THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
" And wMte robes u, ere g'en unto every one of tl«em; and it was sald unto t]«em, tient t£ey s]wuld test yet for a little season, until t]elr fello» serrats also, and tl«eir Iretl«rcn t£at s]tould be killed as t]tcy weve, s]wuld be fidfilled."
N taking these words as a text, I do not profess to give you any suflicient explanation of them. Doubtless in their full meaning they are to deep ibr mortal nmn; yet they are written for our reverent contemplation at least, and perchance may yield something, under God's blessing, even though the true and entire sense of them was lost to the Church with him who wrote them. He was admitted into the heaven of heavens, while yet in the itesh, as St. Paul before him. He saw the throne and Him vho sat on it; and words, as those of the prophets under the Law, are rather spontaneous accolnpaniments on vhat he than definite and complete descriptions addressed to us. They were provided, indeed, and directed according to out need, by an overrtfling inspiration; but the saine sacred influence also limited their range, and deter-
368 T/ze f termediate çtate. mined under what speet and eireumstanees they should delineate the awful realities of heaven. Thus they are but shadows east, or af best, lines or portions eaught from what is unseen, and they attend upon if after the manner of the Seraphim, vith wings covering their face, and wings eovering heir feet, in adoration and in mystery. 2qow as fo the text itself, if speaks of the l\Iartyrs in their disembodied state, between death and judgment; according fo the tbregoing verse, " the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for tire tesimony whieh flmy held." If describes them in a state of test; st.fil they ery out for some relief, for vengeance upon their perseeutors. They,are told to wait awhile, " to test yet for a little season," till the circle of lIal3a's is completed. Ieantime they receive some present earnest of the 1)romise, by way of aileviation; "white robes were given unto every one of them." Some men will say that this is ail figurative, and nmans merely that the blood of the Iartyrs, crying now for vengeance, will be requited on their rnurderers at the last day. I cannot persuade myself thus to dismiss so solemn a passage. If seems a presumption fo say of dira notices about the unseen world, "they only meau thi.s or that," as if one had ascended into the third heaven, or had stood before the throne of God. I see herein a deep mysteT, a hidden truth, which I cannot lmndle or define, shining "as jevels at the bottom of the great deep," darkly and tremu]ously, yet really there. And for this very reason, xvhi]e itis Dvison on "Sacrifice."
neither pious nor thankflfl to explain away the words which convey it, while itis a duty to use them, hot less a duty is it to use them humbly, diffidently, and teachably, with the thought of God before us, and of our own nothingness. Under these feelings I shall now attempt to comment upon the text, and with reference fo the Intermediate State, of which it seems pltinly to speak. But it will be best rather to use it as sanctioning and connecting our anticipations of that State, as drawn ïrom more obvious passages of Scripture, than to venture to infer anything from it in the first instance. Also, though it directly speaks of the Martyrs, it may be profitably applied to the case of all Saints whatever; for, the iIart)q's being types and first fruits of all, what is true of them, is percha.nce in some sense true also of their brethren; and if it be true of any, at least all antecedent objections vanish, against its being true of all, wlUch are the chier arguments we shall have to contend with. Now let us proceed to the consideration proposed. St. John says:—" I saw undcr the Altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and ibr the testimony which they held; and they cried with a loud voice, saying, Hov long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost Thou hot judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, untfl their fellowservants also, and their brethren that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilleoE" 1. Now first in this passage we are told that the [mi
Saint.s a.re at «est. "White robes were given unt.o every one of them." "It was said unto them that. they should «est yet for a little seasol." This is expressed still more stron,,4'ly in a lat.er passage of the stme book: "]31essed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they nay «cst fi'o» lhei« hrbotrs." Again, St. l'nul had a desire "fo depart and lobc will Christ, which (he adds) is far better." And our Lord t.old the penitent robber, "To-day shalt thon be with Me iii aradise." And in the parable He represeuts Lazarus as beilig "ig 4b»'aha,m,'s boso»;" a place of test surely, if words tan describe one. It" we had no other notice of the dead than the foregoing, if would appear quite sufficient for out need. The great and anxious question that lneets us is, wlmt is to becolne of us after this lire? \Ve fear for ourselves we are solicitous about out friends, just on this point.. They have Valfished from us with all their amiable and eudeariug qualities, all their virtues, all their active powers. Where is that spia'it gone, over the wide universe, up or down, which once thought, felt, loved, hoped, plamed, acted in our sight, and which, wherever if goes, lnUSt carry with if the saine affections and principles, desires and aires.7 We know how if thought, felt, and behaved itself on earth; we knov that beloved mind, and if knows us, with a lnutual consciousness; and now if is taken ff'oto us, what are ifs fortmles? This is the question which perplexed the heathen of old rime. If is fearful fo be exposed in this world fo ills we know of—to the fury of the elements and the darkness of night, should we be left houseless and shelterless.
