Himself the Glory of Heaven

Chapter 20 CHRIST HIMSELF THE GLORY OF HEAVEN

It is a beautiful remark of John in the Apocalypse, when speaking of the New Jerusalem, that " the City had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it." He had been describing it as no uninspired pen could have described. Death and hell had been cast into the lake of fire. The wicked of every land, and class, and name, from " the fearful and unbelieving" to " whore mongers and liars," had been doomed to their own place. Fear, sorrow, and pain were among " the former things that are passed away;" and the inspired narrator was borne away in his vision to " a great and high mountain," there to take a view, and furnish a sketch of the " Holy City, coming down from God out of heaven."

There are some strong peculiarities in this description. The great Architect had decked that bright world with unfading splendor; and this apostle was directed to avail himself of an accumulation of imagery, fitted to make the most vivid impressions of all that is beautiful and magnificent, and at the same time to convey some definite instruction. The City was " foursquare," symmetrical in its form, accessible from all sides, and on its foundations were inscribed "the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb." So vast was it, that it could not be measured by any human standard, but only " according to the measure of the Angel." It was adorned with the most expressive symbols of unwasting wealth and perpetual joy. There was "no Temple therein," because it was all temple; the same worship pervaded the whole, and incorporated itself with every service and place. There was no sun and no moon in it; there were brighter lights and more dazzling; and this was the zenith of its glory. The " GLORY OF GOD DID ENLIGHTEN IT, AND THE LAMB IS THE LIGHT THEREOF."

We are sensible that the theme is above our reach. " We know but in part." The indwelling Shekinah is behind the veil, and it is only the outer court of this celestial temple we are permitted to occupy.

There are four thoughts by which we would present some illustration of the truth, that CHRIST HIMSELF IS THE GLORY OF HEAVEN. The first is, that he is there the rightful and acknowledged Head of his redeemed people. It is not only one of his glories that he is the everlasting King of his church, but it is the glory of that holy and happy kingdom over which he reigns. There is a kingdom which he administers as the Mediator, which he will not administer in the heavenly world; one which is more extensive than his redeemed church, and which will continue only until the close of the final judgment. The objects of his Mediation will then have been so far secured, that all his enemies will have been "put under his feet," and all his followers gathered into heavenly mansions. The day of grace and the space for repentance will have been terminated; nothing more will remain for him to accomplish for the salvation of men; and then he will "deliver up" the kingdom which was delegated to him over " all things," to " God even the Father that God may be all in all." But this termination of his mediatorial reign, although it leaves the absolute and universal supremacy in the hands of the Eternal Godhead, involves no dissolution of the union between his divine and human natures. It does not even terminate his priestly office; much less those outward manifestations of the invisible Deity, that are so wondrously and progressively made by God in human nature. " He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens," forever retaining his crown and sceptre, as the King and Heir of the redeemed universe. " His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away." He is to be the God-man forever; and in this character he is to reign as the King of Zion, the King of saints, the King of glory. For successive ages he has been preparing himself a KINGDOM; now he is in complete possession of it, and his crown beams in all its splendor. His ascension from the Mount of Olives was his installment and coronation; and then it was that herald angels conducted him to his palace, and " the everlasting doors were lifted up that the King of glory might come in!" From that day, he has been a Prince upon his throne, swaying a sceptre such as no earthly monarch ever held, reigning in immortal love and holiness, perpetuating his triumphs, and inviting " the children of Zion to rejoice in their King." It is their unspeakable joy now to know that he is upon the throne; but what will their joy become, when the mystery of God shall be perfected; when the last revolution in this convulsed universe shall be brought to its long predicted issues; and he " shall reign over the house of Jacob forever!" His subjects will be multiplied, so that no man can number them; and it will be his enduring honor to be at the head of so vast and holy an Empire. They shall come from far-distant lands, and from the islands of the sea; they will have been nurtured under all the diversities of time and circumstance, and amid all the varieties of intellectual and moral culture, and modes and forms to which the different families of the church of God were subject; but they shall be one in him, and he shall be their glory and crown.

