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THE PHILOSOPHY OF A FUTURE STATE. 



eity of creation, who have mingled with the in- 

 nabitants of ten thousand worlds, who have 

 learned the history of the divine dispensations 

 in relation to them all, and who are inspired 

 with every amiable and benignant feeling, and 

 with humility, love and condescension ; let us 

 suppose ambassadors of this description, from 

 numerous worlds, occasionally joining this celes 

 tial society, and &quot; rehearsing the mighty acts 

 of Jehovah,&quot; as displayed in the regions from 

 whence they came. let us suppose, &quot; the man 

 Christ Jesus&quot; president among them, in the ef 

 fulgence of his glory, and unfulding his peerless 

 excellences to every eye, let us suppose these 

 glorious beings engaged in conversations, con 

 templations, investigations, thanksgivings, adora 

 tions, and beneficent services, corresponding to 

 the magnificence of the region in which they 

 reside, and to the dignity of their natures and 

 we have a faint picture of the social enjoyments 

 of the celestial world. This is the society of 

 heaven, the general assembly of the church tri 

 umphant, for which we must now be inspired 

 with a divine relish and for which we must now 

 be prepared in the temper and disposition of our 

 minds, if we expect to be hereafter admitted into 

 that &quot; house not made with hands which is eter 

 nal in the heavens.&quot; 



O blessed and glorious society ! where no con 

 tentions ever arise, where no malignant spirit 

 interrupts the universal harmony, where no male 

 volent affection is ever displayed, where no pro 

 vocation disturbs the serenity of the mind, where 

 not one revengeful thought aaises against the most 

 depraved inhabitant of the universe, where a 

 single falsehood is never uttered, where folly, 

 impertinence and error never intrude, where no 

 frown sits lowering on the countenance, and no 

 cloud ever intercepts the sunshine of benevo 

 lence ! where &quot;Holiness to the Lord&quot; is in 

 scribed on every heart, where every member is 

 knit to another by the indissoluble bonds of af 

 fection and esteem, where a friendship is com 

 menced which shall never be dissolved, where 

 love glows in every bosom, and benignity beams 

 from every countenance, where moral excellence 

 is displayed in its most sublime, and diversified, 

 and transporting forms, where &quot; a multitude 

 which no man can number, from all nations, and 

 kindreds, and people, and tongues,&quot; join in uni 

 son with angels and archangels, principalities 

 and powers, in swelling the song of salvation to 

 Him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb 

 that was slain, for ever and ever ! ye glorious 

 hosts of heaven, who minister to the heirs of 

 salvation on earth ! Ye redeemed inhabitants 

 from our world, &quot; who came out of great tribu 

 lation, and are now before the throne of God, 

 and serve him day and night in his temple !&quot; we 

 long to join your blessed society. You dwell 

 amidst scenes of magnificence and the splendours 

 of eternal day ; you are for ever secure from 



sin and sorrow, and every evil annoyance ; 

 your joys are uninterrupted, ever increasing, ana 

 ever new ; your prospects are boundless as the 

 universe, arid your duration permanent as the 

 throne of the Eternal ! We dwell &quot; in houses ol 

 clay whose foundation is in the dust :&quot; we so 

 journ in &quot; a land of pits and snares,&quot; and within 

 &quot; the region of the shadow of death:&quot; we walk 

 amidst scenes of sorrow and suffering, surrounded 

 by &quot; the tents of strife,&quot; and exposed to the 

 malice of &quot; lying lips and deceitful tongues !&quot; 

 From our earthly prison, to which we are now 

 chained as &quot; prisoners ofhope,&quot; we lift up our 

 eyes to your happy mansions, with longing 

 desires, and exclaim, &quot; O that we had the wings 

 of a seraph, that we might fly away to your 

 blissful seats and be at rest !&quot; We long to join 

 &quot; the general assembly and church of the first 

 born, which are written in heaven the spirits of 

 just men made perfect the innumerable com 

 pany of angels Jesus the Mediator of the new 

 covenant, and God the Judge of all.&quot; . 



May the Father of all mercies,who hath begot 

 ten us to the lively hope of an incorruptible inhe 

 ritance, grant that we may persevere in the Chris-* 

 tian course,be kept from falling, be &quot; guarded by 

 his almighty power, through faith unto salvation,&quot; 

 and that in due time, an entrance may be abun 

 dantly administeied to us into the everlasting 

 kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.&quot; 

 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 



From the subject to which our attention ha9 

 now been directed, we may learn, what will con 

 stitute one bitter ingredient in the punishment 

 that awaits the wicked in the future world. As the 

 principle of love, which pervades the minds of the 

 inhabitants of heaven, with the diversified rami 

 fications into which it diverges, forms the ground 

 work of all the other enjoyments of the celestial 

 world, so the principle of malignity which pre 

 dominates in the hearts of the wicked, will be 

 the source of the greater part of that misery they 

 are doomed to suffer in the eternal stale. &quot; We 

 cannot form a more dreadful picture of future 

 punishment than by conceiving the principles of 

 falsehood, deceit, and malignity, and the passions 

 of pride, hatred, malice, and revenge, raging with 

 uncontrolled and perpetual violence. We need 

 represent to ourselves nothing more horrible in 

 the place of punishment, than by supposing the 

 Almighty simply permitting wicked men to give 

 full scope to their malevolent dispositions ; leav 

 ing them to eat of the fruit of their own ways, 

 and to be filled with their own devices. The ef 

 fects produced by the uncontrolled operation of 

 such principles and passions, would be such as 

 may be filly represented by the emblems of the 

 worm that never dies, of devouring fire, and of 

 their necessary concomitants, weeping and 

 wailing and gnashing of teeth. &quot;* 



* Philosophy of Religion, pp. 55. 53. 



