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and told them that a ministering angel had arrived with the gladdening information that their child laboured to meet them there ! Spontaneous hymns of praise burst from them , and they left us to pursue their way with the celestial spirit to hear from the ministering angel the intelligence he brought . Endless were the scenes we witnessed of such
enthusiastic happiness , and boundless appeared the space through which we went , studded with the mansions of the blessed ! The " Vision of Hades thus concludes : " Suddenly a vivid gleam and melting Cones of entrancing harmony enwrapped my soul . With a shout of exultation my
guide exclaimed , ' They come , they come ! strengthen thy feeble spirit ; watch yon lambent glory , and hearken to the voices of the hierarchy of heaven 1 ' In an instant the elements were imbued with a
deeper glow ; myriads of islands covered with spirits were urging their way lo where the lambent glory shone and forming themselves before it . Unfolding glories and sparkling rays came , showered from supernal spirits , surrounding one so intensely bright that even the seraphim scavce could gaze upon it , and all with
spontaneous songs of gladness shouted Hosannahs , while all of the blessed bent in adoration at its presence ! * Sustain thy sinking spirit / said my guide , ' and look if but for a moment 1 ' My astonished soul just perceived a kneeling form almost absorbed in the resplendent
gloriesthat environed the vision so intensely bright . The form arose , and a spirit flew to guide and to support it . While angelic songs of praise pealed on my raptured soul , the vision , so ineffable , withdrew . Then for a season all was silent , save the melting melody of the elements .
Around this form , conducted by the angels , ihe highest of created beings arranged themselves in increasing circles ; they » were arrayed m empyreal radiance * , and wore six wings shilling like the beams of heaven , reflected from the dust of mingled gems ; around them and yet farther advanced , were myriads of the hierarchy
of heaven , all wearing wings glittering with sunlike brightness , who flew toward us chanting- hymns of joy which resounded through infinite space , ajod - were reechoed by the world of . spirits 1 * They bring / said my guide , ' conduc t ed by it
imnistoring angel , a-repentant spirit of the earth to dwell among us , and the vision robed in such resplendent glory , to whom they knelt , was the Redeemer !' •* Tl ^ ey were now near , when a bright spivit winged its way before the rest , at
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whose presence the descant died away and , in sounds that my mortal soul can scarcely remember , announced the name and race the being bore on earth , declared that it was accepted in mercy and given the invaluable gift of everlasting
bliss ! Instantly thousands of spirits rushed forward to greet him , and the sounds of transporting triumph grew louder . I heard my lovely guide exclaim , * 1 am the sainted spirit oi remember the regions of the blessed ! ' and immediately vanished . "
Then follow copious erudite Notes , on the intermediate state of the dead , which lie has here portrayed—and on the immateriality of the soul , which he defends with candour and ingenuity . But after all these pleasing speculations , I am more impressed with the
silent grandeur of the Scriptures on the subject . The passages are , indeed , very indefinite ; but by becoming the awful topic of meditation , they swell on the imagination , and dilate the heart . They kindle a holy curiosity ,
and stir up the soul to an ardent preparation for heaven . " Eye hath not seen / ' ( says the Apostle , 1 Cor . ii . 9 , ) " nor ear heard , neither have entered into the heart of man , the things which God hath prepared for them that love him "
Dr . Paley deems this circumstance do mean presumptive proof of the truth of Christianity . 4 * Our Lord ' s discourses exhibit no particular description of the invisible world . The future happiness of the good , and the misery of the bad , which is all we want to be assured of , is directly and
positively affirmed , and is represented b y metaphors and comparisons , which were plainly intended as metaphors and comparisons , and as nothing mote . As to the rest , a solemn reserve is maintained . The question concerning the woman who had been married to seven brothers , ' Whose shall sne be in the resurrection ?* was of a nature
calculated to have drawn from Christ a more circumstantial account of the state of the human species in their future existence . He cut short , however , the inquiry , by an answer which
at once rebuked intruding curiosity , and was agreeable to the best apprehensions we are able to form upon the subject , viz . that ' they who are accounted worthy of that resurrection shall be as the angels of < jlod in hea-
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2 / 8 Dr . Evans on the Employments of Heaven *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1825, page 278, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2536/page/22/
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