It is not difficult to perceive why it is that "there remaineth a rest for the people of God." The perfect repose and safety which the redeemed will enjoy in having him for their Sovereign, are themselves enough to render him the glory of the heavenly world. In the new heavens and the new earth, "there shall be no more sea" for, it will be, " as it were, a sea of glass.’’ Its surface is unruffled. Not a ripple stirs it. Nothing overlays it but the pure light and fragrant breath of heaven. Storms and tempests never gather over those tranquil regions. The changeable winds of passion are still. Nor are human kingdoms nor human hopes ever engulfed under the reign of this Prince of peace. Despotism and anarchy have done their work in this nether world. The "nations of the saved" now rest under the equitable monarchy of heaven, whose laws and principles shall never be repealed nor abated, but remain in full force and blessedness to all eternity.

Glorious supremacy and glorious world which can boast of such a Sovereign! There will be spectacles of admiration in his heavenly kingdom, and scenes of splendor such as mortal eyes never beheld; bright and embellished minds will be there, angelic and human, shining in all the blended and perfected beauties of holiness; but they will be like tapers under the splendors of his throne. So long as the redeemed were " present in the body they were absent from the Lord." The best of them had very imperfect views, and "saw through a glass darkly," They could do little more, even in their brightest hours, than stand on the shore of that ocean of light and love, and exclaim, " O the depth!" But they have come now to Mount Zion, where the King of glory unfolds his loveliness, and they see him without a veil. And if, during their pilgrimage in this dark world, they looked to him as their chief joy, and nothing charmed them like his beauty; what must be their delighted and rapturous admiration of him in that world where they have no need of the sun, or of the moon to shine on it, because " the glory of God enlightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof ’’ Thou art the King of glory, O Christ! Who would not take thy cross and become a partaker in thy humiliation, if he may thus become partaker in thy exaltation and glory! To be made "kings and priests unto God even his Father", and live and reign with him;" to be "fellow-heirs with him of the same kingdom," sit "down on his throne," and "enter into his joy;" what a heaven is this, and what else is it but to learn by blessed experience that Christ himself is its glory!

We illustrate this truth, in the next place, by the thought that Christ himself is the Author and Dispenser of all the blessedness of the heavenly world. Its " Builder and Maker" is God. His name is inscribed on every page of its history. " I go," said he to his early followers, " I go to prepare a place for you." There is no scene of loveliness or splendor there; nothing to delight the mind, cheer the heart, or regale the senses, refined and purified as they will be for immortality, but owes its loveliness and splendor to him. If the skies are genial, it is because he has " spread them out as a molten looking-glass." If there is no sickness, nor infirmity, nor decay, nor death, it is because he has shut them without the walls, and has made its inhabitants immortal. If no heart is wrung with disappointment and anguish, and no countenance dejected, and no eye heavy with sorrow, or dimmed with tears; it is because " the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne leads them, and God wipes away all tears from their eyes." If there is no serpent to sting and no tempter to ensnare, it is because he has crushed the serpent’s head. If the wicked there cease from troubling, it is because he does not allow anything to enter that defileth. It is his own palace; and lest any invade or hurt it, he himself is its everlasting Warder. Its redeemed inhabitants are all the children of his power and grace. It is not their work by which they have found access to that glorious world, but his. The design of bringing them there originated with him, and was completed by him in whose blood they have washed their robes, and made them white. Take away Christ from heaven, and there are no hopes, no promises, no heaven itself for man. They were naturally fallen and apostate; but he saved them by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Their exalted and holy character was formed by him, and formed for eternity and heaven. It was the offspring of his grace when it was cradled here on earth. His hand burst the bandages of its infancy, and his voice first cheered it in its onward progress to immortal manhood. And now, in its perfection and richness, who is its recognized author and dispenser, if not he who presents it " not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing!" All the varieties of its excellence, mingling its most exalted with its’ humblest emotions, its strongest lights with those that are the most delicate, its angelic purity with its human loveliness, are to be attributed to him who has thus "clothed his church with the garments of salvation, and covered her with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." The sources of their blessedness are all either in him, or from him. Whatever of God they there enjoy, is through Christ and from Christ. Whatever of angel blessedness flows in upon them, his hand opens the channels in which it flows. There are social joys there; and the sacred intercourse and fellowship of that immense holy society are exalted and pure because the bond that unites them is perfect love to him. There are remembrances of the past, and personal recognitions, and endeared and responsible relationships fondly dwelt upon, and present amiableness of character, and mutual services, and reciprocated acts of kindness which make their cup of joy run over. All this, by sympathies and a fellowship never till then known, nor its source appreciated, will then be recognized as imparted by him, and he will be honored as the medium of these visions of loveliness, and the gracious dispenser of every joyous thought and emotion. That thirst for knowledge, there gratified to fulness; those sources of thought, so ample, and various; and that reality and certitude of truth, which leaves no phantoms to be dissipated, and no probabilities to unsettle or perplex the mind, are radiations from him who is the " light of the world," and streams from that ocean of God’s unsearchable wisdom and knowledge. If their affections are exalted and exalting, they are all in view of his imperishable truth, and excited and sustained by manifestations of his glory. And their acts of duty, whatever they may be, and wherever they may be required, are not less cheerful and happy than they are uniform and constant, because they are swift to do his will, " hearkening to the voice of his word." The permanency of heaven is also the work of Christ. He is the everlasting Rewarder. Those fields of light will be illumined with a splendor that never fades, because he " is the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever." When this earth has disappeared in the final conflagration, it will be Seen that there is yet remaining " a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." The highest eminence hitherto occupied by Moses and Paul, is low compared with those sublime heights which they, and all the redeemed will occupy in the yet unexplored sources of blessedness that are treasured up in Christ. They will always have Christ, and therefore will always have heaven. They will be everlasting recipients, because he is the everlasting Giver. There is no present joy which Christ does not bestow; nor is there any such last limit to the believer’s everlasting career of blessedness, that he can say, this is all that Christ can give.

