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LIYING IN THE FUTURE:

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PREACHED BEFORE THE SECOND AND MAIN STREET CONGREGATIONAL
CHURCHES OF NORWICH, CONN., JUNE 29, 1851.

BY REV. WM. W. EDDY.

NORWICH:
J. G. COOLEY, MAIN-STREET,
1851.

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LIVING IN THE FUTURE

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PREACHED BEFORE THE SECOND AND MAIN-ST. CONGREGATIONAI CHURCHES
OP NORWICH, CONN., JUNE 29, 1851.

BY REV. WM. W. EDDY.

N O R W I XkH :**'*
J. G. COOLEY, MAIN-STREET,
PLAIN AND FANCY PRINTER.
1851.

The following note from Mr. Eddy was received, with the MS. of the discourse, in reply to thole
friends who had desired it for publication:
Gentlemen — With your request, so kindly expressed, for a copy of the sermon for publication,
preached before the United Congregational Churches of your city last evening, I cheerfully comply,
since the grounds on which it is based, that it may serve in after times as a " keepsake " to those
friends by whom I so greatly desire to be remembered, present an argument too strong for me to
resist. Very Truly Yours, ¦*
W M . W . EDDY.
Norwich, Ct., June 30th, 1851.

LIYING IN THE FUTURE.

These all died in Faith, not having received the Promi
ses, BUT HAVING SEEN THEM AFAR OFF, AND WERE PERSUADED OF
THEM, AND EMBRACED THEM. -—Heb. XL 13.
God has created man with powers adapted to live, more
or less, under the influence of three Worlds : the Past, the
Present, and the Future. There have been manifested
great diversities in individual character, according to the
degree of influence which one or the other of these has
exercised over individual minds, and these diversities we
have not failed to attribute to their true cause. Such a
man, we say, lived principally in the Past : he derived his
views of life, his motives of action, mostly from it. This
one ever lived in the Present, centered his thoughts there,
and from it drew all his motives. That one lived in the
Future : he saw every thing in its bearings upon it, judged
of it in its light, and in it found all his springs of action.
This distinction, thus manifested in individual charac
ter, appears also extending itself to masses of men, at the
same time, and gives a peculiar character to the age in
which they live, or the nation to which they belong.
Perhaps it might be said of the Greeks and Romans, in
the days of their glory, that they lived principally under
the influence of the Past. Their traditions <6f the Golden
Age of the world, of their Heroes and Gods, recorded in
their Mythology, influenced greatly the character of their
minds, their thoughts, their actions, and their religion.

6 Living in the Future.
The Patriarchs of olden time, whose acts and expe
rience are recorded in the Sacred Scriptures, and of whom
the text speaks, were men over whom the Future had by
far the greatest control. Their record is — " They lived
in faith, they died in faith, not having received the pro
mises, but having seen them afar off. They endured as
seeing things invisible."
This age of the world is characterized by its peculiar
regard for the Present. In distinction from other ages,
when the unseen and the spiritual has exercised greater
influence, it should be called the Material Age. That
stimulus which led the ancient warrior to battle, and
nerved his arm and inspired his heart, as he thought of
the noble deeds of his ancestors and determined to emu
late them, and thought of the Gods and Heroes who look
ed down from heaven and beheld him in his conflicts —
that which led the ancient worthies of our religion to
such heroic acts of self-denial, and to such sublime endur
ance of suffering, in their far-sighted gaze of faith and
strong conviction of eternal realities — that stimulus, for
their actions, men now find by placing before them things
Present for things Past or Future, material for spiritual,
earthly for heavenly ; thus setting reason above faith, the
life of the senses and of the intellect above the life of the
soul. The possession of any faculties shows the use which
God intended should be made of- them. Our power of
living in three worlds shows that we were intended to be
duly influenced by each. For experience we are to live in
one, for action in another, for hope in the third.
It is exceedingly important for us to determine the re
gard which should be paid to each, the degree to which
we should live under the influence of each of these
worlds. The subject of this discourse is, The Eight Use of the
Future: In what sense, to what degree, and for what pur
pose, we should live in the Future.
A. life in the Future is one that brings its scenes so vivid
ly before the mind as to. give them all the power of Pres
ent realities ; which brings the day of results so close to

