and New Testament furnish us with instances of some that were raised from the dead; but they hereby became subject to death and corruption a second time. How happily different will it be with believers in that day, when mortality shall be swallowed up of life, and all join in those joyful interrogatories, O death where is thy sting; O grave where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. See 2 Cor. v. 4. 1 Cor. xv. 55, 56, 57.

In a word, and to carry this matter to the happiest height, the bodies of believers at the resurrection will resemble that of the Saviour himself. As St. Paul is professedly treating on this subject; he may very fairly be supposed to point at this particular in the following words: The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly, 1 Cor. xv. 47, 48, 49. And more plainly still in another epistle, We look for the Saviour (from heaven,) the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, &c. Phil. iii. 20, 21.

When the temple of Jerusalem was building a second time, on the return from the Babylonish captivity, the ancient persons, who had seen the former house in its glory, wept aloud, on thinking how far short this latter house would fall, in point of splendour and magnificence, of that which had been destroyed. See Ezra iii. 12; Hag. ii. 3. But when the second temple of the body

is erected, nothing will be heard among the children of God but sounds of triumph and joy; and such who have by faith, and meditation, seen and considered this house (the body) in its former glory and innocent state, will have no cause to lament the entrance of sin, and consequent destruction by death, as it will be universally acknowledged, The glory of this latter house is greater, far greater, than that of the former; and all this by the appearance, presence, and power of the Lord Jesus, Hag. ii 9.

Before we close this subject, it may not be improper to take some notice of such who shall be found alive at Christ's second coming, and whose bodies will not be lodged in the silent grave. Of these the apostle speaks very particularly: Behold I will shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; (for the trumpet shall sound,) and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed, 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. And in another epistle, For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them that are asleep: for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord; wherefore, comfort one another with these words, 1 Thess. iv. 15, 18.

Indeed the apostle, writing to the Hebrews, says, It is appointed unto men once to die. If this passage.be taken in its most obvious sense, the general rule must

be supposed to admit of some exceptions; but perhaps it may intimate, that this change will be a kind of death, at least equivalent to it; and the like glorious qualities will take place on the bodies of believers then found alive, as upon those which are then raised from the grave; so no difference will appear between the one and the other, but all equally made meet to partake of eternal felicity. The bodies of the wicked also will be changed at the resurrection, and rendered like to those of the same character hauled out of their graves, all like immortal, to take their part in eternal misery.

O happy believer in the Lord Jesus! whatever the present condition of the body may be, take home to thyself the special consolations this subject does naturally afford thee. It is grievous that the body is imperfect as to any of its members, or deficient in any particular sense common to mankind, whether so born, or it be brought on by disease, accident, &c.; cheer up under the thought, that this body will hereafter appear in full perfection, and so abide for ever. Does age and sickness destroy the strength and beauty of the outer frame? Consider the resurrection will furnish thee with renewed vigour, adorn thee with perfect beauty, and be attended with eternal glory.

The body, though laid in the grave, will not be lost there, but found with great advantage at the resurrcction. As the patriarch Joseph when leaving this world, commanded his brethren concerning his bones; so Jesus will give his sacred commands concerning the bodies of believers, and the different parts of them that they may be delivered from the grave, that house of bondage and corruption, and safely conveyed to the celestial Cauaan. When the tabernacle of old was taken in pieces, the

high-priest committed the several parts of it to the charge of the Levites, and nothing was wanting when they came to set it up again; so the Saviour and highpriest of his people, will take proper care that no part of the earthly tabernacle, which he hath sanctified for himself, be then missing, but that the whole be produced and erected anew, and with greater glory than ever.

Who would not readily lay aside his over-worn garments at night, if certain of being clad with rich and royal attire in the morning? Who would not cheerfully lay himself down to sleep in his bed, could he safely depend upon waking and rising again with renewed health, vigour, and beauty? Who would not joyfully relinquish a mean and miserable cottage for a season, that so it might be adorned with all the glory and magnificence of a splendid palace? O believer, comfort thyself in the Lord Jesus, and contentedly cast off at death this garment, the body, which is incommodious and troublesome on several accounts in its present state, assuring thyself thou shalt receive this same garment again abundantly bettered and beautified, rendered white as the snow, and illustrious as the light. Let it not concern thee, that the earthly tabernacle will shortly be taken down; for the Lord will build it up again, yea, convert it into a temple that shall stand for ever in all its glory. What though the several senses suffer decays, and the eyes in particular will soon be closed, no more to behold the light below? Grieve not at this, inasmuch as these eyes will be formed anew with additional beauty, and with them thou wilt behold the king in his glory, and behold him for thyself; or as the Psalmist expresses the same thing, behold his face in righteousness, when awaking with his likeness, Job xix. 27:

Psal. xvii. 15. The ears now, it may be, are almost deaf, and will soon be entirely stopped; but hereafter they shall hear, with everlasting delight, the harmonious songs of saints and of angels. The tongue, which now faulters through weakness, and in a little time will speak no more, shall then be formed anew, and tuned for praise, joining into the melodious hallelujahs of the blessed above. The hands, now weak, shall then be made strong to receive, and for ever retain, immortal palms of victory. With the feeble feet, now scarce sufficient to support the body, thou wilt then follow the Lamb to the realms of glory, and travel the streets of the heavenly Jerusalem. In a word, the whole body, though laid in the grave, and turned into dust, shall then arise, and shine as the sun in the fir mament, and in its fullest splendour.

What hath the Christian to desire more? At death, the soul goes to God, to Christ, to angels, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to share in their felicities. The body indeed is lodged in the grave; but here it will be attended with a quiet repose, at the end of which it shall rise again. The Lord will publish the grand jubilee, the prisons of death will all be opened, and the prisoners set free. The trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ be raised incorruptible, immortal, and glorious. The Christian may humbly say, My heart is glad, my glory, (or tongue) rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope; for the Lord will not leave it always in the grave, or suffer it to abide under the power of corruption; he will shew me the path of life, and admit me to his presence, where there is fulness of joy and pleasure forevermore, Psal. xvi. 9, 10, 11.

Then let not the actual, and sensible approach of