TO A YOUNG MAN. 335 ever. Beware of them, therefore, and of all their subtle insinuations, if you would be innocent or happy. Remember that the honour which comes from God, the approbation of heaven, and of your own conscience, are infinitely more valuable than all the esteem or applause of men. Dare not venture one step out of the road to heaven, for fear of being laughed at for walking strictly in it. It is a poor religion that cannot stand against a jest. Sell not your hopes of heavenly treasures, nor anything that belongs to your eternal interest, for any of the advantages of the present life. "What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Remember also the words of the wise man, "He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man;" he that indulges himself in "wine and oil"-that is, in drinking, in feasting, and in sensual gratifications-" shall not be rich." It is one of St Paul's characters of a most degenerate age, when " come lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." 66 men be And that fleshly lusts war against the soul," is St Peter's caveat to the Christians of his time. 11. Preserve your conscience always soft and sensible. If but one sin force its way into that tender part of the soul, and dwell easy there, the road is paved for a thousand iniquities. And take heed that, under any scruple, doubt, or temptation whatsoever, you never let any reasonings satisfy your conscience, which will not be a sufficient answer or apology to the great Judge at the last day. 12. Keep this thought ever in your mind: It is a world of vanity and vexation in which you live; the flatteries and promises of it are vain and deceitful; prepare, therefore, to meet disappointments. Many of its occurrences are teazing and vexatious. In every rushing storm without, possess your spirit in patience, and let all be calm and serene within. Clouds and tempests are only found in the lower skies; the heavens above are ever bright and clear. Let your heart and hope dwell much in these serene regions; live as a stranger here on earth, but as a citizen of heaven, if you will maintain a soul at ease. 13. Since in many things we offend all, and there is not a day passes which is perfectly free from sin, let "repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ," be your daily work. A frequent renewal of these exercises which make a Christian at first, will be a constant evidence of your sincere Christianity, and give you peace in life, and hope in death. 14. Ever carry about with you such a sense of the uncertainty of everything in this life, and of life itself, as to put nothing off till to-morrow which you can conveniently do to-day. Dilatory persons are frequently exposed to surprise and hurry in everything that belongs to them; the time is come, and they are unprepared. Let the concerns of your soul and your shop, your trade and your religion, lie always in such order, as far as possible, that death, at a short warning, may be no occasion of a disquieting tumult in your spirit and that you may escape the anguish of a bitter repentance in a dying hour. Farewell. Phronimus, a considerable East-land merchant, happened upon a copy of these advices about the time when he permitted his son to commence a partnership with him in his trade; he transcribed them with his own hand, and made a present of them to the youth, together with the articles of partnership. Here, young man, said he, is a paper of more worth than these articles. Read it over once a month, until it is wrought in your very soul and temper. Walk by these rules, and I can trust my estate in your hands. Copy out these counsels in your life, and you will make me and yourself easy and happy. PROGRESSIVE KNOWLEDGE IN HEAVEN. 337 Progressive Knowledge in Heaven. [Dr Watts was a frequent invalid, and many times he had reason to believe that there was but a step betwixt him and death. This, doubtless, gave a deeper seriousness to his spirit, and it accounts for that large proportion of his hymns and sermons which are devoted to "the last things." In his little work, "Death and Heaven: or, the Last Enemy Conquered, and Separate Spirits made Perfect," we have the fullest result of his meditations on the unseen state. It has ministered to the faith and comfort of many readers. When Dr Doddridge landed at Lisbon, he was received at the house of a kind English merchant, and his biographer tells us, "Here he met with Dr Watts's treatise on 'The Happiness of Separate Spirits,' and told his wife, with the greatest joy, that he had unexpectedly found that blessed book; and in reading that book, Dr Watts's hymns, and especially the sacred volume, he used to employ himself as much as his strength would admit.' ""* The line of thought indicated by Dr Watts has been followed out by many subsequent writers'; by some, perhaps, too fully. For example, we prefer the simple suggestiveness of the following pages to the minuter specifications of such a work as Dick's "Philosophy of a Future State."] That there is, and hath been, and will be, continual progress and improvement in the knowledge and joy of separate souls, may be easily proved many ways, viz., from the very nature of human reason itself; from the narrowness, the weakness, and limitation, even of our intellectual faculties in their best estate; from the immense variety of objects that we shall converse about; from our peculiar concern in some future providences, which it is not likely we should know before * See also "Memoirs of the late Jane Taylor," p. 65. VOL. III. 2 F they occur; and from the glorious new scenes of the resurrection. 1. We may prove the increase of knowledge amongst the blessed above, from the very nature of human reason itself; which is a faculty of drawing inferences, or some new propositions and conclusions, from propositions or principles which we knew before. Now surely we shall not be dispossessed of this power when we come to heaven. What we learn of God there, and the glories of His nature, or His works, will assist and incline us to draw inferences for His honour, and for our worship of Him. And if we could be supposed to have never so many propositions or new principles of knowledge crowded into our minds at the first entrance into heaven, yet surely our reasoning faculty would still be capable of making some advance by way of inference, or building some superstructure upon so noble a foundation. And who knows the intense pleasure that will arise perpetually to a contemplative mind, by a progressive and infinite pursuit of truth in this manner, where we are secure against the danger of all error and mistake, and every step we take is all light and demonstration! Shall it be objected here, That our reason shall be as it were lost and dissolved in intuition and immediate sight, and therefore it shall have no room or place in that happy world? To this I would reply, That we shall have indeed much more acquaintance with spiritual objects by immediate intuition, than we ever had here on earth; but it does not follow thence, that we shall lose our reason. Angels have immediate vision of God and Divine things; but can we suppose they are utterly incapable of drawing an inference, either for the improvement of their knowledge, or the direction of their practice? When they behold any special and more curious piece of Divine workmanship, can they not further infer the exquisite skill or wisdom of the Creator? And are they not capable of concluding, that this peculiar instance of Divine wisdom demands an PROGRESS IN HEAVEN. 339 adoring thought? Thus intuition, or immediate sight, in a creature, does not utterly exclude and forbid the use of reason. I reply again, Can it ever be imagined, that being released from the body, we shall possess in one moment, and retain through every moment of eternity, all the innumerable ranks, and orders, and numbers of propositions, truths, and duties, that may be derived in a long succession of ages by the use of our reasoning powers? But this leads me to the second argument, viz., 2. The weakness and narrowness of human understandings in their best estate, seems to make it necessary that knowledge should be progressive. Continual improvement in knowledge and delight among spirits of the just made perfect, is necessary for the same reason that proved their variety of entertainments and pleasures, viz., Because creatures cannot take in all the vast, the infinite variety of conceptions in the full brightness and perfection of them at once, of which they are capable in a sweet succession. Can we ever persuade ourselves, that all the endless train of thoughts, and ideas, and scenes of joy, that shall ever pass through the mind of a saint through the long ages of eternity, should be crowded into every single mind the first moment of its entrance into those happy regions? And is a human mind capacious enough to receive, and strong enough to retain such an infinite multitude of ideas for ever? Or is this the manner of God's working among his intellectual creatures? Surely God knows our frame, and pours in light and glory as we are able to bear it. Such a bright confusion of notions, images, and transports, would probably overwhelm the most exalted spirit, and drown all the noble faculties of the mind at once. As if a man who was born blind, should be healed in an instant, and should open his eyes first against the full blaze of the noon-day sun; this would so tumultuate the spirits, and confound the organs of sight, as to reduce the man back again |