Living ia the Future. 7
the day of preparation for them, that with every act per
formed the soul is reading its final result ages onward;
which sets forth each truth, not simply in its Present, but
as clearly in its Eternal relations ; which, as it seizes upon
a promise, is already in imagination gazing upon its fulfill
ment ; which enables those living in the world, yet to live
above it — beyond things near to see things afar off —
while yet dwelling in tabernacles and having no continu
ing city, yet to be ever looking for a better country, even
a heavenly — an enduring city, without foundations, whose
builder and maker is God.
Such a life, by no means, implies a neglect of the
teachings of the Past, nor the flinging away of the re
sults of its experience ; for that leads to the re-enactment of
former follies, the re-vivification of former errors. It ra
ther takes all the instruction of the Past, that may be de
rived from both its errors and its wisdom, and considers it
so much treasure gained to be used in the Future. It, ia
not ever wasting its strength in tearing up old founda
tions, but builds upon them, rejoicing that so much nearer
is thus brought the time for laying with shouts the top-
stone of the finished temple.
It is not indifferent to present scenes, nor forgetful of
present duties, for it sees a dignity and glory connected
with them which the light of another and a brighter day
flings over them.
We fail to make a right use of the Future when we
paint its scenes in unreal colors, when we are ever setting
before us views of life to which there is nought to corres
pond, building airy castles, and in vague speculation
dreaming away the life which. God has given us, since we
prepare ourselves thus continually for disappointment, and
make the Present seem tame and unattractive.
We also misuse our power of anticipating that which is
before us, when we indulge in gloomy forebodings, read-'
ing presages of ill in every thing, borrowing misery to
ourselves from every source.
Only such a view of the " Future as the Word of God
warrants, such alone as is founded on the promises there
revealed, such as fits man better to fulfill all the duties

8 L/iving in the Future..
and to observe all the relations which his situation in
volves, do I hold up to you, as profitable to yourselves
and pleasing to God. While now I shall place before you
arguments to induce you to live constantly under the in
fluence of the Future, it is of a real Future, not one of
speculation or of vague unrealities, that I shall speak.
My first argument rests upon the real importance of those
things revealed concerning the Future to the soul of man. ,
They are truths of Eternity ; and their dimensions and
their duration fully correspond. The Present borrows its
importance in reality mostly from its relation to the Fu
ture. Viewed simply in its own light, weighed by its own
merits alone, it is oftentimes unimportant — trifling, even.
Its greatest acts, divested of their future influence, seem
only like child's play. But the least act, with its eternal
relations clinging to it, becomes momentous and solemn.
In one aspect we seem to be writing letters upon the
sand, while the wave is out, which on its return will erase
their every trace. In the other, we are graving them in
the living rock, to be imperishable. Viewed this way,
they are like moves on a chess-board, while the players
seek to wile away a passing hour; that way, it is the
game of life which is played, and each move stands for
eternity, while destinies, greater than the fate of kings or
the rise and fall of empires, depend upon them. Is it
reasonable for us to dwell on the unimportant part and
overlook the momentous ?
The Present is limited in the time it embraces. Should
we regard the transient and neglect the far-reaching and
eternal ?
The Present is variable — its scenes are shifting. Should
we fix our minds here, and exclude from our thoughts
the unchanging ?
The Present is all preparatory — it professes not to be
the real : it is only the rehearsal before the great drama.
Does not the fact that it is thus preparatory, probationary,
teach us that our attitude should ever be that of looking
forward to the final scene, the close of the probation ?
The Present is charged mostly with the transient hap-

Living in the Future. 9
piness of man, with concern for his minor wants of body
and mind. The Future stands related to his everlasting
bliss or woe. It addresses itself to the higher nature, the
wants of the soul.
Now, we hold in our hands, we look upon the germ of
things. Shall we look only upon these, and think not of
the blossoms and fruit, ages hence, to be produced from
them ?
Here, are title-deeds of an eternal inheritance, counters
which are the pledges of priceless treasures. Shall we
think often of the style and expression of the writings,
and the colors of the counters, and never of the treasure
and the inheritance to be enjoyed hereafter ?
Lo ! here are a few stepping-stones, on which we as
cend, and then we stand upon a broad arena, where the
soul may range freely, boundlessly. Here stands the
hour-glass of our earthly existence, and no kind hand will
turn it when its sands have once run out ; they then
have ceased to flow forever, and in the new life on which
we enter, Time, having no divisions, no limits, is lost in
Eternity. Ought the transient, the changing, the prepar
atory, the promisory, to * occupy our thoughts, and the
eternal, the unchanging, the final, the substantial, to be
disregarded and set aside? Ought our minds' vision to
dwell upon the little islands that fringe the shore, while
the great continent lies beyond unexplored ? We walk
in the vestibule of God's great temple ; and as we press
forward on our way, should our thoughts and conversa
tion be only of the things about us, or of the abode with
in the curtained entrance, our station there, the compan
ionship, the knowledge unfolded, the worship rendered,
the Deity adored ?
Since now all that is regarded great derives its import
ance in view of the future, and all that seems in itself
trifling becomes great as soon as it is considered in its re
lation to that ; since its events, momentous in themselves,
are every hour drawing nearer, and that which was far-
off and dim is now becoming near and distinct; since
these never can be avoided, but are to be met face to
face ; since they introduce the soul into higher relations,

