in my text, and in
other parallel passages, that salvation is regarded as lying on the
other side of the flood, because the manifestations of it there, the
evolving there of what is in it, and the great gifts that come then,
are so transcendently above all even of our selectest experiences
here, that they are, as it were, new, though still their roots are in
the old. The salvation which culminates in the absolute removal from
our whole being of all manner of evil, whether it be sorrow or sin,
and in the conclusive bestowal upon us of all manner of good, whether
it be righteousness or joy, and which has for its seal 'the adoption,
to wit, the redemption of the body,' so that body, soul, and spirit
'make one music as before, but vaster,' is so far beyond the germs of
itself which here we experience that my text and its like are amply
vindicated. And the man who is most fully persuaded and conscious
that he possesses the salvation of God, and most fully and blessedly
aware that that salvation is gradually gaining power in his life, is
the very man who will most feel that between its highest
manifestation on earth, and its lowest in the heavens there is such a
gulf as that the wine that he will drink there at the Father's table
is indeed new wine. And so 'is our salvation nearer,' though we
already possess it, 'than when we believed.'

Dear brethren, if these things be true, and if to die is to be saved
into the kingdom, do not two thoughts result? The one is that that
blessed consummation should occupy more of our thoughts than I am
afraid it does. As life goes on, and the space dwindles between us
and it, we older people naturally fall into the way, unless we are
fools, of more seriously and frequently turning our thoughts to the
end. I suppose the last week of a voyage to Australia has far more
thoughts in it about the landing next week than the two or three
first days of beating down the English Channel had. I do not want to
put old heads on young shoulders in this or in any other respect. But
sure I am that it does belong very intimately to the strength of our
Christian characters that we should, as the Psalmist says, be 'wise'
to 'consider our latter end.'

The other thought that follows is as plain, viz. that that
anticipation should always be buoyant, hopeful, joyous. We have
nothing to do with the sad aspects of parting from earth. They are
all but non-existent for the Christian consciousness, when it is as
vigo