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blessedness of that state under the image of the holy city, the new Jerusalem, in which the tabernacle of God shall be with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrowing nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed

away.

The Gospel prophet, foretelling those days, has, in like manner, said, "The redeemed of the "Lord shall return and come with singing unto

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Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their "heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness; and "sorrow and sighing shall flee away." As if impatient for the coming of those days, we hear him exclaim, "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, "O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jeru"salem, the holy city. Arise, shine, for thy light "is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen " upon thee."

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My brethren, what a joyful period shall that be for the righteous, when their bodies being raised from the dust of the earth, this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality; when the winter of death being for ever past, and the dominion of the grave destroyed, eternity shall be the unfading spring of the righteous; when age shall put off its infirmities, VOL. II.

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and be renewed in the vigour of immortal youth; when youth shall forget its visions of delight in the surpassing reality and brightness of joys; when the sorrowing shall cease to weep over misfortune, and the mourners forget the causes of their anguish; when the loved whom death had separated shall be re-united for ever, the wept be greeted with gladness, and the lost restored!

Well may the inspired psalmist cry out, "Glori"ous things are spoken of thee, thou city of "God." And well may we, looking to him whose truth is pledged for their fulfilment, repeat continually the words which he has taught us in our daily prayer, "Thy kingdom come."

Beholding, then, my brethren, the confirmation which is given to our minds of the truth, certainty, and necessity, of that future state of being which revelation unfolds in all that we see, and all that we experience, in all that we hope, desire, or apprehend, may I not repeat the expression of surprise, that any can be found who can witness the glorious restoration which this season especially imparts to nature, without cherishing a similar hope for what concerns the destiny of man; that any can compare the revival of all creation with the promises of the holy Scriptures, without being struck by the analogies which they exhibit, and without being convinced that the Author of both is the same.

But while we recognize in these wondrous

vicissitudes of the year the manifestations of his power, who crowneth the year with his goodness, and who, in the Scriptures, has given to us the revelation of his truth; what an emblem may we not also perceive in these changes which the seasons exhibit, to remind us of the changes to which we ourselves are subject, of the constant passing away of life, and the speedy desolation of its joys.

Than the promises of spring, what better image can be found to illustrate the bright pictures of earthly hopes! But spring, with all its glories, soon yields to the parching light of summer, and autumn quickly brings on the sway of relentless winter. So passes human life.

"So fails, so languishes, grows dim, and dies,

"All that this world is proud of. From their spheres
"The stars of human glory are cast down.

"Perish the roses and the flowers of kings,
"Princes, and emperors, and the crowns and palms
"Of all the mighty, withered and consumed."*

Reflect what forms of beauty and grace have vanished from the world. How has manhood departed in its prime! genius in its pride! youth in its promise! How have age and infancy, in kindred imbecility, been gathered to their home! What generations sleep in death, making

"This earth and ocean all,

"But one vast tomb of man."

* Wordsworth.

Can there be any, my brethren, who think so unworthily of themselves, much more, who think so unworthily of God, as to suppose that he had endowed man with the faculties which he possesses, merely to fit him for this fleeting, imperfect, and uncertain scene! Can there be any who, in these days of light and knowledge, indulge the hope, vain as it is degrading, that man, like the beast, shall perish!

Doubtless there may be some whose character, course of life, total neglect of preparation for a future existence, and hopelessness in respect of every thing beyond the grave, may cause them to wish that it were so; and who, notwithstanding the explicit declaration of God's word, and the corresponding and almost demonstrative analogies of creation, so continually renewed and repeated, may cherish the belief that there shall be no future existence; and to confirm them in their belief, may studiously exaggerate, and ingeniously heighten, all the objections and apparent difficulties in the way of that existence. "Neverthe"less, we, according to his promise, look for new "heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth "righteousness." "Blessed be the God and Fa"ther of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according "to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again "unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus "Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorrupt

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ible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away."

Yes, my brethren, the Christian faith is that true philosophy which lifts the mind to high and heavenly things; which restores man even here to the desire of that image in which he was formed; and sends him forth into the world with enlarged perceptions and immortal hopes.

He who has been taught in that school is indeed a new creature. Once he looked abroad, and the structure of this material frame bounded all his views. The horizon of the earth limited his vision. The stars and glowing firmament seemed the canopy which he could not penetrate. Into every part of nature that was submitted to his investigation, he sought, with anxious eye, but no where did he recognize its Author; no where did he perceive his God. If he looked upon life, it was his all, and that all how great a mystery! If back upon the dead, they were lost. If forward to the grave, it was the boundary of his existence. The midnight hour carried home to his bosom the vanity of his joys, and impressed upon him the dreariness of his destiny. The enlivening sun which rose upon his path, shone only for a short and transient day, at its setting admonished him again how brief was his span of life, and how rapidly it was departing. In his folly he took up the language of brutish degradation and despair, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die;" and engrossed by occupations which soon he must cease to pursue, and indulgences which perhaps

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