time for this heavenly pupilage he will have in the next before the resurrection, and he needs more :— the later he lived in this world, the less will he have in the other before the resurrection, and he needs less. Thus, those who enjoy in this world superior advantages on account of living under the clearer dispensation of divine truth in the last ages of the church, shall not have any advantage over those who had less, on account of living in the first ages, since those who had less will have longer time in the future world before the resurrection.

With this idea in view, the passage, in 1 Thess. iv. 15, becomes beautifully intelligible, "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent" (that is, shall not go before, anticipate, or have any advantage over,) "those which are asleep -the dead in Christ shall RISE first: then" (when they have risen,) "we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we be ever with the Lord." Those who shall live in the last moment, having had their spirits fully enlightened and prepared for a future existence in the brightness of the latter-day glory before death, shall not "sleep" at all, for there will be no necessity for it; but "shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump." "The dead shall be raised. incorruptible," having been prepared for their incorruptible body, but "we shall be changed." 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52.

This theory may be seen in the same way to illus

trate itself consistently when applied to those who are lost. Those who live last in the world, when superior light is around them, sin against greater light than those who lived earlier, and are therefore sooner prepared to have their doleful station fixed finally in hell, in the union of soul and body.

The doctrine we present in reference to the condition of the spirits of the saints in heaven, differs from the idea of a middle state, in a third place, in several important particulars. It excludes the idea of a middle place entirely; and of course all idea of probation, which is generally attached to it in some form or other. The state of the spirit in heaven, though imperfect, being the celestial childhood of the spirit, is nevertheless final, and not probationary. Our enjoyments there will be in exact proportion to our capacity; and as fast as our spirits are unfolded will our joys increase.

"The more our spirits are enlarged on earth,

The deeper draughts they shall receive of heaven."

What an interesting moment to the spirit will be the moment after death! What scenes will open up before it! The friends will stand weeping over the now tenantless body, but the spirit is—oh!

My thoughts pursue it where it flies

And trace its wondrous way!

The Christian need have no unpleasant anxiety about what scenes will open to him, for he knows that the glory which will then break upon his astonished spirit will exceed his keenest anticipations. But the wicked, alas! for him at that awful moment!

Oh! my soul, come not thou into the secret of his sorrows!

How shocking must thy summons be, O Death!
To him.-

In that dread moment, how the frantic soul
Raves round the walls of her clay tenement;
Runs to each avenue, and shrieks for help;
But shrieks in vain! How wishfully she looks
On all she's leaving, now no longer hers!
A little longer; yet a little longer;

O! might she stay to wash away her stains;

And fit her for her passage! Mournful sight!

Her very eyes weep blood; and ev'ry groan
She heaves is big with horror. But the foe,
Like a stanch murd' rer, steady to his purpose,
Pursues her close, through ev'ry lane of life;
Nor misses once the track; but presses on,
Till forced at last to the tremendous verge,
At cnce she sinks to everlasting ruin!

CHAPTER IV.

Sympathy between Beaven and Earth.

"I have seen

A curious child, that dwelt upon a tract
Of inland ground, applying to his ear
The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell,
To which, in silence hushed, his very soul
Listened intently; and his countenance soon
Brightened with joy; for, murmuring from within
Were heard, sonorous cadences! whereby
To his belief the Monitor expressed
Mysterious union with its native sea-
E'en such a shell the universe itself
Is to the ear of faith."

THE spirit-world is inhabited by beings of a social order, which communicate with each other; do they also communicate with earth? We know of at least three distinct order of beings who dwell together in heaven in the highest and holiest fellowships-divine, angelic, and human. Do they sympathize with mortals? May the footsteps of their presence be seen on earth? Does the light of their social influence fall upon the path of human life? and is the animating power of their sympathy felt in the sphere of human experience? In short, in what relation does the church militant stand to the church triumphant, and

what fellowship and sympathy is there between them?

These are interesting questions; they are often asked, and still oftener do they silently employ the minds of men with the deepest meditations. They are, moreover, questions which are prompted in us by a pious spirit, and by a feeling that is inseparable from the life of a pilgrim. The generation in which we live passes on around us towards the world of spirits; among them are many of our dearest friends who fade from our sight almost daily; in the earnestness of grief we follow after them to the verge of these mortal borders, and when they are gone entirely beyond our sight, we ask, Are they now entirely gone and separated from us, or do their sympathy and love remain with us as fresh and warm as the remembrance of them is treasured up and cherished in our hearts? We know that if they died in Christ they are in heaven, but that does not satisfy our feelings, even if it should satisfy our faith. Though our minds may be quiet, yet our hearts cry out, Do they remember us and love us still?

The impression exists at the present day among many, and it seems to be gaining ground, that the present world and the world of spirits stand at a cold distance from each other, with little or no living sympathy. It seems to be the idea of some, that just as a man who, by some sudden and fortunate change, has been elevated to a higher stage in society, forgets all beneath him, so the saints who die, being elevated higher, forget in this happy change all the relations in which they formerly stood, take no more interest