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Las diagrammes suivants illustrant la mithoda. ly errata ad to mt ma pelure, Bfon A 1 2 3 3» 1 2 3 4 5 6 . * ■'/ ) \ '1 \ ■■ 'h I ■ r V ( 7he HeaJ^eniy Inheritance, I \ r / '.'■^^o The Hed'benty Inheritande, or » Reasonable and Scriptural Thoughts regarding Heaven and the State and Condition of the Redeemed* h D, STEWlf, its nature and locality, and also regarding the Redeemed, their nature and employments, thoughts that he trusts will be helpful and suggestive of further study and inedi' tation to the reader, and will be supported both by the letter and spirit of Divine inspiration and by the light of reason^ Controverted points will be mostly avoided and likewise mere theories, such as "thip transmi- gration of souls," " the sleep of the soul," "the h^ 1 \ termediate abode," "the sudden cieiitioti of ii heaven," "the renovation of the earth," etc., theories that find their support either in the bor- rowed superstition of past ages, or in the more vaguely prophetical passages of Scripture, rathei* than in the clear light of insoiration or the dic- tates of enlightened reason. I will also leave largely to the reader the merely devotional and meditative aspect of the subject, and, also, while seeking to base the different thoughts advanced on a broad and reasonable interpretation of Scripture, will refrain from burdening these feW pages with a mass of Scriv)ture references or texts- 10 * THE NATURE OF HEAVEN. In the first place then, regarding the nature of Heaven, it may be said that Heaven will be a place, a local material habitation. Our Saviour m said to His sorrowing disciples : ** I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and "receive you unto My- self, that where I am there ye may be also.'' Christ here characterizes the future abode of his people as a place, a local and tangible abode, as distinguished from a state merely, and the in. ference is that the place of which the Saviour speaks was already created, but that he was going to prepare, or set it in order, specially for His own people. Again, according to the Scrip- tures, the saints will have bodies, spiritualized, and refined it is true, and yet real material bodies preserving their individual identity, and also something at least of the nature and properties of the natural body. This being the case, the place which is to be the platform for the Heavenly activities of the saints, will be as real and tangi- ble as their own bodies, which is a reasonable conclusion. Further, the mind of man has re- ceived the impressions necessary to its growth and development from external nature through the channels of the senses, and it would seem at leist out of harmony with the known methods of tilt; Divine procedure, to place it after the resur- I t % 11 rection in circumstances and enviornments totally different from what obtains here. The descriptions we have of Heaven in the Bible are mainly figurative and symbolic, as where it is se^ forth as a garden or paradise, as a city, the New Jerusalem, and as a house, the Father's house of many mansions. In these figures inspiration labors, as it were, to translate the glories of Heaven into the language of earth. We have in these figures images and symbols, envelopes of Heavenly treasure, which under the Spirit's guidance we may unroll and make the treasures all ovir own. But, while as humble enquiring Christians we may learn much from this beautiful and varied symbolism re- garding Heaven, yet it is evident that the tran- cendant glories of the place could never be com- municated to men thr(/Ugh the poor barren medium of human speech, and, therefore, even the beautiful imagery of Scripture utto-rly fails to give us anything like an adequate conception of the glories of the New Jerusalem, the house not made with hands. Whether Heaven will have any of the features that give such beauty and loveliness to the earthly scenery, it is perhaps vain for us to speculate. We can safely affirm from the reason- able deductions of astronomy, that even in our own solar system there are worlds, whose noc- turnal scenery at least, must be inexpressibly more imposing to sentient beings constituted like 12 Ourselves, than that which we are accustomed to behold. A noted astiononier* thus refers to the luagnificient celestial scenery of the planets, Jupitei* and Saturn : " The nocturnal heavens, as seen from this grand orb, nnist be inexpressibly magnificent. Besides the same glittering constellations which are seen from the earth, the sky of Jupiter may be adorned with