in knowledge, and the discoveries they have brought to light, respecting the works and the ways of God-the peculiar manifestations of himself which the Divine Being may have made to them, "at sundry times and in divers manners"-the most remarkable civil and moral events which have happened since the period of their creation-the visible emblems of the Divine Presence and glory which are displayed before them-the information they have obtained respect ing the transactions and the moral government of other worlds-the various stages of improvement through which they are appointed to pass-the different regions of the universe to which they may be transported, and the final destination to which they are appointed. In particular, the facts connected with their moral history, in so far as they may be unfolded, will form an interesting subject of discourse and of contemplation. It is highly probable, when we consider the general benignity of the Divine Nature, and the numerous evidences of it which appear throughout the whole kingdom of animated nature-that the inhabitants of the greatest portion of the universal system, have retained the moral rectitude in which they were created, and are, consequently, in a state of perfect happiness. But, since we know, from painful experience, that one world has swerved from its allegiance to the Creator, and been plunged into the depths of physical and moral evil, it is not at all improbable, that the inhabitants of several other worlds have been permitted to fall into a similar calamity, for this purpose among others—that the importance of moral order might be demonstrated, that the awful consequences of a violation of the eternal laws of heaven might be clearly manifested, and that a field might be laid open for the display of the rectitude and mercy of God as the moral Governor of the universe. In reference to such cases (if any exist) the points of inquiry would naturally be-What is the ultimate destination of those beings who, in other regions of creation, have acted the part of rebellious man? Has their Creator interposed for their deliverance in a manner analogous to that in which he bas accomplished the redemption of mankind? If so, wherein do such schemes of mercy differ, and wherein do they agree with the plan of salvation by Jesus Christ? What scenes of moral evil have been displayed, and how have the peculiar economy, circumstances, and relations, which exist in each distinct world. As we have certain special laws, in our moral code, such as the fifth and seventh precepts of the Decalogue, which, in all probability, do not apply to the inhabitants of some other worlds, so they may have various specific regulations or laws, which cannot apply to us in our present state. The reader will find a particular illustration of the two fundamental laws to which I have now adverted, and of their application to the inhabitants of all worlds, in a work which I lately published, entitled, "The Phi losophy of Religion; or, an Illustration of the Moral Laws of the Universe." moral disorders in those worlds been ovenuled and counteracted by the providential dispen sations of the Almighty? Here, a thousand questions would crowd upon the mind, a variety of emotions of opposite kinds would be excited, and a most interesting field of investigation would be laid open to the contemplation of the redeemed inhabitants of such a world as ours. And, it is easy to conceive, with what kindred emotions and sympathetic feelings, and with what transporting gratulations, the renovated inhabitants of such worlds, would recognise each other, should they ever be brought into contact, and permitted to mingle their ascriptions of praise to the Creator and Redeemer of worlds. Even in those worlds where the inhabitants have retained their primeval innocence, there may be an almost infinite variety in the divine dispensations, both in a moral, and intellectual point of view. As finite intelligences, from their very nature, are progressive beings, and, therefore, cannot be supposed to acquire all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and to comprehend all the multifarious displays of divine perfection, during the first stages of their existence-there may be an admirable diversity of modes, corresponding to their peculiar circumstances and stages of improvement, by which the Creator may gradually unfold to them the glory of his nature, and enable them to take a more extensive survey of the magnitude and order of his dominions. Some may be only emerging from the first principles of science, like Adam soon after his creation, and may have arrived but a few degrees beyond the sphere of knowledge which bounds the view of man; others may have arrived at a point where they can take a more expansive survey of the order, economy, and relations of material and intellectual existences, while others after having contemplated, for ages, a wide extent of creation, in one district of the empire of God, may be transported to a new and a distant province of the universe, to contemplate the perfections of Deity in another point of view, and to investigate and admire a new scene of wonders.