No. XI

CHRIST, THE GLORY OF ETERNITY.

WERE there nothing else to prove the Divinity of the Saviour, but the degree in which the happiness of heaven is represented, as flowing from his presence and glory—that one fact is fatal to Socinianism, and to every system which makes the Son inferior to the Father. It is especially fatal to the theory of the mere humanity of the Saviour; for a mere man, however highly endowed or well disposed, could not render himself the companion, even, of the countless myriads who shall inherit heaven; much less could he be to each and to all the heirs of glory the eternal source and centre of their happiness. Such, however, the Lamb, in common "with God," is expressly and uniformly declared to be. Το the Son, as much as to the Father, is ascribed the eternal absence of all pain in heaven.

"They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat: For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." The absence of all darkness, mental and moral, is traced to the same source. "The glory of God did lighten it; and the Lamb is the light thereof; for there shall be no night there."

In literal accordance with this view of heaven, the Saviour, in his great intercessory prayer, addressed the Father thus,-"I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory." Thus also he spoke to his disciples, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." Thus Paul, also, summed up the bliss and glory which he anticipated in heaven,-"I desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better." And, "to be forever with the Lord," is the apostolic form of embracing and embodying all the exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Now all this is utterly incompatible with the theory of a finite Saviour. The mere man-of Unitarianism; and the incarnate angel of Arianism,

are equally unfit to be Jehovah's "FELLOW," in the mighty work of filling all heaven with everlasting joy and glory. He who is "equal with God," in the communication of that bliss, must be equal with God in his essence and No finite being could so universalize his attentions amongst such myriads, as to gratify them all alike, even if his attentions were capable of perfecting their enjoyment.

resources.

Were there, therefore, only the legitimate inferences deducible from the single fact, that God and the Lamb are equally the revealed source and centre of the eternal bliss of heaven, I, as a believer in immortality, should feel bound, by reason and common sense, to reject both the Unitarian and the Arian view of Christ; just because such a Christ could not be, in common with the Father, the glory of such a heaven. I might not, indeed, be able to infer so much from the fact of his companionship with God in this matter, as I now know from express revelation; but I should be compelled to infer from it—or, rather, I could not shut my eyes to the natural inferences which emanate from it, like light from the sun, that Jesus must be more than man, and higher than angels. In a word, it is Trinitarianism only, that furnishes a satisfactory

explanation of the fact just stated; and that fact is so interesting, that it deserves the chief place in all our meditations on eternal glory.

With what sublime simplicity and brevity Paul sums up the bliss of heaven : "so shall we be forever with the Lord." It would be much to "be forever with" any one of the angels, in any part of heaven, however remote from the throne of God and the Lamb. It would be much to "be forever with" any one of the saints, even if not within the sight or the sound of the " general assembly" before It would be much to "be for ever" most distant hill of immortality. much to "be for ever

the throne.

alone on the

It would be

out of hell.

any where,

What, then, must it be, to "be for ever with the Lord?"

When you think of hell, and realize, only for a moment, the bare idea of being "for ever with" Satan and his angels; " for ever with" all the impure and impenitent spirits in the universe, you feel, through all your soul, that even eternal solitude in any other spot of the universe, would be an unspeakable mercy. You are not only ready to say, "I had rather be a door-keeper" of the house of God in heaven, for ever, "than dwell in the tents of wickedness;" but you are ready to

say, I had rather spend my eternity alone, even on the very shore of the "great gulph" which divides heaven and hell, if I were allowed to be on its heavenly side; than be free from torment on its infernal side; because, on the side next to heaven, I should, at least, escape the contamination of hell. O, yes; "Gather not my soul with sinners" for ever, wherever else it may be placed. Let me rather dwell for ever on the most distant and desolate star in space; or hover for ever through the gloom of starless infinity, eternally alone, than dwell where spirits are "unholy still, and filthy still."

It is, then, the sober fact, that any place out of hell, and any condition not unholy, are infinitely preferable to the wrath to come. Any of the imaginary conditions we have glanced at, we would gladly accept, rather than dwell with apostate and despairing spirits; even if there were no "devouring fire" in their everlasting prison. O, yes; let the soul only "escape' from that society and scene; and wherever it might wing its way in the regions of immensity; whether on, or beyond, the utmost limits of creation, it would for ever 66 sing of mercy," and say, at every spot where it paused, "the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places, and