We walk, as through a valley shut in on each side by lofty mountains, whose tops are lost amidst the clouds, whose shadows add to the obscurity of our situation, and whose mighty masses stand between us and the prospect which lies beyond. How imperfect and limited is our knowledge of the great God-of the spirituality of his nature-of his necessary self-existence from eternity-of his triune essence! How feeble are our conceptions of the complex person of Christ, the God-man Mediator; of the scheme of providence, embracing the history of our world, and of all other worlds; and of the connection between providence and redemption! How have divines and philosophers been perplexed on the subject of the entrance of moral evil; on the agreement between divine prescience, and the freedom of the human will; between moral inability, and human accountability! How much obscurity hangs, in our view, over many of the operations of nature! how soon do we arrive at ultimate laws, which, for aught we can tell, may be only the effects of causes that are hidden from our observation! In what ignorance do we live, of many of the most common occurrences around us. Who has perfect ideas of the essences of things, separate and apart from their qualities of matter, for instance, or spirit? Who can perfectly conceive how the idea of motion results from that of body, or how the idea of sensation results from that of spirit? On what theme shall we meditate, and not be mortified to find how little progress we can make before we are arrested by insurmountable difficulties? On what eminence shall we take our stand, and to what part of the horizon direct our eye, and not see clouds and shadows resting like a veil upon the prospect? How truly is it said, "We know but in part." Angels must wonder at the limitation of our ideas; and disembodied spirits must be astonished at the mighty bound they make, by that one step which conducts them across the threshold of eternity. had explored, as we imagine, some of the secrets of the unseen world-who had fathomed so much of the depth, measured so much of the height, of truth; even he tells us, that he was but in his minority.What an idea does it give us of the infinitude of knowledge yet to be obtained, when we are informed that the Bible itself, even the New Testament, that book of books, the work of which it is said, it has God for its author, truth without any mixture of error, for its contents, and salvation for its end, is but a book for children, a work for saints in their infancy, a mere elementary treatise on the subject of eternal truth, written by the finger of God, for his family, during their education and noviciate on earth. The second similitude, by which the present imperfection of our knowledge is set forth, is that very partial acquaintance which we gain with material objects, by looking at them through a glass. "Now we see through a glass, darkly." Considerable diversity of opinion prevails as to the precise object of the apostle's allusion in the expression which he here employs. It is admitted that the word in the original literally signifies n mirror; and hence most expositors consider that the comparison is to this article, and that his meaning is, that our knowledge of divine truth in this world, is only of that partial kind which we gain by seeing objects reflected from a mirror. But does this accord with his design, which is to represent the obscurity of our present ideas, compared with what we shall know hereafter, when that which is perfect is come? The knowledge we gain of an object that is reflected from a highly polished surface is too accurate to furnish such a comparison. Hence some are of opinion-and this is the view I take-that the allusion is to those semi-transparent substances, such as horn and diaphanous stones, which were used in windows before glass was known, and through which objects would be but very dimly seen. The apostle illustrates the present imperfection Nothing could better accord with the apostle's purof our knowledge, compared with its future advance- pose than this. How dim and shadowy do those ment, by two similitudes. The first is, the differ- forms appear, which we discover through such a ence between the ideas of a child and those of a man. medium: we discern only the mere outline; every "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I under- thing is seen imperfectly, and many things connectstood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I ed with the object are not seen at all. "We see it became a man, I put away childish things." The through a glass, darkly." The term rendered meaning of Paul in this verse is-that our know- "darkly" signifies an enigma, a riddle, a form of ledge in the heavenly state will be as different from, speech in which one thing is put for another; which, and as superior to, any thing we gain on earth, as though in some respects like it, is but an obscure rethe ideas of an adult, in the maturity of his intellect-presentation, and calculated to puzzle those who are ual powers, are to those which he entertained when