anything more than images of the
realities. But far beyond golden pavements, and harps, and crowns,
and white robes, lies this one great thought that the elements of the
imperfect, Christlike life of earth are the essence of the perfect,
Godlike life in heaven. 'Now abide these three, faith, hope, love.'

Last of all, let us shape our lives in accordance with these
certainties. The dropping away of the transient things is no argument
for neglecting or despising them; for our handling of them makes our
characters, and our characters abide. But it is a very excellent
argument for shaping our lives so as to seek first the first things,
and to secure the permanent qualities, and so to use the transient as
that it shall all help us towards that which does not pass.

What will a Manchester man that knows nothing except goods and office
work, and knows these only in their superficial aspect, and not as
related to God, what, in the name of common-sense, will he do with
himself when he gets into a world where there is not a single ledger,
nor a desk, nor a yard of cloth of any sort? What will some of us do
when, in like manner, we are stripped of all the things that we have
cared about, and worked for, and have made our aims down here?
Suppose that you knew that you were under sailing orders to go
somewhere or other, and that at any moment a breathless messenger
might appear and say, 'Come along! we are all waiting for you'; and
suppose that you never did a single thing towards getting your outfit
ready, or preparing yourself in any way for that which might come at
any moment, and could not but come before very long. Would you be a
wise man? But that is what a great many of us are doing; doing every
day, and all day long, and doing that only. 'He shall leave them in
the midst of his days,' says a grim text, 'and at his latter end
shall be a fool.'

What will drop? Modes of apprehension, modes of utterance,
occupations, duties, relationships, loves; and we shall be left
standing naked, stripped, as it were, to the very quick, and only as
much left as will keep our souls alive. But if we are clothed with
faith, hope, love, we shall not be found naked. Cultivate the high
things, the permanent things; then death will not wrench you
violently from all that you have been and cared for; but it will
usher you into the perfect form of all that you have been and done
upon earth. All these things will pass, but faith, hope, love, 'stay