-If every individual of the human race, from his birth to his death, passes through a train of providences peculiar to himself, it appears at least highly probable, reasoning from the analogies to which we have already adverted, and from the variety that every where appears in the natural and moral world, that the divine dispensations towards every distinct class of intelligent beings, have some striking peculiarities, which do not exactly coincide with those of any other. That some portion, at least, of the natural and moral history of other worlds will be laid open to the inspection of redeemed men in the future world, may be argued from this consideration,that such views will tend to unfold the moral cha. racter of the Deity, and to display more fully his intelligence, wisdom, and rectitude, in the diver sified modes of his administration, as the Gover- thou rapture added to their song of praise.-The knowledge of the saints in heaven is represented as being very accurate and comprehensive. Hence it is declared, that, in that state of perfection, "they shall know, even as also they are known." This expression certainly denotes a very high degree of knowledge respecting the works and the ways of God; and, therefore, most commentators explain it as consisting in such an intuitive and comprehensive knowledge as shall bear some fair resemblance to that of the Divine Being, which penetrates to the very centre of every object, and sees through the soul, and all things, as at one single glance;" or, at least, that "their knowledge of heavenly objects shall be as certain, immediate and familiar, as any of their immediate friends and acquaintances now have of them."* And, if such interpretations be admitted, this knowledge must include a minute and comprehensive view of the dispensations of the Creator towards other worlds, and other orders of moral and intelligent agents. In regard to the manner in which information respecting the structure, the inhabitants, and the history of other worlds may be communicated, our limited knowledge affords no certain data on which to ground a definite opinion. We may, however, reasonably suppose, that an intercourse and correspondence will be occasionally opened up, by means of celestial beings endowed with faculties of rapid motion, who may communicate particular details of the intelligence they acquire in the regions they are accustomed to visit. Such correspondence has already partially taken place in our world, by means of those beings termed, in Scripture, "the angels," or "the messengers of Jehovah ;" and, it is highly probable, had man continued in his state of original integrity, that such angelic embassies would have been much more frequent than they have ever been, and we might have been made acquainted, in this way, with some outlines of the physical and moral scenery of other worlds, particularly of those which belong to our own system of which we must now be contented to remain in ignorance; and must have recourse to the aids of reason, and science, and observation, in order to trace some very general outlines of their physical economy. This is, doubtless, one deplorable effect, among others, of the apostacy of man-that intelligences endowed with moral perfection can no longer hold familiar intercourse with the race of Adam, but in so far as they are employed by their Creator in communicating occasional messages, which have a respect merely to their moral renovation.t-We may likewise, See Doddridge's and Guyse's paraphrase on I Cor. xiii. 12. It is probable that the celestial beings who have occasionally held a communication with our race, are not all of the same species, or inhabit the same regions since they are distinguished in Scripture by different names, as Seraphim, Cherubim,Thrones, Dominions, Angels, Archangels, &c. God and man," and to his character as the "Messenger of Jehovah," and the "Revealer" of the divine dispensations. with some degree of probability, suppose, that ant with his office as the "Mediator between every distinct order of holy intelligences, after having resided for a certain number of ages, in one region of the universe, may be conveyed to at ther province of creation, to investigate the new scenes of wisdom and omnipotence there unfolded, and so on, in a continued series of transportations, throughout the ages of eternity. We know that man is destined to undergo such a change of locality; and although sin has made the passage from one world to another, assume a glocay and alarming aspect, it may nevertheless be an example, (though in a different manner) of those removals which take place with respect to other beings, from one province of creation to another. Nor have we any reason to believe, that the locality in which we shall be placed, after the general resurrection, will form our permanent and everlasting abode; otherwise, we should be eternally chained down, we are at present to a small corner of creation. In regard to the redeemed inhabitants of our world, there is every reason to believe, that the Redeemer himself, he, "in whom dwell all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," will be one grand medium through which information will be communicated respecting the distant glories of Jehovah's empire. This seems to be directly intimated, though in metaphorical