admitted to the blissful vision. We shall see the King in His beauty. We shall see Christ in His glorified body. We shall see all the grandeur of the divine attributes, beaming in softened glory from that body which once hung on Calvary's cross. It was with the veil of His flesh, that HE concealed His Divinity, when on earth; and through the veil of His glorified humanity in heaven, the redeemed shall see God. O, blessed are the pure in heart! "And

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." "And there shall be no more curse; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve HIM; and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light; and they shall reign for ever and ever." Blessed, thrice blessed are the pure in heart!

VI.

NO PAIN; NO SORROW; NO MORE DEATH.

HE saints in heaven will enjoy complete deliver

THE

ance from all those physical evils, which so marred their peace and comfort, in this world. It is easy to conceive of suffering, even among beings made perfectly holy; but the Word of God teaches us that there will be entire freedom in heaven, from every cause of sorrow, fear, pain, or anxiety, by which we are, at present, disquieted. While in the flesh, the believer often suffers much from the expectation of evil, or an apprehension of impending calamity. His forebodings are one of the evidences of a sinful, fallen state; and are, no doubt, enhanced by the many cases of extreme suffering, which may always be met with, among men.

WANT is one of the most familiar evils, in our world. In whatever direction we turn our eyes, many may be found, who know not, one day, on what they shall subsist the next, and often have no

description of food whatever, in their houses; and, frequently, at the most inclement season of the

year, are destitute of fuel, and comfortable garments. Ah! we little think, as we sit by the bright and cheerful fireside, or partake of the rich bounties of Providence, on our tables, how many shiver, houseless, in the blast, or sit benumbed, over the few embers, on their desolate hearths!

"How many shrink into the sordid hut

Of cheerless poverty!"

Poverty appears to have been coëval with society; and, so long as this is an apostate world, we may expect the words of the law-giver of Israel, "The poor shall never cease out of the land,"* and the words of the great Prophet, like unto Moses, "Ye have the poor always with you," to be fulfilled. And the remark, although it appears not strictly to belong in this place, must be allowed, that God has distributed His stewards and almoners, side by side, with those who need their bounty. "Blessed is he that considereth the poor;" aye considereth-that they have feelings as well as wants, and that a favour may be bestowed almost as great in the manner, as in the. matter, of the gift. There may be as much true charity in a kind word, or a kind tear, as in the silver and gold which accompany them; and more,

* Deut. xv. 11. † Matt. xxvi. 11.

Ps. xli. 1.

than when that gold is coldly or proudly given; and the recipient is made to feel that he is only despised, for the stern necessity which makes him one. But in heaven there will be no want: "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more." "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters."* That which creates so many distinctions and jealousies, here on earth, will create none in heaven. All will be put into possession of riches that perish not, treasures that are incorruptible, undefiled, and that fade not away; not the gold and silver of earth, which men now toil, and often impoverish, if they do not sell, their souls, to gain. The wealth of this world can be enjoyed but for a moment, that of heaven is an everlasting inheritance. Wait a little longer, thou poor, perhaps despised, and suffering saint, and heaven will dawn on thee! and all its riches, through the love of thy redeeming, interceding Lord, be poured at thy feet!

Our life begins with the helplessness and sufferings of infancy, and, if protracted, ends with THE DECREPITUDE AND DOTAGE OF OLD AGE. Threescore, or fourscore years often make sad havoc in the memory, and other intellectual faculties, as well as in the body. Sometimes, "in the wreck of mind, the whole cargo of knowledge seems to be lost." The clouds return

Rev. vii. 16, 17.

after the rain; the keepers of the house tremble; the strong men bow themselves; fears are in the way; and the grasshopper becomes a burden. The blooming, beaming countenance, and the sparkling eye, and the strength of manhood are gone. Those that look out of the windows are darkened; the doors are shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low. Impaired organs of sight and hearing are among the most common infirmities of the aged. A minister, at the early age of twenty-two years, on one of the first occasions, when he attempted to preach the gospel, found himself in an inland country village. On entering the pulpit, two venerable men were already seated there. They had not the appearance of clergymen; and he could hardly conjecture for what purpose they were there. But, when he arose to preach, they stood up, and, proceeding to arrange an acoustic apparatus, of simple contrivance, leaned over the pulpit by his side, to catch his words. The text was Ps. lxxxix. 15, "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound." The inexperienced youth who stood between these two aged disciples, and attempted to show why the Gospel is a joyful sound, and what it is to know it, might well feel his insufficiency; he felt assured that they could easily distinguish the "joyful" from an "uncertain" sound ;could well "understand" what they took so much pains to "hear." And well does he remember, in