the hearts of men on things above-things as enduring as the immortal mind-the truth is uttered as with a thousand tongues. The voice of history speaks it; the word of God teaches it; and universal observation and experience loudly proclaim it. Yet how slow is man to believe, and how much slower to act as though he believed, the truth so clearly taught. Earth fades from his view, but he perceives it not. The foundation of his hopes and happiness crumbles under his feet, but he feels it not. The prize of immortality glitters before him in the sunbeams of mercy, but he sees it not. But to those who close not their eyes against the light of history, experience, and the Bible, the truth of our first proposition must appear abundantly evident. And to those who exercise aright their powers of mind and heart, and improve the grace of God given them, light from eternity breaks forth and reveals the holy city-the continuing city. It is not here. It is yet to come. It is finally to descend from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, lit up with the glory of God, and vocal with celestial sounds, for the reception of the followers of Jesus. II. I pass to notice briefly the character of that glorious city, as it is figuratively revealed in the Divine word. It is called a "city of habitations." Abraham, it is said, "looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." And again it is said of the faithful, that "they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." But how shall we speak of it? How can I set forth the excellences of the city of our God? I cannot give you clear ideas concerning it. On this subject, mortal language is too poor to give a clear and full representation. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nor hath it entered the heart to conceive, adequately and clearly, the glories of the Christian's final home. Yet we are not left entirely in the dark: a few rays stream from the sacred world, and faintly illu mine the sublime scenery. The beloved John the Divine, on his lonely isle, had a few rich specimens dropt down fresh from heaven, which he has collected and embodied in the form of a description. The outlines given in this description, although brief and general in their character, flash light from the upper world on this alluring subject, and furnish at least an obscure picture of the Holy City. It is represented as descending out of heaven from God, "Having the glory of God; and its light like unto stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and having a wall great and high, and twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel." Here the strength and security of the city are intimated. Mark ye well her bulwarks: consider her こ : 3 divine fortifications. View her walls of precious stone--her pearly gates, "on golden hinges turning." Her invulnerable battlements-her foundation garnished with all manner of precious stone. But the glorious light of this city is another element of its perfect safety and perpetual security. The glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Nothing unholy or impure can ever dwell in this light. All who are permitted to dwell within its sacred precincts will be eternally free from everything that can disturb their peace or mar their felicity. "The nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it." The light and holiness of heaven must ever prove one of the mightiest guards of security against rude or unholy intrusion. The occupants of that happy world will be guarded from every natural ill, and defended from every spiritual foe. They ever dwell in the milder light of God's approving smile, and the glorious presence of their awful God, as an encircling cloud of rolling fire, shall shine for the defence and glory of the celestial citadel. Another attraction is, that it is a commodious and well furnished city. It contains many mansions, spacious apartments, and unfailing crystal fountains. It affords ample accommodations for a multitude of saints and angels, which no man can number. A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God; and the tree of life spreading wide its branches, and bearing luxuriously its fruits and healing leaves, furnish the citizens with unfailing supplies. But the beauty and splendor of this city stagger the imagination, and bid defrance to the powers of description. Its magnificence is unique and altogether peculiar. It is a golden city. Its streets, its avenues, and all its sacred palaces, shine with a transparency like unto clear glass. Its lofty domes reflect celestial rays, and its turrets glitter in the sunlight of unclouded glory. And the entertainments of heaven, how delightful! The music of that holy city, how charming! It is to be a world of song--a society of the most illustrious and finished performers. Harps tuned to the melodies of the skies-voices harmonized to the new song and to angelic anthems, constitute the celestial choir. Soft notes resound through the blissful apartments: the thrilling strains are wafted melodiously on the balmy breezes. Joy, and gladness, and immortal triumph, are the themes which inspire their tongues and employ their golden lyres. The melody is enchanting. No discord ever mars the music of heaven: it is perfect. It rolls a tide of extatic influence over all the regions of glory, which thrills and enraptures, and charms every susceptibility of the soul. The climate, too, of that happy world, will be adapted to promote the highest degree of felicity among all its inhabitants. No midsummer's burning beams or blighting winds ever oppress their active faculties. No chilling, cheerless, wintry blast is ever heard or felt. The extremes of heat and cold are unknown. Perfect health reigns in every system, and blooms on every countenance. A joyous clime of perpetual salubrity, forever undisturbed by poisonous vapor, pervades all the heavenly region. Odors of Eden-zephyrs perfumed by the flowers of a perennial Paradise, waft their gentle refreshing influence around every dwelling, and along every avenue. There--"Sickness and sorrow, pain and death, But there "The rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains, The sacred pleasures of the holy city will be greatly enhanced by the kindly dispositions and friendly intercourse of its citizens. The society of heaven is, and ever will be, of the most exalted kind. Patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs-the good and the truly great of all ages and generations will be there. Every pure and noble spirit that ever adorned this dark world will be there. Every one who loved God and virtue here will join that blissful society. The holy, the excellent, the truly dignified, from every clime, kindred, and country on the face of the whole earth, will, as if drawn by the irresistible laws of moral attraction, meet at that common centre of light and purity. They will there unite with an unnumbered multitude of holy angels in the em ployments of the heavenly world. And these countless numbers of glorified beings shall be of one heart and one