nacle, that it, the tabernacle, may suffer the unmitigated part of the curse, and die; which it cannot until the soul be separated from it. The tenant is called to leave the tabernacle, because God has prepared some better thing for us who through grace believe; and a worse state for those who have not fled for refuge to the hope set before them in the gospel. The tenant leaves the tabernacle because, at length, it finds an aperture through which it can escape and go to God, which is far better. Oft, in its sojourn in this tabernacle, it has said, “O that I had the wings of a dove! for then would I flee away and be at rest." Now the door of the cage is opened by stern, yet friendly death, and swift as the passing thought we rise to the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Need I say more on the subject why the soul is called to leave the body? I can but add, It is done because in the body we cannot fully enjoy God; or because in the body we cannot fully experience the wrath of God: for the same means which raise a saint to the possession of the heavenly, all sink the sinner into possession of his hellish inheritance. Death bears me to such joys as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard; or to such griefs as eye hath not seen, ear heard, or the heart of man conceived. We that are in the body can but guess, and poorly guess, the change effected by death, the rapture or the woe which instantly succeeds: for this we thank God, and in it take courage, that "absent from the body we are present with the Lord." Man of the world, hast thou ever seen Arabia's sands? League after league they stretch their withering arms; nor can the traveller comprehend its boundless waste, or fathomless depth. Let your imagination rest on this vast mass of atoms, and in comparison with it consider one grain of sand; and believe us when we say, All you have known of misery on earth compared with that of hell, will be as insignificant as the latter is to the former. Man of God, have you seen the sea? Your happiest moments at a throne of grace, or in the sanctuary, or under the full assurance of faith, have only been what a drop of water is to the sea. Cheer up, tried Christian; we are going by a right way to a country where sighing and sorrow flee away, and God wipes all tears from all faces: where there shall be "no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night then, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever," Rev. xxii. 3-5.

The tenant, then, is called upon to quit the tabernacle, because, if God's, it is not good enough for him whom the Lord delighteth to honour; and if Satan's, it is not miserable enough for him, that is, of your father, (O, wicked man) even the devil. With each the present is a temporary abode the best or the worst that we are to know: may it prove the worst, that so, when the dissolution comes, we may find our souls in "the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

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I have now to consider, thirdly, HOW SUPERIOR the latter RESIDENCE IS TO THE FORMER; and this I think will be best effected by noting carefully the phraseology employed.

First, it is not made with hands," but is a place, as well as state, rising as the spontaneous consequence of God's presence. This makes heaven, as we are sometimes favoured with a knowledge of, during our worldly pilgrimage. Paul once could not tell whether in the body or out of the body, because he saw things it were impossible to utter: and every glimpse we get of the glory hereafter to be revealed, shows it is not made with hands. Of some things we read, "God said let there be," and there "was." And of others, "God made them also," but the house in heaven wants not the word or act to call into being; for there emanates that from the Divine glory which constitutes all space a heaven, save where sin is. Therefore the superiority of the latter residence to the former is, that no hand, human or divine, is requisite or employed for its creation. God is there in all the glory, holiness, and peculiarities, of his nature, which must constitute it a house not made with hands-a permanent, stable, secure, elevated, dignified, and diversified home; of which St. Paul says (Heb. xii. 21), "Wherefore we receive a kingdom that cannot be moved," and we add from the text, because "not made with hands."

‣ Secondly, Its superiority is its perpetuity. Eternal. Had any man lived from the creation to the end of time, he had lived through many dispensations, ages, and centuries; had seen vast sights, but at last must behold what constitutes the visible heavens, " pass away with a great noise, and the elements melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein burnt up." But the house not made with hands remains eternal; time cannot affect it, for it is not within time's domains. It is beyond, above, without the reach of time. Is no more affected by time than God is, and can no more cease to be, than God can cease to be. Its character is eternal.