10 Xjiving in the Future.
where its capacities will be enlarged, its powers strength
ened, where it will be brought nearer to God, to experi
ence more directly his favor or his wrath ; therefore their
consideration commends itself to the soul as not only be
coming, but in the highest degree important.
To close the eyes to the future, is to shut off the con
templation of the most sublime truths — to darken the
windows of the soul against all heavenly light. While
the spirit has deep longings and lofty aspirations — while
though planted on earth and linked to an earthly nature,
its branches and tendrils are ever reaching upwards, and
seeking to grasp something stronger and nobler than
aught that it finds here — to give the thoughts only to
the temporal and material, is to rob the spirit of its true
support. Should there be forgetfulness and neglect any
where, it should rather be of the little earth-mounds
which our child-hands have formed, while awed and
breathless our thoughts are climbing the great mountains
which loom above the horizon of the soul's vision. The
glories of the firmament above our heads invite us as we
walk to look up from the ground on which we tread; the'
glories of the Future, vast in their range and sublime in
their greatness, invite our thoughts away from the limited
and the Present.
The second argument in favor of living much in the
Future, is found in the effect tvhich this has upon the develop
ment of the soul.
This appears from the previous topic, in view of the
nature of the subjects concerning which the Future treats.
To bind the immortal powers to the service of the bo
dy — to keep them occupied with no higher range of
subjects than those which relate to the present wants of
man, his pleasures, his traffic, his -petty strifes, his party
schemes — is to fling chains around its angel-wings, to set
the blinded Samson of the nature, despoiled of its
strength, to grind or to make sport for those who should
be its slaves. Such captivity debases, enfeebles the soul.
For its expansion it must have the illimitable over which
to range. The higher nature must have its aliment, as

Idling in the Future. 11
well as the lower ; the soul must be fed, as well as the
body. By contemplation it is nourished, and its growth
is commensurate with the greatness of the subjects which
are the themes of its contemplation.
It has a longing ever for the Infinite. It cannot rest
satisfied in any thing which has no prophecy of that. It
has been called the 'sense of the Infinite.' Hence all
great paintings, works of sculpture, architecture and poe
try, aim in some way to express this idea. There must
be a window in the painted palace left open, whence the
soul can look out over a boundless landscape, or upward
to the illimitable firmament. There must be a finger of
the statue pointing upward or onward, or an expression
of countenance which reveals thoughts of unearthly
things, or the soul will soon weary of it.
There is a sympathy between the ocean, which seems
to speak of the Infinite — the sky, with its fathomless
depths — and the soul of man. All Nature's voices speak
of the future and eternal : they speak of God, and lead
the spirit onward to Him. When we look upon the scenes
of Nature, not as in the hour of thoughtless youth, but
regarding her as the nurse and guide of heart and soul,
all the finer issues of our being are sustained and strength
ened ; the soul dilates to take in the inspiration of each
mighty vision that passes before it, as if it were struggling
to assume its natural form and to swell out to the propor
tions of its divine Original.
In these tendencies and sympathies of the soul we find
the evidence of God's design with reference to it, and the
means by which it is to be guided onward to its more
complete development. The guidance of Nature is ex
pressive, too, of the will and intent of God ; and from the
lessons thence derived we are taught — 'Let the soul
range onward in the Future, nourish its aspirings, give it
thoughts of God, and promises from his word to guide
and sustain it ; not on vague fancies, but real truths, let
down from heaven for it to cling to, let it fasten ; and
thus to the state from which it has fallen it will be re
stored, till it shall sweep the horizon of an angel's vision,
and think the thoughts of God after him.