But when we think how utterly ignorant we are both of the soul's nature and of the invisible worhl, the idea of losing friends, or departing our.selves into such gloom, is, fo those who get themselves to think ab«»ut if, very overpowering, bow, here Scripture meets our need, in the texts already cited. Itis enough, sm'ely, to be in Abraham's bosom, in our Saviour's presence; it is enough, after the pain and turmoil of this world, fo be af rest Moreover, texts such as thcse do more tlmn satist)- the doubts which beset the heathcn; they are usefltl to us af the present day, in a perplexity which may easily befall us. A great part of the Christian world, as is well known, believes that after this life the souls of Christians ordimtrily go into a prison called Purgatory, where they are kept in tire or other torment, till, their sins beiug burned away, they are af leugth fitted for that glorious kingdom into which nothing defilcd can enter, bow, if there were any good reason for this belief, we should certaifly lmve a ve W sad and depressing prospect before us:—watch and pray and struggle as we might, yet after all to have to pass from the sorrows of this life, from ifs wesriness and its pains, into a second and a worse trial! bot that we shouhl have any reason to complain: for out sins deserve an eternal punishment, were God severe Still if would be a very aflticting thought, especially as regarded our deceased frieuds, who (if the doctrine werc true) wouhl now, at this very moment, be in a sttte of suffering. I do hot say that fo nmny a sinner, if would hot be an infinitely less evil fo surfer for a rime in Purgtory, than fo be cast into hell for ever; lmt those whom we bave loved best., and revered most, are not of Lhis nnmber; and before going on to examine he grounds of it, every one nlust adroit if tobe a very frightfifl notion a leas, that lh«g should bê kept from heir rest, and eonfined in a. prison beneah the earth. Nay, though he Bible did not posiively aftirm iL, yet if iL did not eonradie if,, raid if t.he opinion itself was very general in the Chureh (as iL is), and primitive too (as if is hOt), here would be enough in it reasonably o alarm us; tbr who eould ell in such a case, but probably iL might be rue? This is wha might bave been; but, in facto, Chris bas mereifully interfered, expressly to assure us that our friends are better provided for llan this doctrine would make iL appear. He assures us tllat tlley "'test from their labours, and their vorks do follow hem;" and we gather from he ext, that even that loneliness and gloom whieh, left o hemselves, they wotfld neeessarily feel, thougll ever so seeured from aetmal punishment, may, in truh, be nlereifully eompensaed. The sorrowflfl stae is there deseribed, in whieh they would find themselves when severed from the body, and waiing for the promised glory aL (2hrist's eoming, and hey are represented as susained under i, soohed, quieted, eonsoled. As a lParent would hush a ehild's restlessness, eherishing iL in lier arms, and lulling iL to sleep, or diverting i from t.lle pain or file fright whieh agitaes if, so file season of delay, If ought perhaps go be added, by way vf explanution, that the doctrine would of course be binding on our faith, in spire of any print facie beuring of certain text% were it, whut out formularies imply it is hot, . doctrine sanctioned by the Catholic Church.