What a wonderful and what a desirable state in which to have a dwelling, especially when you consider,

Thirdly, Its superiority lies in this. The house is not only not made with hands and eternal; but in heaven, or in the heavens, in joy, happiness, purity, light, peace, love-"nothing there that defileth or worketh a lie." It is where God is, with whom we want to be; where sin is not, from which we long to flee. Where our brethren who died in the faith are, with whom we long to join in swelling forth that anthem of praise which has grace for its keynote, and "Christ the substance of the song." In the heavens ; we are going to the house not made with hands; what an exhilarating thought! To die is gain; for at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord; but absent from the body, present with the Lord. Present with him in heaven, and for ever present. Who fears to die? Who but must desire mortality were swallowed up of life? And who but would exclaim, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly?" Wait, and while you wait "watch and pray, that no man rob thee of thy crown. Wait, I say―

"Yet a little, and you know

Joyful entrance shall be given,

All your sorrows left below,

And earth exchang'd for heaven."

I conclude then by observing, first, the country to which the redeemed of the Lord go is superior to this, for it is heaven. Let us not then selfishly mourn when our dear friends are called to those regions. We do not find this world a heaven. No, as the child's hymn says, "Here we suffer grief and pain." There pain, mental or physical, is a weed that cannot grow; none say they are sick or sad, but are as the angels. Our dear brother Hancox, we believe removed to that better country, "for he was a faithful man and feared God above many;" whilst we, in secular and spiritual things, as well as that church of which he was deacon, shall often miss him. Yet for his gain we will rejoice, "bless God," and (in faith upon Him who raised up for this cause our departed friend), "take courage." We cannot think that the Head of the church will suffer the candlestick to be removed out of this place, because this faithful agent is no longer here to guarantee our expenses. May we rather think he means to raise up many who, when they hear of our loss, will find a voice behind them, saying, "Go and do likewise."

Secondly, Not only the country is better, but the building is better.

This mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruptible incorruption, and we shall be changed into the image of Christ: for we are again to see our bodies, claim our bodies, regain our bodies; not as tabernacles, but as spiritual bodies-bodies like unto our Lord's glorious body; bodies that are all mind, in which there is no darkness; bodies that hunger and thirst not, decay not, but are like the second Adam's, the Lord from heaven. Our tabernacle must be dissolved; our flesh must be refined, must sleep and moulder in the grave, until the angel stand with one foot on the earth, and the other on the sea, to proclaim, by the authority of Him that sitteth on the throne, "There shall be no more time." Then our identical but immaterial bodies shall come forth; they that have done good to the resurrection of the just, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of God's curse. Then spirit shall know spirit, and perhaps not until then. Then Satan's chains of darkness will be taken off, and he with the wicked will sink lower and lower into the bottomless pit; whilst the righteous will rise higher and higher into the mind, knowledge, and enjoyment of God. You then will again see brother Hancox, and be able to comprehend with all saints," the height, and depth, and length, and breadth, and know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge"-love which raised him up to be the first step to some of your hearing the Gospel, and so hearing as to live. Love which would not let him rest by day or night until these doors were reopened, and the walls resounded with the news of "God reconciling the world unto himself, and not imputing their sins." It was the love of Jesus burned in his breast, not suffering him to give sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eyelids, until he opened this house for the Lord, as a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob (Psalm cxxxii. 3). The country will be better, and the building better, and,

Thirdly, The tenure will be better-eternal. Every thing here is mutable and transient; this building is leasehold, this world is but leasehold, these bodies are leasehold. But the saints' last home is freehold, and, like the possessions of the Jews in their best days, unalienable. We cannot wear it out, nor live it out: it is exhaustless, imperishable, and incapable of deterioration. It waxes not old, but wears perpetual freshness on its face; dressed in the vigour of perfection—everlasting heaven is its name.

Finally; the death of a dear friend has led us to consider what are a saint's prospects in view of a change of worlds, and his gains in leaving this. Have we "stirred up your pure minds by way of remembrance?" Are you coveting earnestly that rest which re

maineth for the people of God? What I say unto you I say unto myself: "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." Keep near to Christ in creed and conduct. Live the Christian, that when Christ, who is your life, shall appear, ye also may appear with him in glory, and join the general assembly and church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven, and whose employment is singing, "To Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Our brother Hancox had a sweet voice; but O, could we hear it now, the tones are so improved that we should exclaim, "What hath God wrought!" and long to quit this house of clay to give our powers wholly to these things. Be thankful that "we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Cherish this knowledge, nor becloud it by sin, but holding fast that which you have, reach to that which is before; that faith may cheer your souls whilst in this tabernacle, and give you an abundant entrance at death to your glorious final home-your state of perpetuity-your building of God-the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."

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