12 Living in the Future.
No one thinks the soul was created for the Present, that
the objects which now engage it are the true objects it was
adapted to pursue. Can you help but contract it when
you keep it away from that for which it was created ?
No matter how lofty and far-spreading are the schemes
which are formed ; if they are all earthly, center round self,
and embrace only the present, they are unworthy of the
soul's pursuit ; they drag it down. Such desires do not
fill the soul — such employments engage not all its powrs.
Take a mind, if you can conceive of such a one, which
had never known of a Future — had grown up only un
der the influence of the Present. Suppose that it had
grasped all that this revealed. Now unfold to that
mind some of the mighty revelations of the Future ; tell
it of its immortality, of its boundless capacities, of the
mighty range of subjects for its eternal contemplation —
all that God will be to it hereafter. Will there not be
powers, which had hitherto existed latent and unsuspect
ed, which will now spring forth to grasp such thoughts ?
Will it not grow more and more each moment, as it re
ceives new revelations, and be prepared to receive more
by those very efforts which expand and ennoble it ? Have
you not ushered it into a new existence ? given it the el
ements of another and a higher life ?
To counteract the materialism of our nature, to lift us
above the world of the senses which is ever seeking to
fling its fetters over us, we need to have a thorough and
penetrating impression and feeling of the eternal world,
which shall accompany the mind in all the ranges of its
thought, and shed a holy light upon it. Dead and insig
nificant ideas are apt to creep into the soul in the place
of living and just feeling. We are unconscious of their
thraldom over us. They stop up the flow of its living
fountains, they cut off its heavenly supplies ; and since it
must be nourished, it is compelled to turn aside and feed
on ashes, and to drink of impure, earthly streams. To
restore it from its state, to deliver it from what debases it,
sublime and elevating thoughts should be kept before it.
Let it lay hold on Futurity ; let it commune with the In
finite and Eternal.

Living in the Future. 13
The history of the soul of man reveals the mark of a
mighty internal conflict ever waging. Two worlds seem
striving for the mastery over it. There is a long struggle
between light and darkness, faith and reason truth and
•error, the Future and the Present, God and itself. Its re
demption and its victory will only be obtained by seeking
the light, walking by faith, struggling after the truth,
looking to God for strength, and living in the Future.
A third influence for good of thoughts of the Future
is fouad m. the Just estimate they enable the mind to form of Pres
ent things.
We are often embarassed, perplexed, in regard to choice
of objects, courses of conduct. We know not which to
choose, what to do. We are prone unduly to prize some
things and to disparage others — to set our hearts on
things we ought not, and to despise what we ought to love.
A test, by which we may try all objects, in view of
which we may rightly regulate our feelings, is, their rela-
¦ii&m to the Fui ure. Are they finite ? They were not in
tended for the soul's pursuit. Are they eternal? They
Jbcave "God's seal of approval upon them.
Like the mirror given to the prince in the Arab tales,
which revealed truly the character of every one before
whom it was held, so the light of the Future, thrown upon
<each object in the Present, makes its features stand out in
tiaeir .radiance or their worthlessness.
Things that in earthly light seem the foremost and
'highest, in the light of another world dwindle into insig
nificance. The luxuries which wealth brings, the display
it ;makes, commend it to us as worthy of our earnest seek
ing ; but the fight of the Future shows the soul enfeebled,
ruined, thereby, and points us to something higher. Fame
seems worthy of pursuit ; but its empty honors clinging,
only a few years forward, to but the letters which com
pose a- name, bear witness against its seeking. While all
knowledge of truth commends itself to our minds, as for-
jever to remain part of ourselves, every lesson studied ap
pears as so much foundation laid, so much work done for
eternity — all conformity in character to the character of

