without blemish or defect. What perfect union and communion this image implies! But not more perfect than the reality, for then will the Eternal Father have gathered together in one all things in Christ' which are in heaven and which are on earth.m And for this celestial society there will be suitable and everlasting habitations; the new heavens and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness; the Paradise of God; the many mansions of the Father's house prepared for us by Christ Himself; the holy Jerusalem; the city which hath foundations, situate in the heavenly fatherland; the sanctuary of the King of kings corresponding to the Holy of holies in the Jewish tabernacle, where they have no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the Light thereof." And this leads us to the crowning felicity of the risen saints, even perfect and uninterrupted communion with God in Christ. They shall see Jesus, and the beatific vision shall stamp them with His likeness for ever. He shall present them before His Father, and confess them to be His own. Then shall they know m Eph. i. 10. n Rev. xxi. 23. • I John iii. 2. the full meaning of the words, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And thus in His immediate presence shall they drink for ever of the crystal river proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. The Triune God will be their eternal inheritance. In this passing glimpse which we have taken of the coming glory, the Word of God has employed all the images of the purest and deepest human joy-a happy home, a fruitful garden, the social pleasures of citizenship, the luxury of doing good, the delight of active work, the refreshment of repose, the shouting of harvest, the rich provision of a banquet, the power of music, the honour of a royal presentation, the exultation of victory, the prize of the successful competitor, the high responsibilities of government, the ministrations of priesthood, and the communion of heart with heart, which a holy bridal seals and consummates— all, all are exhausted to shadow forth the felicity which awaits us. This at least we may say, that whatever earth has of delight, heaven has; only that as the heavens are higher than the earth, so much will the perfect bliss of eternity transcend the fragmentary q Matt. v. 8. r Rev. xx11. I. joys of time. The things which are seen are temporal: the things which are not seen are eternal. Now, so far as in us lies, we must suffer all the converging rays of the coming glory to shine down upon our stricken hearts, if we would rise to that great act of sacrificial praise which our Church leads us to offer beside the open grave. It is not only that our brother is delivered from the burden of the flesh and from all the miseries of this sinful world: it is not only that now his spirit lives with God in joy and felicity it is far more. His death is a step in the mighty progression of the Church towards her final and everlasting victory. Since Jesus died and rose again, it is a further pledge of the resurrection to eternal life. Nor is the separation for long. God will shortly accomplish the number of His elect. He will make up His jewels. As our brother is, so we shall shortly be. Unless the Master first returns, which is the sum of all joy, we shall very soon rejoin the one, whose loss we now so sorely mourn, in the Paradise of rest; and there we shall await with him the blessed morning of the resurrection. We are on the way to cloudless, limitless, endless felicity. Love cannot die. No grain of this celestial gold perishes. The gifts of God are without repentance. Shall we not give Him hearty thanks for them? We will; we do. And as we thank Him, we believe that He, who inhabits eternity, inhabits also the praises of a contrite and humble spirit, and will in His own infinite tenderness revive the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite ones, The world passeth away and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.-I JOHN ii. 17. .... Oh, they sickened not, nor faded into fond imaginings, For true joys, if only true, immortal are 'mid mortal things. Whilome they were golden lamps, that o'er our pilgrim pathway shone, Whose dear light we fondly bless'd, and wended unrepining on; And, when number'd with the past, they sank not in the misty sea With the foul and baseborn glimmer of the world's false-hearted glee, But majestically rose, an apotheosis of light, Till they clomb the dark blue heaven stars for ever mid the night, And, thence shining on our pathway from their glorious home afar, Tell us of the things that have been, that they shall be, and they are S EXCELSIOR. The Collect. O MERCIFUL God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life; in whom whosoever believeth shall live, though he die; and whosoever liveth, and believeth in Him, shall not die eternally; who also hath taught us, by His holy Apostle Saint Paul, not to be sorry, as men without hope, for them that sleep in Him; we meekly beseech Thee, O Father, to raise us from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness; that, when we shall depart this life, we may rest in Him, as our hope is this our brother doth ; and that, at the general Resurrection in the last day, we may be found acceptable in Thy sight; and receive that blessing, which Thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear Thee, saying, Come, ye blessed children of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world: grant this, O merciful Father, through Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Redeemer. Amen. ET once more the voice of supplication, which feeling after perfect felicity had rested in pleading the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, rises from the group of bereaved friends, as they stand |