no less than four moons, with' their diverse phases, some waxing or waning, some just rising or setting, some possibly just entering into or emerging from eclipse. The whole of this splendid celestial exhibition, sweep- ing across the heavons, rising, culminating and setting in less than five hours of our time. Such are the scenes witnessed by the inhabitants of .Tupiter, if such there be. But if the celestial scenery of Jupiter is rendered magnificent by the splendor of his four moons, what must be the ama;2ing grandeui* of the nocturnal sky of Saturn, arched from horizon to horizon by his broad, luminous girdle (on which the shadow of the planet, like the dark hand of a mighty dial, will mark the hours of the night) ; the changes, phases, eclipses, the occultations of his numerous moons, and the brilliant background of glittering constellations which gem our nocturnal sky, nmst altogether form a display of celestial splen- dour of which the human mind can form but a faint conception.'' But if the nocturnal scenery of these worlds (and which are quite insignificant in comparison to many of the stellar orbs with which the heavens ai'e studded) is so magnificent, how unutterably glorious must be the throne of the eternal One, and which is to be the Christian's *0. M. Mitchel author of The Orbs of Heaven. 18 ^ 'J" •j1! future and unfading inheritance. In the heau- tiful imagery of Revelation the Aposth; John tells us that he saw in a vision "a new Heav^en and a new earth, and there was no more sea.' In this connection how l)etiutifnl is the question of the poet : *' What will God give us when he takes the sea?' I often ask the question wonderingly. In the new heaven and earth we shall not miss Whatever heauty we have found in this. Ai\d we are sure some happy, .^weet sui'prise Awaits the opemng of the spirit's eyes. Yet when I look upon the foam-Avhite shore, And thrill to hear the ocean's mighty roar, Catch all the colors that delight the eye R(*flected from the heaven that smiles on high. I ask the question often, wonderingly, *' What will Clod give us when he takes the sea ?' We may rest assured that when God takes the sea or anything else that contributes to the majesty and loveUness of the earthly scenery He will give us something a thousand times more h>vely. And just as the Resurrection body will outshine this clay tenement, so the scenery of Heaven v ill outshine that of eai'th. Love is in- genious and God's love is infinite as well as His resources, and when He brings His beautiful ai. I chaste bride, the Church, home, ransomed by the blood of His Own Son, amidst the acclamations of an assembled universe, the place we may rest assured will be entirely worthy of the occasion. But the Heaven of the saints is net only a place it is also a state, and it is iiff ts character as a state of existence that its blessedness will u largely consist. No matter how inexpressibly grand Heaven might be in its more material aspect if sin and its inevitable consequences tnight enter, eVen in the smallest measure or degree, it would not be a fit abode for the blood- washed throng, who are symbolized in Scripture as "walking in white" and being ** clothed in white raiment,'* to denote their unspotted right- eousness and purity in God's sight. It may be laid down as a principle, that in order that in- telligent, sentient, moral beings may enjoy supreme happiness there must be a perfect corres- pondence with a perfect environment* Such, no doubt, was the case with Adam in Paradise be- fore sin with its blasting, blighting, disturbing in- fluences entered and marred the fair harmony of that ideal earthly a,bode. But in the Heavenly Paradise no such contingency is possible, as Rev- elation distinctly and emphatically assures us that sin can never enter and that the saints go no more out. It assures us that there Will be none of the vicissitudes characteristic of the earthly existence, such as paiti and suffering, sorrow and bereavement, hunger and thirst, for " the former things have passed away.'