another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. The glory of the light dwelleth in the sun, and from him it is spread over all the creation below, where no object has any light of its own. So the glory of the invisible heavens is with God; and from him it is communicated to angels and saints, who have no glory but what they receive from Him. All objects, on which the sun shines, are in a glorified state, compared with those on which it doth not shine; so it is impossible to be in the presence of God without being shone upon and glorified; therefore, when God himself shall be made manifest, and his light shall shine, we shall all be changed; and our change shall happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye; for so doth light break out suddenly, and.shine upon all things. While we live upon this earth, our light is interrupted with darkness, and our summer is followed by a winter. One half of the earth's globe is in darkness, and they that inhabit it are turned round every day into its shadow; but if we are lifted up into the heavens, farther than the extent of the earth's shade, our day would be uninterrupted, and our season would be the same. Such is the state of those who are in the presence of God; for with him there is none of this variableness nor shadow of turning. 1 All that is heavenly, or comes from heaven, is bright and glorious; all that is earthly partakes of darkness. When Jesus was transfigured, his raiment became white as the light itself. When the angel of the Lord descended to deliver Peter, a light shined in the prison at midnight. When Moses conversed with God upon the Mount, his face retained the light which had shone upon it, so that the people could not stedfastly look upon him. When Jesus appeared to Paul in the way to Damascus, such was the glory of the light which attended him, that all the company fell to the earth; and Paul himself was struck blind. How shall I who am now in darkness be made a partaker of the glory which is set before me? How, but by considering first with myself, what a dreadful thing it would be, if I should lose the kingdom of glory, and fall into the kingdom of darkness! It is possible to love darkness rather than light; God forbid I should be of that mind! But I shall be so if my works are evil; therefore let me now put away the works of darkness. Then let me take the word of God, as a light unto my path. As Christ endured the Cross, and despised the shame of it, for the joy that was set before him; so let me bear the sufferings of the present time, whatever they may be, knowing that they are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. Let me be constant in using the means of grace, that I may be prepared by them for the enjoyment of glory. So shall God, who breathed into me the breath of life from his spirit, enlighten me at last with his presence, when my body shall be raised up in glory; and mortality shall be swallowed up of life; as the darkness of the earth is drowned and overcome by the light of heaven pouring in upon it at the rising of the sun, THE QUESTIONS. Q. What is glory? A. It significs the bright shining of the light. Q. What is the glory of the kingdom of heaven? Q. What shall glorify the saints? A. The presence of God. Q. How doth the Scripture describe him? A. As having no variableness nor shadow of turning; like to what we are subject to who inhabit this earth. Q. How did Christ appear, when he was transfigured A. His raiment became white as snow, his face shone like the sun, and his whole person as bright as the light itself. A. Did any sign of glory attend the angels of heaven when they appeared? A. A light shone in the prison when Peter was delivered by an angel. Q. What was the effect, when Moses conversed with God? A. A glory remained upon his face, too bright for the people to behold. Q. How are you to obtain the glory which is promised? A. By putting away the works of darkness. Q. Who are they that love darkness rather than light? A. They whose works are evil? Q. How is the mind to be glorified now? A. By reading and studying his word. Q. How are you to prepare yourself farther? A By bearing, as Christ did, the sufferings of the present time. Q. How farther? A. By using the means of grace; for it is grace only that leads us to glory. THE TEXTS, Psal. xix. 1. The heavens declare the glory God. Rom. xvi. 27. To God only wise be glory. of Luke ix. 29. And his raiment was white and glistening.-32. And when they were awake, they saw his glory. 2 Cor. iii. 7. The children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance-V. 18. But we all, with open, (unveiled) face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory. Luke ix. 26. He shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the Holy Angels. Col. i. 27. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Rom. viii. 18. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. XIX. THE PREACHER'S PICTURE OF OLD AGE. IN the 12th Chapter of Ecclesiastes, the preacher admonishes me to dedicate my youthful days to the service of my Creator, considering the evil days which are coming upon us, when all the faculties of our minds and bodies shall fail us under the infirmities of age. For then, as the preacher beautifully represents it to us, as in a glass or mirror, the sun and the moon and the stars are darkened; the superior powers, which rule in the body of man, as the heavenly luminaries do in the world; the understanding and reason, the imagination and the memory, are obscured, as when the clouds interpose between us and the lights of the fir mament. In the earlier season of life, the clouds of affliction having poured down their rain, they pass away, and sunshine succeeds; but now the clouds return after the rain; old age itself is a continual sorrow, and there is no longer any hope of fair weather. The keepers of the house, the arms and hands which are made to guard and defend the body, begin to shake and tremble; and the strong men, the shoulders, where the strength of the body is placed, and which were once able to bear every weight, begin to stoop and bow themselves; and the grinders, the teeth, begin to fall away, and cease to do their work, because they are few. Also those that look out of the windows are darkened; the eyes, those windows of the body, through which we look at all things abroad as we look out from the windows of a house, become dim; and he that uses them is as one who looketh out of a window in the night. Then the doors are shut in the streets; difficulties and obstructions attend all the passages of the body, and digestion becomes weak when the grinding is low. The youthful and healthy sleep sound, and are apt to transgress by taking too much rest; but the aged sleep with difficulty, and rise up at the voice of the birds; they are ready to leave their disturbed rest at the crowing of the cock. daughters of music are brought low; the voice falls and becomes hoarse; the hearing is dull: and the the spirits, now less active than they used to be, are less affected by the powers of harmony; and so sit i heaviness, hanging down their heads, as virgins droop The |