tation of the future glory to be enjoyed by all the saints. You are the children of Abraham by faith in Christ. You see how his faith and patience were tried, and you see that these promises are destined to be fulfilled. If therefore you are called to the exercise of patience, and to the endurance of trials, rest satisfied that this is only the common treatment which the saints have to experience, and that you will be made perfect in glory.

The same promises and the same examples are set before us as were set before the Hebrews. We, like them, think of the father of the faithful with reverence. As the subject of the promises was severely tried, and is now abundantly rewarded, so we may be called to suffer many things painful; at all events we are called to the patient exercise of persevering faith; we cannot enjoy the glory at present, while subject to many trials, but it remains to us to hold fast the hope set before us, to give God full credit for the fulfilment of his promise, that he will not fail us any more than he failed Abraham. We shall hereafter be infinitely more than compensated.

The apostle goes on to enforce the subject:-"For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife; wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath." The highest possible confirmation of human testimony is that which is obtained from the oath of an individual. An oath is a solemn appeal to God. Men may swear falsely, and they have done so, yet this is the ultimate point to which we can arrive by human testimony. A solemn engagement must be terminated by an oath, consequently there is nothing unlawful in an oath itself; if there had been, the apostle would not have made use of such an illustration; therefore, I apprehend it is lawful to swear when an oath becomes necessary. Men always swear by the greater : there would be no utility in an oath if the appeal were not made to a Greater and an Omniscient Being as it is such an appeal, an end is thereby put to all litigation. It is on this account that men attach so much importance to an oath. As this is the case, "God willing more abundantly to shew to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel," the irresistible or certain fulfilment of the promise, sware, as the means of putting an end to all suspicion or doubt respecting the certainty of the things promised. Now all this is evidently in accommodation to human modes of thinking. It is a display of wonderful condescension, and is designed to lead us to place the greatest dependence on his word. Not that the oath of God can add any thing to the certainty of God's word: all that he has promised is equally sure with those things which he has thus confirmed by an oath.

God confirms his promise by an oath, but by an oath not exactly of the same kind, and, therefore, as he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying: "As surely as I live." This is the nature of God's oath, "As surely as I live," and shall continue to be God, so certainly shall these things be fulfilled. He has given this pledge that we may have strong consolation.

Here is a question of some importance to be determined, which is, What are the two immutable things? Some say the promise and the oath of God. The promise addressed to Abraham, "saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee;"-a promise to bless with him all partakers of a like faith: this God confirmed with an oath, that his immutability might be manifested. No doubt in one sense this may be said to be two things, but the apostle is not referring merely to the promise and the oath: he refers to two separate occasions, when God interposed by an oath, in order that the heirs of promise might have strong consolation. To one of these oaths we have briefly adverted, namely, that God would assuredly bless Abraham, &c. There can be no doubt of God's fulfilling this oath, as it has already, in a great measure, taken place. But the apostle had glanced at another thing, (chap. v. 6, 10.) God is introduced on another occasion, in a declaration respecting his Son, saying, "Thou art a Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec." The two things are the two oaths of God, that the Messiah should descend from Abraham, and that this Messiah is consecrated a Priest for ever; and upon this latter circumstance the apostle afterwards reasons at great length. The promise of the Messiah was the object of Abraham's desire and faith; and, in the next place, that the Messiah should be a priest after the order of Melchisedec; not a deliverer in this world, but in the life to come; not to exercise a government on earth, but in heaven, throughout eternity. God had a second time interposed, by an oath, and said, "Thou art a priest for ever:" that is, to consecrate him an immortal priest. The one promise referred to Christ upon earth, the other to his heavenly state, where he has sat down in the presence of God. All this is to shew the Divine willingness to grant strong consolation to the heirs of promise; "that by two immutable things we might have a strong consolation."

The word rendered consolation means excitement, encouragement,—that they may have powerful excitement and encouragement. Here we are represented in circumstances of danger and jeopardy, as exposed to condemnation. Here we are considered as condemned to die-having no refuge of our own to which we can resort: under the apprehension of this wrath and of our desert of it, and feeling what we are, we are represented as repairing to this refuge.