required to find out the thing which is thus darkly he was a child. Our knowledge at present, is that shadowed forth. of children; we are not only in the minority, but in the infancy, of our minds. Our notions are the opinions of children; our discourses are the lispings of children; our controversies the reasonings of children. The prodigious attainments of those great luminaries, Bacon, Milton, Boyle, Locke, Newton; and in the science of theology, of those great divines, Owen, Howe, Charnock, Baxter, Bates, Butler, Hooker;-all these are but the productions of children, written for the instruction of others less taught than themselves. Yea, the apostle includes himself and his writings in the description-"We know in part, and we prophesy in part. When I was a child, I spake as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." He alludes to his own childish conceits, and puerile simplicity, which had given way to the matured knowledge of his riper years; and, by implication, declares his expectation, that the knowledge which he should gain in the celestial state would be as much above his present views, as they were beyond those which he entertained when he was a child.Yes, that greatest of mere men-that illustrious individual who had been in the third heaven-who | Here it may be proper to inquire why divine truth is at present involved in so much comparative darkness. It is designed to accord with the analogy of faith. We are to walk by faith, which is not only opposed to the testimony of the sense, but is distinguished also from the clearness and certainty of perfect knowledge. It comports also with the purpose of a divine revelation. There is no doubt but that some of the clouds which envelope the subjects of revealed truth could have been dissipated, and many things put in a still clearer light. A studied caution, a designed reserve, is maintained in some places; for as the Bible is given to be a test of moral disposition, the evidence should be sufficient to demand belief, without being enough to compel it. The Bible affords us light enough to assist us in discharging the duties of this world, and to guide us to glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life; but it concedes nothing to curiosity, nothing to a spirit of restless inquiry. It stands like a waymark on the high road to eternity, and is intended simply to announce what is truth, and the way to its dwelling-place, but not to make known to the traveller all the details of the city to which he journeying. And, in another view, this obscurity is absolute necessary. If the disclosure were more obscure, would be beyond our apprehension; we could kn nothing; and, in that case, religion could have existence, or exist only as the blind offspring of norance. If it were more cloudy and shadowy would have no power to arrest attention or inte the heart: it might, indeed, point to a brighter st where it would throw off the dense covering which it had en wrapped itself on earth; but to tle of the beauty of truth would be seen to capti our affections, and to allure us to fono her to world where she displays her unveiled glories as revelation is now given to us, enough o beauty of truth is seen, to inspire us with a tri fection; enough is concealed, to make us lo see her face to face. And were all the knowl that it is possible for us to receive, actually comi nicated to us, who, amidst such acquisitions, cour attend to the low pursuits of ordinary affairs? The immediate effect of such a disclosure would be to produce, so far as real Christians are concerned, a total stagnation of the affairs of this life. All the studies and pursuits, the arts and the labors, which now employ the activity of man-which support order, or promote happiness--would lie neglected and abandoned. It is necessary that something of the magnitude of truth should be concealed-something of its effulgence softened-something of its beauty veiled; or the holy mind of the Christian, absorbed in such a vision, would find all that is important in life utterly insignificant, and all that is attractive tasteless and insipid. Disturbed in his lofty meditations, and interrupted in his ecstasies, by the din of business, and the obtrusion of low, grovelling cares, and judging that scenes of secular activity unfitted him for communion with this heavenly visitant,ne would retire from the social haunts of men, to converse with truth in the solitude of the hermitage or the silence of the desert. So necessary is it to hang a veil on the too dazzling brightness of divine subjects. This partial obscurity is also necessary, on account of the feebleness and limited extent of our faculties. Our minds could no more bear to look upon the unmitigated glory of divine truth, than the eye of an infant could sustain the unsoftened effulgence of the mid-day sun. Our minds cannot grasp, in its full extent, one single subject out of all the mighty theory. Some vague idea may be formed of the almost illimitable range of this plan, when we recollect that its development is to employ our understanding in the highest state