As we have already intimated, the foundation of every thing in this our state of trial, in the working out of our salvation, is faith: "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved;"* this is the great corner stone, upon which all the spiritual building rests: it is the first introduction to our laying hold of the promises of the gospel: it is the principle of our life, as the redeemed children of God: it is the ground-work of all our dependence upon Him, and the source of all that holiness and righteousness, in which we stand accepted in His presence, and give the evidence of our calling and our inheritance. But in heaven, this prin ciple will be utterly done away. Faith is the "evidence of things not seen :"+ we believe in the word of promise: and when the promise is performed, when the full enjoyment comes, when the blessedness is all experienced, when the object is seen, and known, and attained, then there is an end of believing; it is certainty,

* Acts xvi. 31. † Heb. vi. 1.

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it is possession. Faith, like Jacob's ladder, is the means by which we ascend; and when we have gained the summit, when we are landed in the skies, the steps will be no longer needed. While advancing up the heavenly ladder, we see but in part, though we do see more as we mount higher; but when the vision is perfect, that which was in part shall be done

away.

Another quickening principle in the bosom of the believer is hope, and this sustains him in all his struggles and buffetings with the flesh and the world; amidst all the fiery darts of the enemy; in every moment of darkness, in every disappoint. ment and defeat, in every visitation of sorrow and affliction. He hopes for returning light, he hopes for seasonable relief, he hopes for victory in the end. But in heaven the warfare will be over, the darkness past, the remedy complete, the prize won: "there will be no night there; neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain ;” “The

Lord will be our everlasting light, and the days of our mourning will be ended."* There will be no more occasion, no place for hope, in the fulness of a realized possession. Hope is but a part, but a foretaste of good; it is but the twilight of a rising blessedness: and the faint, the partial beams are all absorbed and lost in the shining of the perfect day.

The Apostle names another principle of the christian life, and that is love, or charity: this is a lasting principle, shall never be superseded or done away: it shall be improved, purified, extended, but never cease. It was love in heaven, that planned the blessed work of man's redemption; that moved the only begotten of the Father, to come down in pity for our ruined race, and bring us back to glory when therefore we look to heaven, we look to the dwelling place of love. "God is love ;" and where He is, there love must be, in all its infinite abundance and perfection. All who are His, all who

Isai. Ix. Rev. xxi.

bear His image, must be partakers of the same felicity; the angels and all His redeemed family. How suitably then has the Saviour enlarged and insisted on the formation of this principle in the heart of every disciple; to prepare them for the enjoyment of their promised possession, to make them fit for the company of hea ven. How interesting, how affecting the consideration! the love that we cherish for God and for each other upon earth, we shall carry with us, for a ripening, to the courts above. The faith, which together we professed and maintained, will be superseded: our common hope will have vanished in the skies: but our love for Jehovah, and our charity for man, will survive the judgment day; will be kindled anew at the divine lamp of mercy, and shine and increase through a blissful eternity.

O my brethren, what mighty encou ragement is here afforded to us, in the course of our mortal pilgrimage! How does the scheme of God's providence and

grace, how do the wonderful revelations of His word, how does our own christian experience, animate us to a patient endurance, and a faithful perseverance unto the end! Assured, as, we may humbly be, of our progressive light and knowledge, well may our doubts and fears be scattered, and all our moments of despondence and perplexity be cheered. Well may we cast ourselves, with holy dependence, upon the Lord's infallible promise; and pray, with holy confidence, for His enlightening, guiding, purifying Spirit; that our minds and hearts may be more and more open to the perception of heavenly truth. Whatever we understand not, whatever we see of imperfection or evil, it is because we see but in part wait, if thou believest, wait the day of accomplishment; and thou shalt behold the fulness of wisdom and of love. And O my brethren, if we look to be numbered with the blest; if we really have begun the good work; if we do know and enjoy in part the blessings of a