14 Living in the Future.
God, as fitting the soul for a nearer view and a more de
lightful companionship forever.
So far from thoughts of the Future rendering one indif
ferent to, or regardless of, the realities of the Present, they
will give him a deeper sense of their importance, a com
prehension of their true value, and a just ardor in their
pursuit. In one sense we. do not value enough the . Present ; we
do not see deeply enough into its- meaning; we take a
superficial view of its transactions. But when an object
has had the focal rays of eternal light concentrated upon
it, and it stands the test of worthiness, will there not be a
greater satisfaction, a greater earnestness now in the soul's
seeking of it ? While it carries with it all the weight of
its eternal relations, will it not be infinitely more engag
ing, and be calculated to draw out all the powers in its
pursuit? When man comprehends the connection be
tween all things in this world and in the next, will he not
feel that in his daily devising and executing, he is plan
ning, acting, for immortality, and thus be made more
faithful, more resolute ?
Fear not to tell men the truth in regard to Present
things, lest they should call all worthless and abandon all.
What if they do know this is only a preparatory scene, to
be soon shifted — that all on which they toil now is only
the scaffolding, to be soon taken down ? Would it be bet
ter to deceive them, to tell them this is all? Oh, no ! for
they can be taught that the preparation obtained will for
ever remain ; the building will stand firm when the scaf
fold is overthrown.
It is wasted effort, misapplied zeal, caused by viewing
objects in partial, unreal lights, which makes so large a
proportion of man's labor unavailing. Did we use Pres
ent things only for their Future bearing — was every
stroke of the chisel, every blow upon the timber, every
laying of a stone, designed with reference to a work to be
carried on in eternity — then would we use the world as
not abusing it, and our work would stand the fires of the
great trial which shall prove every man's work what it
is.

Living in the Future. 15
Another use of the study of the Future is to enable us
to solve the mysteries of the Past and Present.
How numerous, how vast, are these ! With what strange
inquiries do they come thronging about the soul ! Rea
son and philosophy may light their lamps and sit down,
earnestly to investigate them ; but they remain unread.
The key to their solution is not in themselves. A dark
ness like that of Egypt surrounds them, and we wander
among them as in a mighty labyrinth without a clue.
As the soul takes God's Word for a guide, and plunges
into the Future, it finds solutions to the riddles of the Pre
sent existence — sees the life of man in all the stages of
its Future development, earthly and heavenly — is then
inspired by whispers of better things and hopes of bright
er hours. Thus, as from a magic mirror, the fight of a
higher interpretation is thrown upon all Present things.
Partial views explain little ; we want the fullness of all
time, the Past, the Present, and the Future, combined, and
their light thrown upon subjects, that we may rightly un
derstand them.
How bewildering, without such interpretations, are the
mysteries of the world, and life, as in all their manifold
shapes they crowd upon us ! How gladly, then, we hail
the light as we behold the Past and Present illuminated
with the dawning rays of the Future — the dark moun
tains gilded, and the deep chasms lighted, with the abund
ance of hope and the richness of futurity !
The fault of almost all novels is, that they express the
enigma of life, but do not solve it ; they represent the
perplexities of the Present only, without unraveling them.
We want the Future entwined with the Present ; besides
the knot, we want the solution of our existence.
We need to have set before us, in order to humility and
gratitude, however painful may be the sight, man in his
fellen state, with the stains of guilt upon his soul — which
contaminates his whole being, works out in all that he
does and suffers, penetrates all his thoughts and aspira
tions. But when you have led man thus to the borders
of despair, you must not leave him there depressed and
despairing ; you must not leave him to think that there

14 Living in the Future.
fe a great gulf fixed between him and heaven^ over which
he can never pass : but you must open on him the windows
of the heavenly dwelling, and let its light break through
the clouds of sin and darkness, and show him the path
way laid by a Saviour's suffering and a Saviour's death..
With the history of a nature fallen, you must teE him of
a nature redeemed ; of the soul stained with guilt, of that
to be made white in the blood of the Lamb.. As you" talk-
of a * Paradise lost,' you must also of a * Paradise regain
ed,' I say not that those relations of ihe Future which God
has given us, are sufficient to explain aE that perplexes'
and confuses us concerning our Present existence. If w©
rightly study them, they explain all that it is necessary
for us to know. They remove the fetters of despair from
our spirits. They tell us of a fuller and more glorious
light farther on in our way, promising that if now with
our limited view of the Future so much is unfolded, in the
dawn of eternal light we shaE read all and understand alL
Finally, it is necessary to have our eyes fixed continu-
aEy on the Future, in order thence to obtain strength for that
which in life we must do and suffer.
The question is often asked, ' Why not in the light Of
the Past perform Present duty, and leave the Future to
unfold itseh0?' But how can duty be read by the light of
the Past ? Life is a season for preparation : must I not
know for what ? How can I prepare myself for a state of
which I have no conception ? If I am going to the coui?fc
of an earthly monarch, I wish to know beforehand the
manners and dress and language of the court; and do I
need less to prepare myself to appear aright in the pres
ence of the King of kings, and Lord of lords ?
Would you have me diEigently prapare myseE for an
earthly profession, and carefully inform myself of the du
ties which will devolve upon me, even of the emergencies
which wiE arise, and yet take no thought of the service
to which God has called me — the carrying out of my
high commission from Him ? Surely we must think of
Heaven, if we would enter it ; we must acquaint our-

