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which, for man's revolt, his body must undergo, will be converted, through the counsels of Omnipotence, into the means of a future and more glorious life; that through the longest possible succession of ages the seminal principle of each body shall still be maintained: and that the dissolution which we now experience, and perhaps must necessarily experience, will strictly conduce to the entire development of those noble and immortal capacities to which the unhappy circumstances of our present existence render us almost total strangers.

Upon the uses to which our newly-constructed bodies will be put, and the functions which they will be qualified to discharge, it is not possible for us to pronounce any further than upon these faculties themselves on which it will depend. It is, however, obvious to remark here also, that no hints given to us in Scripture, on this subject, at all interfere with our notion of a corporeal and even material exist ence in the future world. "In the Resurrection," indeed, we are told, "they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven." But for this, with admirable precision, the reason is immediately subjoined "neither shall they die any more." The great end of marriage being thus abolished, the renewal of species, we are not to expect a revival of those personal and domestic ties which are so necessary here for that purpose. But, on the other hand, in the various delineations we have received of our future state, the use of our several corporeal senses is so distinctly alluded to, that if these are not restored to us at the Resurrection, we cannot help, at least, expecting something greatly analogous to their exercise. We are to 66 'hear the voice of the archangel and the trump of God.”

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We are to 66 see Quicquid composuit, resolvit ; et quicquid resolvit, componit iterum."

eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion." In future scenes is reserved the refreshing savour of the tree of life, its reviving fragrance, its healing touch. On the other hand, feelings of shame and of terror, with those more agonizing impressions of "the worm that never dies, the fire that never can be quenched," are made the lot of the wicked, in terms well comporting with the ordinary sensations of corporeal substances.

But the present subject will not admit of our entering on the more advanced stages of the future life. The last observation made with respect to the possible sensations of our newly-awakened bodies in the great day of resurrection, may suggest the few remaining sentiments with which it will be fit to close the present essay.

The identity of our future with our present bodily habitation, will doubtless be confined within such limitations as will admit of the entire fulfilment of the Christian's well-grounded hopes respecting a state of perfect purity and absolute immortality. In every sense involving imperfection and decay, it is his comfort to be fully assured; and that in the strongest sense of the words, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither can corruption inherit incorruption." He knows, that if this earthly house, a mere tabernacle, be dissolved, he has in reserve a building of God, an house not made with hands," or, by the ordinary process of nature, which will be "eternal in the heavens." With every modification of this earthly frame that had rendered it frail, infirm and mortal, will be deposited also in the grave every thing that exposed it to moral corruption, and to the inroads of sin and temptation.

Disease is none; the pure and uncontaminate blood

Holds its due course, nor fears the frost of age.

The seeds of health, and an immor

tal youth, no less than of pure desires and of a perfect holiness, which, may we not truly say, had been sown in this earthly frame by the restraints of temperance, the subjugation of passion, the tears of repentance, the prayers of faith, under the fertilizing influence of Almighty Grace, shall then spring forth in all their native and inconceivable lustre. The flesh, in which the believer now mourns that, as in itself alone, "dwelleth no good thing," shall then be converted into a most glorious covering, wherein shall be neither spot nor blemish. The righteousness of the Saviour shall become its own. The creature shall reflect the image of the Creator. And, starting from the slumbers of corruption and the grave, if we may at all by lesser feelings portray to ourselves the exulting sensations of the believer, we may view him as one risen from the bed of sickness and lingering pain; restored to all, and more than all, his wonted animation of life and health; and going forth in the beams of the morning to inhale a portion of that gladness with which the orb of day himself arises to fulfil his destined

course.

In proportion to the lofty feelings and loftier destinies here feebly delineated, let us not, for our admonition, fail to exhibit to ourselves the afflictive contrast presented by the resurrection of another class, the only remaining class of the two into which mankind will be divided on "that day." That the wicked should finally be summoned to receive their sentence from the mouth of Christ hereafter, cannot appear at all surprising when we reflect that on earth they will have received the offers of his grace: and that they may justly be expected to participate in the revivifying effect of the voice of the Son of man at the day of Resurrection, appears from the consideration that they might have experienced, whilst yet in the flesh, the quickening influ

ences of his Spirit. He who purchased, even for the wicked, the opportunity of accepting the means of salvation, will surely have power alike over all flesh, as well over those that have rejected as those that accepted the offers made to them..