* Transported with the thought of the undimmed and xmfading glory of the home that awaits the Christian, let us strive to so live and walk here that we may be ac- counted worHii^ to enter the eternal bliss yonder^ and while looking wistfully and longingly across f * ^ MMI 4 ,r- » 16 the dark valley in anticipation, let us make the sentiment of the poet our own : We speak of the realms of the blest, Of that country so bright and so fair. And oft are its glories confessed ; But what must it be to be there I We speak of its pathways of gold, Of its walls decked with jewels so rare. Of its wonders and pleasures untold ; But what must it oe to be there ! We speak of its freedom from sin. From sorrow, tem^ptation and care. From trials without and within ; But what must it be to be there I We speak of its anthems of praise. With which we can never compare The sweetest on earth we can raise ; But what must it be to be there ! We speak of its service of love, Of the robes which the glorified wear. Of the Church of the first-born above ; But what must it be to be there I Then let us, 'midst pleasure or woe, Still for heaven our spirits prepare ; And shortly we also shall know And feel what it is to be there^ THE LOCALITY OF HEAVEN, In the second place, regarding the locality ol Heaven, it may be said that the pla^e to which we are all aspiring is far beyond the bounds of all that is visible. Christ, according to the Scriptures " as(.'ended far above all heavens.' Paul also tells us that he was " caught up into the third heaven," and which, ac(;ording to the Jewish conception, is far above the regioji of the stars. Viewing the matter from a scientific stand point, if we regard Heaven as at all central in God's universe it must be removed from us to a distance that simply baffles imagination Through the perfection and delicacy of modern astronomical instruments and methods, astron omers have obtained a parallax in the (jase of a few of the nearest of the so called *' fixed stars." The star having the greatest annual parallax, and therefore the nearest to us, is a Centavn*, a brilliant star in the southern hemisphere. The distance of this orb is shown to be not less than 21,000,000,000,0(X) miles from us, a distance which light, the swiftest monitor in nature with which we are acquainted, requires about three and a half years to traverse. The smallest parallax that comes within the limits of computation cor- responds to a distance from us such that the same 1: ght would occupy 70 years in its flight ;ality ol o which Hinds of to the )> eavens. b lip into r to the Xi of the cientific central n us to a ^ination modern , astroii ;ase of a 3d stars." parallax, entanr, a 3re. The ess than Lce which jh which :^e and a parallax tion cor- that the ts flight 17 from the star in question to our system. But if the nearest and brighter, .f the stars are shown to be at such vast distances from us, what shall we say of the distance ©f those countless myriads that are only dimly descried even under the highest telescopic power ? And there are other countless myriads still further removed, whose liglit, infeebled bv its dispersion over spaces of al- most infinite extent, fails to impress our organs of visi(vi directly, but whose actinic properties im- press themselves upon the sensitive plate of the camera. Surely ^uch facts and conclusions re- garding the vastness of the physical universe should iiupi^ess us with a sense of the glory and augustness of our future home, of our own little- ness and of the greatness of that Being " who wheels His throne upon the rolling worlds and gives its lustre to an insect's wings," Heaven is thus shown to be at a vast and in- cessarily misty .and unreal, and just as the full oi'hed day is pre- eeeded hy the twilight, so the advancing illuini-- nation of this distinctively Christian age was [)re- ceeded by the diffused twilight of the world's , childhood. The ancient pagans located their Elysian fields in some unknown and undefined region beyond the seas, and where in unre- strained freedom they hoped to revel in sensual delight. Even the spiritual longing of the chosen patriarch found expression in the simple and ill- defined desire to be "gathered to their people." The various Indian tribes think of Heaven as an ideal hunting ground where their favorite game is abundant and to which the " Great Spirit "^ will conduct them when they die. Their idea is immortalized in the beautiful languager of the poet : "Even the poor Indian, whose untutored mind Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind, . Whose soul proud science never taught to stray Far as the solar walk or milky way— Yet simple nat^ire to his hope has given, Behind the cloud-capt hill, an humbler heaven ^■ twm 22 Some safer world in depths of woods embraced. Some happier island i n the watery waste, Where slaves once more their native land behold. No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold,— And thinks, admitted to yon equal sky. His faithful dog shall bear him company."