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what Heaven is—and in what the happiness of Heaven will consist.

And here I would remark that Heaven is set before us in the Bible as the reward of a good life—and this, too, in a very particular manner by our Lord Himself in the Gospel. Look at the parable of the tares-the fate of the seed at the end of that parable.-The bad seed is gathered out to be burned-the wheat-the good seed-is stored up in the barn. Look at the parable that closely follows the parable of the net cast into the sea-and which gathered of every kind-When it was full they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So (adds our Lord) shall it be at the end of the worla-the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from the just! Look, again, at the parable of the talents.

It is clear from these and many other passages, that if Heaven is to be reached by any of us, it must be through Christ's merits, after a life of patient continuance in well-doing. Unless Christ's words are to be distorted to suit our own prejudiced views, this must be admitted, that nowhere in the Gospel is Heaven alluded to, but as the recompence of God's tried and faithful people in another world-these-and these only-go into life eternal !—enter into the joy of their Lord!

And as their Master, so do His disciples teach on this matter.

Heaven, writes St. Paul, is the inheritance of the saints, i. e. the holy ones. It is the prize of the successful runner-of him who runs well in the race set before him. It is the crown that awaits the soldier who has fought a

good fight-the crown of glory that fadeth not away, which the Lord hath promised (says St. James ii.) to them that love Him-the crown of life which, as we read in the Revelation, they shall receive who are faithful unto death!

But it will be said, this does not tell us what Heaven is-it does not make clear what sort of place it is-or what we shall do there-how we shall be occupied.

To which I reply, no such knowledge is to be expected. We are not gifted as yet with powers to receive a full revelation of what Heaven is like,-Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him! No, there are many things we might wish to know about Heaven, which are as yet hid from our eyes.

The Bible gives us few details as to the place or the life there. And in this it differs from the scriptures of all false religions. The religious books of the heathen as many of you know, are full of curious matter about the future world. The sports, the games, the pleasures of the inhabitants of Heaven are all described. But not so is it with our Bible. It has not a word on any of these points. There is a reserve in the Scriptures on such subjects, as most surely ought to be and is received in evidence of their truth.

And yet we are not left entirely in ignorance about Heaven. God by telling us what it is not, has enabled us, in some sort, to judge what is.

For consider but this one well-known passage out of Rev. vii. 17,―They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed,

them, and shall lead them into living fountains of waters, and God s' all wipe away all tears from their eyes!

Now think only of what is declared to us here--no hunger!—no thirst!—no burning heat!—no anxious care about our supply of food—no tears! nor that which causes tears, pain and sorrow, and anguish of body or mind-none of these things, by which our life on earth is sore vexedby which we are deprived of leisure for contemplationfor lifting up our hearts to high and holy things—will have any existence in Heaven. God's people there will have full scope for that which they can only do here at intervals-worshipping Him and magnifying His holy

name!

Then again, mark these words-also in the Book of Rev. xxii. 3-And there shall be no more curse!-sin, which every good man hates as his worst enemy, will not be found in Heaven. The war in our members will there be quite over-the whole body of sin will have been destroyed!

And what a light does this throw upon the life of Heaven! We, as we are now, cannot pass a single day without falling into sin.-Every night we have to approach our God as guilty sinners, with shamed faces and downcast looks. But in Heaven, brethren,-if we ever reach it— we shall have no more cause to be ashamed before our Maker-we shall have clear consciences, and void of offence-both toward Him and toward one another!

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There will be no more curse !-that surely is a word about Heaven that we should treasure up in our minds. may help us better than anything to realise what Heaven is like.

For, pause for a moment on it. What would this world be if there were no sin, no curse in it, no oppression, no fraud, no violence of any kind, no intemperance, but every man loving God, and doing to his neighbour as he would be done by himself? Would it not be an altered world? Would it not be a happy world? Judge then by this, in some sort, what Heaven will be-bring it before your minds as another and a better world, in which there will be no sin-a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness!

But hitherto I have dwelt on the negative side of what Holy Scripture reveals to us of Heaven-there is something also of a positive kind spoken about it-They —i. e., Christ's redeemed people—are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple, and He that sitteth upon the throne shall dwell among them.

Observe the words, brethren-They are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple—i. e., they are close to God, in His immediate presence-He, before Whom the angels veil their faces, will there be revealed in all His splendour to the purged vision of His people. They will see Him, not as now, in a glass darkly, but face to face-and know Him even as they are known!

And more-He shall dwell among them. Now in this world we have, as it were, rare glimpses of God-He comes to us when engaged in prayer, the door being shut, and speaks a word of peace and comfort to our soul-and almost on the instant, ere we can entreat Him to tarry with us, He is gone! We see Him on the hill, in those moments when our heart is lifted up to worship, but the

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cloud comes down, and before we can build a tent for

Him to stay, He vanishes out of our sight!

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But it will not be so in Heaven. very deed abide with men; not stranger-like and at rare intervals, but always, as a Father in His own housewhose house are we if we hold fast the confidence, and rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

So much we are warranted by Scripture in saying of the life in Heaven. It will be a life, out of which all that pains, troubles, and disturbs us here will for ever be removed-and yet not an idle life-not a life of merely doing nothing but a life filled up in all its parts with the exercise of our highest faculties—a life of perfect devotion and of perfect goodness!

And now let us ask, how stands it with ourselves in regard to this life? Have we this hope of heaven laid up for us? Is our course setting in that direction to which Heaven is the natural close?

O think seriously of this. To get to Heaven-yea, though it be only, in any case, through the Saviour's merits-there must be a suitableness, a previously formed character, something that will make us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

And is this the case with ourselves? Are our pursuits, is our practice, the daily habit of our life that now is, our principles, our views, our conversation, even here, in heaven?

Or perhaps I may put the question yet more closely in this way-Does piety-a reverent respect for all God's ordinances, glad attendance on His worship, delight in drawing near to Him-does goodness, does charity, does

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