I have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
henceforth there is laid up for me
A CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not
to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." "These
things saith He that holdeth the Seven Stars in his right hand: Be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." These are a
few of the bright promises held out to us in the Book of Life. Are we
not blest? "The joys of heaven," says Bishop Norris, "are without
example, above experience, and beyond imagination, for which the whole
creation wants a comparison; we an apprehension; and even the Word of
God a revelation." "Heaven," says Shakspeare, "is the treasury of
everlasting joy." "By heaven we understand a state of happiness," says
Franklin, "infinite in degree, and endless in duration." With man's
finite mind man solaces himself with
PICTURES OF PARADISE
mortal in their scope. He is not to be blamed for this, for it is God's
will to let him grope in darkness a few short years.
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