“I have not interrupted you, my dear child, in reading these beautiful verses,” said the aged lady; “they give us a bright and glowing picture of happiness and glory, which our minds can in no other way conceive.”
[Sidenote: To be understood figuratively.] “But will there _indeed_ be golden streets, and crystal walls, and all these precious stones that are here spoken of?” inquired Emma.
“There will be far greater magnificence, and far purer happiness,” replied her grandmother, “than all the gold and gems this world could give. These are just figures or emblems employed by God in His Word to convey to us some idea of the vast glory of heaven. No earthly words, or thoughts, or language, could describe this; and therefore, as men consider gold and precious stones the most costly and valuable things in the world, they are used as pictures to give us some feeble representation of heavenly blessedness.”
“What, then, dear grandmamma, will heaven really be? What kind of a place is it? and how are the righteous employed when they get there?”
[Sidenote: The Scenery of Heaven.] “I cannot tell,” replied the other, “what character of scenery there will be in heaven, nor in what particular spot in the universe this happy place is prepared. The Bible does not gratify our curiosity about this. For anything that is known to the contrary, there may be much there that we love and admire in this world. There may be beautiful skies, and clear rivers, and gushing fountains, and lovely flowers, and sweet music. But still, as I have said already, regarding all these the Bible says nothing.”
“What, then, _will_ heaven consist in, grandmamma?” inquired Emma.
[Sidenote: Negative and Positive Blessedness.] “I was just going to say, my child, that there are many things we know will _not_ be there, and many things we know _will_ be there. Does little Emma think she could tell me any of the things we have in this world that we shall _not_ have in heaven?”
“Oh yes,” replied the little girl, “I think I know. We shall have no _sin_ there, and no _sorrow_ there, and no _death_ there.”
[Sidenote: Negative.] “Quite right, my child,” said her grandmother. “This is a world of sin, and therefore it has become a world of pain, and sickness, and sorrow, and death; but in heaven all these will be unknown. I thought I saw you, my dear, but yesterday seated in the churchyard on little Robert’s tomb; and when you came home, I observed by your eyes that you had been weeping for the loss of your little brother. In that happy heaven I am speaking of there will be no graves and no tears, for there will be no sin and no death to cause them.”