They all belong to God by supreme right and are part of the estate that the Christian must inherit. It is the head, the crown, the radiant glory of the solar system; marching forth in his majestic grandeur, independent of the worlds around him; while the earth and all the planets are but his attendant. Return and go out to the east or west, up or down, or in any other of the ten thousand directions you can take, and you are still in their midst.
This is how far we can go on viewing the heritage of God's child. They will be witnesses of his wonderful works for them, and they will be filled with joy because of the love he shows thereby and the new excellences that will appear in their inheritance.
CHAPTER III
Because of the love they bear each other, each one enjoys wealth more than he would if he alone owned it. When the Christian leaves this world and enters his heavenly inheritance, he becomes a member of that family more perfect than now. He is freed from the pitiful selfishness which is here so apt to degrade and bore him, and is filled with the benevolence of heaven—"filled with all the fullness of God."
When we come to that house of saints, we shall be so delighted with the happiness of others, that we shall enjoy their advantages and pleasures as we shall enjoy our own. All that is in the heavens above and the earth below will be his, to be used for the improvement of his character and the advancement of his happiness. When we shall look upon this world and the things in it with the great increased knowledge which we shall have in our future state, and with the Spirit of heaven reigning in us, we shall enjoy it more than we can now, if they were all exclusively ours.
With every planet of our solar system, with the sun, with the stars of this cluster, and with those of other clusters, we will undoubtedly get much better. They are among the "all things" that "shall work together for good to them that love God." His Father rules the universe in perfect wisdom and for the highest good. When he will be released from his present state of discipline and go to his abode in heaven, he will be ready to enjoy with exquisite delight and make the best possible use of the inheritance that God will give him.
It will all be his, so that he may enjoy it most and derive the most important and lasting benefits from it; it was all his to improve his character, further his education, and increase his spiritual wealth and happiness forever.
CHAPTER IV
34; God is love." Being the means of promoting the Christian's benevolence, wicked men are useful to him in this life. And in the life to come, no doubt God's dealings with them will be Buch as. There is truth in the saying: "Who gains a friend, doubles his joys." A friend's joys are his too.
It will be especially so in that better world, where friendships between the sinless continue unbroken and unalloyed, and are ever increasing with mutual benefit. Christian will prosper and his interests will prosper because of his association with those who were once good men here. Yes, the Christian can look up and say to every star he sees, "Surely I have brothers there." Perhaps he looks forward to them now; and as the years of eternity roll on, he may become acquainted with many of them, and feel that the millions of the happy and noble in these worlds are his beloved friends.
What then will be the value of this part of the Christian's inheritance, when he counts among his friends the inhabitants of those innumerable worlds. 34;sent out to minister to those who will be heirs of salvation." As children of God, th~y. 34;ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who will be heirs of salvation;" the Christian in heaven will be "like the angels," and it seems likely that he will go out to do good in the same way.
The power of the Almighty will be yours to protect you from evil; and "nothing shall harm you.". He who is "the best of ten thousand and all lovely," shall be your friend.' He will be yours and you will be his, in the most beautiful affection that will last forever. How infinitely precious this friendship will seem when you look upon his face and enjoy the sweet radiance of his loving and lovely smiles; how infinitely rich "part of your soul" is.
CHAPTER V
He will forever be free from all temptations to it, from without and from within. He will 'know as he is known'. The glory of the universe will be open to him; worlds upon worlds, in magnificence too great to fully perceive now, will lie before him; and God, the sun and chief glory of the whole, shall no more be seen "as through a glass, dark, but face to face," in all the infinite loveliness and glory of his goodness. His trial state will be over, his training for heaven completed, and God will keep him from all danger of evil to which he has been subjected.
He will be in no danger of sin, nor of temptation thereto; nor from fatigue, pain, sickness, sorrow, disappointment, confusion or death. His freedom from this, and from every evil, shall be forever secure; and so may his soul rest, rest in the paradise of God, and be forever acquainted. The full treasures of God's infinite wealth of wisdom, power and goodness will be open to him.
He will give him "glory, honor, and immortality." He "shall be filled with all the fullness of God." His knowledge will increase, his powers of learning and enjoyment will be strengthened, his sphere of action will be enlarged, and the whole universe will be given to him to study and enjoy. The saying, "all things are yours," will prove to him in its fullest and richest sense. God shall be his God, Christ his brother, heaven his home, and all the treasures of infinite goodness shall be his, to make him perfect in happiness for ever.
He will soon be freed from all the evil hindrances to his happiness to which he is now subject, and will feel himself an heir of God, enriched, honored, and loved by his heavenly Father; enriched even with boundless riches, honored with heavenly glory, and loved with infinite affection.
CHAPTER VI
Look, then, Christian, look often to your inheritance; behold, that your joy may be full." God, our Savior, has told us of this glorious inheritance, that we may "rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." Remember often, as you gaze upon the sun, that he it is a part of your wealth. And as you look at the stars, consider that they are all suns, and that millions upon millions of such glorious orbs, shining in their own brightness, moving in their beautiful and wholesome harmony, and full of the riches of Jeho- the goodness of vah, shall be yours to enjoy forever. And all these are but the lowest part of the riches; the furniture and ornaments of the tabernacle in which your heavenly Father and Jesus , your elder brother, and the divine Comforter, with their angelic friends and saints, will welcome you and feast you with the delights of heaven.
They have the spirit of adoption, which makes them obedient to God and interested in his cause; and they are so partakers of the spirit of Christ, that they long for the redemption of their fellows. Be worthy for yourself the noble station and the great estate to which you have been called. Then see that you “walk worthy of the Lord, in the good pleasure of all, and be fruitful in every good work, and increase in the knowledge of God.”
If you are one of those who carelessly handle this inheritance, I would ask you to cheat this. By that sun that rolls above you day after day, I adjure you, remember there are greater things than that of the earth that you must reckon with. He points it out to you as part of the inheritance His infinite goodness would bestow on you.
They will testify that you did not obey the voice of God calling you to heaven, but foolishly, wrongly, inexcusably set your mind and heart on inferior things, and thus unfit you for the inheritance of the Christian, and unworthy of it; and God the Judge will exclude you from it.