We say therefore that Christ is the glory of heaven, because he is the dispenser of all its blessedness. Suppose a man like ourselves, to be so eminently favored of God as to be the author of all temporal blessings; the fabricator of all that is wise and good in human institutions and laws — the inventor of all that contributes to wealth and prosperity — the example and patron of every virtue, and the promoter, and guardian, and partaker of every joy; who so fitly as such a man would be the glory of his race? What then must Christ himself be to the heavenly world! We know the comparison fails. All comparisons are like atoms in the sunbeams, when we think of him whose infinite glory and blessedness are reflected in the natures of the saved.

We may derive a third illustration of this truth from the fact that Christ is the most happy of all the glorified inhabitants of heaven itself. It is no ordinary source of enjoyment, to see those happy whom we love; to virtuous and disinterested minds, there is no higher source of earthly joy than this. More especially are such sacred and delightful sympathies realized, when these joys are virtuous and holy, and the sources of them such as God approves. We cannot conceive of the blessedness of heaven, even in the meanest of the saints; much less in the brightest and most favored spirit that bows before the throne. It mitigates our sorrows, and makes us happy to think of their happiness, and that though they once toiled and suffered on the earth, they are gone to their heavenly rest. And how much more to think of the infinite blessedness of the Son of God! He is the most happy Being in heaven, because from the infinite perfection of his intellectual and moral nature, he is the most capable of happiness. Of all the bright minds in the universe, his is the most bright and holy, and can hold more joyous thoughts and emotions. And if it is " more blessed to give than to receive;" we may never forget he is the greatest of all Givers. Just think of his benevolent and generous mind surveying that Holy City, infinitely more resplendent with the memorials of his redeeming love than with the precious stones which garnish its walls, and its gates of pearl, and its streets of gold; and then, if you can, estimate the blessedness which flows in upon his holy soul from these unnumbered and hallowed sources. What joy in being able to make such gifts to millions who were so unworthy and ill-deserving, so poor and miserable, and who, but for his bounty, had " lifted up their eyes in hell, being in torment!" To have saved such as these is his everlasting blessedness; and in bestowing this salvation he himself enjoys more than those who receive it. Just before he left the world he uttered the prayer. " Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, even the glory which I had with thee before the world was!" Heaven would scarcely be welcome to him without them. " I in them, and thou in me, that we may all be made perfect in One!" Everything contributes to his joy, now that he is glorified, and they are all glorified with him. He has finished his work on the earth; his redeemed are gathered in; and he has nothing more to ask as his reward. Every accession to their blessedness exalts his own. His infinite love has been indulged, expressed, and gratified.