before Christ cornes in judgment, tedious in itself, and solitoEry, is compensated to the spirits of the just by a prêsent gift in earnest of the fiture joy. "How long, O Lord, holy and true?",_uch is their complaiut. "And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season," till the end. 2. Next, in this description is implied, what I lmve in fact already deduced from it, that dcparted Stints, though at test, lmve hOt yet rcceived their actual reward. "Their works do follow with them," hot yet. giveu in to their Stviour and,! udge They are in an incomplete state in every way, and will be so till the Day of Judgment, which will introduce them to the joy of their Lord. They are incomplete, iasmuch as their bodics are in the dust of the earth, and they wa.it for the Resurrection. They are incomplete, as being neither awake nor asleep; I mean, they are in a state of test, hot in thê full employment of their powers. The Augels are serving God actively; they re ministers between heaven and earth. And the Saints, too, one day shall judge the world—they shall judgê the fallen Angels; but at present, till the end cornes, they are at rest only, which is enough for their peace, enough for out comfort on thinking of thcm, still, incomplete, compared with what one day shall be. Further, there is an incomplêteness al:o as regards their place of rêst. They are " under the Altar.":Not in the full l?resence of God, seeing His face, nd rejoiciag in His v«orks, but. in a sale and holy treasure-louse close 1,y,—like Noses, "in a e]eft of the rock,"—eovered by the hand of (lod, and beholding the skirts of His glory. So again, when Lazm'us died, he was earried to Abra- 1,.am's bosom;—which, hou'ever honoured and peaeeful an abode, was place short of heaven. This is elsewhcre expressed hy he use of the word "para(lise," «,r the garden of Eden; whieh, again, flmugh purL and peaeeful, visited by Angels and by God Himself, was no heaven. No emblem could express more vividly the reIi'eshmen and sweetness of ha blessed test, t.han to eall i the garden in whieh he first man was plaeed;—to which mus be added S. Paul's aeeoun of iL, t./mL he heard in i (when he was eaugh up thigher) "unspeakable wcwds, whieh ig is hOt lawlil for a man o utter. ''1 Doubtless, i is fill of exeellen visions and wonderful revelations. God there manifess l limself, hOt as on earth dimly, and by maerial in.qrumens, bu by those more inimate approaehes whieh spirig admis of, and our present faeulties eannog eomprehen& And in some unknown way, t.hag place off res bas a eomnunieation with this world, so ha disembodied souls know wha is «oin,, on below. The lIa.ryl's, in the passage belote us, ery out,, " How long, 0 Lord, Holy and True, dos Thou no judge and avenge our blood on flem tha dwell on the earh?" They saw what was going on in the Church, and needed eomfor from the sigh of t.he triumph of evil. And tbey obained whie robes and a message of peaee. Still, whaever be heir knowledge, whatever their 2 Cor. xii. l.
happiness, they have bt lost their tabernacle of corruption, and are "nnclothed," and wait fo be " clothed upon," having put off "nmrta.lity," but hOt yet being absorbed in " lire. ''1 There is another word used in Scripture fo express the bode of just men ruade perfect, which gives us the same meaning. Our _Lord is said in the Creed to have "' descended into ]t«ll," which word has a vcry different sense there ri'oto that which if commonly bears. Out Savio(r, as we SUpl)ose, did hot go fo the abyss assigncd fo the fallen Angcls, but fo those mysterious mansions where the souls of all mon await the judgment. That fie went fo the abode of blessed spirits is evident, from His words addressed fo the robber on the cross, when He also called if p,qradise; that be went fo SOlne otber place besides para.dise, may be conjectured from St. l'eter's saying, tle "went and preached fo the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient. '' The circumstance then that these two abodes of disembodied good and bad, are called by one naine, Hades, or (as we happen to express it) hell, seems clerly to show that paradise is not the same as Heaven, but a resting-place af the foot of if. Let if be fiu'ther remarked, that Samuel, 'hen brought from the dcad, in the witch's cavern, said, "Why hast thou disquieted me, fo bring me u,p?" words which would seem quite inconsistent with his being then already in Heaven. Once more, the Intermediate State is incomplete as regards the happiness of the Saints. Before our Lord came, if may be supposed even to have admitted 2 Cor. v. 4. 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20. s 1 Sain. xxviii. 15.