of intellectual perfection, and to employ it, not for a measured term, but through the countless ages of an endless existence. The study, the discovery, the enjoyment, of truth, will form one of the chief felicities of the heavenly state: but what must that knowledge be, which is to afford something new and interesting through eternity? how can this be obtained by man in the infancy of his existence upon earth? There are subjects yet to be known, which would have no less surpassed the understanding of Newton, than his profound discoveries in science would the mind of a child. No wonder, then, that we walk at present amidst shades and glimmerings. But how humbling is this view of the subject to the pride of intellect! There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding." The thinking mind is the glory of our nature; it is the candle of the Lord shining "in the earthly house of our tabernacle," and giving light to all the faculties of our soul, to guide their operations, and to direct them in their appropriate business. To what an immea uas cause to clothe himsen w mility. HEAVEN A STATE OF PERFECT KNOWLEDGE. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know but in part; but then shall I know, even as I am known." ALL these expressions refer to the celestial world, and unite to teach us that heaven is a state of perfect knowledge. Here we know only part of truth; then we shall know the whole: here we know nothing but in a partial manner: there we shall know every thing completely: here we see truth, only as we perceive the dark shadow of a man, through a dense medium; there we shall behold it as clearly as we do the same man when we see him face to face; there we shall know truth, even as we are known by superior beings, i. e. with as much certainty, though not with the same comprehension. This last expression has been sometimes explained, as conveying the intimation that we shall recognize each other in the celestial state. "We shall know others, even as we are known by them." Many reasons concur to produce the expectation of this mutual recognition. It is almost impossible to suppose that we shall maintain our identity, not only of person but of character; and also the reminiscence of our earthly existence and history; without believing the interesting truth, that we shall again be mutually known to each other in the heavenly world. This is one of the sentiments which the sacred writers rather take for granted than stop to prove. But certainly this is not the meaning of the passage now under consideration. The apostle here speaks of our knowledge of things, not of persons. The felicity of the celestial state will, doubtless, include every thing that can yield delight to a corporeal, social, intellectual, and moral creature. It is eternal life-everlasting existence, attended by every thing that can render existence, a blessing. It is life, in the fullest sense of the term-life in the highest degree of perfection. The glorified body will probably retain the organs of sound and sight, the purest of the senses, and thus become the inlet of the most pleasurable sensations; while it will be for ever free from the cravings of appetite, the languor of sickness, the distress of pain, the weariness of labor. The social impulse will be gratified by the sublime converse of "the innumerable com We walk, as through a valley shist men made per- | much of power, wisdom, and goodness, of the divine by lofty mountains, whose tops all combine in the clouds, whose shadows add the intellect will be irsituation, and whose mightyal truth. The heart will us and the prospect whicent of the chief good, and perfect and limited is lation of the first truth; beGod-of the spiritualimains to be enjoyed-nothing sary self-existence Architect are displayed in the works of creation — yet these things are now hidden from a great portion of the redeemed, who, by the disadvantages of their education, are shut out from these sources of knowledge. But they will be admitted to them in heaven. Creation will not be destroyed at the judgment day, but only purified. The vast and sence! How fee considering heaven under the re- splendid machine will not then be thrown aside, broplex person of a state of knowledge, and as an in-ken up, and consigned to oblivion. Nothing which scheme of pration. In this light the Scriptures fre- the hand of the Creator hath framed shall be forworld, and ak of the glory to be revealed. They gotten. The brilliant scenes which are now pastion betvinheritance "in light;" they describe it as sing before our eyes, but on which many, even rehave d where there is no night. There "we shall generated minds look without understanding them, the sim as he is," "behold his glory," "see him face are not a mere pageant. Beautiful was the remark agrace:" expressions which relate more to the eyes of the eminently pious Bishop Hall, who, on being the mind than to those of the body. Perhaps we told in his old age, that his views of astronomy were do not sufficiently contemplate heaven in this view not quite correct, replied, "Well! it may