148 THE WORLD TO COME. by the Lamb t6 all the inhabitants of the heavenly country. It was by Jesus his Sou that God made the light at first, and by him he conveys it to all the happy worlds. There is no doubt of this in the present heaven of saints departed from flesh, who are ascended to the spirits of the just made perfect. It is one of their privileges that they go to dwell, not only where they see the face of God, but where they behold the glory of Christ, and converse with Jesus the Média- tor of the new covenant; Heb. xii. 23, 24. and are G° for even with the Lord who redëeined them." 2 Cor. v. 8. Since his mediatorial kingdom and offices are not yet finished in the pre- sent heaven of separate souls, we may depend on this blessed- ness to be communicated through Christ the Lamb of God, and all the spiritual enjoyments and felicities, which are represented under the metaphor of light, are conveyed to them through Jesus the Mediator. The sun in the natural world, is a bright emblem of divi- nity, or the godhead ; for it is the spring of all light and heat and life to the creation. It is by the influences of the sun that herbs, plants and animals are produced in their proper seasons, and in all their various beauties, and they are all refreshed and supported by it. Now if we should suppose this vast globe of fire, which we call the sun, to be inclosed in a huge hollow sphere of chrystal, which should attemper its rays like a trans- parent veil, and give milder and gentler influences to the burning beams of it, and yet transmit every desirable and use -, ful portion of light or heat, this would be á happy emblem of the man Christ Jesus, in whom dwells all the fulness of the godhead bodily; Col. ii. 9. It is the Lamb of God, who in a mild and gracious manner, conveys the blessings originally derived from God, his Father, to all the saints. We partake of them in our measures in this lower world, among his churches here on earth ; but it is with a nobler influence, and in in a more sublime degree, the blessings of paradise are diffused through all the mansions of glory, by this illustrious medium of conveyance, Jesus the Son of God ; and there can be no night nor coldness, death nor darkness in this happy state of separate souls. When the bodies of the saints shall be raised again, and re- united to their proper spirits, when they slfall ascend to the place of their final heaven, And supreme happiness, we know not what tnanner of bodies they shall be, what sort of senses they shall be furnished with, nor how many powers of conversing with the corporeal world shall be bestowed upon them. Whether they shall have such organs of sensation as eyes and ears, and stand in need of such light as we derive from the sun or moon, is not absolutely certain. The scripture tells us, it shall not be a body
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