He aspires to things of no ordinary value; yea, he aims at the very heaven of heavens. Neither the cares nor the comforts of this mortal life are of sufficient magnitude to engross his time, or to fix his attention. His advanced thoughts are daily borne away, on the wings of faith and hope, towards the broad continent of eternity; where he is incessantly extending such discoveries, and laying up such treasures, and feeding upon such enjoyments, as are unknown to the generality of mankind. In this manner the capacity of the Christian becomes gradually amplified, and his mind ennobled ; till at length he is assisted to form some adequate conception of the gracious promises, and some satisfactory acquaintance with the great designs, of the incomprehensible Jehovah.

In such spiritual excursions as these, the man of God is peculiarly aided by the subject matter of the Apocalypse, which invites his soul in every page to some new and heavenly entertainment. Among other scenes of a sublime description, the sacred writer presents us with one in the opening

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of this chapter, of a very attractive kind And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voices of harpers harping with their harps. And they sung as it were a new song before the throne; and no man could learn that song, but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. In this place, a certain number is put for an uncertain, and a part for the whole of the general assembly of the firstborn in heaven.

Of all the spectacles which can be exhibited, either in time or eternity, we have probably here before us one of the most delightful and interesting that will ever be presented to the view of congregated worlds. And while the eyes of John were rivetted upon this triumphant assembly, there brake from every part of it the sound of adoration and praise the grand effect of which the apostle found it difficult to describe; comparing it at once to the rush of mighty

waters, and the roaring of distant thunders ; while, for sweetness, it resembled the voice of harpers harping with their harps.

Praise is generally set forth as forming the habitual exercise of heaven; and, truly, we can imagine no other employment so happily adapted to the nature of that high and holy place. Ere the commencement of that interminable state which we have before us, all the grand designs of God with respect to man will have received their full accomplishment. Ere then, sin will be completely annihilated, and all its melancholy consequences of pollution and misery, disorder and discord, disease and death, will be done away and forgotten. This predicted consummation, so devoutly to be wished, can do no otherwise than furnish matter of universal joy and never-ending praise to all the glorified inhabitants of heaven, who are here in vision collected together, for the very purpose of giving glory to God on that glad occasion. After listening for some time to their ravishing strains, St. John proceeds to observe that, in this solemn act of thanksgiving, they sung as it were a new song: an expression that

mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as chrystal. And the wall of it was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. In this sacred place a sacred society will be collected, consisting of an innumerable company of angels, together with the spirits of just men made perfect: a society holy and harmless, replete with wisdom and goodness, without spot or blemish, and every one glowing with benignity and love. With this glorified assembly the poor in spirit shall take up their abode, as parts of the same family, breathing the same spirit, manifesting the same perfections, and living with them in an everlasting interchange of affectionate sentiments and gracious offices. In such a place, and associated with such a company, how inconceivable a degree of happiness must needs be enjoyed!

But, beyond all this, the highest blessed

ness of heaven will consist in the view and contemplation of God himself. The redeemed shall see the King in his beauty, seated upon the throne of eternity, surrounded with power and great glory. In our Lord's parting prayer for his disciples, we find this remarkable petition-Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. He could ask nothing more desirable, nothing more ravishing, for his devoted followers than an admittance to the beatific vision. And to this request the beloved disciple seems to allude in his first epistle; Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Beyond this, nothing can be wished or imagined--to behold the infinite and unsearchable Creator of all worlds, clothed in all his majesty, and encircled with an endless train of perfections and glories! Yet all this, in the completest manner, shall be permitted to the saints. Their views of the great God shall not be distant and obscure, as they necessarily were in the present