be so; but of it. The greater part of mankind are taken up I am soon going to heaven, and as I shall take the with mere sensations, and are but little acquainted stars in my way, I must leave the subject till then, with the pure enjoyment connected with the per- when every mistake will be rectified." So comception of evidence and the apprehension of truth. pletely will all the disadvantages of our earthly conThe rapturous exclamation, "I have found it!" is dition be removed in heaven, whether those disadrarely uttered by the multitude, over any thing but vantages arise from the Christian being born in an the acquisition of wealth or the gratification of ap- age when knowledge is in its infancy, or amidst petite. But those who have been engaged in any those privations of property which deny him access measure in intellectual pursuits, will be able to ap- to the sources of information. In the hour of death, preciate the pleasures of knowledge. Evidence is the pious but illiterate tenant of the cottage, on to the mind like light to the eye, and the perception whose mind the orb of science never rose, though of truth, as water to the thirsty. Even the compa- the sun of righteousness poured upon it the light of ratively barren sciences of numbers and figures, a spiritual illumination, ascends above the disadwhich exclude the operation of the fancy, and pre- vantages of education, makes a glorious transition sent nothing to exercise the passions or gratify the from the shades of ignorance, in which he dwelt imagination, the truths of which derive all their in- upon earth, into the cloudless transparency of the terest from the evidence by which they are sup- firmament on high. His natural faculties, comported, or the manner in which they are applied to pressed and enfeebled now by the circumstances of other purposes;-yes; even these are a source of his birth, shall then expand to a comprehension, high and pure enjoyment to the human mind, which and attain to a vigor, probably not surpassed by the is ever seeking to arrive at infallible certainty, and loftiest of the human race: and he, too, shall know can repose nowhere else. What exquisite delight in heaven, the works of the God of nature, as he knew has been experienced by some men, when, after a below, and shall still better know above, the works long process of reasoning, or a fatiguing course of of the God of grace. experiments, they have at length arrived at a demonstration. If, then, in the present world, where the subjects of our research are often so insignificant, where our knowledge is obtained with such labor, is limited by so much ignorance, and blended with so much error; if amidst such circumstances the pleasure of knowledge be so great,-what will it be in the heavenly state? Let us consider what will be the OBJECTS of our knowledge. If we may be allowed the expression, we shall know all things that are knowable, so far as an acquaintance with them will contribute to our felicity. We shall know every thing that is essential to the right performance of duty, or to the most perfect gratification of our intellect-all that lies within our proper sphere or compass as creatures. We shall perfectly comprehend all the laws which govern the material world. The discovery of these are now considered to be among the most dignified and gratifying employments of the human understanding. It was his discoveries in natural philosophy which gave to our great Newton his celebrity. What a high station in the records of fame is assigned to Linneus, La Place, Davy, and Watt, and to others, who have explored the secrets and explained the laws of nature' They are ranked among the illustrious members and most valuable benefactors of their species. They are looked up to with a kind of semi-idolatry, and their praises are continually chanted for their vast achievements, not only in adding to the stock of knowledge, but in accumulating fresh honors upon human nature. What sublime and astonishing facts are included in the sciences of astronomy, optics, chemistry! how Providence will form another mighty range of inquiry, and another source of delightful knowledge in heaven. By providence, we mean God's moral government of the universe-the course of the divine administration towards rational and moral creatures: that mighty scheme, which commenced its application before time was born, or the foundations of the earth were laid; which embraces the annals of other worlds besides ours; which includes the history of angels, men, and devils. Providence comprises the whole range of events, which have taken place from the formation of the first creature, to the last moment of time, with all the tendencies, reasons, connections, and results, of things; the separate existence of each individual, with the continuation and influence of the whole, in one harImonious scheme. Providence is now full of mysteries. We are puzzled at almost every step. Innumerable are the events over which, after having in vain endeavored to sound their depth with the line of our reason, we must exclaim, “O the depth!" But we shall