It is this, his own divine blessedness that fills up the glory of heaven. The Redeemed themselves have no higher joy than to see their adorable Lord thus glorified and happy. Some of them had seen him a man of sorrows, debased and miserable, and all of them have known how he was once nailed to the cross. But the scene is changed. From insult and torture he has found a throne; from being once the greatest Sufferer, he is now the most honored and the most happy of all who dwell in that honored and joyous world. He once said to his disciples, " If ye love me, ye will rejoice because I said, I go to the Father." Blessed Master! who, of all thy followers does not rejoice in the thought, that thy last tear was shed on Calvary, and the last badge of thine undeserved infamy was left in the tomb! Sweet is the thought, that among all the lovely, he is the adornment of their loveliness; and of all the honored and happy, he is the most happy and the most honored. If we are ever permitted to have a place in some of those many mansions, the first Person we shall ask for will be, not the children whom God has given us, nor the friends we most loved, but " the Lamb that was slain." He will be the first and great object of attraction, in the full enjoyment of his own heaven, restored to that habitation of holiness, of which his own blessedness constitutes the glory and crown. What will it be to be permitted thus to enter into his joy, and ourselves to exemplify the truth, " The glory which thou hast given me I have given them!"

There is one more thought which illustrates the truth, that Christ himself is the glory of heaven; he is the object of their adoration and praise. Christ alone, as the Mediator, is not indeed the only object of celestial praise. The Eternal Godhead is there honored by the adoring and everlasting acknowledgments of all the unfallen, as well as all the redeemed creation. " They rest not day and night, saying Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty., which was, and is, and is to come!" Spotless angels give " glory, and honor, and thanks to Him that sitteth upon the throne, who liveth forever and forever." The redeemed from among men " fall down before Him that sitteth upon the throne, and worship Him that liveth forever and ever; and cast their crowns before the throne, saying. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they do exist, and were created." A beautiful view is this of the heavenly world, that the Great and Eternal Jehovah, in all the fulness of his infinite glory, is thus exalted by these grateful and adoring acts of praise.

Yet is it revealed to us that the God-man Mediator is, to redeemed men, the object of special adoration. He sustains a relation to them which he does not sustain toward the unfallen. It was not the angelic nature that he assumed, nor was it for them that he suffered and died, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven; lives and reigns, nor is it by virtue of anything he has accomplished for them, that he becomes the Final Judge and Rewarder of the living and the dead. It was the human nature to which he became allied; it was that nature, in the persons of his redeemed, that he bought off from the curse of the law; rose for their justification; became the dispenser of those gracious influences by which they were fitted for heaven; and " raised them from the dead, and set them at his own right hand in heavenly places." He feels an interest in them therefore, which he does not feel for the unfallen. If " there is joy in heaven among the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance;" what must be the interest and the joy which his benevolent mind experiences in repentant and redeemed myriads, above that which he feels in the character and blessedness of those who were never the objects of his mediation, nor the subjects of his grace? He is the Sovereign Lord of Angels; but to his redeemed people, he is the all-sufficient, gracious, faithful, once suffering and now glorified Redeemer. They are his people, his own blood bought inheritance; and can there be a doubt that they also feel an interest in him which the unfallen cannot feel, and maintain a more intimate and sensible relation to him?

Since then they have sources of enjoyment from him and in him, which angels cannot have; and feel towards him as angels cannot feel; and since his presence diffuses joys over their happy society which angels can never know; why should they not praise him in strains which the tongue of angels cannot utter? The Apostle John, in the Apocalypse, beheld them as they " fell down before THE LAMB, having every one of them harps; and they sung a new song saying. Thou art worthy, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood." It is not creative power and persevering goodness, but redeeming grace which is thus extolled. The unfallen and unredeemed cannot extol him in accents such as these. It was " a voice as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder;" it was "the voice of harpers harping with their harps; and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and no man could learn that song but those that were redeemed from among men