language, in the following passage from the book of Revelation: "The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to fountains of living water." Knowledge is the food of the mind; and in this sense the term is frequently applied in the Scriptures:-"I will give them pastors (saith God) after mine own heart, who shall feed them with knowledge and understanding." "Feed the church of God," says the apostle Peter; that is, instruct them in the knowledge of the truths of religion. Therefore, by imparting to his saints a knowledge of the plans and operations of God, and information respecting the magnificence of his works in the regions around, "the Lamb in the midst of the throne will feed them," by gratifying their intellectual powers, and their desires after knowledge; and the noble and transporting trains of thought which such discoveries will inspire, (and which may be aptly compared to the effect produced byfountains of living water" on a parched traveller,) will arrest all the faculties of their souls, and fill them "with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Perhaps, it may not be beyond the bounds of probability to suppose, that, at certain seasons, during a grand convocation of the redeemed with Jesus their exalted head president among them -that glorious personage may impart to them knowledge of the most exalted kind, direct their views to some bright manifestations of Deity, and deliver most interesting lectures on the works and the ways of God. This would be quite accord Pointing to some distant world, (which, even to the acute visual organs of heavenly beings, may appear only as a small lucid speck in their sky,) we may suppose him giving such a descant as the following:-" That world presents a very differen' aspect from what yours once did, owing, chiefly to the moral purity and perfection of its inhabitants. There, the most grand and variegated objects adorn their celestial canopy; and the scenes around their habitations are intermingled with every thing that is beautiful to the eye, and gratifying to the senses and the imagination. Neither scorching heats, nor piercing colds, nor raging storms, ever disturb the tranquillity of those happy mansions. The fine etherial fluid which they breathe produces a perpetual flow of pleasing emotions, and sharpens and invigorates their intellectual powers for every investigation. The peculiar refractive and reflective powers possessed by the atmospheric fluid which surrounds them, produce a variety of grand and beautiful effects, sometimes exhibiting aerial landscapes, and scenes emblematical of moral harmony and perfection,-sometimes a magnificent display of the riches and most variegated colouring, and sometimes reflecting the images of the celestial orbs in various aspects and degrees of magnitude. Their vegetable kingdom is enriched with a variety of productions unknown in your former world, diversified with thousands of different forms, shades, colours, and perfumes, which shed a delicious fragrance all around. The inferior sentient beings are likewise different, and exhibit such ingenious, mild, and affectionate dispositions, as contribute, in no inconsiderable degree, to the pleasure and entertainment of the more intelligent order of the inhabitants. The organs of vision of these intelligences are so acute, that they are enabled to perceive, as through a transparent medium, the various chymical and mechanical processes that are incessantly going on in the numberless ramifications of the vegetable tribes, and in the more curious and complicated structure of animal bodies; for the Creator has ordained, as one part of their mental enjoyments, that they shall be furnished with the means of tracing the mode of his operations, and the designs they are intended to accomplish in the different departments of nature. nicated to them, for the purpose of enlarging their views of God's moral dispensations, and illustrating the rectitude and benevolence of his government. In their intercourses and associations, no discordant voice is ever heard, no symptom of disaffection ever appears, no boisterous passions ever disturb their tranquillity; but all is harmony and order, peace and love. Their progress in the knowledge of God, and of his works, is rapid and sure, for they see clearly the first principles of all reasoning and science; and, without once making a false step, or deducing an erroneous conclusion, they trace them with rapidity and certainty, to all their legitimate consequences. Their acquaintance with natural and moral facts is extensive and minute. For the most sacred regard is attached to truth, which was never once violated in that happy society; and, therefore, every discovery, every new doctrine and fact which is brought to light by any individual, is regarded by all others as an established truth which is never called in question, and which serves to direct and facilitate all their other researches. Unlike the exaggerations and falsehoods which were once propagated by lying travellers and sceptical philosophers, in your former world, which tended to bewilder the anxious inquirer, and to obscure the radiance of truth; in yonder world truth is regarded as a most sacred and invaluable treasure, as