But how different the operation of the voice of the Son of man" in this case! How fearful the appearance, how painful the sensations, if we may venture to anticipate so much, which will invest the rising multitudes of those on the left hand! That limitation to good, spoken of in the case of the resuscitated children of God, must we not here suppose, will become limitation to what is purely evil? Whatever of excellence might have appeared in the former nature of the wicked, can we but believe, will have been all deposited in the tomb, never more to rise; whatever of deformity and vice before existed, will be incalculably augmented and extended. The body, in which before dwelt no thing really good, shall now, it is to be feared, contain every thing that is essentially bad. It shall be found more than ever susceptible of those insatiable appetites and tormenting passions which had been its bane and disgrace upon earth. And doubtless, in proportion as its capacity and even desire of sinning against the purity and excellence of the Divine law may be aggravated, so will its sensibilities be keener to the punishment attending such a state. Shame and terror will be amongst its first sensations, and to an inconceivable extent. Tremendous, indeed, will be that " anguish of spirit" in which, " repenting and groaning," the wicked on that day are described by almost inspiration,

as

"amazed at the strangeness of the salvation of the righteous, so far beyond all that they had looked for." And little can we now enter into the full extent of that unutterable dismay and despair in which

they shall cry "to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?"

The mighty contrast exhibited by the respective conditions of the two classes here described cannot fail, if duly reflected upon under the teaching of the Divine Spirit, to stir up the most languid heart, and quicken the most tardy resolution, to a suitable preparation against "that day." It will surely appear the height of madness to indulge any one "carnal affection," or wilfully to practise any one "work of the flesh," which almost necessarily seems to lead to such terrible results. And if the mere expectation," that all these things shall be dissolved," suggests the question, "What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?" what should the further anticipation of a new creation, together with "a new heaven and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness," produce in us, but the most fervent " diligence to be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless?"

No discouragement is here intended, or necessarily conveyed, to the humblest efforts of a sincere faith, and a true love of God in Christ Jesus. The constant, though, it may be, feeble warfare, of which the mind so occupied is conscious within itself against its worst passions, "affections, and lusts," is precisely that which shows the existence of a better principle within, springing up to everlasting life. These are the nascent sparks of a Divine flame, he germinal rudiments hereafter to burst forth in all their native force and beauty. Where these symptoms really exist (and into this we should seriously examine,) they may be truly considered as "the seal of that Holy Spirit of promise:" and He who

now vouchsafes "the earnest of the Spirit," shall hereafter, by the same Spirit, bestow the full" inheritance of the purchased possession.” Great, indeed, will be the energy, and stupendous the display, of Divine Power in erecting such feeble materials into an everlasting monument of grace and of glory. The believer stretches his capacity of faith to the utmost when he anticipates and fully realizes to his own mind all the wonders of the coming day. He listens as with breathless silence to the voice of God; that "voice of the Lord which is mighty in operation, a glorious voice." He views as with heart-struck wonder all nature obedient to the sound—the arrows of God flying abroad—the flames bursting around-angels basting in solemn order, each to their appointed work-the graves opening at their approach-the multitudes of the dead of all ages wakened from their slumbers-the face of all things changed-and life, with every new and varied form, springing in wonderful succession from a confused mass of dissolution and death.

But nothing of all this scene of wonders strikes the believer's mind with more heartfelt and grateful admiration, than that single operation which shall then reanimate his own individual sleeping dust; and convert this low and sordid mass which he is now too sadly conscious of bearing about him, into a shining and immortal substance, capable of reflecting without sully the glorious holiness of the great Supreme, serving without weariness in the train of a heavenly assembly, and contributing, without end, to the praise and honour of the Redeemer.

T.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. In the translation of two passages of Scripture, I would request the assistance of any of your learned correspondents. The first is in the

second chapter of the Book of Genesis; where the creation of the world, with that of man, animals, and vegetables, is briefly resumed, and is introductive to an interesting part of the history of the human race. We are there informed, ver. 4, 5, and 6, that "these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens; and every plant of the field, before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field, before it grew for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not 2 man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." From all which it might be supposed, that although there were no refreshing showers, nor buman cultivation, yet, nevertheless, the mist which arose was peculiarly efficient in the creation which was accomplished: whereas, it is obviously the moral of this part of the history, that the Lord God was the sole Omnipotent Author of nature.

The passage which has now been quoted, as translated by Junius and Tremellius, (1587,) differs in the first word of ver. 6; which verse is also read as one sentence with the preceding, as follows: "When the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth; and there was as yet no man to cultivate the ground; nor vapour, which, ascending from the earth, watereth all the surface of the ground."