Christians in the present world often make Christ the special object of their praise. They are attached to the song, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain;" and are never happier than in those favored moments, when anticipating the employments of heaven, their praise to him is thus intimately incorporated with their devotions. In the worship of heaven his Person and work hold a distinguished place. No part of the glory which belongs to him is there kept back, or expressed with reserve. The great and the gratified desire of the redeemed is to exalt and glorify him. A thousand grateful recollections constrain them to cast their crowns at his feet. The palms in their hands, and the pure robes they wear, are emblems of his victories. "The glorious company of the apostles praise him; the goodly fellowship of the prophets praise him; the noble army of martyrs praise him." The redeemed church from every kingdom, and language and tribe praise him. The ear and tongue and soul of man are formed for this celestial harmony. A great multitude which no man can number, once mourning pilgrims, but now at the end of their pilgrimage, and clothed with the garments of joy and salvation; once struggling with sin, self, and the world, but now conquerors through him that loved them; stand on that " sea of glass," unruffled as it is by the storms of earth, and unperturbed by the deep agitations of time, and " having the harps of God," " sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb;" but the chorus is the Lamb that was slain. Praise "sweet as the breath of love," and deep as the memory of their woes, and loud as the echo of his fame, bursts forth from every tongue. These harps of excelling excellence are divinely strung for the full echo of his glory. We cannot think of the song of the redeemed, without thinking of Christ. Nor do these redeemed ones think of him without bowing the knee before him, and under the impulse of emotions that are sometimes tender and serene, always joyous, and sometimes rapturous and vehement, ascribing everlasting glory to the Lamb that was slain. What a world is that of which Christ is thus the glory! What a song is that when the full chorus of all the spirits of just men made perfect, from Adam down to the last redeemed of Adam’s race, gifted as they never were before with melodious hearts and melodious sounds, and with a tongue sweeter than angels use, thus express their sweetest and most devout affections and transporting joys.

" And to the Lamb all glory and all praise, All glory and all praise at morn, at even, That come and go eternally, and find Us happy still, and thee forever blessed!

Glory to God, and to the Lamb, Amen!

Thousands of thousands, thousands infinite With voice of boundless love answered, Amen! And through eternity, near and remote. The world adoring echoed back Amen!"

We have thus endeavored to present some faint illustration of the thought, that Christ himself is the glory of heaven. Let us weigh this thought, and from it derive the following practical remarks: In the first place, let us learn from it what are the essential preparatives for the heavenly world. They are all comprised in that state of mind which cheerfully gives Christ the throne. This is the character of the redeemed in heaven, and this is the test of piety on the earth. Its measure and degree are not the same in the church below, but its nature is the same with the piety in the church above. Its humility and love and gratitude and praise and loyalty are imperfect here, but they are the same in kind. Here, these heavenly graces are in blossom; there, they are fully ripe. Here the tree is scathed by storms; there, it is in full bearing.

Let none please themselves with the illusion, that such a heaven has any attractions for an unholy mind. Wicked men know not what they ask when, with all their sinful propensities dominant, they ask for such a heaven as this. They cannot drink of the cup which the Saviour drank of, nor be baptized with the baptism with which he was baptized. Their false views of heaven neutralize all their efforts. It is not the heaven of the Bible which they are seeking; yet is there no other; no other heaven in the universe than that of which Christ is the glory, and his presence the fountain of joy. How fearful the disappointment, when they struggle at last to go up to that celestial city, and see inscribed on its archway, "There shall nothing enter that defileth!" Could those who are now living in sin, and estranged from Jesus Christ, whose treasure is on earth, and whose heart is there, to whom the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life furnish all their sources of enjoyment, see that holy and glorious and blessed world as it is, and as angels and the spirits of just men made perfect behold it; it would not be surprising if they should become strongly conscious that such a heaven has no attractions for their unholy minds. No, no; such a heaven is no place for an ungodly man. He has no sympathies either with its society its employments, its laws, its blessedness, or its great and glorious King. All who enter heaven desire and pursue that which constitutes its blessedness. " It is character that makes heaven; it is spiritual enjoyment that makes heaven; it is the presence and blessing of God that make heaven." It is Christ that makes heaven. To him who loves not, trusts not, obeys not, honors not Jesus Christ, such a heaven as this has no allurements. He must be a different man from what he is, ever to be happy in such a heaven. Well did the Saviour utter the words, " Verily, verily I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." How is it possible for one who " loves darkness rather than light," to be happy in a world which is thus filled with Christ’s glory, and which he thus irradiates as with ten thousand suns? It is not heaven’s spaciousness and splendor, nor its salubrious streams and healthful clime, nor yet its everlasting day and blooming immortality that can commend it to the moral temper and disposition of the soul that does not love Jesus Christ. Not until Christ himself retires from that glorious world, will it be a fitting residence for an ungodly man.. Quench its flame of holy love; dry up its fountains of holy joy; silence its song to the Lamb that was slain; then, and not till then, will it have charms for a mind that is " dead in trespasses and sins." The heaven where Jesus is, none can enjoy but the friends of Jesus. "The pure in heart shall see God." In the next place, how strongly does the thought that Christ himself is the glory of heaven urge upon the people of God a more heavenly mind and more heavenly anticipations. True followers of Christ love to think of heaven. It is a heaven of holiness, and where Christ is all in all. These are its charms, and these the sweet realities which give such sweetness to their hopes. What marvel if, in their more spiritual frames, they look toward these heavenly hills with eager expectation, and pant for those abodes of spotless purity where Jesus dwells, and where their perfect conformity to him constitutes the perfection of their blessedness!