at titnes of a measure of disquiet, and that in the case of the greatest Saints themselves, though most sure]y still they were altogether "in God's hand;" for Samuel says, "Why hast thou disuictcd me, to bring me up?" Pcrclmnce our Lord reversed this imperfection at His coming, and took with lIim, even in their bodies, to heaven itself, some principal Saints of the old Covenant; according to St. Matthew's intimation. But even now, as it would appear from the text, the Blessed, in their disembodied state, adroit of an increase of happincss, and receive it. "They cried out" in conp]lint,—and "white robes wcre given them;" they were soothed and bid wait awhile. Nor would it be surprising if, in God's 'acious providence, the very purpose of their remaining thus for a season at a distance from heaven, were, that they may bave time for growing in all holy things, and perfecting the inward development of the good seed sown in their hearts. The Psahnist speaks of the righteous as "trees plant.cal by the rivers of water, that bring forth their fruit in due season;" and when might this silent growth of holiness more suitably aud happily take place, than when they are waiting for the Day of the Lord, removed from those trials and temptations which were necessary for its ear]y beginnings? Con- ider how many men are very dark and feeble in their religious state, when they depart hence, though true servants of God as far as they go. Alas! I know that the nmltitude of men do uot think of religion af all;— they are thoughtless in tl,eir youth, and secular as ]ife goes on;—they find their interest lie in adopting a decent profession; they deceive themselves, and thiuk themselves religious, and (fo all appearance) die with no deeper religion tlmn such a professiçm implies. Alas! there are many also, who, after careless lives, amend, yet hot tru]y;—think they repent, but do hot in a Christial way. There are a numbcr, too, who leave repentance for their death-bed, and die with no fruits of religion at all, except with so much f subdued and seriçns feeling as pain forces upou thcm. All these, as ftr aS we are tohi, die without hope. llut» after all thcse mclancholy cases are alhwed for, many there are still, who, beginning wcll, and perseveing tbr years» yet are even to the end but begimmrs after all, when death cornes upou them;—mauy who bave been in circumstances of especial diffmulty, who have had fiercer temptations, more perplexing trials than the test, and in consequeace have been impeded in their course. Nay, in one sense, all Christians die with their work unfinished. Let them have chastened themselves all their lires long, and lived in fitith and obedience, yet still there is much in them unsubdued, —nmch pride, much ignorance, much unrepented, unknown sin, much inconsistency, much irregularity in Irayer, much lightness and frivolity of thought. Who can tell, then, but, in God's mercy, the rime of waiting between death and Christ's coming, may be profitable to those who have been His true servants here, as a time of naaturing that fruit of grace, but pa.rtly formed in them in this life—a school-time of contemplation, as this world is a discipline of active service? Such, surely, is the force of the A19ostle's words, that "He that ha.th begun a good work in us, will perform if «.Mil the d,y of,Tesus Christ," ntil, not af, hot.topping it with death, but c,rr35ng if on fo the Resurrection. And this, whieh will he accorded to all Saints, will be profitable to each in proportion to the degree of holi,mss in which he dies; for, as we are express]y told hat i, one sense the spirits of the just are pefectcd on their death, if follows tiret the greater advance each has ruade here, the higher will le the line of lais subseqtent growth between death and the It, esurrection. And all this accounts for what else nmy slrt?rise us, —the especial stress the Apostles lay on the coming «,f Christ, as the object fo which or hope must be directed. We are used in this day fo look npon death as the point of victory and trimnph for the Sa.ints; we leave the thouglt of them 'hen ]ife is over, as if then there xvas nothing more to be anxious about; nor in one sense is there. Then they are secure from trial, from f,lling; as they die, so they remain. Still, it will 1,e round, on the whole, th,t de,th is hot the object put forward in Scripture for hope to rest upon, but the coîning,f Christ, as if the interval between death and His coming was by no means to be omitted in the process of our preparation for heaven. Now, if the sacred writers uniformly hold out Christ's coming, but we consider death, as the close of all things, is if not plain that, in spite of our apparent agreement with them in formal statenmnts of doctrine, there must be some hidden and undetected difference