QUALIFICATIONS FOR HEAVEN. 



106 



rd, will absorb the minds of thousands who 

 profess to be rational beings, while they refuse 

 to spend (me serious hour in reflecting on the 

 fate of their inrmortal spirits, when their bodies 

 shall have dropped into the tomb. Nay, such 

 is the indifference, and even antipathy with 

 which this subject is treated by certain classes 

 of society, that it is considered as unfashionable, 

 and in certain cases, would be regarded as a 

 species of insult, to introduce, in conversation, 

 a sentiment or a reflection on the eternal destiny 

 of man. &quot; The carelessness which they betray 

 in a matter which involves their existence, 

 their eternity, their all, (says an energetic 

 French writer) awakes my indignation, rather 

 than my pity. It is astonishing. It is horrify 

 ing. It is monstrous. I speak not this from 

 the pious zeal of a blind devotion. On the con 

 trary, I affirm, that self-love, that self-interest, 

 that the simplest light of reason, should inspire 

 these sentiments ; and, in fact, for this we need 

 but the perceptions of ordinary men. It requires 

 but little elevation of soul to discover* that here 

 there is no substantial delight ; that our plea 

 sures are but vanity, that the ills of life are 

 innumerable ; and that, after all, death, which 

 threatens us every moment, must, in a few years, 

 perhaps in a few days, place us in the eternal con 

 dition of happiness, or misery, or nothingness.&quot; 

 It is, therefore, the imperative duty of every 

 man who makes any pretensions to prudence and 

 rationality, to endeavour to have his mind im 

 pressed with a conviction of the reality of a 

 future and invisible world, to consider its import 

 ance, and to contemplate, in the light of reason 

 and of revelation, the grand and solemn scenes 

 which it displays. While the least doubt 



hovers upon his mind in relation to this subject, 

 he should give himself no rest till it be dispelled. 

 He should explore every avenue where light and 

 information may be obtained ; he should prose 

 cute his researches with the same earnestness 

 and avidity as the miser digs for hidden trea 

 sures ; and above all things, he should study, 

 with deep attention and humility, the revelation 

 contained in the Holy Scriptures, with earnest 

 prayer to God for light and direction. And if 

 such inquiries be conducted with reverence, with 

 a devotional and contrite spirit, and with perse 

 verance, every doubt and difficulty that may have 

 formerly brooded over his mind will gradually 

 evanish, as the shades of night before the orient 

 sun. &quot; If thou criest after knowledge, and lift- 

 est up thy voice for understanding; if thou seek- 

 est her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid 

 treasures then shall thou understand the fear of 

 the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For 

 the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his rnouth cometh 

 &quot;knowledge and understanding. In all thy ways 

 acknowledge him, and he shall t Vect thy paths. 

 Then shall thy light break forth in obscurity, and 

 thy darkness shall be as the noon-day.&quot; 



In fine, if we are thoroughly convinced of our 

 relation to an eternal world, it will be our con 

 stant endeavour to cultivate those heavenly dis 

 positions and virtues, and to prosecute that 

 course of action which will prepare us for the 

 enjoyments of the heavenly state. &quot; For with 

 out holiness no man can see the Lord : and we 

 are assured that &quot; no unclean thing can enter the 

 gates of the New Jerusalem,&quot; and that neither 

 &quot; thieves, nor extortioners, nor the covetous, 

 nor the effeminate, nor drunkards, nor revilers, 

 nor idolaters shall inherit the Kingdom of God.&quot; 



PART IV. 



ON THE MORAL QUALIFICATIONS REQUISITE TO THE ENJOYMENTS OF THE FELICITY OF 

 THE FUTURE WORLD. 



THERE is scarcely an individual who admits 

 the doctrine of the immortality of man, who 

 does not indulge a certain degree of hope, that 

 he shall be admitted into a happier world, when 

 his spirit wings its way from this earthly scene. 

 Even the man of the world, the profligate and 

 the debauchee, notwithstanding their conscious 

 ness of guilt, and of the opposition of their affec 

 tions to the Divine Law, and the duties of the 

 Christian life, are frequently found buoying 

 themselves up, in the midst of their unhallo weo! 

 courses, with the vain expectation, that an All- 

 Merciful Creator will not suffer them ultimately 

 to sink into perdition, but will pity their weak 

 ness and follies, and receive them, when they die, 

 into the joys of heaven. Such hopes arise from 

 ignorance of the divine character, and of that in 



which true happiness consists, and from fallaci 

 ous views of the exercises of a future state and tho 

 nature of its enjoyments. For, in order to enjoy 

 happiness in any slate, or in any region of the uni 

 verse, the mind must be imbued with a relish for 

 the society, the conlemplalions, and the employ 

 ments peculiar to that region or state, and feel 

 an ardent desire to participate in its enjoyments. 

 What pleasure wo ild a miser whose mind is 

 wholly absorbed in the acquisition of riches, feel 

 in a world where neither gold nor silver, nor any 

 other object of avarice is to be found ? What 

 entertainment would a man whose chief en 

 joyment consists in hounding, horse-racing, 

 routes, and masquerades, derive in a scene 

 where such amusements are for ever abolished? 

 Could it be supposed that those who now find 