know all; why sin was permitted, and how it entered, with all the attendant train of incomprehensible results which followed its introduction into the moral universe. It will then be made apparent to us, why so long a period elapsed between the first promise of a Saviour, and his incarnation, sufferings, and death: why, for so many ages, the world was left in ignorance, sin, and misery: why such errors were permitted to enter the church; and so soon, and so extensively, to corrupt the simplicity and deform the beauty of the Christian profession: why the man of sin was suffered to establish his seat in the temple of Christ; to exalt himself above all that is called God; to utter his little do we know of God, of his essence, of his triune mode of subsistence, of his natural pertections, of his moral attributes? What an unfathomable mystery is Deity! In what a pavilion of darkfind out God? In heaven we shall know him, for we shall see him face to face; we shall behold his glory, and see him as he is. We shall have as perfect an acquaintance with the divine character, as a finite mind can attain to; and in this one object, shall find employment and bliss through eternity. We shall never exhaust this theme. Eternity is necessary to study that which is infinite. blasphemy; to shed the blood of the saints; and so long to spread the clouds of superstition, and the shades of death, over Christendom: why the impostor of Mecca was allowed to arise, and for so many ages to render a large portion of the earth inacces-ness does Jehovah dwell! Who, by searching, can sible to the rays of the Sun of Righteousness: why idolatry, with all its sanguinary deities, and all its bloody and obscene rites, was left so long to insult the heavens, to pollute the earth, and to curse mankind. What deep unfathomable mysteries are these! How confounding to our reason, and how utterly beyond our research! What astonishment and delight, what inconceivable emotions, will be produced by the gradual unfolding of the mighty scheme, by the progressive discoveries of the connections and issues of things, and the wondrous display of divine glory which will be made by the whole. How shall we be enraptured to find, that those events which now so confound us, were dark only by excess of wisdom, and that those facts which so often distressed us upon earth were but the more sombre shades of the perfect picture! What manifestations of Deity will then be made, when God shall admit us to his cabinet, and lay open to us the arcana of his government! We shall there comprehend, so far as it can be done by a finite mind, the complex person of Jesus Christ. We cannot now understand this; "great is the mystery of godliness,-God manifest in the flesh;" but what we know not now, we shall know hereafter. Then will the cross be seen, as the central point of the divine administration, bright with ten thousand glories, and sending out its beams to the extremity of the moral system. The ruin of the world by its federal connection with Adam: the election of the Jews, and the long abandonment of the Gentiles; the slow advance of Christianity to its millennial reign and triumph; the bearing of redemption upon other orders of beings beside man; the difficulties which hang like impenetrable clouds upon the doctrines of personal election, regeneration, perseverance, the freedom of the will viewed in connection with divine prescience and predestination;-all, all will be laid open to the view of glorified saints in heaven. Every thing in the Scriptures, which is now dark, shall be made light. A reconciling point shall be found for every seeming contradiction, and the faith and patience of the saints be rewarded, for having received the truth on the credit of him who spoke it, without demanding to see before they believed. Such shall be the sources of knowledge in heaven. O the bliss of eternally drinking in knowledge from such fountains! We may now consider THE ADVANTAGES which the heavenly state will possess for the acquisition of knowledge. In our pre And, doubtless, we shall not only see the harmony and wisdom of Providence, in its general aspect and its more comprehensive combinations and arrangements, but in its particular bearing on our own private and personal history. The most important and interesting chapter in the volume of universal history is, to us, that which contains the record of our life. What clouds and shadows still rest, and in the present state ever must rest, upon our obscure and humble annals. How often is Jehovah, in his dealings with us, a God that hideth himself! how often does he wrap himself in clouds, and pursue his path upon the waters, where we can neither see his goings nor trace his footsteps! How many of his dispensations are inexplicable! and of his judgments, how many are unfathomable by the short line of our reason! But whatever we know not now, we shall know hereafter: the crooked will be made straight, the cloud of darkness will be scattered, and all his conduct towards us placed in the broad daylight of eternity. We shall see the con- The soul will