hills, and among the palm-groves and olive orchards, till he seems naturalized and domesticated there.

Yet, our conceptions of heaven are modified by our temperament, condition and habits. Robert Hall, a sufferer from the first to the last hour of his pilgrimage, remarked, "My chief conception of heaven is rest." 66 Mine," replied the amiable Wilberforce," mine is love, love to God, and love to every bright and happy inhabitant of that glorious place." Both were right, and both have also found, what they likewise knew on earth, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the chief charm and glory of that world. No believer can meditate intelligently, for any length of time, upon heavenly objects, without having his thoughts drawn to the person of the King of kings, and Lord of lords. He it was who came down from heaven. He it is whom God "raised from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." He, the way, the truth and the life, He,

the Alpha and Omega of all gracious manifestations, and all sanctified aspirations, the bond, the harmonizer of eternity and time, of the infinite and the — he, in every

finite, of the divine and the human, — he, believer the hope of glory, must, to all saints, seem the chiefest among ten thousand, the one altogether lovely. "Blessed," do they cry, "blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.'

"I in them, and they in me"! O, the mystery of that mutual indwelling! "I will dwell in them." O, the condescension of Immanuel, to convert a child of the dust into a temple for himself! to come and sojourn, ay, be a tent companion with him! 66 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man will hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." And when Christ comes he always brings heaven with him. Whoever sups with him feeds upon hidden manna, the true bread which cometh down from heaven. But, to commune thus with Christ, to call him elder brother, to find he is not ashamed to call us brethren, is not that to be heavenly-minded? It is heaven in the heart; it is glory begun; it is salvation antici

pated. Whom, having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory ; receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls."

Others are "of the world;" they think of the world, speak of the world, live for the world; whose minds the god of this world hath blinded. True, in the midst of this intense worldliness, there may be abundant discourse, poetic or speculative, about heaven, which, at best, has only an æsthetic influence, and has nothing to do with sanctification. But that occupation with celestial themes, which the Holy Spirit fosters, has a mighty assimilating power. By it the soul is elevated and ennobled. Its field and its powers of vision are enlarged, and the relative proportions and value of things seen and unseen are more clearly appreciated, and practically felt.

Worldly-minded men are like common pendulums, that feel every disturbing influence; the heavenly-minded man is like that of Foucault; though connected with the earth, and moving with it, still it keeps faithfully and majestically to its own independent plane of vibration, while surrounding objects rotate continually. Yea, more :

"His hand the good man fastens on the skies,

Bids earth roll, nor feels her idle whirl."

Men are not, however, thus unfitted for com.mon occupations, and are rendered anything but indifferent to the smaller duties and mercies of life. Angels, probably, minister with no less alacrity to them who are the humblest heirs of salvation, than to Him who is their Lord and ours. The command of God dignifies any service; it equalizes all obligations. Growth in the grace now under consideration only infuses a more genial and holy warmth into the Christian's ordinary duties, and renders him more devoutly sensitive to the least as well as the greatest of all God's benefits. The spirituallyminded man is no gymnosophist, gazing vacantly at the heavens; he is a Copernicus, installing the sun as centre of the system, and reducing our earth to its proper subordination. No one who wisely contemplates the starry firmament which God has ordained will make it revolve round the insignificant planet we occupy; nor can any one who has surveyed the land flowing with milk and honey any longer so overvalue the wilderness through which he journeys. More just estimates will be thus formed, and higher aspirations awakened. Anaxagoras was so enamored with astronomical studies that

he thought himself born to contemplate the heavens; and, when reproved for not seeking the public honors and offices of his country, he replied, "My first care is for my country." So the heavenlyminded believer regards himself as having less to do with earth than with the skies. Present distinctions, possessions and amusements, cannot fill his eye. He is only a stranger here. He brought nothing into the world, he can carry nothing out. His citizenship, his treasures, his heart, are in heaven, and his hope is to be there himself, personally, wholly and forever. When the rude northern people had once drank of the sweet wines of Italy, they could not rest satisfied till they were themselves quartered in that pleasant land. So, when the true Israel of God have but tasted of the clusters of Eshcol, they are fired with new desires to go up and possess that land which the Lord hath promised them. A holy ardor is kindled. When, notwithstanding the report of Caleb and Joshua, the timid host were fain to return to the house of bondage, those assured champions "spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then will he bring us into this land, and give it us; a