In tropical countries, the nightly dews are still so copious as completely to drench the clothes of those who may be for a short time exposed to them. But neither dews, nor rain, nor cultivation, nor genial heat, nor all these combined, are capable of creating an animal or a plant of the lowest class.On this point, as on many others, the discoveries of genuine philosophy do uniformly concur with the doctrines of the Sacred Record.

CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 184.

We are there taught, that the Lord God was the Creator of man, animals, and vegetables; and that in the creation there was no such thing as "spontaneous" generation of plants and animals, by any prolific power existing in nature, as has often been ignorantly supposed; but, on the contrary, that the whole effect was the result of the Almighty fiat. "He spake, and it was done: He commanded, and it stood fast." Ps. xxxiii. 9.

The second passage alluded to is in the Epistle to the Ephesians, chap. ii. ver. 2: "The prince of the power of the air." I have somewhere seen it remarked, that if Homer was right in his use of the word amp, it ought to be translated by the English word darkness. If this sense might be adopted, the passage would coincide with many others in the sacred Scriptures; but, as it stands at present, it stands alone, and cannot, I apprehend, be explained by any other text.

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For the Christian Observer. REMARKS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THIS COUNTRY.

A TIME of internal peace and tem- ́ poral prosperity is, generally, in the Church of Christ, a season of spiritual decay.

The number of religious professors may, probably, at such times, be increased, because the difficulties and the tests of that profession are diminished; but, in proportion as the trials attendant upon a religious life decrease, a worldly and lukewarm spirit insinuates itself into the churches. seldom, indeed, that where "the churches have rest," they continue "to walk in the fear of the Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost."

It is

This remark will bear a close application to the state of the Church of Christ in the present day. A few years ago, the difficulties attendant upon an open admission of the peculiar doctrines of 2 F

the Gospel were serious and forbidding. The opposition to be encountered rendered it necessary that every man should count the cost of such a proceeding, before he enrolled his name among the followers of the Redeemer. But owing to a variety of circumstances, much of that opposition has ceased; and persecution for the Cross of Christ has dwindled into a mere calling of names, to which few can attach any specific meaning-and into a written controversy vehemently supported, the merits of which are, on all sides, thoroughly understood, whilst its real object, as an attack upon vital religion, very few are found sufficiently bardy to avow. This change in the religious spirit of the country may be fairly attributed, under God, to the severe privations and distresses experienced in a time of war. Various Christian societies were formed during that afflicting period; and these, God, in his providence, has peculiarly blessed. Their rapid and overwhelming progress has swept along with it a vast variety of names, interests, and connexions, of willing and unwilling ef forts; and has consequently given to the cause of religion a degree of worldly respectability and magnificence previously unknown in modern times.

Many important objects have been answered by this circumstance; but one effect of it has certainly been, a decay in that spirit of holy jealousy and circumspection which, in their best seasons of spiritual prosperity, has ever marked the children of the regeneration. Some of the causes of this decline are too latent, and too local, to be usefully and adequately exhibited in a general statement; but others are strikingly prominent, and call for reprehension.

Religious people mix too much with the world; and the effect of this error is, that the delicate texture of the Christian character has been injured by this promiscuous

communication.

Christians have,

of late years, been accustomed to see nominal and real defenders of biblical truth, or missionary exertions, associated in public on the same platform; and a motley crowd of hearers, led by the bustle and publicity of the occasion, or by their personal interest in the different speakers, to range themselves externally under the standard of the Gospel, Here the magic of eloquence has warmed all their hearts, opened all their purses, and one common feeling of liberality and joy has breathed through the whole assembly. But this transitory feeling, however amiable, has been fondly misinterpreted.

The scripture standard and test of character has been neglected, and Christians have felt that no danger could arise from admitting into the private circle those who have fearlessly appeared in public as the zealous supporters of so good a cause. In the estima

tion of character, it has become common to substitute, for contrition of spirit, hearty acceptance of the Gospel scheme of mercy, and practical holiness of life, an approbation, from whatever motives, of the popular evangelical societies of the day. So far then there is a remote tendency, in such promiscuous assemblages, to render more indistinct the essential and important barriers between the world and the church. But, still further, meetings of this nature have a direct tendency to injure the delicacy of the Christian spirit. Religion thrives best in the domestic circle, and in that concentric sphere of activity and influence immediately bordering upon it. Those who know their own hearts, are fully aware of this, and are willing to confess that a variety of temptations attend such occasions, well adapted to weaken the activity of religious principle, and to render the heart satisfied with itself. Public men must meet the trial of public stations; hut many a holy man, while

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