394 GOD'S GLORY SHOWN IN HEAVEN. stained earth; but we also know that there is a place in another world that exceeds this ideal one in every respect. It is where "the nations of them that are saved" walk; and there is a way to reach it"a highway;" and those who pass over it come with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads," to a land of perpetual joy, where "sorrow and sighing flee away." Also, "the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it." The monarchs of this world are proud to embellish their royal seats; are ambitious to gather memorials of grandeur, and perform great and heroic deeds, that they may get glory to their name and kingdom. Monuments, statues, libraries, everything that can contribute to renown and prosperity are secured, and a king is regarded in character and capacity according to the extent to which he hath cared for these things. A wise king will regard the interest and welfare of his subjects, and plan for their advantage; so He who presides over the heavenly kingdom has the best and highest welfare of his subjects at heart continually, and has not neglected the gathering of things from all his universe that would in the least contribute to the happiness of his loyal and faithful The preparations and improvements which he has made are indeed magnificent and royal, and all the splendor of the richest and proudest cities of time is not at all comparable with the City of God. He avails himself of every source to add unto its glory, and for this "the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it." Proud empires of the past, with all their grandeur and glory, have fallen, and those who founded and beautified them have also passed away; but whoso is engaged in bringing "glory and honor" into the celestial empire will have a name written upon a more enduring monument than earth ever produced, and a memory perpetuated in the annals of heaven forever. ones. "The gates shall not be shut at all by day." This implies a feeling of most perfect security; but the significance of the GATES OF THE CITY NOT SHUT. 395 idea is not to us what it was to John, or what it is to people of the East now, whose cities are encircled by walls, the gates of which are closed the greater part of the time, to the no small inconvenience of those that are within. At certain hours of the day they are closed upon the moving mass within; and be their desire ever so strong, their wants ever so pressing, they must remain in the enclosure. The restrictions of a massive wall are ever around them, but in the heavenly city "the gates shall not be shut at all by day." There is freedom there without restraint, though at the same time the holy soul will wish for no indulgence that is not perfectly reasonable and right. Curiosity will never look through the open gates with unhallowed purpose. Desire will never be roaming abroad with doubtful intent, for the inhabitants of that city are satisfied with their portion. The heavenly home is indeed "bright and fair." It is a glorious place that the Saviour has prepared for them that love Him. Precious is that which is spoken concerning it. Why are not souls more enraptured with it? A dying girl awoke from a transient dream. "I was painting a beautiful picture o" heaven," said she; and her countenance glowed with intense delight at the vision she had caught. If the vision be fair, what will the reality be? If the anticipation yield so much pleasure, what will actual possession be? Nothing but unbounded love and goodness are manifest in the provisions which God has made for his followers. If it had been the province of man, after the fall, to have framed a plan for the future home of his soul, would it have been anything like this that we have now to hope for? The highest conception of the imperfect man could never have reached it. Therefore, let the world rejoice that God took it upon himself to plan and build the New Jerusalem, the foundation and superstructure of which is surpassingly strong and beautiful. Let gratitude swell the hearts of the children of men that one so infinitely good and able has undertaken to furnish and people it; that he has sent forth his invitation, saying, Come, dwell 396 HEAVEN SURPASSES HUMAN THOUGHTS. in my city, and be at rest; come, share in the blessings I am prepared to bestow. "Loud let his praises ring; Praise, praise for aye," because of the glory revealed the heaven offered. Tantalus saw a good that he thirsted for continually, but could never reach it; so heaven might be very fair and beautiful in our eyes, while our spirits were pining in the vain effort to attain it. We might be justly tantalized in this way; but God, who is "rich in mercy," has been pleased to make the priceless good attainable, and open a way by which all that will may have part in the purchased possession- the rich inheritance. Heaven is open to receive all that come in this appointed way, and their names will be registered in the "book of life,” to remain forever. Saint and angel bands stand waiting to receive the newly-arrived, and conduct them to places where are "fulness of joy" and "pleasures forevermore;" where "The river of life, in many a winding maze, with "excessive glory" crowns the scene. ETERNAL LIFE A CONTINUATION OF THIS. 397 CHAPTER XXIV. OCCUPATIONS OF THE BLEST. Eternal Life a Continuation of this. · Future physical Economy unknown. - Activity a Law of all Being. — Memory survives. · -- Redeeming Love the grand Theme. Praise. tue. Heaven a glad Surprise. "Whate'er the spirits blest pursue, - Study of Science. Cultivation of Vir THE germ of the future life is hidden in that of the present, and all unfoldings of it here will be the enhancement of its strength, beauty, and sweetness in the day of final perfection hereafter. All that we can attain unto here, notwithstanding all our artificial forces, is, as it were, a feeble bud, that refuses to open and display its inner character. Life blossoms only under the genial influences of heaven. Its petals fully expand only in the favoring air of the upper sphere, and the richness of the tinting they receive there surpasses the power of the imagination to conceive. The full and perfect rose of to-day was but a tiny bud a short time since, apparently of no such capacity as is now evident. The unfolding has revealed its interior life, and presented an aspect of which we might never have dreamed, had we not seen it; but we fail not to recognize the relation 398 THIS LIFE A GERM. between the bud and the flower. The same principle is manifest through formation and development; and somewhat like unto this is the life of man. Redeemed saints, who now walk the heavenly vales, were a short time since encircled by bands they could not break. On either side was a covering they could not burst, and it concealed beauty and power that they themselves did not know they possessed. The parted folds may, indeed, have disclosed richness of coloring, or that which betokened it; but the breadth of expansion of which they were capable was all,unknown. The life they now live is only the continuation, the development of that life which was begun on earth. The successive stages of the embryotic state were all necessary, and had each their interesting phases; but in none was it imagined what the perfected glory would be. They see the once feeble germ spreading itself, and becoming constantly more perfect. Life is on a higher plane. The position is elevated, and the soul looks out from a different stand-point. They could never before understand the interior life of the saints. Conception and perception are now faculties vastly unlike those they knew below, and their purity, quickness, and intensity have been given for the appreciation and enjoyment of everything in their new life. Bands and coverings are broken and burst, and they have emerged exultingly into a free and joyous existence, too broad and high to be comprehended, except with new vision and divinely imparted power for this very purpose. They have all that is necessary to secure adaptation to the world into which they have been ushered, to the things by which they are surrounded, and the society of which they form a part. When they chose Christ for their portion upon earth, then were incorporated into their souls these elements of a heavenly life; and through reliance upon unfailing promises, they were permitted earnests and foretastes of rich joy that God would reveal in his good time; but there was something in that joy they could not know while encompassed by mortality. |