in the same heart. Mysterious truth, the parent is still the child! So, when those united on earth, in the marriage institution, shall have left behind them the lower ties of their earthly relations in death, the substance of those affections connected with these relations now sanctified, may be elevated with them into the higher sphere of eternal life and love; and though, in the resurrection, they marry not, and resume not their old relations in their earthly sense and intent, yet the affections engendered in this relation, and made eternal by being made holy, may continue to incline them toward each other with sacred preference in a higher state of being. We know that those holy affections which are the precious joy of the marriage state in this life," cease not with the decay of bodily vigour and beauty induced by old age itself, but reach forward still, with a radiant light that grows only more mellow as it is less tinged with the colouring of sense, far down into the vale of years;" why should we suppose it to end suddenly in the grave?

It is unreasonable, unphilosophical, and entirely averse to the general spirit of Christianity, that such a relation— not in form but in spirit, not in its earthly features, but in the affections which it involves-should ever come to an end. Death itself cannot break its bands asunder, nor take its cords from it. Beyond the grave in an endless life alone, can this mystery evolve fully its precious treaNo shorter history can afford adequate scope for the full perfection of this relation-a relation which is grounded so deep in the elements and constitution of our nature-upon which the very existence of the race depends -which is strengthened by the mutual love of offspring as well as by the holy influences of grace-which covers

sures.

so large and important a part of our earthly history— which streams its influences with such momentous power into all the other avenues and relations of life-and which finds its highest perfection in the life of religion, being made the symbol of its deepest mysteries. (Eph. v.) It cannot be believed that the affections begotten by such a relation and included in it, can in all the fulness of their meaning come to an end with the brief glare of a mortal life. To enable us to believe this, we require more than a thousand objections like the one upon which we have made 'these observations.

CHAPTER XII.

Another Objection to the Doctrine of Beavenly Recognition.

"There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." -A Voice from Heaven, Rev. xxi. 4.

Ir has been objected, that if we shall be able to know our friends in heaven, we should have to miss some who will not be there. This, it has been thought, would introduce pain and distress into heaven; for it cannot be, it is supposed, that even in heaven we should be able to endure without sorrow the absence of our friends-especially the thought that they are in the world of despair.

This objection, no doubt, more than all other considerations, causes persons to doubt the doctrine of future recognition. This difficulty, though perhaps in reality not the greatest, comes nevertheless more than any other home to the bosom of all; and it is by far the most difficult one to answer satisfactorily, because of those instinctive feelings which come in to obscure the judgment; thus hindering the force of argument, and vastly magnifying the difficulty. It is not so much our minds, as our feelings, that give us trouble on this point. We will carefully examine this objection, believing that the observations we shall make will entirely remove any unpleasant doubts

that may have been entertained in regard to it. Let it, however, be distinctly borne in mind, that no objection, however formidable it may seem, can of itself prove this, or any other doctrine, untrue.* God is master of all difficulties; and, although we may not be able to see how they can be removed, they will nevertheless be removed if God so wills it.

There are different ways in which the difficulty on which this objection rests, may reasonably be supposed to be removed. We will present them in order; and though any one consideration may not in itself give full satisfaction, yet all taken together will, we hope, prove entirely conclusive.

I. In death, all ties which are not sanctified, and thus made eternal by the life and power of grace, must be dropped and left behind.

There are many ties which are in no sense, and in no degree, gracious. Ties that have not been formed by the life of religion, and which are not sustained and pervaded by it. There are ties, in the formation of which religion has not in the least been recognized, and which have no

*"If casting up objections is a legitimate mode of deciding a question, we may form, and retort, the same objection, with more reason, against those who believe that we shall not know one another in heaven; for we may say, also, that not knowing the persons, we shall not know whether our parents or our friends are there; and this is likely to disturb the quiet and satisfaction of our minds; but to argue in this gross manner, is to confound heaven with the earth. Grief and displeasure

can never be admitted in a paradise of joy and perfect happiness. In this glorious condition, our knowledge shall be so clear, our charity so pure, our love to God so fervent, that as we shall love all things which God shall love, and where his image shall appear, so it shall not be possible for us to love them whom God shall hate, them who shall bear the marks and characters of the devil."

religious end in view. All ties between saints and sinners are of this kind. These must perish in death.

Let it be well remembered that even the ties of kindred are merely and entirely natural and instinctive, unless they are elevated and sanctified by grace. Though higher in degree, they are the same in kind as the attachments of instinct in animal life. These warm affections rise entirely out of the bosom of nature, and have nothing moral in them until they are raised out of the sphere of nature into the sphere of grace by religion. Thus the affections of kindred and of friendship, where religion has not brought them under its power, remain entirely intinctive and natural. Take as an example the fond affection of a mother for her babe. "Whence come those bursts of maternal tenderness with which she is wont to caress the much-loved object? Whence those expressions of heartfelt sympathy with which she enters into its pains and innocent pleasures the promptness with which she administers to its many little wants-the unwearied assiduity with which she watches over it in the hour of sickness, and the bitter sorrow into which she is plunged as soon as death tears it from her fond embrace? It is the impulse of animal nature-the flow and specific direction of a certain class of feelings, which are not to be accounted for on any principle of duty, or on any consideration of general humanity." Are not in this case all religious or moral motives to love suspended by the strong flow of instinct and nature? The heathen mother does the same. The godless mother, dead in trespasses and in sins, does just so. Yea, do not animals caress and fondle their offspring in the same way? Here then is nature, and nothing else. These affections are grounded in nature;