their highest intellectual pleasures in Novels and Romances, and in listening to tales of scandal, would experience any high degree of enjoyment in a world where there is nothing but substantial realities, and where the inhabitants are united in bonds of the purest affection?-or, that those whose minds never rise beyond the pleasures of gambling, card-playing, and gossipping chit-chat, would feel any relish for the refined enjoyments, the sublime contemplations, and the enraptured praises of the heavenly in habitants? All the arrangements of the celestial state, behoved to be changed and overturned, and angels, archangels, and redeemed men, banished from its abodes, before such characters could find entertainments agreeable to their, former habits and desires. Although they were admitted into the mansions of bliss, they would be miserably disappointed; and would feel themselves in a situation similar to that of a rude savage or a Russian boor, were he to be introduced into an assembly of princes and nobles. They would perceive nothing congenial to their former pursuits; they would feel an inward reluctance to the pure and holy exercises of the place, and they would anxiously desire to fly away to regions and to companions more adapted to their grovelling views and affections. For, it is the decree of Heaven-a decree founded on the moral laws which govern the intelligent universe, and which, like the law of the Medes and Persians, cannot be changed,-that "Without holiness no man can see the Lord," and that "no impure person that worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, can enter within the gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem."

The foundation of felicity in the future state, is substantially the same as that which forms the basis of happiness in the present world. However elevated the station in which an individual may be placed, however much wealth he may possess, and however splendid his rank and equipage, he can enjoy no substantial felicity, while he remains the slave of grovelling appetites and affections, and while pride and envy, ambition and revenge, exercise a sovereign control over his mind. While destitute of supreme love to God, and benevolent affections towards man, and of the Christian virtues which flow from these fundarental principles of moral action, the mind must remain a stranger to true happiness, and to all those expansive views, and delightful feelings, which raise the soul above the pleasures of sense, and the trivial vexations and disappointments of the present life.

These positions could be demonstrated, were it necessary, by numerous facts connected with the moral scenery of human society. Whence proceeds that ennui, which is felt in the fashion able world, in the absence of balls, parties, operas, and theatrical entertainments? Whence arise these domestic broils, those family feuds

and contentions, which are so common in the higher, as well as in the lower ranks of life, and which embitter every enjoyment? Whence does it happen, that, in order to obtain gratification, and to render existence tolerable, so many thou sands of rational beings condescend to indulge in the most childish, foolish, and brutal diver sions? Even in the most polished circles of society, many who pride themselves on their superiority to the volgar throng, are found deriving their chief gratification, not only in scattering destruction antong the brutal and the feathered tribes, but in mingling among the motley rabble of a cockpit, and in witnessing a couple of boxers encountering like furious fiends, and covering each other with wounds and gore. Whence arise the torments that are felt from wounded pride and disappointed ambition? and how does it happen that social parties cannot enjoy themselves for a couple of hours, without resorting to cards and dice, gambling and gossipping, and the circulation of tales of scandal? How is it to be accounted for, that suicide is so frequently committed by persons in the higher circles, who are surrounded with luxuries and splendour; and that murmuring, discontentment, and ingratitude, mark the dispositions and conduct of the lower ranks of society? All these effects proceed from the absence of Christian principles and dispositions, and from the narrow range of objects to which the intellectual powers are confined. The man who is actuated by Christian views and affections, looks down with indifference and contempt, on the degrading pursuits to which I have alluded; his soul aspires after objects more congenial to his rational and immortal nature; and in the pursuit of these, and the exercise of the virtues which religion inculcates, he enjoys a refined pleasure which the smiles of the world cannot produce, and which its frowns cannot destroy.

As in the present life there are certain mental endowments necessary for securing substantial happiness, so, there are certain moral qualifications indispensably requisite in order to prepare us for relishing the entertainments and the employments of the life to come. The foundation of future felicity must be laid in "repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." We must be convinced of our sin and depravity as descendants of the first Adam, of the demerit of our offences, of the spotless purity and eternal rectitude of that Being whom we have offended, and of the danger to which we are exposed as the violators of his law. We must receive, with humility and gratitude, the salvation exhibited in the Gospel, and "behold," with the eye of faith, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world." We must depend on the aid of the Spirit of God to enable us to counteract the evil propensities of our nature, to renew our souls after the divine image, and to inspire us with ardent desires to abound all in those "fruit

of righteousness which are to the praise and glory of God." We must "add to our faith, fortitude and resolution, and to fortitude knowledge, and to knowledge, temperance, and to temperance, pa tience, and to patience, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness and charity. For, if these things be in us and abound, they will permit us to be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ;--and so an entrance shall be abundantly administered unto us into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour."*

