they comfort me; for thou art the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." The Lord remembers his people when he visits them with his spiritual presence, richly bestowing upon them new covenant favours, and blessing them with the soul-cheering light of his smiling countenance. He freely remembers these vessels of mercy after his loving-kindness, and forgets nothing but their sins "for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Job and the Psalmist desired in this sense to be remembered by the Lord; and had they been on earth with the suppliant thief, they would willingly have united with him in his fervent devotions. The former prayed, "appoint me a set time, and remember me." And the latter cried," remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest to thy people: O visit me with thy salvation, that I may see the good of thy chosen; that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation; that I may glory with thine inheritance." And as these two spiritual worshippers were heard, so was the dying thief; which leads me in the second place to

The consideration of our Lord's prompt and gracious answer, "Verily, I say unto thee, to-day thou shalt be with me in paradise.'

In this reviving and unspeakable glorious promise, are contained four special blessings, which demand our serious attention. First, he promised to this vessel of mercy, that he should be with him in paradise. Some have imagined, that the soul of Christ, during its state of separation from the body, descended literally and locally into hell; it is more than probable that they forgot this text, or that they did not correctly understand it. Nor are we vainly to suppose with Bellarmine, the great Goliath of the papists, that his human soul descended into purgatory, to fetch up the souls of the patriarchs from thence; no, the word paradise undoubtedly signifies heaven, into which the souls of the faithful enter immediately after death, and where the immaculate spirit of Christ went the moment it quitted the painful tabernacle, and there rested until the third day, when it re-entered his dead but incorruptible body, to live together in an indissoluble union for evermore. Yet, although the dying Redeemer thus entered the peaceful abodes of the blessed, it must be maintained, according to the word of God, he did not possess that pre-eminent

degree of happiness and glory to which he was exalted at the expiration of forty days from his resurrection. He then ascended to his Father, having finished the work of human redemption; was made higher than the heavens, and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Eph. iv. 8. Heb. i. 3.

During the period to which I have alluded, the risen Messiah conversed with his disciples, expounded to them the writings of the prophets, who spoke of the mysteries of the cross, and his triumphant resurrection, and revealed to them more distinctly and clearly the nature and glory of his kingdom. The truth of the foregoing observations is also confirmed by our Lord's admonition to Mary Magdalene, to whom he first appeared at the sepulchre, and made himself known unto her. "Jesus saith unto her,

touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."

The term paradise, taken in its full and comprehensive acceptation, denotes the third or highest heaven, the residence of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, saints and angels, which St. Paul emphatically calls paradise. 2 Cor. xii. 4. This word expressly sets forth the happy state of departed saints, both before and after the resurrection, of which the lovely garden of Eden was a figure. Let us briefly glance at the resemblance between them, and point out the vast superiority of the one to the other.

The earthly paradise was planted by Jehovah for our once innocent and happy parents; and in their primitive state they rejoiced to hear his voice. The heavenly Eden was prepared by a God of grace from the foundation of the world, for all his children, where they will enjoy uninterrupted communion with the sacred Trinity for ever. In the earthly paradise, there was a beautiful and fertilizing river, which watered the garden, and made it fruitful. In the heavenly paradise there is a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb, and its refreshing streams now make glad the people of the Most High, and will do to all eternity. In the earthly paradise there was the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the heavenly paradise the tree of life bears twelve manner of fruits, and yields her fruit every month; and the leaves are for the

healing of the nations. It produces no prohibited fruit; all the ransomed are invited to partake of it, and are nourished to an endless life. The immunities of the heavenly paradise are far superior to the earthly. There is also an eternal exclusion of evil from the former, to which the latter was exposed, and by which it was lost. In the heavenly glory there is no danger of falling into the abyss of misery: "Him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall no more go out." Rev. iii. 12. The mortal poison of sin shall not enter there. "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." Rev. xxi. 27. No subtle serpent shall be permitted to approach the holy inhabitants of the celestial country, nor molest their tranquil spirits with his hellish temptations: "The accuser of the brethren is cast down; neither was their place found any more in heaven.” Pain and pining sickness of body, sorrow and vexation of mind, death and the curse of the law, the fruits of sin, shall be known no more. God himself will wipe away all tears from the eyes of his glorified family: "they shall hunger no more; neither shall they thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to fountains of living water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Rev. vii. 16, 17.

