In alluding to the account of the apostle's being taken up into the third heaven, you say, "What is this third heaven but a three-fold manifestation of the divine presence;"[55] and you ask, "Is heaven of so little value to us that we put it off till the day of our death?"[56] "We are led to believe that there is an opportunity to lay up treasure in heaven; that is, to be in possession of heavenly treasure; or, _to use a more proper expression, to be in possession of heaven_; because heaven is a state; it is every where where God is;"[57] "God comes alike into the hearts of all the children of men, as much in the fornicator, the thief, and the liar, as in me. But there it is dead, because the creature is in opposition to God."[58] "Now this leading by the spirit of God is the same as the kingdom of God, and being subject to the leaven. They are still one and the same thing; they are not two things; and as we yield to the leaven it leavens us, and brings us into the divine nature, so that _we come to partake of the nature of God_."[59] Footnote 55: Sermons, page 17. Footnote 56: Sermons, page 76. Footnote 57: Sermons, page 275-6.--In one of his sermons, (page 292,) the preacher declares that God never set Jesus Christ above us, "_because if he did he would be partial_." In this, he sets himself above Christ by undertaking to correct his erroneous notion of heaven. Christ, in his Sermon on the Mount, says, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." This _humble teacher_ says the proper expression would be "to be in possession of heaven, because heaven is _a state_, and every where, where God is." Footnote 58: Sermons, page 292. Footnote 59: Sermons, page 295. It is an observation of Doctor Paley, that contrivance is a proof of the personality of the Deity; and we have been accustomed to contemplate with admiration and awe the stupendous works of creation as emanating from his wisdom and will. But you, in strict accordance with the notion to which I have alluded, seem not to admit the argument, or the fact on which it is founded; for, in speaking of the earth's revolving in its orbit, you say, "So it has been through all ages past, and so it will continue through the _eternal_ ages to come."[60] "As the moon receives all its light from the sun, for itself in the first place, so by that means it is enabled to emit a part of the power received to the next orb; and here the heavenly order is kept up--so it has been through all the previous _eternal ages_, and so it will continue to all future ages."[61] Footnote 60: Sermons, page 188. Footnote 61: Sermons, page 193.