The foundation of Religion being thus laid in the exercise of such Christian graces, the following dispositions and virtues, among many others, will be cherished and cultivated, and will form substantial qualifications for enabling us to participate in the inheritance of the saints in light," 1. Supreme love to God, the original source of happiness. This is the first duty of every rational creature, and the most sublime affection that can pervade the human mind. It glows in the breasts of angels and archangels, of cheruhim and seraphim, yea, there is not an inhabitant of any world in the universe who has retained his primitive integrity, in whose heart it does not reign triumphant. It unites all holy intelligences to their Creator and to one another; and consequently, it must qualify us for holding a delightful intercourse with such beings, wherever they exist, and in whatever region of the universe our future residence may be appointed. It enlivens the adorations of the angelic tribes, when they exclaim, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and thanksgiving, and power." It animates them in all their celestial services; it inspires them with a noble ardour in executing the commands of their Sovereign, and it qualifies its possessor, to whatever world he may belong, for co-operating with them, in carrying forward that scheme of universa! benevolence, towards the accomplishment of which all the arrangements of the Creator ultimately

tend.

His om

This holy affection is congenial to every view we can take of the character and operations of the Deity, and its obligation is deduced from the clearest principles of Reason, as well as from the dictates of Revelation. It is founded on every attribute of the Divinity, and on every part of his physical and moral administration. nipotence is every moment exerted in supporting the frame of the universe, in bringing about the alternate succession of day and night, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, and in directing the operation of the elements of nature, in such a way as to contribute to the happiness of His wisdom and intelligence are displayed in proportionating and arranging every object in the system of nature, in such a manner, that

man.

*2 Peter 1. 5, 6, 7, 8, 11.-Doddridge's Translation.

every thing is preserved in order and harmony; and in organizing the bodies of men and other creatures, so as to prevent pain, and to produce a combination of pleasurable sensations. His goodness extends over all his works, and is displayed towards every rank of sensitive and intelligent existence. It appears in the splendours of the sun, in the radiance of the moon, in the glories of the starry firmament, in the beautiful assemblage of colours which diversify the face of Nature, in the plants and flowers, which adorn the fields, in the gentle zephyrs, in the rains and dews that fertilize the soil, in the provision made for the sustenance of the innumerable beings that inhabit the air, the waters, and the earth, and "in filling the hearts of men with food and glad

ness.

His mercy and forbearance are exercised towards all men, even to the most profligate and abandoned, in supporting them in existence and loading them with his benefits, even when they are engaged in acts of rebellion against him. For he commandeth his sun to arise on the evil as well as on the good, and sendeth rain both on the just and on the unjust. He displays his longsuffering, for many years, towards the thoughtless prodigal, and the violators of his law, to demonstrate, that "he desires not that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." A Being possessed of such attributes, and incessantly displaying such beneficence throughout creation, demands the highest affection and veneration of all his intelligent offspring; so that it is the dictate of enlightened reason as well as of revelation, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength." For, it is from him as the original source of felicity, that all our sensitive and intellectual enjoyments proceed, and on him we depend for all the blessings that shall accompany us in every future stage of our existence. Love to God, is therefore, the most reasonable and amiable affection that can

glow in the human heart, and the spring of every virtuous action, and of every pleasing and rapturous emotion. If we are possessed of this divine principle, we shall delight in his worship, and bow with reverence at his footstool; we shall feel complacency in his character and administration; we shall contemplate with admiration, the incomprehensible knowledge, the omnipotent power, and the boundless beneficence displayed in the mighty movements of creation and providence; we shall feel the most lively emotions of gratitude for the numerous blessings he bestows; we shall be resigned to his will under every providential arrangement, and we shall long for that happy world where the glories of his nature, and the "kindness of his love" shall be more illustriously displayed. But the man who is destitute of this amiable affection, is incapable of those sublime and rapturous emotions which animate the minds of celestial intelligences, and

altogether unqualified for mingling in their society. He is a rebel against the divine government, a nuisance in the universe of God, the slave of grovelling appetites and passions, and consequently, unfit for participating in the exer cises and enjoyments of the saints in glory.

