constitution, as if He made us something else than human beings, but the renovation of the old constitution after its original type.  It is making the “old man,” diseased, bent down, paralysed, deaf, blind, the “new man,” with frame erect, limbs strong, eyes and ears open, and all his powers fresh and vigorous for immortality; and, therefore, that which would constitute the happiness of man were he perfect on earth, will be his happiness, though in a higher degree, when he is made perfect in heaven.  This supposition, I repeat, only assumes the fact that we shall be the same persons for ever; that human nature will never cease to be human nature, or be changed into a different species of existence, no more than Jesus Christ, the Head of His Church, will ever cease to be what He is—­“the man Christ Jesus,” with a human body and a human soul, “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.”

There is another way in which I might describe the nature of our future life, although I shall base my remarks on the principles now stated.  We must admit that the perfection of our being is fellowship with God the Father in the possession of that spirit of son-ship which was revealed in Jesus Christ the Son of God and the Son of man.  This, and this alone, must insure fellowship with Him in His character and joy.  We shall consequently rejoice in all that He rejoices in—­as far as this is possible for creatures.  Thus, if He rejoices in the glory of His own Being, as Father, Son, and Spirit, so shall we; if He rejoices in all His works, so shall we; if He rejoices in what He does, in what He knows, in what He purposes, so shall we; if He rejoices in the communion of holy and happy men and angels, so shall we.  In one word, if “our chief end is to glorify God,” when that end is fulfilled, we shall “enjoy Him for ever.”  And this was our Saviour’s prayer when He said, “The glory Thou hast given me I have given them, that we may be one!”

But as those two lines of thought would lead practically to the same conclusion, it seems to me that the nature of our future life will be best understood by most of my readers if I endeavour to shew “what we shall be,” according to the arrangement already proposed.

Let us, then, meditate on the glorious supply which God has provided for filling up every part of this our complex nature in heaven.

I.

OUR PHYSICAL LIFE IN HEAVEN.

Speaking of the materialism of heaven, Dr Chalmers truly says:—­“The common imagination that many have of paradise on the other side of death, is that of a lofty, aerial region where the inmates float on ether, or are mysteriously suspended upon nothing; where all the warm and felt accompaniments which give such an expression of strength, and life, and colour to our present habitation, are attenuated into a sort of spiritual element, that is meagre, and imperceptible, and wholly uninviting to the eye