"Earth has no sorrows that heaven cannot heal." The reason you are not happier is because you love too much this inconstant world, and you love it so much, because you have not sufficiently thought of a better. Why sit weeping among ruins, like melancholy Marius among the heaps of Carthage, calling back things that have died only to see them die again? "Let the dead bury their dead." Why linger about the graves of buried hope, or unfaithful love, when before you is a land where hopes never disappoint, and where affections never die? ? Are you a tempted soul, often in the wilderness in dark and dreadful conflict with Satan? Are those lying spirits whose name is legion, by your side to harass, and before to hinder you, and do you often become faint and disheartened because of the way Do you sometimes cry out beneath a shower of falling darts, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life?" Look up; your reward is before you; the blessed thought of home will heal all the wounds received by the way. Arise ye, and depart in the strength of the Lord, for this is not your rest. Ye young, who are wandering intoxicated with vanity in the mazes of a heated imagination, your thoughts are spreading the wing over hopes on which they can never light. You have seen the world and life only in the freshness and beauty of its morning dew, and you have loved them. You will yet learn that all is a vapour on the earth, which, like the morning cloud and the early dew, goeth away. The things which are seen are temporal. I desire you to learn this now, rather than hereafter by bitter expe rience; and, as you live on hope, direct those hopes to things which are unseen and eternal. Will you learn and believe that beyond the grave are not only the only realities, but the most glorious ones? Behold the glory of that world, that your eyes be not deceitfully dazzled by the sheen of this world, which must soon be merged into eternal night. Not only must the beauty and fire of youth die, but the heavens and the earth themselves, which are now, God has reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Amid the consternation and confusion of dissolving nature, when earth shall utter her final groan, where will you find a home, if not in heaven? If you are friendless, houseless, and homeless then, it will not be because you have not known of a heaven where the weary are at rest, Aged pilgrim! you expect soon to go over! You are already going down the wintry hill-side of life towards the valley of the shadow of death. Lift up your eyes before you descend into the dark Jordan, and fix in your mind, as much as you can, the outlines of Canaan. Your eyes are dim to the loveliness of earth, your ears are dead to its music, and your feet are weary and heavy on its thorny road; lift up your eyes, and look for a better land, for behold it lies before you. To read of heaven is better than pastime for you while the chariots of Israel tarry. It will inspire an earnest longing to depart and be with Christ, and thus make your departure easy and your passage smooth. Heaven, oh! heaven! who does not desire to know all that may be known of it? Heaven, it is our Fa INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. ther's house, the home of angels, and of all the departed saints who have fallen asleep in Jesus! "Apostles, prophets, martyrs there Around the Saviour stand." Heaven, it is the home of all our hopes; the end of life's weary pilgrimage, where we all at last expect to dismiss our burdens, to forget our sorrows, and to wipe our tears. If this be heaven, then let us know what the Spirit saith concerning it to the churches! O, Spirit, that dost prefer Before all temples th' upright heart and Instruct me, for thou know'st. What in me is dark, pure, Illumine! what is low, raise and support! 3 CHAPTER I. Is Beaven a Place? Oh, talk to me of heaven! I love O! tell me how they shine and sing, "BEHOLD We have left all and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" What shall we have therefore? This is a question that frequently arises in the Christian's mind, as he endeavours to cheer his ofttimes drooping spirits with a look towards the recompense of reward. What shall we have? We have left all for thee, and by following thee we have confessed that we are pilgrims and strangers upon the earth. In this world we shall have tribulation, but thou didst overcome the world; what shall those have who overcome with thee? These are the saint's ardent inquiries, when in the spirit of self-denial he stands above the earth and despises all its offers, and when, in the spirit of entire self-consecration to Christ, he has no desire but to follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes. The ardour of hope outstrips the patience of faith, and hovering around the battlements of the celestial city, seeks a prelibation of promised joys. Although the opening gates let out no glory; though the anthems of their worship are not heard without; and though saints and angels, "On heavenly pastimes bent," do not stop to give particulars to curious inquirers who linger in their way, yet modest inquiries are not improper, and may frequently be answered to the comfort and joy of believers. The Saviour answered the above inquiry when made by Peter. He told him, "When the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon. twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Here then there is curiosity which the Saviour himself approved, because he satisfied it. The same pious curiosity still manifests itself in the minds of God's people in their holiest hours, and shall there be nothing revealed to satisfy them? Yes, God will approve of such inquiries, and will grant the influence of that Spirit who leads into all truth, to all those who search the scriptures for an answer. I propose in this book to consider some questions which often arise in the minds of Christians concerning heaven. In this inquiry we shall endeavour to |