Living in the Future. 11
selves with its laws, and carry them into practice in our
daily lives. We should think of its converse, of the vo
cation of its inhabitants, and the requirements for those
who shall stand in its holy courts; and thus shaE we be
better fitted to appear with acceptance in the day of
Judgment. Should I not say, too, that a great trial is to be held —
you are to appear before a solemn bar, to be arraigned
before the Judge of all the earth? Ought you not to an
ticipate that trial, to plan the defense you will make, to
secure an Advocate, lest, your case being neglected tEl it
is too late, you wiE have no room left for preparation —
you will appear undefended, and your condemnation wEl
be pronounced, without room for appeal or hope of par
don ?
LEe is a season, too, for vigorous action and patient suf
fering. And how is the heart to be fitted for its scenes?
Is it conscious of invincible strength and heroic fortitude ?
Has it within itseE all the resources needed to enable it
to cfimb every mountain of difficulty, and breast every
sea of adversity? Oh, no ! no ! — far from it ! Man has
the consciousness of sin within him, and therefore sorrow
is ever resting upon his heart. From the fearful lapse in
his nature, and his own many, many faEs, his spirit is sore
broken ; it is but as a reed shaken in the wind.
Whence, then, shall strength come to him ? This world
being now, and having always been, a world of sin and of
sorrow, therefore the heart, which has only the experi
ence of the Past to cheer it, must sink beneath the bur
den of Present duty. A life without hope must be a
gloomy life ; and he who never looks to the Future would
be like one always traveling away from the sun — with his
own shadow, therefore, ever darkening his pathway.
Do not life's trials and man's weakness make it neces
sary that we should by the eye of Faith anticipate a world
without trial? — a home where the heart shall be at rest,
and where a harvest of glorious results shall succeed Pres
ent labors ?
The Christian is but a man. Does he not need, then,
the same support in his labors as other men in theirs?

18 Living in the Future.
How are men girded with courage and strength for earth
ly conflicts ? Will the combattant strive in the arena on
ly for the dust and blows? Will the warrior fight on
thinking only of increased fatigue and deeper wounds ?
Does the mariner look only on the tossing waves and
thickening storm? and the deserl/pEgrim on the burning
sand ? And will pain, and fatigue, and cold, and raging
thirst, of themselves, give strength and courage to each ?
No ! They gain these by living in the Future. The
crown, the conqueror's applause and laurels of victory, the
quiet home, which loved ones surround, the palm-tree's
cooling shade, and the murmuring fountain, anticipated by
them, give fire to each eye, strength to each arm, elastici
ty to each step, and courage to each heart.
The student loves not his midnight hours of toil, for
their own sake, but for the fame which he hopes these la
bors will one day bring.
The farmer, while he turns the heavy sod and scatters
broad-cast the seed, wipes the thick moisture from his
brow and goes on cheerfuEy with his toE, thinking of his
fuE barns and winter's rest, when with the reapers he
shaE have sung the glad song of ' Harvest Home.'
Such thoughts, such hopes, lighten the toEs and cares
of others ; why should they not the Christian's — and the
more, as his hope is more certain and more glorious than
theirs ?
As sure as that Heaven will be aE the happier to us for
thinking of the long and weary way thither, so sure is it
that Earth's sorrows and labors may be lightened by
thoughts of our Father's house — those there to welcome
us, the crowns, the robes, the lasting rest. As we look up,
should we not ever sing,
" This glorious hope revives
Our courage by the way !"
What else can cheer us in our long struggle with sinful
passions and corrupt inclinations in our own hearts, but
the thought — ' Not always shall this conflict last ; we
shall at length become complete in holiness.' To such
hope the voice of God inspires — " Lift up your heads, for
behold your redemption draweth nigh." Over the bil-

