scattered dust, a form shall arise, bright as the sun-beam, and active as light; fitted to be the residence of the beatified soul, and to discharge the duties, and share the enjoyments, of a new and diviner life. It will no longer carry in its constitution the seeds of depravity, disease, and death; nor be the subject of those wants and infirmities which, in the present life, are a hindrance to the Christian in the sublimer exercises of religion: but incorruptible and immortal, it will be superior to the shock of accident and the ravages of time, and qualified, without fatigue or weariness, to serve God day and night in his temple. The state of the raised body of the believer will be that of perpetual youth, unassailed by the common ills of life, and unimpaired by age. Its fair bloom will never wither; its strength know no decay; and its activity continue to increase as it advances towards a higher perfection. The angel seen by the women at the sepulchre of our Lord, when they brought spices to embalm his sacred remains, was in the form of a young man, clothed in a long white garment. Although he had existed for ages, he still retained all the vigour and loveliness of youth and as white robes were the emblem of victory, they were suited to be worn as commemorative of an event which laid the foundation of the future triumphs and glories of the church. The future life of believers will

:

H

be that of angels; and the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, for whom we look, "shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." What the glorified body of Christ is, imagination attempts, in vain, to conceive. When, on Mount Tabor, he was transfigured before his disciples, "his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light:" and when he appeared to John in the Isle of Patmos, such was the majesty of his person, and the splendour of his countenance, that when the venerable Apostle saw him, although on terms of the most endearing intimacy with him while on earth, he fell at his feet as dead. "We shall be like him "-each member of the universal family will bear the impression of the image of their divine Head, and share his glory. How remarkable the expression! "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and jointheirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

Nor is it improbable that this globe of earth on which we tread, the beauty of which sin has marred, will, from the ashes of the general conflagration, bé restored to more than its pristine glory, and become the future habitation of the redeemed church of Christ. "For the earnest

expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." In consequence of the sin of man, this whole creation heaves beneath the weight of the curse, bears the impression of vanity, and is devoted to corruption and decay. This, however, is not its final destiny. The ruin that has been brought upon it shall be repaired, and it shall once more take its - station in the system of virtuous worlds, and roll to the Redeemer's praise. It stands already in the attitude of hope; and the period for which it is anxiously waiting, as that of its entire deliverance from the direful effects of moral evil, will be the day of the general resurrection, when our bodies shall be redeemed from the grave, and invested with a refined and spiritual nature. In the prophecy of Isaiah, Jehovah has declared, "Behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth; and the former things shall not be re

membered, nor come into mind:" and Peter, referring to this very passage, says, "we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." All this the Apostle John saw realized in vision. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, come ing down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new." This new world will as far exceed the old in loveliness, magnificence, and duration, as the heavenly body of the Christian will exceed the earthy. It will be a fit residence for the glorified humanity of the Saviour, and of the universal church. "And death and hades," or that portion of the unseen world in which the spirits of the wicked dwell, "shall be cast into a lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever is not found written in the book of life shall be cast into the lake of fire."

The doctrine of the resurrection wears а

162

DEATH-FINALLY DESTROYED.

double aspect. Like the pillar of cloud which moved between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, it is a column of darkness to the wicked, troubling his conscience, and harassing his steps; while it sheds a bright light on the path-way of the just, and discloses to the eye of faith scenes more radiant beyond the tomb. The bodies of the impenitent will rise to shame and everlasting contempt; to be tormented with the devil and his angels. Their very form and visage will doubtless be different from those which distinguish the glorified bodies of the children of God; more resembling the figure and features of the frightful inhabitants of the infernal world, than those of angels of light. As the captain of Pharaoh's guard was commissioned to bring forth from the dungeon the chief butler and baker, the one to be restored to his office, and the other to an immediate and disgraceful execution; so the angel of the resurrection will fetch, from the prison of the grave, the righteous and the wicked-the one to be received into everlasting life, and the other doomed to everlasting destruction.