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into duft; fome of them are devoured by the fishes of the sea, or by the wild beasts of the field and others are confumed by the fire, and their afhesare dispersed, and scattered by the wind. But to whatever ftate or fituation they may be reduced at death, they are ftill under the eye, the care, the direction and government of the Almighty Redeemer, who "calleth those things. "which be not, as though they were," and they obey his voice. The time is coming, when Jefus, as the Refurrection and the Life, fhall call to the earth, to the fea, and to all the different parts of the world, to give up the dead which are in them, and his word fhall be accompanied with Divine efficacy. "The Lord "himfelf fhall defcend from heaven with a "fhout, with the voice of the archangel, and "with the trump of God; and the dead in Chrift "fhall rife firft*. The bodies of his faints, "fown in corruption, fhall then be raised in "incorruption; fown in difhonour, fhall be "raised in glory; fown in weakness, shall be "raised in power; fown natural bodies, shall be "raised spiritual bodies t." At that great and decifive day," the Saviour, the Lord Jefus "Christ

* 1 Theff. iv. 16. +1. Cor, xv. 42.—44.

"Chrift fhall change our vile body, that it may "be fafhioned like unto his glorious body, ac"cording to the working whereby he is able

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even to fubdue all things unto himself *" Having thus triumphed over death and the grave, the bodies of the faints fhall be joined again to their glorified fpirits, to separate no more; and the Almighty Redeemer "fhall then "be glorified in his faints, and be admired in

all them that believe t." Every reproach against them fhall then vanish, and every mifreprefentation of them fhall be fully rectified; their character fhall appear in a fair and juft light; the Redeemer, himself, as their fu preme and final judge, fhall publicly avow his relation to them; he fhall fet them on his right hand, as his chofen and faithful friends; and fhall fay to them in the prefence of his Father, and of the holy angels, "Come, ye bleffed of

my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for << you from the foundation of the world." The faints being now delivered from all the bondage and flavery of fin, and from all the direful effects of the curfe pronounced against it; and being fully restored to the loft perfection and felicity of their

nature.

Phil. iii. 20, 21.

† 2. Theff. i. 10.

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nature, fhall enjoy a happiness, which " eye "hath not feen, nor ear heard, neither hath "entered into the heart of man.' It only remains to be observed, that this happiness, inftead of coming to an end, fhall be perpetual and everlasting. "The life, into which the

righteous fhall then enter, fhall be eternal; "and the inheritance of which they fhall be

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poffeffed, shall be incorruptible, and undefiled, " and fhall never fade away."

III. Let us inquire into the Character of the perfons, who fhall enjoy the great happiness we have just been confidering.

fented with a most amiable

and generous spirit of the

Here we are pre

view of the liberal

Chriftian Religion,

worthy of Him, who is "the only begotten of "the Father, full of grace and truth." No partial diftribution of favour appears here, nor any refpect of perfons. The Faithful alone, of whatever rank or station, are the perfons who fhall enjoy the great happiness, which our Lord, as the Refurrection and the Life, fhall confer on his people; "he that Believeth in me," faith Jefus, "though he were dead, yet fhall he live. "Our bleffed Lord is the Saviour of all men, " especially

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He

"specially of those that believe ;" and the hap
piness he hath promised to them is free, and ac-
ceffible to all forts and degrees of perfons.
does not fpeak of it, as if it were defigned for
the rich, the noble, the powerful, the learned,
or the ingenious; as little does he fay that the
poor, the mean, the illiterate, and the unwife,
fhall be deprived of it; but he speaks in plain
and explicit terms, faying, "he that believeth
"in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
The truth is, under the gofpel difpenfation, there
is no diftinction made between one man and an-
other, on account of his intellectual powers, or
his worldly condition, as to the participation of
the benefits of redemption; for under this laft
and most perfect difpenfation of the grace of
God, "there is neither Greek nor Jew, circum-
66 cifion, nor uncircumcifion, barbarian, Scythi-
an, bond nor free, but Chrift is all, and in all."
Now, this faith in the Redeemer, which he re-
quires of all who expect life and happiness from
him, is not true and genuine, unless it extends
to every relation he fuftains, as the Son of God,
the Chrift, and the Saviour of the world. Nay,
it is not a true and faving faith, unless it extends
to every doctrine he hath revealed, to every pro-
mife of mercy he hath made, to every threaten-

* Col. iii. xi.

ing

ing he hath denounced against fin, and to every rule of duty he hath given for the government of the heart and life. A faith that is partial and defective, is not the faith required in the gospel, and, of confequence, it must be unacceptable to God, difgraceful to the Saviour, and unprofita ble to men. Happy are they who live in a diligent ufe of all the means which infinite wifdom hath appointed to excite, to cherish, and to improve the precious grace of faith in their hearts; and whofe labour is not in vain in the Lord! "They fhall not perish, but have everlasting life." Bleffed with a true and faving faith in the Redeemer, they will refign themselves entirely to his direction, mediation, and government, that he " may wash them from their fins in his "own blood, and make them kings and priests "unto God and his Father *."

The faith we are now confidering, is so infeparably connected with purity of heart and holinefs of life, with all that is wife, and juft, and good, in temper and practice, that it will be a living, active, and fruitful principle of true piety and virtue, in every heart where it is implanted. I am the vine," faith our Lord; "ye are the "branches:

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* Rev. i. 5, 6.