the basis of the happiness of the moral universe, and the foundation on which rests the throne of the eternal; and, therefore, being never violated by any individual, every testimony and assertion is received with unhesitating confidence. By a rapid mode of communication which has been esta blished, their intercourses with each other are frequent and delightful, and the discoveries which are made of the operations of infinite wisdom and benevolence, are quickly circulated through all the intelligent ranks of that abode of felicity and love. Beings from other worlds occasionally visit them, and convey interesting intelligence, and affectionate congratulations from the regions whence they came; and a glorious symbol of the divine Majesty was lately displayed in their firmament, from which was announced, in majestic but mild and transporting language-the approbation of their Creator, and his purpose of translating them, as a reward of their obedience, to another region of his empire, to behold new displays of his beneficence and power. "This is a specimen of the moral order and happiness which prevail among the greater part of those worlds which shine from afar in yonder firmament, but which are distinguished by a variety of peculiar circumstances, which shall be unfolded on another occasion." Directing their view to another distant orb, which appears like a dim ruddy speck in an obscure quarter of the firmament, he may thus proceed :—" That, too, is a world on a different scale, and in a different condition. It is a thou sand times larger than the globe you once inhabited, and was originally arrayed with all that magnificence and beauty which characterize the works of the Creator. During a considerable period its inhabitants retained their allegiance to their Maker, and their affection for each other. But certain individuals, whom a principle of pride and ambit on had led to desire stations of pre-eminence, having dared to violate some of the fundamental laws of their Creator,-the moral turpitude which this disposition and conduct produced, gradually spread from one rank to another, till the whole mass of its inhabitants was completely contaminated, and plunged into a gulph of misery. To such a dreadful length has this depravity proceeded, that even the external aspect of that world, which was once fair as Eden, has assumed the appearance of a gloomy waste, and a barren wilderness. The rivers have been turned out of their course, by these infatuated beings, that they might overflow and change into a marsb the once fertile plains. The earth has been dug into immense pits and chasms, and the vegetable tribes have been torn from their roots and stripped of their verdure, in order to deface the primeval beauty of creation. By these, and other horrible devastations, the ethereal fluid in which they breathed, which formerly diffused a delightful fragrance, has now become the receptacle of noisome exhalations, which nauseate and irritate every species of sensitive existence. Its brilliancy has thereby become obscured, so that their sun appears lowering through its dense vapours, like a dusky ball; and their nocturnal sky, which once presented a splendid assemblage of shining orbs, is now covered with blackness, and darkness, and tempest, through which no celestial orb ever transmits the least glimmering ray. For the almighty Contriver of all worlds has so arranged, proportioned, and adjusted every circumstance in the constitution of nature, that the smallest derangement, by malevolent beings, of the order he has established, is always productive of disastrous effects. "Instead of being animated with love to their Creator, and to one another, which is the first duty of all intelligent creatures, they hate their Maker, and curse him on account of the existence he has given them; and they hate each other, with a perfect hatred. There exists among them no peace, justice, sympathy, friend ship, or confidence. Every one beholds and recognises another with the countenance of a fiend, and is ever intent upon annoying him to the utmost of his power. And, were it not that their bodies are constructed on an immortal principle, so that no power less than infinite can completely destroy them, their ferocious passions would, long ere now, have effected the utter extermination of every individual in that populous br miserable world. Their bodies, which were once fair and glorious, are now covered with every mark of vileness and deformity They have no delight in contemplating the glories of their Creator's workmanship, for they have defaced every beauty which creation displayed, when it came fresh and fair from the hand of its Maker; and the intelligence and wisdom they formerly possessed, are now obliterated, and changed into ignorance and folly. "At the commencement of this affecting scene of depravity, a messenger was despatched by their Almighty Sovereign to warn them of their danger, and to urge them to reformation; but, as they had not then felt the full effects of that wretchedness into which they were plunging-after a few temporary pangs of remorse, 'they returned every one to his evil ways.' Holy intelligences, from other worlds, have occasionally been sent, to contemplate the