mind. No discordant feeling or jarring sentiment ever interrupts the harmony of heaven. They all love, and praise, and serve the Lord. They are all Divinity students. The book of Universal Theology unfolds its ample pages and sheds the light of pure truth all around them. No tiresome process is requisite there. Truth has not to be dug out as an hid treasure, or traced as a fugitive through the dim lights of letters and sentences: it there beams forth from its essential fountain in stereotyped characters of divinity. And none are unemployed there. Not one indifferent spectator in all the heavenly ranks. All gaze and admire, and wonder and adore. Every mind will be divinely fledged for an unwearied uninterrupted flight-a boundless excursion, learning and admiring the works and ways of God forever. But the highest excellence of this city is its durability. It is a continuing city; an eternal city. It was built for eternity, and not for time. It is fire-proof and time-proof. If, with all its magnificence and indescribable beauty, it were subject to those vicissitudes which attend our earthly cities, it would not be 80 desirable. But the crowning glory of this city is its eternity. The grand arch-stone of its splendor is that it knows no deterioration. Its foundations were laid by the great Architect of the uni verse. He designs it to stand while endless ages are rolling onward. He intends it to be as enduring as the immortal inhabitants who occupy it. He designs its existence to be commensurate with his own. And shall his design be frustrated? Shall not God's work stand? What can destroy it? Can floods? or fire? or sword? or principalities or powers? or angels? or devils? or old Time with his wasting scythe? No! Neither powers above nor powers below, can ever move its mighty walls, or shake its firm embattlements. Nor can time ever leave the marks of his decaying fingers on its humble abode. It stands immovably and unchangeably fixed on the base of its own eternity. Its structure proclaims its divinity. It bears inscribed in characters of living light, on its loftiest pinnacles and lowliest dwellings, the ever during impress of immortality. What a contrast does this picture present to our decaying and dilapidated homes and cities in this world! Here, in this vain, changing, and fading world, everything is unstable, fluctuating, and insecure. No inheritance that is permanent--no pleasure uninterrupted by pain-no wealth that is enduring-no happiness that is perfectly suited to the immortal mind. Friends, the nearest and dearest, are in a moment torn away by the ruthless hand of Death. The brightest earthly prospects are blighted in an instant, and the sunshine of hope extinguished by thick clouds of despair. There is no spot on earth where man can fix his residence with the rational hope of permanent bliss. But on heaven's peaceful shore all is glorious, and shall forever be fadeless and changeless. The choice treasures of the universe are there collected, and far above the contamination of sin or the decaying influences of time, they shall remain unharmed forever, an inheritance for saints and angels, indestructible as the throne of God. This splendid city is the Christian's future home. It is the place he isseeking; and the certain prospect of attaining to its yet unexplored glories, comforts and cheers the Christian pilgrim amid the blasts of adversity and storms of persecution which beat upon him in this world. It is the glorious rest that remains to the people of God, when the storms, and toils, and tumults of mortal life shall be overpast. Well may the Christian say"Let time fly; let my days and weeks speed their flight-'They'll waft us sooner o'er this life's tempestuous sea. Let the lying vanities of time cheat those that trust in them; but O, my soul! forever praise the Lord, that he has revealed unto thee the unfailing treasure-an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and eternal." Perhaps now you suffer affliction, poverty, reproachwell, endure a little longer, as seeing Him who is invisible. You shall soon exchange your present condition for a brighter, better, happier world. Those eyes that are now given to penitential weeping, shall shortly be opened on scenes of glory, and every tear be wiped away. That voice that now supplicates mercy, shall soon join the songs of triumph. That hand that is now doomed to daily toil, shall ere long be made immortal, and taught to strike skil fully a golden harp, whose notes shall swell the anthems of the redeemed. There are some who will not be persuaded to seek a mansion in that city. They are too busy pursuing the little interests of this world, to think much about the Heavenly Jerusalem. If an angel were to descend from the immediate neighborhood of God's throne, and paint for them the beauties of this city, in the dialect of Heaven, he could scarcely gain their attention; he could not induce them to forego their petty trifles, and seek a better inheritance. Houses and lands, precarious wealth, sordid pleasures, and deceitful honors, engage their hearts and employ their thoughts. They seem to forget that they have to die. They live as though inspiration had never written" Here have we no continuing city." They have made choice of a momentary good, and they "strive to think it best." Are there not multitudes that are acting thus? That there are we cannot doubt. Of such, I would seriously inquire, why do you thus slight your deathless interests? Is it rational? or is it safe? Does it comport with the dignity of your immortal nature, thus to bury all your hopes and fears, your toils and cares, in this clod of earth? Can it render you lasting pleasure? You know it cannot. Will you, then, have a home in Heaven? Will you be persuaded to accept a share in that blessed inheritance? You can have it, "without money, and without price." And do you not feel that you need something more enduring than this world can give? Do you not know and sometimes feel, that the world can never give that which is necessary to satisfy the longing desires of your soul? Well, God your Saviour has purchased a home for your undying spirit, where your every reasonable desire may be gratified. But permit me to assure you, that it is not in this world. The earth, with all its splendid palaces and stately mansions, its towns and cities, its delightful country seats and pleasant cottages, will ere long be "burned up." When the globe shall be set on fire by the hand of Omnipotence, all its glittering objects of splendor and pleasure will become fuel for the general conflagration. And even now, how precarious are all your earthly pos sessions, and how changing the scenes of pleasure you "fondly call your own?" And how extremely uncertain all your present enjoyments? What care, anxiety, and toil are constantly requisite to keep your earthly abodes from falling into disorder and confusion. Your garments are waxing old-your substance is decaying your gold and silver depreciating-your farms are growing up with noxious weeds-and even your barns and store |