Page:The Judgment Day.pdf/156

 man now enjoys, and the delight that springs from its enjoyment, is the consequence of having habitually observed the laws of health during his past life. We sometimes hear religious people talking of their trials and hardships, and at the same time flattering themselves with the hope, that, as a reward for such trials, they shall enjoy eternal happiness in heaven. If such hardships are spiritual tribulations,—the painful collisions between goodness and evil, the consequence of faithfully striving after regenerate life,—then there is reason, no doubt, to hope, that their labors will at length end in a sabbath of holy rest and peace. But, if they are suffering nothing more than the pains that result from their selfish affections being constantly wounded in some form, they have no reason to hope that such sorrows will end in eternal happiness. As well might a man expect that by suffering bodily pains for many years, he will secure the enjoyment of health in his old age.

There is great reason to fear that most men, even in the present day, have no right views in regard to the nature of heavenly happiness. Many appear to be looking to heaven for some selfish reward; while by others, heaven is valued, only as a place of refuge from that punishment, which they are conscious of deserving. Each of these views of heaven, is quite compatible with the most intense selfishness. Take away these selfish hopes and present the right view of the happiness of heaven,—the delight which arises from from doing good, without reference to any selfish reward—and would not every motive for gaining heaven vanish, from many minds that are now filled with fond anticipations in regard to it? "Is there then," it would be asked, "no reward for self, as an end? Is there no selfish hope to sustain me, through the trials and hardships, that I am called to endure? If not, then why should I thus serve God for naught? Why should I spend this life, seeking to be useful, with no other hope than that of being permitted to spend eternity in the same way?" It does seem a little strange, that men do