gloomy aspect, and the sad desolations of this wretched world; in order that they might bring back intelligence to the worlds with which they are more immediately connected, of the dismal effects produced by the violation of those eternal laws of rectitude which the Governor of the universe has ordained. The Creator has, for many ages, permitted those physical and moral disorders to exist-not because he delights in the misery of any of his creatures, but because he has a regard to the ultimate happiness of the whole intelligent system. He leaves them, in the mean time, to eat of the fruit of their own ways,' that they may feel the full effects of their apostacy and wickedness. He has permitted them to proceed thus far in their rebellion and depravity, in order that surrounding worlds may be fully apprised of the dismal effects that must inevitably ensue on every infringement of moral order. This desolated world and its wretched inhabitants are doomed to remain in their present deplorable state, for ages yet to come, till an extensive and indelible impression be made on the inhabitants of every province of God's empire, of their eternal obligation to conform to those laws and principles of moral order which his infinite wisdom has established for the regulation of the intelligent universe; and also, that those miserable beings themselves may be aroused to consideration, led to humble themselves in his presence, and made to feel some emotions of contrition for their impiety and ingratitude. When these ends are accomplished, a bright effulgence shalf suddenly illume the darkness of their night, their atmosphere shall be cleared of its vapours, and the glorious orbs of heaven shall once more burst upon their view; the astonished inhabitants shall lift up their eyes with amazement at the wondrous and unlookedfor spectacle, and a divine messenger, arrayed in splendid majesty, shall proclaim, 'Peace from heaven-Good-will from Jehovah to this guilty world.' In both hemispheres of this globe, shall the joyful message be proclaimed. This sudden and unexpected announcement will arrest the attention of every inhabitant, and rekindle in his breast those sparks of gratitude, which had been so long extinguished. To prove the sincerity of this annunciation, the Power of the Highest' will be interposed to purify the atmos phere, to restore the desolations which had been produced, and to renew the face of nature. A series of moral instructions will commence, and be carried on with vigour, till all be fully convinced of the folly and impiety of their conduct. Order will be gradually re-established; affectionate intercourses will commence; an indelible impression of their ingratitude and wickedness, and of the justice and benevolence of God, will be for ever fixed in their minds, which will secure them, at all future periods, from a similar apostacy; and peace, truth, and happiness shall finally reign triumphant." On such topics as these, may we suppose our Redeemer, in the character of Mediator, occasionally to expatiate, with irresistible eloquence, when presiding in the assemblies of his redeemed; and the emotions produced by such communications, will doubtless excite them to join in unison in celebrating the divine character and administration, in such strains as these:-"Halleluia! the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. True and righteous are his judgments. Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God. Thou art worthy to receive glory, honour, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."* Thus I have endeavoured to show, that even that portion of the universe which lies within I hope none of my readers will consider the supposition of the Redeemer occasionally delivering lectures on divine subjects to an assembly of his saints, as either improbable, extravagant, or romantic. Since writing the above, I find, that the pious and philosophic Dr. I. Watts entertained a similar opinion. In his sermon," On the happiness of separate spirits," when describing the employments of the upper world, he thus expresses his sentiments on this topic;-" Perhaps you will suppose there is no such service as hearing sermons, that there is no attendance upon the word of God there. But are we sure there are no such entertainments? Are there no lectures of divine wisdom and grace given to the younger spirits there, by spirits of a more exalted station? Or, may not our Lord Jesus Christ himself be the everlasting Teacher of his church? May he not at solemn seasons summon all heaven to hear him publish some new and surprising discoveries which have never yet been made known to the ages of nature or of grace, and are reserved to entertain the attention, and to exalt the pleasure of spirits advanced to glory? Must we learn all by the mere contemplation of Christ's person? Does he never make use of speech to the instruction and joy of saints above.-Or, it may be, that our blessed Lord (even as he is man) has some noble and unknown way of communicating a long discourse, a long train of ideas and discoveries to millions of blessed spirits at once, without the formalities of voice and language, and at some peculiar seasons he may thus instruct and delight his saints in heaven." |