112 



THE PHILOSOPHY UP A FUTURE STATE. 



altogetner unqualified for mingling in their soci 

 ety. He is a rebel against the divine govern 

 ment, a nuisance in the universe of God, the 

 slave of grovelling appetites and passions, and 

 consequently, unfit for participating in the exer 

 cises and enjoyments of the saints in glory. 



2. Love to mankind is another affection which 

 is indispensably requisite to qualify us for parti 

 cipating in the joys of heaven. This distinguish 

 ing characteristic of the saints naturally and ne 

 cessarily flows from love to the Supreme Being. 

 &quot;For (says the apostle John) everyone that 

 loveth him who begat, loveth them also who are 

 begotten of him. If God loved us we ought also 

 to love one another. If a man say, I love God, 

 and hatethhis brother, he is a liar ; for he who 

 loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how 

 can he love God whom he hath not seen.&quot; As 

 the spring flows from the fountain and partakes 

 of its qualities, and as the shadow always ac 

 companies the substance, and is produced by it, 

 BO love to man uniformly accompanies the love 

 of God, and is produced by the powerful influ 

 ence which this governing principle exerts over 

 the mind. 



This affection is accordant with the dictates 

 of reason, and congenial to the best feelings of 

 the human heart. When we consider that our 

 fellow-rnen derived their origin from the same 

 almighty Being who brought us into existence 

 that they are endowed with the same physical 

 functions as ourselves, and the same moral 

 and intellectual powers, that they relish the 

 same pleasures and enjoyments, possess the same 

 feelings, and are subjected to the same wants 

 and afflictions that they are involved in the 

 same general depravity, and liable to the same 

 temptations and disasters that they are jour 

 neying along with us to the tomb, and that our 

 dust must soon mingle with theirs when we 

 consider the numerous relations in which we 

 stand to our brethren around us, and to all the 

 inhabitants of the globe our dependence upon 

 all ranks and descriptions of men, and upon al 

 most every nation under heaven for our sen 

 sitive and intellectual enjoyments, and that 

 thousands of them are traversing sea and land, 

 and exposing themselves to innumerable dan 

 gers, in order to supply us with the comforts and 

 the luxuries of life when we consider, that they 

 are all destined to an immortal existence, and 

 shall survive the dissolution of this globe, and 

 bear a part in the solemn scenes which shall 

 open to view when time shall be no more in 

 sh^t, when we consider, that the Great Father 

 of all, without respect of persons, makes the 

 same vital air to give play to their lungs, the 

 same water to cleanse and refresh them, the 

 same rains and dews to fructify their fields, the 

 same sun to enlighten their day, and the same 

 moon to cheer the darkness of their night we 

 must be convinced, that love to our brethren of 



mankind is the law of the Creator, nd the most 

 rational and amiable affection that can animate 

 the human heart in relation to subordinate intel 

 ligences. He who is destitute of (his affection 

 is a pest in society, a rebel and a nuisance in 

 the kingdom of God, and, of course, unqualified 

 for the enjoyment of celestial bliss. &quot;For he 

 who hateth his brother, is a murderer ; and we 

 know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding 

 in him.&quot;* 



But, our love is not to be confined to our 

 brethren of the race of Adam. It must take a 

 loftier flight, and comprehend within its expan 

 sive grasp, all the holy intelligences in the uni 

 verse, in so far as their nature and qualities have 

 been made known to us. We must love the an 

 gelic tribes. They are beings who stand near 

 the summit of the scale of intellectual exis 

 tence ; they are endowed with faculties superior 

 to man ; they dwell in the glorious presence 

 of God, and are employed as his ministers in 

 superintending the affairs of his government. 

 They .are possessed of wonderful activity, in 

 vested with powers of rapid motion, and flou 

 rish in immortal youth. They are adorned with 

 consummate holiness and rectitude, and with pe 

 culiar loveliness of character. Pride and vanity, 

 envy and malice, wrath and revenge, never ran 

 kle in their breasts. They never indulge in im 

 piety, never insult the Redeemer, nor bring a 

 railing accusation against their brethren. They 

 glow with an intense and immortal flame of love 

 to their Creator ; they are incessantly employed 

 in acts of benevolence ; they occasionally descend 

 to our world on embassies of mercy, and are 

 ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation. On 

 all these accounts they demand our esteem, our 

 approbation, and our affectionate regard. And, 

 although they are at present placed beyond the 

 reach of our beneficence, and we have no oppor 

 tunity of expressing our benevolent, wishes, yet 

 we may afterwards be joined to their society, 

 and co-operate with them in their labours of love. 



The indispensable necessity of love to man 

 kind, and to every class of holy intelligences, as 

 a preparation for heaven, will appear, when we 

 consider, that we shall mingle in their society, 

 and hold intimate fellowship with them in the 

 eternal world. For the inhabitants of our world 

 who are admitted into heaven, are represented 

 in Scripture, as joining &quot; the general assembly 

 and church of the first-born, the spirits of just 

 men made perfect and the innumerable company 

 of angels ;&quot; and hence they are exhibited, in the 

 book of Revelation, as joining with one heart 

 and one mind in contemplating the divine opera 

 tions, and in celebrating the praises of their com 

 mon Lord. In the society of that blessed world, 

 love pervades every bosom, it reigns for ever 

 triumphant; and therefore, every exercise and 



1 John iii. 15. 