between them and ourselves, some unfounded notion on our part which we have inherited, some assumed premiss, some lurking preju- dice, some earthly temper, or some mere ]roman principle 2. For instauce, St.. Paul speaks of thc C,rinthians as "waitig.tbr thc coming of our Lord Jcsus t'hrist." To the l'hililq)ians he says, "'Our citizenship is in henven, ff'oto whence also we look o«t for t],e Navio«r, the Lord Jcsus Christ, who shall change our vile lody." In his first Epistle to the Thessaloninns, he seems fo make this waiting »r the Last l ay almost part of his definition of a true Christian; "Ye turned to God ff'oto idols, fo serve the living and truc God, fl.nd to wail fi»r His,çm ri'oto hca'cn." In his Epist.le fo Titus, "LooZ'ing,fo" that blesscd hopc azd gloriov, alea.ring of our great (od and Saviour, Jesu Christ." To the tlebrews, "Unto them that look for l[im, shall Christ appear the second rime wiL]louL sin unto salvation." Again, " lWbave need &E paiece, that affer ye bave done the will of God, ye might ecci,'e the promise. For yct a liltle whilc, and he that shall corne will corne and will hot tarlT." And to the Itomans, "I reckon that the suflhI'ings of this present rime are hot worthv to be compared wit, h the gqory which shall be revealed in us," i.e. at the Resurreetion; for the ea.rest e,pectaHon &E the c'eature waitcth f. the manifestion of thc sons of God... Ve ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the ado])tio, fo wit, the redempt.ion of out body;" and presently he adds, evidently spealdng of things belonging to the unseen world, and (as we may suppose) the Interlnediate St.ate iuclusively, "I am persuaded that neither death, nor ]ife, nor Angels, nor principalit.ies, nor powers, nor things present, nor thi,gs to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any othcr creature, shall be able to separate us from the h)ve of (_od, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Again, "lIe that raised up the Lord Jesus, shall ïaise up «s also bj Jcsus, and sh,ll present us with 3-ou. Out light aiction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us u ftr more exceeding and eterlml weight of glory;... for wc kïww that if out earthly hozese of this labernaclc werc dissolv«d, wc bave building of (lod, a house not marie x ith hands, eternl in the heavens.":Now, how 1),rallcl is this waiting for (2hrist's coming, as ilmulcated in the foregoing passages, to the actual conduct of the Saints as recorded in the pttssage of which the texttbrms part! "lïrow lotg, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost Thou hot judge and avenge our blood on them th,t dwcll on the earth?.... And white robes were given unto every one of them, until their fellow-servants also, nd their brethren that should 1)e killed as they were, should be fulfilled:"and with our S,viour's words in the Gospel, "Shall hot (od a,c.ngc ttis OWll elect, which c'y d«y and night ento Him, though tIe bear long witl them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.:Nevertheless, whcn the Son of man co»eth" (Christ's coming then is the "ttvenging" for which they cry), "when tlle Son of man cometh, shall tIe find fith on the earth." 1 This, indeed, is out Saviour's usual doctrine as well as that of His Apostles. I lnean, if is his custom to insist on tvo events chiefly, His first coming and tIis second —our regeneration and our resurrcctio—throwing into the background the prospect of our death, as if it were but a line of distinction (however momentous a one), hot of division, in the extended course of our purification. For exanli)le: '" The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall lire;"—the dead in sin;. here, then, our regeneration is set forth. Thon IIc proceeds- "The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hcar IIis voice, and shall corne forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of lire, and they that have doue evil unto the resurrection of damnation." Here is mentioned l Ils second coming with its attendant eveuts. Again: " In My Father's bouse are nany mausions: if it were hot so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will corne again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye nm.y be also." And in the parable of the talents: "A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom and to return; and he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I corne." Here is mention of Christ's first and His second coming. It is hot uucomnlon, indeed, to say, that "' till I corne," means "till every man's deatll," when in a certain sense Christ cornes to him: but surely this is a mere human assumption; the rime of judgment, and hot till then, is the rime when Christ calls Itis servants and takes account. John v. 25-29; xiv. 2, 3; Luke xix. 12, 13.