In the sublime and striking images employed by the Holy Ghost to set forth the glories of the celestial paradise, it is styled, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ;" in opposition to the earthly and perishable buildings of this lower world. It contains many mansions of unspotted purity and rest, in which the redeemed of the Lord shall reign for ever. It is an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away. How unlike the transitory good things of this frail life, which perish in the using, and often pierce their unhappy possessors through with many sorrows. It is described as "a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Its foundations are immoveable, being the everlasting love of Jehovah, the unalterable covenant of redemption, and the Rock of Ages. It is called "the kingdom of heaven," where all its

subjects are "kings and priests unto God and his Father." Rev. i. 6. Their crowns are styled-crowns of life, crowns of righteousness, and crowns of glory, which fade not away, James i. 12, 2 Tim. iv. 8, 1 Pet. v. 4. They are appointed to reign on thrones of glory; for thus saith the Lord, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down on my Father's throne." And again, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things," Rev. iii. 21.xxi. 7.

Secondly. Our Lord not only promised to the dying thief the possession of heaven, but also the enjoyment of his unspeakable glorious presence, "Thou shalt be WITH ME in paradise." This is the crowning blessing of all others. If it were not for this additional glory, heaven itself would not be desirable to the children of God; all its sweetness would be lost, and its splendour imperceptible. It is the presence of the king constitutes the court, whether it is in a cottage or a palace. The world to come would be a solitary wilderness, a desert of wants which no created fulness could supply without the glorious presence of our covenant God and lovely Redeemer. The person who is convinced of the vanity and unsatisfactory nature of sublunary things, and experimentally knows what it is to enjoy in this vale of tears that peculiarly transcendent blessing, the spiritual presence of Christ, can unite with the Psalmist in his elevated devotional ardour, and sublime appeal to his Almighty Friend, "Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee!" Psalm 1xxiii. 25. To be with Christ in paradise, implies a sight of his personal glory as God-man, and the enjoyment of his majestic presence connected with endless duration. First, they shall see the exalted Redeemer in his personal and mediatorial glory. Now they "walk by faith, not by sight," and only see "through a glass darkly," a few glimpses of his glory; yet these inspire them with fervent desires to depart from a world of sin and warfare, tribulation and death, " to be with Christ, which is far better." For then they "shall see him as he is," and shall"] "know even as we are known." No mists of sin and unbelief shall then cloud the bright and refulgent rays of his lovely countenance, which constitutes the felicity of saints and the glory of heaven!

B

One of the ancients said to his friend, when thou hast seen Solon, I shall have shown thee all the glory of Greece.' The instant the soul enters rest, and sees Christ, he will have seen all the glory of paradise. "He is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person." If the church, when she had only a sight of him by faith, rapturously exclaimed, "Yea, he is ALTOGETHER LOVELY," what will she say when he appears in the full blaze of his mediatorial glory? This is the astonishing representation of heaven given by him who possessed an infinite knowledge of it, and equitably demands of his Father in the character of our righteous Advocate in behalf of his elect people: "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory." From this animating description of heaven we learn, that its happiness will chiefly consist in beholding with our immortal eyes the glory of Christ, and in singing the ceaseless praises of a Three-One God.

My christian friends, were these 'heart-reviving truths more powerfully felt, and through the unction of the Holy Spirit more exemplified in our walk and conversation, we should not view death with such fear and dismay, but rather welcome its approach, for this stingless enemy will be the means of bringing us to our heavenly home, to dwell with him whom our souls love. We read that when Socrates was at the point of death, he comforted himself with this consideration, that he was going to the place where he should see Homer, and other wise men who lived in the ages before him. And shall a heathen philosopher receive more consolation in death from the thought of being with other pagans, than christians in the reviving thought of being with the blessed Saviour? God forbid. Did Homer die for Socrates? Were they not both without God, without Christ, and without a wellgrounded hope in the world to come? O believer, take care that you do not dishonour your Lord by a stoical apathy, and frigid affections, which many heathens have not had in reference to their departed companions, their idol-gods, and false deities.

2. Those that are with Christ in paradise not only see but enjoy communion with him. This divine fruition is inseparably connected with his glorious présence, as spiritual joy is with his gracious presence. Here our