To what does this refer? To the raising up a deliverer, and the perfection of that work which he undertook. We, then, who have fled for refuge to this oath, this security, and who have held it fast, have strong consolation: while our minds are fixed upon the immutable nature of the Divine engagements, we are sustained under the trials so fatal in the world. We are made superior to the trials of this life, and are preserved in the exercise of a patient hope of the future glory, which hope we have both sure and steadfast. There is no difficulty in ascertaining the general meaning of the passage, but there seems a degree of difficulty in the metaphor. The apostle had been speaking of a refuge, a temple, or sanctuary ; as the horns of the altar were a refuge. He is referring to Jesus, who had entered within the veil for us, thereby securing all dependant on him. But it is unusual for an anchor to enter into a sanctuary. The word is probably used metaphorically, as referring to a foundation-a stone occupying the angle of a building, which not only covers the corner, but penetrates through the entire wall, and enters into the inside of the building. The temple was considered as a very sacred place. There is a frequent reference to a foundation cornerstone, on which the whole building rests: this stone may be said to penetrate within, as well as be seen without; and he who lays hold on it is as safe as he that is withinside of the refuge. This is the foundation of our hope; Jesus is the chief corner-stone of the building, which gives it solidity. We have not only a testimony-but that to which it refers, Jesus, who is entered within the veil; He is there seated in glory; and blessed are those who by faith lay hold of him: they are as safe as those who are within the veil.

If we are right in our interpretation, the two things respect the gift and the priesthood of Christ. He is our hope; the testimony has a reference to his work; we rest upon the promises, and we feel ourselves sheltered by Jesus, our representative and forerunner, who lives to maintain that possession; and because he ever lives, He is able to save to the uttermost. If you would obtain this heavenly comfort you must direct your attention to the adorable Redeemer by holding fast of Him, you will be sheltered from all the storms of life, and from every adversary. And however justly the adversary might seize you, if left to yourselves, there is no evil of which you need be afraid; God has sworn once and again. The Saviour has entered within the veil; let us commit ourselves to Him; the period is approaching when He will leave that temple, when He will be revealed, and when everlasting life and glory will be the portion of all who rely on Him.

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SERMON XIV.

ON HEAVEN; CONSIDERED AS A STATE OF PERFECT SOCIETY

AMONG CREATED BEINGS.

BY HUGH HEUGH, D. d.

EPH. iii. 15.-The whole family in heaven.

THESE words form part of a long sentence, in which, with his usual pious and benevolent ardour, Paul presents a prayer for the Christians of Ephesus; of which I may affirm, that it is so rich, so tender, so lofty, so comprehensive of all that Christians can desire for their spiritual interests on earth, and their preparation for the heavenly glory, as that only a mind under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit could have conceived it. This prayer the apostle recorded, not only as an expression of his regard for the members of the Ephesian church, and as an example of his supplications for the churches of Christ in general, but to teach Christians of every age, in what spirit, and for what objects, they should approach the throne of their common Father, for themselves, and for their brethren. And it were happy for us, indeed, did we, with intelligence, faith and love, more frequently pray thus: "I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."

By"the whole family in heaven and earth," we understand the church of the redeemed, in both worlds; the whole multitude of the

saved, who have been brought into the relation of children to God, through Jesus Christ their Saviour, and are thus most intimately connected with God, and with one another through him. At the same time, it is probable that in this extended and extending family, the apostle may include the holy angels, who, through Christ Jesus, are brought into very close relations with the church of redeemed men, according to the doctrine taught in the first chapter of this epistle, and frequently in the writings of the New Testament. "In the dispensation of the fulness of time," God is to gather together in one all things in Christ, whether they be things on earth, or things on heaven."

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I have read these words, however, not for the purpose of bringing before you the great christian privilege of adoption; which, like other saving privileges, is perpetuated and perfected in heaven; I intend to select one result of this privilege, as we know, from divine revelation, it shall be enjoyed in the heavenly world. The loftiest view of that world unquestionably is, that it shall be the scene of perfect fellowship betwixt man and his God-of intercouse of mind and heart, of thought and love, betwixt God and the redeemed, through the Mediator. But next to fellowship with God, we must rank, among the future privileges of the redeemed, a state of perfect society among themselves, and betwixt them and the holy angels. And in looking forward, my fellow-christians, to the celestial scene of our everlasting residence, as a state of the best society perfected, we shall not need to resort to any unscriptural and unprofitable speculations; we shall avail ourselves of the sure light of the word of God; and shall find that the contemplation of heaven, in this light, is fitted at once to improve the character, and to gratify the strongest feelings of the renewed heart.

As to the fact, that in heaven intelligent and holy beings shall be brought into a state of perfect society with one another, there can be no doubt. Betwixt the state in which God at first formed innocent man, and that in which man shall exist in heaven, there is a declared resemblance. Redemption, both as it takes effect partially on earth, and as it is consummated in heaven, is a scheme of renovation, of restoring lapsed man to the condition from which he fell, and even to an improvement of that condition. from his origin, was destined for society. His mental constitution, including a variety of affections, the exercise of which supposes his existence in the social state, his powers of communication by the faculty of speech, which were useless in solitude,-the law under which he was placed, that eternal rule of righteousness, which requires love to his neighbour as to himself,-all concur in shewing

And man,