Lastly, if is the manner of Scripture to imply that ail Saints make up but one body, Christ being the Head, and no l'ed distinction existing between dead and living; as if the Church's territory were a vast field, only with a veil stretched across it, hiding part from us. This af least, I think, will be the impression left on the mind aftcr a careful study of the inspired writers. St. Paul says, " I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,, of whom thc u']to[c family in heaven and em'th is named," whcre "heaven" would seem fo include paradise, l'resently he declares that there is but "one body," hot two, as there is but one Spirit. In another epistle he speaks of Christians in the flesh being "corne to the heavenly Jerusalem, and the spirits of just men ruade perfect. ''1 Agreeably fo this doctrine, the collect for Ail Saints' I)ay teaches us, that "Ahnighty God has knit together His elect" (that is, both living and dead), "in one colmnunion and fellowuhip in the mystical body of His Son." This, then, on the whole, we may hulnbly believe fo be the condition of the Saints before the Resurrection, a state of repose, test, security; but again a state more like paradise than heaven—that is, a state which cornes short of the gtt, l'y which shall be revealed in us after the Pesurrection, a state of waiting, meditation, hope, in which what has been sown on earth lnay be nlatured and eompleted. I will make one remark before concluding, by way of applying what has been said to ourselves. There bave been rimes, we know, when men thought too much of lph. iii. 14, 15; iv. 4; tteb. xii. 22, 23.
The ]zt«rm«diale Slale. 383 t, he dead. Tlmt is hot the fault of this age. We now go int.o the opposie ex,reine. Out fiml[ surely is, hink of hem oo lile. I is a miserable t.hing o eonfess, ye surely so i is, ha when a fl'iend or relative is dead, he is eommonly disnfissed ff'oto he mind very shorly, as though he was no; there is no more t«flk of hint, or retreuce fo him, and the xvorhl goes on without hiln as if he httd never been. Now, of coure the deepest tçelings arc t.h,e which are silent; so I do hot lnean fo say thtt fi'iends tl'e hot. thought of, becatte they are hot tflked o1[ llow could if be Can any ibrm of society or a.ny hunml doctrine fetter down out hearts, and lnake tts think and relnember as it will? Can the tyranny of earth hinder our holding a blessed and ever-endul'ing tçllowship with those who are detd, by consulting their wishes, and dwelling upon their image, and trying fo irait,are them, and imagining their peaceful state, and sympathizing in their "loud cry," and hoping to meet them hereaffer? No, truly we have a more glorious liberty thym man can take from us, with all the sophistries of selfishness, and subtleties of the schools I do hot speak of the tender-hearted, affectionate, and thoug]tM1. They camot forget the departed, whose presence they once enjoyed, and who (in Scripture language), though "absent in the body, are prescrit with them in sl,irit," "joying and beholding their order and the steadfastness of their faith in Christ. '' But I st,eak of the lnany, the rude, cold, and scornfM, the vorldly-minded, the gay, and the careless; whose ordilmry way it is, when a friend is removed, to put 1 Cor. v. 3; Col. ii. 5.