there be perfect in holiness, and thus nection which our individual history bears with the the understanding will be delivered from the disturb general scheme of providence; and perceive how, ing and bewildering influence of sin. notwithstanding our insignificance, our existence sent state of imperfection, the depravity of our nawas no less necessary to the perfection of the whole ture contracts and misdirects our judgment: the plan than that of the great ones of the earth. We corruptions of the heart send up a mist, which veils shall see how all the varying and numerous, and the lustre of truth, and conceals its extent and gloseemingly opposite, events of our history were com- ry from the mind. The judgment cannot now see bined into one gracious purpose of mercy, which spiritual objects in all their range, and order, and was most perfectly wise in all its combinations: now beauty, because of sin. But in heaven this conwe believe that "all things work together for good;"tracting and darkening influence will cease for ever. then we shall see how this end was accomplished by No evil bias, no sinful prejudice, will ever warp events, which, at the time put us to so much grief, the judgment: no disease of the soul will dim its and involved us in so much surprise. Delightful, eye or enfeeble its power. With eagle pinion it most delightful will it be, to retrace our winding will soar to the fountain of radiance, and with eagle and often gloomy course, and discern at each vision bear the full blaze of its glory. The natural change and turning the reason of the occurrence, faculty of the mind will then attain to its full matuand the wisdom of God; delightful will it be, to dis-rity of strength. The mind is here in its infancy: cern the influence which all our temporal circumstances, all our disappointments, losses, and perplexities, had upon our permanent and celestial happiness. How much of divine wisdom, power, goodness and faithfulness, will our short and humble history present; and what rapturous fervor will the discovery give to the song of praise which we shall utter before the throne of God and the Lamb. Revelation, as containing the scheme of human redemption by Jesus Christ, will be another object of our study, and source of knowledge. The Bible is given to make God known; and one page of the Bible, yea one verse, makes known more of God than all the volume of nature. But, after all, how there it will come to its age. Even the intellects of the greatest geniuses, while on earth, are but human minds in childhood, as we have already considered, and their most prodigious efforts but as infantine exercises. Here they only tried their powers: but in heaven the mind will put forth to their full extent all those wondrous faculties which are now shut up and compressed in our nature, for want of room and opportunity to expand. In heaven, we shall not be diverted and called off from the pursuit of truth by the inferior interests of the body: the soul will not be prevented from making excursions into the regions of light, by the cares, wants, and anxieties, which abound in this state of being, but will be left at leisure to pursue her sublime researches. She will have nothing to hinder the acquirement and enjoyment of knowledge. To crown all, heaven is an eternal state, and everlasting ages will be afforded through which the glorified mind will carry on its pursuits. Were the term of human life again protracted to the antediluvian age, what vast attainments would be made by us all in the discovery of truth! What, then, must it be to have eternity through which to grow in knowledge? sure on our part as rays of light come to the bodily eye. Whatever knowledge we gain in heaven will be transforming: it will not be mere opinion, or uninfluential speculation. All our ideas will be as fuel, to feed the flame of love, which will then burn upon the altar of the soul: all will be quickening, penetrating, influential. Our opinions will be principles of action. Every thing will lead us to see more of God, to love him with a more intense glow of holy affection, and to be more conformed to him. The light of truth will ever be associated with the warmth of love. We We shall be like God, for we shall see him as he is." We might notice the CHARACTERS of our knowledge. It will be perfect: by which we are not to understand that it will be as complete as the nature of things admits of, for we should then possess a comprehension equal to that of God. We cannot perfectly know every thing as it may be known: our ideas of many things must be limited, especially those which relate to the divine nature. By perfection, we mean freedom from error: our knowledge will be free from all admixture of doubt, sus-ly source, the proof of being a human device.pense and fallacy; our attainments will be bounded only by our capacity; there will, perhaps, be a gradation of mind in heaven, no less obviously marked than that which exists on earth; but all capacities will be filled. It is difficult to find, in the volume of revelation, a stronger internal evidence of its divine original, than the view it gives of the celestial state, combining, as it does, the perfection of knowledge and of purity. Every other representation which has been given of heaven, bears the mark of an earthAs, in seeking for a Deity, man found the prototype in his own passions, when he had abandoned the one living and true God; so, in forming a heaven, he collected all the materials from the objects of his own fleshly delights. The Elysium of the Greeks Our knowledge will doubtless be progressive.