2. Love to mankind is another affection which is indispensably requisite to qualify us for participating in the joys of heaven. This distinguishing characteristic of the saints naturally and necessarily flows from love to the Supreme Being. "For (says the apostle John) every one that loveth him who begat, loveth them also who are begotten of him. If God loved us we ought also to love one another. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he who loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen." As the spring flows from the fountain and partakes of its qualities, and as the shadow always accompanies the substance, and is produced by it, so love to man uniformly accompanies the love of God, and is produced by the powerful influence which this governing principle exerts over the mind.

This affection is accordant with the dictates of reason, and congenial to the best feelings of the human heart. When we consider that our fellow-men derived their origin from the same almighty Being who brought us into existencethat they are endowed with the same physical functions as ourselves, and the same moral and intellectual powers,-that they relish the same pleasures and enjoyments, possess the same feelings, and are subjected to the same wants and afflictions-that they are involved in the same general depravity, and liable to the same temptations and disasters-that they are journeying along with us to the tomb, and that our dust must soon mingle with theirs-when we consider the numerous relations in which we stand to our brethren around us, and to all the inhabitants of the globe-our dependence upon all ranks and descriptions of men, and upon almost every nation under heaven for our sensitive and intellectual enjoyments, and that thousands of them are traversing sea and land, and exposing themselves to innumerable dangers, in order to supply us with the comforts and the luxuries of life-when we consider, that they are all destined to an immortal existence, and shall survive the dissolution of this globe, and bear a part in the solemn scenes which shall open to view when time shall be no more-in short, when we consider, that the Great Father of all, without respect of persons, makes the same vital air to give play to their lungs, the same water to cleanse and refresh them, the same rains and dews to fructify their fields, the same sun to enlighten their day, and the same moon to cheer the darkness of their night-we must be convinced, that love to our brethren of

mankind is the law of the Creator, and the most rational and amiable affection that can animate the human heart in relation to subordinate intelligences. He who is destitute of this affection is a pest in society, a rebel and a nuisance in the kingdom of God, and, of course, unqualified for the enjoyment of celestial bliss. For he who hateth his brother, is a murderer; and ve know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."*

But, our love is not to be confined to our brethren of the race of Adams. It must take a loftier flight, and comprehend within its expansive grasp, all the holy intelligences in the universe, in so far as their nature and qualities have been made known to us. We must love the angelie tribes. They are beings who stand near the summit of the scale of intellectual existence; they are endowed with faculties superior to man; they dweil in the glorious presence of God, and are employed as his ministers in superintending the affairs of his government. They are possessed of wonderful activity, invested with powers of rapid motion, and flourish in immortal youth. They are adorned with consummate holiness and rectitude, and with peculiar loveliness of character. Pride and vanity, envy and malice, wrath and revenge, never rankle in their breasts. They never indulge in im piety, never insult the Redeemer, nor tring & railing accusation against their brethren. They glow with an intense and immortal flame of love to their Creator; they are incessantly employed in acts of benevolence; they occasionally descend to our world on embassies of mercy, and are ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation. On all these accounts they demand our esteem, our approbation, and our affectionate regard. And, although they are at present placed beyond the reach of our beneficence, and we have no oppor tunity of expressing our benevolent wishes, yet we may afterwards be joined to their society, and co-operate with them in their labours of love.

The indispensable necessity of love to mankind, and to every class of holy intelligences, as a preparation for heaven, will appear, when we consider, that we shall mingle in their society, and hold intimate fellowship with them in the eternal world. For the inhabitants of our world who are admitted into heaven, are represented in Scripture, as joining "the general assembly and church of the first-born, the spirits of just men made perfect and the innumerable company of angels ;" and hence they are exhibited, in the book of Revelation, as joining with one heart and one mind in contemplating the divine operations, and in celebrating the praises of their com mon Lord. In the society of that blessed world, love pervades every bosom, it reigns for ever triumphant; and therefore, every exercise and

