tree planted by the rivers of water that he shall prosper. As it extends its roots, increases its fibres, circulates its nutritive juices, puts forth its buds, blossoms, leaves, and fruit, so the godly man is ever taking deeper root, growing stronger in faith, love, hope, and joy, increasing in heavenly desires, and meetness for the Paradise of God; and so he will continue to prosper until he is transplanted into a holier clime; all the winds and storms of life will only cause him to take deeper hold on God, and to prosper and flourish more abundantly.

A REMARKABLE STRUCTURE.

2 COR. V, 1.

"An house not made with hands."

THE verse from which I have selected these words is a continuation of an argument into which the apostle had entered in the preceding chapter, showing that he and his brother ministers steadfastly endured persecution in the prospect of a fairer world whenever they should be called out of this; chap. iv, 7-18. And in this verse he says,-" For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

You never saw such a fabric as this! You may have been in large cities, and seen superb buildings, but they were all the production of patient labour-they were made with hands. Every single stone had been squared and laid, one by one in its proper place, till all was

complete. It is true that when Solomon built the house of the Lord, there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building; but these tools were heard in the quarries where the stone was made ready. Grand and magnificent as was this temple, it was, after all, made with hands; but that house which is eternal in the heavens, was not made with hands.

The houses in which we now live are the objects of our sight and experience; but the house not made with hands is at present the object of our faith and hope. The future life is represented to us by figures or representations. To give us the idea of substantial bliss, it is called heaven, life, glory, and an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven. Because it is a real place as well as a state, it is called a world-the world to come. To convey to us the idea of extension and variety, it is called a country—a better country. Because it is subject to the Divine government, it is called a kingdom-the kingdom of God or of heaven. Because it is exceedingly populous, it is called a city-the city of the living God, a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And to give us an idea of the love, unity, and social intercourse of its inhabitants, it is called a house-a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, the house of many mansions; and this house which is eternal in the heavens is the future home of all the saints.

I. Their permanent home. It is eternal in the heavens. When the saints of the Most High once put off this tabernacle, and appear perfect before the God of gods in Zion, they will enjoy fulness of joy, and pleasures for evermore; for God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life; hence saith Jesus to His disconsolate disciples,-"Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. 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 myself, that where I am, there ye may be also; my sheep hear my

voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I will give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out."

For ever with the Lord,

Amen! so let it be;

Life from the dead is in that word

"Tis immortality!

This home is in a pleasant situation; it is eternal in the heavens. It is very desirable that our dwellings here should be sufficiently capacious and healthy; but we cannot always have them so; in these we sometimes groan, being burdened with density and impurity; but the eternal house in the heavens is commodious and agreeable. It is so ample that it forms a city in the Paradise of God; and the atmosphere of that country is perpetually serene, and its landscape unbounded. There shines forth everlasting day, and eternal light; night shall never draw her sable curtains over this celestial abode; for the glory of God lightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Beautiful for situation is Mount Zion, the city of the great King; the building of the wall of it is of jasper, and the city is pure gold, like unto clear glass, and the foundations of its walls are garnished with all manner of precious stones, and its gates are pearls. Out of the throne of God and of the Lamb flows a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal; and on either side of the river grow trees of life, which bear fruit monthly, and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.

How interesting are the recollections of home! Everything in and about our home has in it a magic charm. You may not feel it so much while you are there; but once leave it, and go into a distant city, or into a foreign clime, and then you will feel the power and attraction of home. There will be brought before the eye of your mind, every article of furniture, and you will recollect distinctly where every chair and table stood. How vividly you will call to mind the shrubs, and plants, and

flowers in the little garden: the honeysuckle that grew on each side of the door; the rose-trees against the wall; the thyme, the hyssop, the lavender, the rosemary trees; the southern-wood bushes, the snow-drops, the crocusses, the primroses, the wall-flowers, the pinks, the carnations, and all the other little forget-me-nots that grew there. And then the distant hills, the clumps of trees, the purling brook, the church spire, the chapel on the hill, and all the landscape that stretched out from beloved home. O the thought, the sweet thought of sweet home to the exile in sorrow, the soldier in the camp, the sailor on the deep, and the emigrant in the forest! O how their hearts glow, and then sink when they ponder over the homes they have left! And the saints have similar feelings when they look with that faith which is the evidence of things not seen, at their future home, which is eternal in the heavens.

II. Their social home. For what is a house without a family? A prison, a cell, a desert! The sweetness of the pleasures of home are those of social intercourse. When the members of the family converse one with another, time passes quickly away, and the interchange of thought gives great expansion and delight to the soul. There is such intercourse in heaven. They do not talk as we do, for in talking we use the tongue, and teeth, and palate of these flesh and blood bodies, which they have not; but they have a medium of intercourse superior to ours. And the family in heaven comprises the general assembly and church of the first-born which are written in heaven, and God, the Judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and an innumerable company of angels; and then there are the children-for of such is the kingdom of heaven. These are very interesting on earth. Poor little ones! there is much thought, and care, and labour to get them up, but they absorb a vast amount of the finest feeling. What would the world be without a mother's love? They will have a similar interest in heaven; there they are those little bright seraphs innumerable that are greatly beloved by the elder members of the family. In this house what variety! how cheerful! how harmonious! how holy!

how populous! and yet how pure and invigorating! There is no lassitude, no sorrow, no sickness, no death! Although so populous, there is none of the effluvia arising from flesh and blood; no decomposed matter, animal nor vegetable; no stagnant pools. All is life, and health, and beauty.

And as to the social intercourse, what a variety of persons there is to converse with, and of topics to discourse about! What a treat it will be to converse with Adam and Eve about how they felt before the fall, and after it! about the tree of life, the tree of knowledge, the Eden garden, their family, the flaming sword, and the old world and its inhabitants; with Noah about the two worlds and the flood; with Abraham about Chaldea, Canaan, Egypt, Messopotamia, and mount Moriah; with Isaac about his meditations, and his struggles with the Philistines; with Jacob about Bethel and Padan-aran, and his wrestling with the angels, and his descent into Egypt; with Joseph about the pit, the Egyptian prisons, his subsequent mansion, and his brethren; with Moses about the Nile, the burning bush, the magicians, the red sea, the desert, mount Sinai, and mount Nebo; with Joshua about Jordan and Jericho, and his word to the sun and the moon; with Samuel about his call, and king Saul and David, and the witch of Endor; and with all the prophets and seers about their visions and inspirations. With Paul about the great light before Damascus; about what he did in Arabia; about his trancesthe third heaven, his night and day in the deep, and his fight with the beasts at Ephesus; with Peter about the angel visits to his prisons, about Noah preaching to the spirits, and Paul's deep words; and with John about Patmos, Ephesus, and his visions in the revelationsthe seals, the trumpets, the vials, and the books. With Wickliffe, and Huss, and Luther about the reformation; with Edwards, and Whitfield, and Wesley, and others about the revivals; and with our friends and relatives about bye-gone days!

III. Their intellectual home. I suppose there will be something in heaven analogous to smiles; and if so, I fancy St. Paul will put on the similitude of smiles when he thinks of his own language, although written by