- and the Romans; the Hall of the Scandinavians; the Increase of ideas is, perhaps, in the case of a crea- Paradise of Mohammedans; the fantastic abodes ture, essential to felicity. We now find more plea- of the departed Hindoos;-are all adapted to their sure in receiving a new and important truth, than depraved appetites, and were suggested by their we experience in all we before possessed. A state corrupt imaginations. Beyond the pleasures of a in which there remains nothing more to be known, seraglio, of a field of glory, or of a hall.resounding conveys not an idea of happiness so vividly as that with the shout of victory-beyond the gratification where the delight of discovering something new is of sense-man, when left to himself, never looked ever added to the joy of contemplating so much for the happiness which is to constitute his paradise. that is old. What a view of heaven!-An eternal A heaven made up of perfect knowledge, and of advance in the most important knowledge; an ever-perfect love, is a vision entirely and exclusively dilasting accumulation of ideas; an interminable vine, and which never beamed upon the human progression in truth. In the march of the mind understanding till the splendid image came upon it through intellectual and moral perfection, there is from the word of God. How worthy of God is no period set: this perfection of the just is for ever such a representation of celestial bliss! It is an carrying on-is carrying on, but shall never come emanation from his own nature, as thus described: to a close. God shall behold his creation for ever -"God is light: God is love." The glorious realbeautifying in his eyes, for ever drawing near to ity is evidently the provision of his own wisdom himself, yet still infinitely distant from him, the and grace; and the sublime description of it in the fountain of all goodness. There is not in religion Scriptures, is as evidently the delineation of his a more joyful or triumphant consideration than this own finger. perpetual progress which the soul makes in the perfection of its nature, without ever arriving at its ultimate period. Here truth has the advantage of fable. No fiction, however bold, presents to us a conception so elevating and astonishing as this interminable line of heavenly excellence. To look upon the glorified spirit, as going on from strength to strength, adding virtue to virtue, and knowledge! to knowledge; making approaches to goodness which is infinite; for ever adorning the heavens with new beauties, and brightening in the splendors of moral glory through the ages of eternity; -has something in it so transcendent, as to satisfy the most unbounded ambition of an immortal spirit. Christian! does not thy heart glow at the thought that there is a time marked out in the annals of heaven, when thou shalt be what the angels now are; when thou shalt shine with that glory in which principalities now appear; and when, in full communion with the Most High, thou shalt "see him as he is?" How our knowledge in heaven will be acquired, whether by testimony, by immediate revelation, or by some method of mental application, it would be idle to speculate. We know that whatever mode is determined upon by God, will promote, and not interrupt, our felicity; we shall have nothing of the weariness of study-nothing of the anxiety of donbt-nothing of the torture of suspense. Ideas will flow into the soul with the same ease and plea CHAPTER XVII. THE PRE-EMINENCE OF LOVE. "Now abide these three, Faith, Hope, Charity; but the greatest of these is Charity." SUCH is the triune nature of true religion, as described by an inspired penman; of that religion about which myriads of volumes have been written, and so many controversies have been agitated.— How short and how simple the account; within how narrow a compass does it lie; and how easily understood, might one have expected, would have been a subject expressed in terms so familiar as these. This beautiful verse has furnished the arts with one of their most exquisite subjects: poets have sung the praises of faith, hope, and charity; the painter has exhibited the holy three in all the glowing colors of his pencil; and the sculptor has given them in the pure and almost breathing forms of his marble; while the orator has employed them as the ornaments of his eloquence. But our orators, poets, sculptors, and painters, have strangely misunderstood them, and too often proved that they knew nothing of them but as the abstractions of their genius: what they presented to the eye were mere earthly forms, which bore no resemblance to |