1 John iii. 15

intercouse is conducted with affection, harmony, and peace. Among the other evils which shall be banished from the New Jerusalem, it is declared in the book of Revelation, that "there shall be no more crying," or, as the words should be rendered," there shall be no more clamour, broils, or contentions," arising from the operation of malignant principles. No jarring affection is ever felt, no malevolent wish is ever uttered, and no discordant voice is ever heard, among all the myriads of those exalted intelligences. Kindness and benignity expansive, benevolence, condescension and humility, are the characteristics of all the inhabitants of heaven. Without these qualities the celestial world would become a scene of eternal confusion, and happiness would be banished from its abodes. If, therefore, we would be qualified to associate with those glorious beings and to participate in their enjoyments, we must cultivate the same virtues, and be animated by similar dispositions, otherwise, we could experience no delight in the society of angels, and of "the spirits of the just made perfect." Were an individual whose heart is full of rancour and envy, who delights in broils and contentions, and in the exercise of revenge, to be admitted into that society, he would find no associates actuated by congenial feelings, he would disturb the harmony of the celestial choir, and would be instantly expelled, with every mark of indignation and horror, from those blessed abodes. "For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?" By a law which pervades the whole moral universe wherever it extends, which can never be rescinded, and which, like the law of gravitation in the material world, connects all the individuals of which it is composed in one harmonious system; such characters must, of necessity, be for ever excluded from the mansions of the blessed. On the other hand, the man whose heart glows with love to his Creator, and with expansive affection to mankind, and towards all holy beings, is secured of eternal happiness, as the necessary result of the possession of such divine principles; and must enjoy felicity, while such principles remain in exercise, during all the future periods of his existence, and in every region of the universe to which he may be transported.

3. Humility is another essential qualification for enjoying the felicity of the future world. There is nothing that appears more prominent in the character of the bulk of mankind, than pride, which displays itself in a thousand different modes in the intercourses of society. It is uniformly accompanied with haughtiness of demeanour, self-conceit, obstinacy, arrogance, and a whole train of malignant passions and affections. It is the pest of general society, the source of domestic broils and contentions, and

the greatest curse that can fall on a Christian church, when it insinuates itself into the minds of those who love to have the pre-eminence." It is a source of torment to its possessor, and to all around him; and of all the malignant passions which rankle in the human breast, it is the most inconsistent with the present character and condition of man. It is peculiar to fallen and depraved intelligences, for it is certain, from the very constitution of the moral system, that no emotions of pride or haughtiness are ever feit in the breasts of angels, or any other holy beings; because such affections are incompatible with the principle of love to God and to our fellow

creatures.

In opposition to this principle, which predominates in the minds of fallen man, and apostate angels,-humility is a distinguishing characteristic of the sons of God, whether on earth or in heaven. Hence, we are told that "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble"-that even a proud look is an abomination in his sight," while he beholds with complacency "the humble and the contrite spirit." Hence, we are exhorted "to clothe ourselves with humility;" and "to forbear one another in all lowliness and meekness of mind, and to esteem others better than ourselves." Humility consists in a just sense of our character and condition, both as depending beings and as apostate creatures, accompanied with a correspondent train of dispositions and affections. However much this disposition has been disrelished by Hune and other infidels, who consider it as both Vicious and contemptible,-when viewed in its true light, it appears congenial to the best feelings of our nature, and to the plainest deductions of reason. When we consider our condition as creatures, dependent every moment on a Superior Being "for life, and breath, and all things," when we reflect on the curious organization of our corporeal frame, the thousands of veins, arteries, muscles, bones, lacteals, and lymphatics, which are interwoven through its constitution; the incessant pulsation of the heart in the centre of the system and the numerous other functions and movements over which we have no control, -when we reflect on our character as guilty and depraved creatures, in the presence of Him "who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity;" and on the numerous diseases, pains, sorrows, and physical evils from the war of the elements, to which we are subjected,-when we consider, that, ere long, our bodies must crumble into dust, and become the prey of noisome reptiles ;when we reflect on the low station in which we are placed in the scale of intelligent existencethat we are only like so many atoms, or microscopic animalcula when contrasted with the innumerable myriads of bright intelligences that people the empire of God-and that the globe on which we dwell is but as "the drop of a

bucket," when compared with the millions of more resplendent worlds that roll through the vast spaces of creation; and, in short, when we consider the grandeur of that Omnipotent Being whose presence pervades every region of immensity, and in whose sight "all the inhabitants of the world, are as grasshoppers, and are counted to him as less than nothing and vanity," there is no disposition that appears more conformable to the character and condition of man, than lowliness of mind," and none more unreasonable and inconsistent with the rank and circumstances in which he is placed, than pride, haughtiness and arrogance.