We would fain stimulate them to think of it, and with sweeter hopes and brighter anticipations. How magnificent is that New Jerusalem, where the Lamb is the light thereof! When John saw even a mighty angel come down from heaven, the earth was lightened with his glory. How brilliant, then, and overpowering the light of heaven enlightened as it is by the Lord’ of angels! It does not need the sun nor the moon to shine in it. The reason why "the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, and as the stars forever and ever," is that Christ, the light of heaven, shines upon them in the effulgence of his glory.

If it is true that our minds become assimilated to the objects about which they are most employed, were it. not wise to cultivate more heavenly thoughts? We shall be the gainers by being more familiar with that holy and blessed world in our daily contemplations. " Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." There is a voice which speaks to thee, my Christian brother, in sweetest accents, " Arise thou, and depart hence, for this is not your rest!" A few more days in this distant land, and you shall behold him whom your soul loveth, and " be like him, because you shall see him as he is."

Few things probably would surprise angels more, than to be informed how reluctant the friends of Christ are to leave this world and go to their heavenly Father’s house. The writers of the New Testament address those to whom they wrote as though they knew they were Christians. They lived in an age of trial, and the apostles everywhere spoke to them and of them as though they knew there was but a short distance between them and their unearthly home. And why have not Christians at the present day the same unembarrassed confidence? Why is it that you have any latent doubts of that " faithful saying, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners?" Turn back to the facts which have been demonstrated in the preceding pages, and inquire if there is not enough in these heavenly credentials of Mary’s Son to warrant an assured faith. Not a few of your strongest hopes rest on dreams; but there is no illusion in these great realities. It is not one fact alone, but many facts, all bound together; there is a piling up of truth upon truth, none of them disjointed, but all of them compact and each in its place; all combining to silence the tempter and banish doubt. Again I ask, why is it that your faith in these great realities is not more tranquil and confident? Is it that you fear to die? Is it that you reluctate from breaking up these earthly associations and enter that unseen world? Why should you fear to die when you see how death has been robbed of his sting? You need not anticipate darkness because you are approaching the regions of the departed. You will be cared for as you go down into the dark valley, and your flesh shall rest in hope. Why not a more cheering and brighter view than this? Why should you wish to be still a foreigner and an exile from that heaven of which your Saviour is the glory? What have you found in this sinning, suffering world to detain you when the summons comes? Why cling to the ashes of this burning earth, when the New Jerusalem is unfolding its gates, and angels bid you enter in? Why clank these fetters and bear this load when heaven’s messenger comes to set you free? What more have you to do with these dark and cloudy habitations of wretchedness, when he who sitteth on the throne, and hath made you kings and priests unto God, commands you to come away? O that we lived more with our eyes and hearts on Christ and heaven! In the third and last place, these thoughts admonish all to labor into that heavenly rest. We do not forget that this is the closing chapter in our series. We do not know what good has been done by this series of thoughts, nor whether one soul has, through these humble means, been brought to the knowledge of Christ, and the hope of that heaven of which he is the glory. I am the more earnest therefore in urging you to strive to enter in at the strait gate — labor to enter " that rest, lest any of you should seem to come short of it." What a loss does he sustain who loses heaven! O there is no loss within the range of human thought like this. Nor can it ever be repaired. I have known those who were burdened to despondency, and miserable almost to distraction, because they could not obtain even to a comfortable hope of heaven. And if to be denied the mere hope is to be denied all that can cheer the mind in its earthly pilgrimage; what must the agony be when the loss is realized, and the despondency become despair! To go up to the gates of the Heavenly City and find them shut; to see the multitudes coming from the north, and the south, and the east, and the west, and sitting down with patriarchs and prophets, and Jesus himself in the kingdom of God, and you yourself cast out; what a fearful and mournful overthrow is this!

O that in that day when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed, it may be seen that these truths have not been without some hallowed influence upon the reader and the writer of this volume. There may he have some humble place, and some harp of gold; and there may they join in the sweet and everlasting song, "To Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, be dominion, and praise, and thanksgiving forever!" THE END.