Living in the Future. 19
lows of care, see the shore of rest ! beyond the mountains
of sin,. see the dwellings of purity!
How shall we be able to enter with cheerfulness on our
labors, how shall we dare to engage in our conflicts, ex
cept as we rest with confidence on the aid which is prom
ised, and feel already the support of His arm whose word
is, " As thy days, so shaE thy strength be."
TeE me, too, how shall I bear the afflictions I am to
meet with ? How shall I endure to follow to the grave,
one after another, the friends I have loved, unless even
whEe I stand by their tombs I shall seem yet to be present
with them again, hand in hand walking the golden streets
— beside the throne blending our voices in praise ?
"Hope wipes the tear from Sorrow's eye,
While Faith points upward to the sky."
Well has some one said, "The afflictions you wiE meet
with here wiE be but light things to you, if you keep the
glories of Heaven in your mind's eye, and the thoughts of
what you are to meet there warm in your hearts." WiE
the Eght affliction of the moment overpower us, with the
sight in view of the exceeding and eternal weight of glo
ry thence resultant ?
I know not how the zeal and energy of those who la
bor where there are few or no present results, in our own
land or in heathen lands, can be sustained, except as they
are men of strong faith, whose glance extends ages on
ward in the future. As they cast the seed of divine truth
— ' the handful of corn' — upon the top of the cold and
sterile mountain, they must in imagination see its fruit
gathered up, and again and again sown, tEl it goes down
the mountain side and spreads itself far and wide over the
plain, becoming like the cedars of Lebanon in its luxuri
ance and strength.
Even now, before a germ has started, must their ears be
gladdened by the sound of the rustling harvest, brought
to them from distant shores, where the winds of heaven
have borne and the dews of heaven have nurtured it —
where the wilderness rejoices and the desert blooms.
These men of glowing hope and living faith are like
some lofty mountains, whose bases are swept round by

20 Living in the Future.
tempests and riven by lightnings, and guEied by torrents,
but on whose summits, which tower aloft above aE clouds
and storms, the warm sunlight is sleeping. There peace
has its own calm home, while upon them are open the se
rene glories of the upper firmament
But have we Scripture grounds for such a use of the Fu
ture as I have proposed ? Yes, both with reference to
each individual and to the Church, Is not the Christian
life every where represented as a life of Faith ? Are not
its motives and rewards aE in the Future ? And what
does Faith mean, that Faith which is " the [substance «»f
things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen/'
but the regarding things far off as though they wer-e
nigh, and things yet to come as though they were present,
things unseen as though they were visible ?
Wherefore does God make use of promises, but to guide
our thoughts forward ? Why are they on every page #f
his Word, except to nourish our hope and keep on? eyes
-on the Future ?
What says the Word of God concerning those approved
ones who have trodden the heavenly way before as, and
are now in glory : were they men living m the Future ?
J3ee its characters stand forth ! Abraham going out from
his early home, "not knowing whither he went, but look
ing for a better country, even a heavenly." Moses, ""ide-
epising the treasures of Egypjt, and choswg rather to puf
fer affliction with the people of God, having respect unto
the future recompense of reward." Stephen, smiling in
the face of death, beholding with the eye of Faith the
gate of Heaven open, and Jesus waiting to reeeive him!
Yea, behold all those holy men of old, of whom the world
was not worthy, "who dwelt in dens and caves of the
earth, destitute, afflicted, tormented;" aE living in the
Future— triumphing in the hour of death, in their hope
of a future -resurection to glory — and who, while yet Hy
ing, by their glowing Faith, " out of weakness were make
strong, waxed vafiant in fight, put to flight the armies i©f
the aliens."
Are not the emblems of the Divine Word designed to:
encourage in us the same frame of mind ?.

Living in the Future. 21
I know not why Christ is called " the Morning Star," if
it be not to symbolize the world as lying in darkness and
Christ as the herald of a glorious day which is about to
dawn upon it. The lesson of which is, that our attitude
should be that of watching for that day, and exulting in
the star of hope which fortells it.
I know not why, in the description of Heaven, given to
us by him of the Apocalypse, it is written — "And there
was a rainbow round about the throne" — if it be not, as
guided by the Word of God, we turn our wistful eyes to
ward Heaven, there first to reveal to us that throne
around which we hope to stand, not awful with majesty,
but encircled with the emblem of hope, which God's own
hand had placed there to cheer and encourage us on our
way. The history of the Church has shown that she has ever
needed and obtained strength in this way. Her emblem,
from the first, has been the burning bush, which Moses
saw, ever in the flames, yet unconsumed. Whence then
her abEity to endure, but in her vivid conception of her
future glory ?
For her encouragement what rich promises are given !
In the Transfiguration of Christ, see what bright visions
are opened upon her ! That scene was not confined in its
teachings to those alone who beheld it, nor to the single
representation there made. Christ, as the Head of the
Church, symbolized her Future glory. As to the eyes of
his disciples, while they gazed, his countenance was alter
ed and his raiment became white as snow and radiant
with brightness, so as we ascend the mount of vision, by
the eye of Faith we may behold the Church of Christ,
prefigured in Him, changing her inglorious appearance
and becoming enshrouded in brightness and glory. And
as those disciples must ever after have associated with
their sight of their Divine Master in his humble state,
that glorious appearance, so those, who in vision have be
held the Church arrayed as the Bride,\the Lamb's wife,
see in her now, while soiled with the dust of earthly con
flicts, veiled features of celestial beauty, and concealed
robes of resplendent glory.