— Pope. Among civilized people perhaps the ideals of the Heavenly state are as various as the difierent inclinations and necessities of the individuals. The astronomer imagines that the saints in Heaven will derive their chief delight from studying and exploring the infinity of worlds that roll in space. The biologist will employ his Heaven born talents in studying life in its end- less manifestations. The philosopher will un- ravel with never ending* delight the mysteries that so perplexed him here. The historian will spend eternity in tracing out the history of the universe and its inhabitants. The musician will revel eternally in the harmonies of Heavenly music. To the tired Heaven will be a place of endless rest. To the poor it will be a place of plenty. To the sick it will be a place of health. To the sorrowful and despondent it will be a place of joy. Each fondly hopes that his own cherished desires will be gratified, and that his own peculiar hindrances will be removed and the idea seems entirely Scriptural and reasonable. But it is perhaps vain for us to speculate further regarding the nature of the Heavenly , employ- ment and about which, in the very nature of things, we can know so little. It is not un-Scrip- tural or unreasonable to suppose that as in ad- / 2B dition to the service ot praise and adoration which the saints will render to the ever blessed Ti'inity and the Holy communion and intercourse which they will enjoy with one another, they will be constantly engaged in active service, that^ therefore, their sympathies and activities will go out to the inhabitants of outlying worlds, many of which may have violated the laws of God's moral government and which would deem a restoration of some kind necessary or probable. Let us coi^clude with the thought that Christ will be the chief source and centre of the Christian's delight in Heaven. It will, also, doubtless be a source of supreme and perennial delight to the inhabitant of Heaven to meet and converse in terms of the most intimate fellowship and equal- ity with friends, v/ith angels and with all the great and good who have lived since the world began. Next to the society of the ever present and adorable Redeemer, I believe the chief source of the Christian's delight in Heaven will be the consciousness of his own eternal security, the beating within him of the pulses of immortal life. When at the last the solenm -hQ>u ' shall come, 9^^aad wing my mystic flight to future worlds, I cheerfully will obey ; there, with new powers, Will rising wonders sing. I cannot go Where universal love not smiles around, 'Sustaining all yon orbs and all their suns ; From seeming evil still educing good. And better thence again, and better still. In infinite progression. But I lose Myself in Him, in Light Ineffable. Come then, expressive Silence, muse His praise. —Thomson. 24 APPNDIX. m — ^ f^ ! The idna tliat Christ went to Heaven with the ^elf same hody in which He tahernacled here upon earth is (]uite prevalent, and is fostered by theologians, v/lio nndnly emphasize the humanity of Jesus for meditation and devotional purposes. But the idea is unpiiiiosophic and is supported rather by the sound than hy the sense of Scrip- ture. It is true that Christ died and was buried, but it is also tru(^ that according to the Scriptm-e He saw no (corruption. For this reason and for the added reason that it was necessary that the great fact of the resurrection, the central doctrine of the Christian system, and which was to be the rallying point for the Christian's faith as well as the ground work of his eternal hope, should be established beyond tlio possibility of scavil or doubt, tlierefore Christ rose from the tomb with his real corporal body, and of which fact he took pauis to give his disciples the ciear- t^st and most innnlstakable proof. It is true that he apparently ascended to Heaven with this body and that the angels certified his return "in like manner," but this was done, no doubt, in con- descension for the wccikness of the disciples, and the '* in like manner" of the promise empliasizes more perhaps the fact of the return than the manner of it, as in the otlier Scriptural passages Christ is re[)resented as coming in all the panoply of Heaven and witli the swiftness and imiver- sality of b'ghtning. it seems entirely reasonable and Scriptural, therefore, to conclude that Christ assumed His glorious body, and whicii is the earn* est and piomise of the Christian's spiritual body* •at his^ ^ _ A3C ^na/c>n. th the i here 'od by nan it y [•poses, ported Scrip- buried, L'ipture md for at the central ;h was 's faith 1 hope, lUty of )m the which e cle