aside the thought of him, and blot it out from their memories. Let me explain what I mean by taking an instance, vhich is hot uncommon. We will sa.y, u parent or relative dies and leuves a man u property: he cornes into it gladly; buries the dead splendid]y; and then thinking he has done all, he wipes out what is past, and enters upon the enjoyment of his benefaction. He is hot profuse or profligate, proud or penurious, but he thinks and acts in all respects as if he, to whom he is indebted, were annihilated from God's creation. He bas no obligations, lle was dependent belote, but now he is independent; he is his own toaster; he ceases to be in the number of "little children." Like the Corinthians, "" now he is full, now he is rich, he reigns as a king without" those to whom he once as forced fo submit, tIe is the head of (what is culled) an estublishnient. If he ever speaks of the dead, it is in a way half kind, hall contemptuous, as of those who are helpless and useless, as he would speak of men stil] living who were in dotage or in mental incapacity. You heur even the nmst good-hearted and kindly (such is the force of bud example) spcak in this disrespectful way of old people they knew in their youth, not mea.ning unything unkind by it, hut still, doubtless, cherishing in themselves thereby a very subtle kind of hardness, selfishness, superciliousness, self-gratulation. Men little think what an effect all this hus on their general churacter. If teuches them fo limit their belief fo wlmt they see. They give up a most acious rneuns divinely provided for their entering into "that which is within the veil,"
The [lcswzcdiate Stah'. 3 8 5 and seeing beyond the grave; and they learn fo be eontented in uniting themselves with things visible, in connections and alliances whieh eome fo nought. Moreover, this smne error easts them upon the present instead of the past.. They lose their reverenee for antiquity; they change the plans and works of their predecessors without scruple; they enjoy the benefaetions of past ages without thankfitlness, as if by a sort of right; they worship in elmrches for whieh "other men laboured," without thinking of them; they firget. they have but a life-interest in what they possess, that they have received it in trust, and must transmit as they have received. On the other hand, while the thought of the dead is thus a restraint upon us, it is also a gmat consolation, especially in this age of the wofld, when the Universal Church has fallen into errors and is divided branch against branch. What shall sustain our faith (under God's grace) when we try fo adhere to the Ancient Truth, and seem solitary? What shall nerve the "watchnmn on the walls of Jerusalem," against the scorn and jealousy of the world, the charge of singularity, of fancititlness, of extravagance, of rashness? What shall keep us calm and peaceful within, when accused of "troubling Israel," and "prol»hesying evi]?" What but the vision of all Saints of all ages, whose steps we follow? What but the image of Christ mystical stamped upon our hearts and memories? The early times of purity and truth have hot passed away! They are present still! We are hot solitary, though we seem so. Fev now alive may understand [III] 2 13 or smlction us; but those nmltitudes in the prilnitive time, who believed, ld taught, and worshipped, as we do, still live unto God, and, in their past deeds and theh" present voices, cry ff'oto the Altar. They alfilnate us by their exalnple; they cheer us by their company; they are on out right hand and our left, Martyrs, Confessors, and the like, high and low, who used the saine Creeds, and celcbl'ated the smne Mysteries, and preached he saine Gospel as we do. And to them were joined, as ages went o11, even in fallen rimes, nay, even now in rimes of division, fre,h md fresh witnesses froln the ('hurch below. In the wor|d of spirits there is no differeuce of parties. It is our plain duty indeed here, to contend even fol' the details of the Truth according to our light; and surely there is a Truth in spire of the discordance of opinions. But that Truth is at length silnply discerned by tle spirits of the just; hulnan a dditions, hulnan institutions, human enactlnents, enter hot with them into the unseen state. They are put off with the flesh. (h'eece and Rome, Egland and France, give no colour to those sortis which have been cleansed in the One ]3aptisln, nourished by the One ]3ody, and moulded Ul)on the One Faith. Adversaries agree together direct.ly tley are dead, if they have lived and walked in tlle tI,ly t}host. The harlnonies combine and fill the temple, while discords and imperfections die away. Therefore is it good to throw om'selves into the Ulseen world, it is "good to be there," and fo build tabernacles for those who speak "a pure language" and "serve the Lord with one consent;" hOt indeed to draw t.henl forth from their secure dwelling-places, hot superstitious]y to honour them, or wilflflly to rely on t.hem, lest they be a snare to us, but silently to contemplate them for out edifieati, m; thereby encouraging out thith, enlivening out patience, sheltering us fron, thoughts about ourselves, keeping us ff'mn resting on ourselves, and making us seem to ourselves (what really we ougbt ever to be) only tbllowers of the doctrine of those who have gone before us, hot teachers of novelties, hot tbunders of schools. God grant to us all, out,)f the superalamdant treasures of llis grace, such a spirit, the spirit of minglcd teachablenêss and zeal, of calmness in inquiry and vigour in resolve, of power, and of love, and of a sound mind!