This amiable disposition forms a peculiar trait in the character of angels and other pure intelligences. It is poor, puny, sinfu! man, alone, who dares to be proud and arrogant. It is that rebellious worm of the dust alone, (if we except the angels of darkness,) that looks down with supercilious contempt on his fellow-creatures, and attempts to exalt himself above the throne of God. No such affections are ever felt in the breast of superior beings who have kept their first estate. In proportion to the enlarged capacity of their minds; in proportion to the expansive views they have acquired of the dominions of Jehovah, in proportion to the elevated conceptions they have attained of the character and attributes of their Creator, in a similar proportion are their minds inspired with humility, reverence and lowly adoration. Having taken an extensive survey of the operations of Omnipotence, having winged their way to numerous worlds, and be held scenes of wisdom and benevolence, which the eye of man hath not yet seen, nor his imagination conceived, and having contemplated displays of intelligence and power, which are beyond the reach even of their own superior faculties to comprehend-they see themselves as finite and imperfect creatures, and even as it were fools,* in the presence of Him whose glory is ineffable and whose ways are past finding out.-Hence, they are represented as "covering their faces with their wings," in the presence of their Sovereignt and, in the Book of Revelation, they are exhibited as "casting their crowns before the throne, and saying thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power." What a striking contrast does such a scene present to the haughty airs, and the arrogant conduct of the proud beings that dwell on this terrestrial ball, who are at the same time immersed in ignorance and folly, immorality and crime!

In their intercourses with the inhabitants of our world, and the offices they perform as minis tering spirits to the heirs of salvation, the same

In the book of Job, Eliphaz, when describing the perfections of the Almighty, declares, that "the heavens are not clean in his sight," and that even his angels he chargeth with folly." Job iv. 18 xv.15. ↑ Isaiah vi. 2. Rev. iv. 10, 11.

humble and condescending demeanor is displayed. One of the highest order of these celestial messengers-" Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God,"-winged his flight from his heavenly mansion to our wretched world, and, directing his course to one of the most despicable villages of Galilee, entered into the hovel of a poor vir gin, and delivered a message of joy, with the most affectionate and condescending gratulations. Another of these benevolent beings entered the dungeon in which Peter was bound with chains, knocked off his fetters, addressed him in the language of kindness, and delivered him from the hands of his furious persecutors. When Paul was tossing in a storm, on the billows of the Adriatic, a forlorn exile from his native land, and a poor despised prisoner, on whom the grandees of this world looked down with contempt,-another of these angelic beings, "stood by him," during the darkness of the night and the war of the elements, and consoled his mind with the assurance of the divine favour and protection. Lazarus was a poor despised individual, in abject poverty and distress, and dependent on charity for his subsistence. He lay at the gate of a rich man, without friends or attendants, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from his table. His body was covered with boils and ulcers, which were exposed without covering to the open air; for the "dogs came and licked his sores." What nobleman or grandee would have condescended to make a companion of a fellow-creature in such loathsome and abject circumstances? Who, even of the common people, would have received such a person into their houses, or desired his friendship? Who would have accounted it an honour, when he died, to attend his funeral? Celestial beings, however, view the circumstances, and the characters of men in a very different light, from that in which they appear to "the children of pride." Poor and despised as Lazarus was, a choir of angels descended from their mansions of glory, attended him on his dying couch, and wafted his disembodied spirit to the realms of bliss.

Since, then, it appears, that angelic beings, notwithstanding their exalted stations, and the superior glories of their character, are "clothed with humility,"-it must form a distinguishing trait in our moral characters, if we expect to be admitted into their society in the world to come. For how could we enter into harmonious fellowship with these pure intelligences, if we were actuated with dispositions diametrically opposite to theirs, and what happiness would result from such an association, were it possible to be effected? A proud man, were he admitted into heaven, could feel no permanent enjoyment. The external glory of the place might dazzle his eyes for a little, but he would feel no relish for the society and the employments of that world. The peculiar honour conferred on patriarchs, pro