to contribute to the happiness of his fellow men and to glorify God and Christ. [623]By faith behold this happy picture for a moment, and then turn your vision to the things heavenly. There angels, who for ages have faithfully performed service as messengers to the Lord, are assembled; line upon line, tier upon tier of these glorious beings. In their respective positions of honor stand forth the cherubim and seraphim; and in the midst of all stands the Christ. Jesus Christ the blessed and faithful one, as the great victor now looks back over his work and 'sees the travail of his soul and is satisfied' with the happy results. Standing by his side is his glorious bride, who for a thousand years has been the recipient of the exceeding riches of the grace of God through her beloved Head, and who will now enjoy these favors to endless ages. Her bridesmaids, 'the virgins her companions who follow' and serve her, are there, performing their divinely assigned functions. Above all stands the great Jehovah God, whose wisdom planned it all and whose loving kindness has been showered upon the multitude of his creatures. Joy fills his blessed heart. His plan, as he foreknew it would be, is a grand success. [624]It is an entrancing scene! It is the appropriate time for the Hallelujah chorus. The stage is set. The trumpeters with their trumpets take their places, and the psaltery and the harp are brought forth. The timbrel, the stringed instruments, the organ, the cymbals, and every conceivable instrument of praise is in the hands of the heavenly host. There is a breathless silence. Then the trumpeters peal forth their paeans of praise, and all the other players and singers of the heavenly hosts join in. This entrancing music is caught up by the multitudes of earth and wafted back to heaven again (because communication has been established between the perfect men and the perfect heavenly creatures), until every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, are praising God, saying: "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever". (Revelation 5:13) Every knee is bowing and every tongue is confessing that Jesus is the Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Every creature that has breath is now joining in the song. It is the Hallelujah chorus, and this is what they sing: "Praise ye the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance; Praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals; praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord!"--Psalm 150.