116 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF A FUTURE STATE. 

 a nob er sphere of action and 



transport him to 

 enjoyment. 



The necessity of acquiring habits of active 

 beneficence, in order tc our preparation for the 

 felicity of the future world, will appear, if we 

 consider, that heaven is a social state, and that 

 a considerable portion of its happiness will con 

 sist in the mutual interchange of benevolent af- 

 fec^ns and beneficent actions. There will, 

 indeed, be no poor and distressed objects to be 

 relieved and comforted, no sorrows to be allevi 

 ated, and no physical nor moral evils to be coun 

 teracted ; for, in the New Jerusalem &quot; there 

 shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor cry 

 ing, neither shall there be any more pain, for 

 the former things shall have passed away, and 

 God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.&quot; 

 But its inhabitants will be for ever employed in 

 acts of beneficence towards each other, corres 

 ponding to their dignified stations, and the cir 

 cumstances in which they are placed. This is 

 evident from the very nature of Love, which 

 pervades the hearts of the whole of that &quot; mul 

 titude which no man can number.&quot; Love can 

 be manifested only by its effects, or by those ex 

 ternal acts of kindness and benignity which tend 

 to communicate happiness to others ; and, there 

 can be no doubt, that, in a thousand ways in 

 comprehensible .to us, the inhabitants of the 

 upper world will be the means of diffusing ec 

 static delight through the bosoms of surrounding 

 intelligences, which will form a pait of that joy 

 which is &quot; unspeakable and full of glory.&quot; The 

 sympathetic feelings they will express for each 

 other, both in respect to their former and their pre 

 sent condition, the interest they will take in listen 

 ing to each other s history, the scenes of felicity 

 to which they will conduct each other, the noble 

 and enrapturing subjects of conversation with 

 which they will entertain one another, the ob- 



intelligences, as his ministers in accomplishing 

 his designs, and for communicating enjoyment 

 to each other. With respect to the angels, we 

 are informed by Paul, that &quot; they are all minis 

 tering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who 

 shall be heirs of salvation.&quot; Hence we learn 

 from sacred history, that they delivered Peter 

 from the fury of Herod and the Jewish rulers, 

 Daniel from the ravenous lions Lot from the 

 destruction of Sodom, and Jacob from the hands 

 of Esau; that they strengthened and refreshed 

 Elijah in the wilderness, comforted Daniel when 

 covered with sackcloth and ashes, directed Jo 

 seph and Mary in their journey to Egypt, and 

 Cornelius to Peter, to receive the knowledge of 

 salvation ; that they communicated &quot; good ti 

 dings of great joy&quot; to Zacharias the father of 

 John the Baptist, to the Virgin Mary, and to 

 the shepherds in the plains of Bethlehem, and 

 consoled the hearts of the disconsolate disciples, 

 by proclaiming the resurrection of their Lord 

 and Master ; and we have reason to conclude, 

 that such ministrations are appointed to be con 

 tinued throughout all the periods of time. 



It is not improbable that the spirits of just 

 men made perfect are likewise occasionally 

 employed in similar services. When the vision 

 of the New Jerusalem was exhibited to John 

 by a celestial messenger, he &quot; fell down to wor 

 ship before the feet of ihe messenger, who show 

 ed him these things.&quot; But the messenger for 

 bade him, saying, &quot; See thou do it not ; for/ 

 am thy fellow- servant, and of thy brethren the 

 prophets, and of them that keep (or are interested 

 in) the sayings of this book.&quot; These words 

 would naturally lead us to conclude, that this 

 messenger was a departed saint, since he desi&quot;- 

 nates himself a brother, a propliet, arid a fellow- 

 servant. Perhaps it was the spirit of Moses, of 

 David, of Isaiah, of Jeremiah, or of Daniel, wb/ 



jects of beauty and sublimity to which they will would account it an honour to be employ 



direct each other s attention, the lectures on di 

 vine subjects, which the more capacious and 

 exalted spirits among them may deliver to their 

 younger brethren of &quot; the church of the first 

 born,&quot; and the intelligence from distant worlds 

 which the seraphim may communicate, on re 

 turning from their embassies of love to other 

 regions may form a part of those beneficent 

 services, into which every inhabitant of that 

 world will engage with peculiar pleasure. To 

 communicate happiness in every possible mode, 

 to make surrounding associates exult with joy, 

 and to stimulate them to celebrate the praises 

 of the &quot; Giver of all Good,&quot; will be their un- 

 seasing desire and their everlasting delight. 



We have every reason to believe, that a vast 

 system of universal Berevolence is going on 

 throughout the universe of God, and that it is 

 the grand object of his rjoral government to dis 

 tribute happiness among unnumbered worlds. 

 In prosecuting this object, he employs created 



ed 



such a service by their exalted Lord. But 

 whether or not such a supposition may be admit 

 ted, certain it is, that the saints will hereafter 

 be employed in active beneficent services, ir 

 concert with other holy beings, so long as thei- 

 existence endures. For they are constituted 

 &quot; Kings and Priests to the God and Father of 

 our Lord Jesus Christ,&quot; and are &quot; workers to 

 gether with God,&quot; in carrying forward the plans 

 of his government. 



Since, then, it appears, that the inhabitants 

 of heaven are incessantly employed in acts ot 

 beneficence, the habit of beneficence which is 

 acquired in this world, along with its ac 

 companying virtues, may be considered as 

 a preparation and a qualification for that 

 more extensive s here of moral action into 

 which the saints shall be introduced, when they 

 wing their way from this earthly call to the 

 regions above. And, consequently, those who 

 never engage in &quot; works of faith and labours of 