22 Living in the Future.
Such^ views ought we to take of that Church, with whose
prosperity our dearest interests for time and eternity are-
connected. We should not think of it alone as begirt
with foes, deserted by its friends, humbled in the dust ;
but radiant with all the beauty which a' glory yet to be
revealed can give.
In briefly applying this subject, my only object wiE
be to induce you to often regard the Future in the light
in which I have held it up before you. The Present is
for action and suffering ; let the Future be to you for
hope, for encouragement, and for strength.
Before me are many soldiers of Christ — some just
girding on their armor ; others long tried, soon to lay it
off. While you remain here, whether you have many
days before you or few, you are to do service for Christ.
For that conflict you need to be strengthened and equip
ped by that same ardent hope which has sustained those
who have gone before you to glory.
With his eye resting on the same glorious visions which
they beheld and which are open to you, and being there
by filled with joy, the Captain of your salvation endured
the Cross, despising the. shame, and is now seated victori
ous at the right hand of God. Let the same scenes which
passed before His eyes, while upon the Cross he saw the
future, results of the travail of his soul and was satisfied
— which passed before the eyes of the martyrs and saints
of old — pass before yours. Transport yourselves ages
onward in the Future, amid the blessedness of Heaven,
and there behold the results of your labors — giving new
songs to angels, new crowns to Jesus, new stars to Jeho
vah's diadem — and you wEl never want strength to labor,
or courage to endure, tEl you are called up higher.
We have a race to run. Brightest in our Future is the
vision of our Saviour, who stands ready to receive and
welcome us, when our work is done. " Looking to Jesus,"1
then, let us run with patience and with hope the race
which is set before us.
— Not for labor alone do we need strength. Trials are
before us. One by one, those we love wEl leave us. We

Living in the Future. 23
must not let our thoughts linger too long in grief around
the graves where we lay them.
" 'Tis sweet, as year by year we lose
Friends out of sight, in faith to muse
How grows in Paradise our store."
In every storm of trial there is a wrathful and a rainbow
side to the cloud that brings it. In the darkest time we
must think of she lightest, soon to come.
Does the Future seem to us like a vast sea, upon which
we are about to launch our fraE barks ? But what though
the biEows are high, though dark clouds may lower : we
must not shrink back, for we go not alone. Our eyes
wiE not be on the waves ; but as One who has promised,
'I wEl never leave thee nor forsake thee,' says to us, "I
am with the, be not afraid," we will look up to Him with
confidence ; we will think of that haven to which he wiE
bring us in safety, where there shaE be no more toE in
rowing, no more tossing by the waves.
Or, if we imagine ourselves as pilgrims, on our way
across the desert, we will not think only of the burning
forehead, the bounding pulse and parched lip. We will
think of the stream, clear as crystal, flowing from beneath
the throne of God. We wEl think of the Eternal City
to which we journey; and perhaps, like the pilgrims in
the Great Desert, who, while yet far away from the City
they sought, heard the chiming of the beEs of its mina
rets borne to them on the evening breeze, our souls may
be cheered by strains of music brought to us from the
choir of Heaven.
In times of weariness, let us all think of eternal rest ;
when tempted, of the abode where no tempter is admit
ted ; when mourning the defilement of sin, of the spot
less robes ; in sorrow, of that hand which will wipe away
all tears forever ; in darkness and in fear, of the place
where there shaE be no night, nor storms.
Then shaE our song be :
" I love by faith to take a view
Of brighter scenes in Heaven,
The prospect doth my strength renew
While here by tempests driven."

24

Living in the Future.

And our prayer :
"From darkness here and dreariness
We ask not full repose,
Only be Thou at hand to bless
Our trial hour of woes.
Is not the pilgrim's toil o'erpaid
By the clear rill and palmy shaded
And see we not, up earth's dark glade,
The gate of Heaven unclose 1 "

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