ty and repentance; and these God may be teaching you, though you are too dull of understanding to perceive the movements of his hand. Pray, therefore, to God, and humble yourself before him, and he will lift you up. And be assured, that at the last day, all our proud and presumptuous thoughts will vanish before him: that, on the one hand God will appear to have been both just and merciful to his creatures; and, on the other, the destruction of men will clearly appear to have proceeded wholly from themselves, and to be the natural and just effect of their own transgressions.

SERMON IV.

ON THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN.

Rev. xxi. 3—5.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is 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 sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the Throne said, Behold, I make all things

new.

THE mind of man ought to be impressed with an anxious desire of knowing what will be his state, when he is removed out of this transitory life. We see our friends taken away from us; and we know that in a short time, we ourselves shall be summoned to depart hence, and to enter the region of spirits; and no one has yet been permitted to return from that unknown country, to answer the numerous inquiries which we should be eager to make concerning its nature and enjoyments. The Book of God indeed, which informs us of every thing necessary for man to know, has

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partly removed the veil; and although it has not told us enough to satisfy curiosity, it has done what is far more important: it has given us such a representation of the glory of the world to come as, without explaining its precise nature, may serve to elevate our expectations to the highest pitch, to kindle our warmest desire, to inspire us with fortitude under the evils of this transitory life, to dispose us to consider the attainment of heaven as the only object which deserves our solicitude and exertions.

In the description given, in my text, of heaven, three particulars are contained:

I. The peculiar residence of God amongst men. "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them."

II. The special relation in which its inhabitants stand to God, and God to them. "They shall be his people; and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."

III. The new circumstances in which they will be placed. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away: and He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new."

1. The first particular of the heavenly state described in my text is, the immediate presence and residence of God.-Now God, being every where present, cannot, strictly speaking, be said to dwell more in one place than in another. And as God is equally present in every place, so he pays an equal attention to every part of the universe. He as perfectly observes all that

is transacted, either in the remotest recess of hell or the most obscure place on earth, as that which is done in heaven. Whenever, therefore, God is said in the Scripture specially to dwell in any place, we are to understand, that he there peculiarly manifests his presence; he there, in a particular manner, exerts his power,

displays his agency, reveals his glory, or pours forth the stores of his bounty. Hence, of old he was said to dwell in the tabernacle; for there he revealed his will; there the children of Israel applied for help, and obtained deliverance from their oppressors: thence the pestilence was dispatched, as it were, to punish the disobedient; and there the pardon of transgressors was announced. In a still more appropriate sense, God was said to dwell in the temple. A visible brightness indicated somewhat of the glory of God; wonderful and miraculous displays of power, mercy, and love, denoted his peculiar presence.-In like manner, the Spirit of God, is said to dwell in the hearts of real Christians; that is, he manifests his presence in them by the exertions of Divine power and mercy, by enlightening the soul with knowledge, by sanctifying it with grace, by supporting and cheering it with Divine consolations. These scriptural ideas will serve to explain to us more clearly the meaning of God's "dwelling in heaven." In heaven, the Divine glory, wisdom, holiness, power and love, will be exhibited in the strongest colours. As a glory formerly filled the holy of holies; not that the glory was God, but only a sensible indication of his presence; so may the brightest glory be supposed perpetually to illuminate every part of those blessed regions: "for they shall have no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine therein; for the glory of God does enlighten them, and there shall be no night there." There will the mind be continually astonished, delighted, and elevated by proofs of wisdom, not obscure, or sparing, or finite, but clear, and manifest, and boundless. There, too, the holiness and purity of the Divine Nature will beam forth in rays of lustre: not such, indeed as will dazzle the beholder, but rather such as will illuminate him with their splendour, and transform him into the same celestial "image, from glory to glory." There will be exhibited the most stupendous acts of Divine power. There also will be poured forth, in the richest profusion and variety, and the