The world may say as it will of the Christian
religion—but it is only by it that the human mind is exalted, and men rise
into eternal glory. The pleasures of piety sweeten my acid griefs, and blunt
my acute pains. In this I triumph over my troubles, defy my enemies; and
outrun my woes. Here I relish unseen realities, taste spiritual joys, and
eat of the hidden manna. Here, in the chariot of the covenant, seated in the
promise, Elijah-like, I leave the whole creation, and wing to the
inheritance above, where at once I am possessed of the divine plenitude of
the Eternal, bathe in life's crystal streams, bask in his meridian ray—Where
I shall drink, (and the time is not far distant) the immortalizing draught,
and eat the bread of life in the kingdom of God—Where my raptured tongue
shall join its anthem with the harpers around the throne, and never cease,
and never tire—Where I shall see him who is altogether lovely, in the
brightest displays of his glory, and hear the tenderest expressions of his
everlasting love—Where I shall share of his excellences, participate of his
divine nature, and put on his amazing similitude—Where I shall enjoy an
ineffable union with my living Head, and know, in the largest meaning of the
word, that "he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit,"—Where communion
between the well-beloved and his spouse shall be full and free, to the
ecstasy of every power of the mind—Where I shall be allowed an access so
near, that it shall astonish me in my very approaches—Where I shall sit
before his throne, walk with him in white, and in his temple speak of his
glory—Where I shall launch out into the unfathomable ocean of his infinite
perfections, and be eternally lost in the divine glory—Where I shall no more
be vexed with an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God,
but have my soul immovably fixed on the unchangeable God—Where my body in
all its members, my soul in all her faculties, shall be holy and pure, and
go unweariedly out to God—Where the least temptation shall not whisper in my
ear, nor the carnal speech, nor profaning tongue, (O happy days!) grate the
sanctified ear—but loud praises to him who loved us, from all the multitudes
around the throne, convey the harmony of eternal song, to soothe my every
power into the profoundest ecstasy, and to excite my song to confess his
essential glories in sublimest anthems—Where I shall see the King eternal in
his immaculate beauty, worship him without hypocrisy, serve him without
wearying, behold him and not die, approach his throne without terror, know
him as he is, see him in all his greatness, yet not, Daniel-like, be
weakened—but strengthened by the vision; delight in him without slavish
fear, love him without reserve, and be like him without contradiction—Where
I shall see him in his resplendent robes, in his essential glories, dwelling
with redeemed men, though the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, and
showing them his beauties, his majestic steps in the highest sanctuary, the
holy of holies, and making all his goodness to pass eternally before their
wondering, their adoring, their ravished eyes!
With such endearing prospects, such reviving
expectations, as these, my soul is refreshed in true religion!
But what is on the other hand? What have the ungodly, who
relish none of these things, to expect—but gulfs of horror, pits of despair,
seas of fire, oceans of vengeance, chains of wrath, floods of indignation,
unutterable anguish, utter darkness, eternal torments—and such a scene of
agonies as chills my thoughts!