himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first (that is, the dead shall rise before the living do). 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.”

These passages teach, firstly, that, at the time these instructions were given, Christ was actually in heaven, his risen state. This Paul affirms in Heb. 9: 24, "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Christ was exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour; he has set down at the right hand of God, having obtained eternal redemption for us. He has ascended to his Father, and is now seated on the throne of righteousness, as mediator and judge of all the earth. From this throne, by his word and spirit, he administers justice and judgment in the earth. This mediatorial throne, or seat, is also his judgmentseat; and from this throne he is represented, in the spirit and power of the gospel, as seated in judgment before the world. Hence the propriety of Paul's expression, 2 Cor. 5: 10, " For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may. receive the things in body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad." In this manner Christ sits, in the spirit and power of gospel truth, judging the world in righteousness; and under this gospel administration every one receives according to that he hath done, whether good or bad. Upon this throne Christ will remain, as mediator and judge, until the great work of reconciling the world to God is accomplished. Hence Peter, in speaking of Christ, says, "Whom the heaven must receive, until the times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." Acts 3: 21. Paul has similar language in Col. 1: 20, "And (having made peace through the blood of his cross) by him to reconcile all things to himself: by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." The same apostle has said, in 1 Cor. 15: 25, 26, "For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." From these testimonies we learn that Christ will keep his position as mediator and judge until he hath subdued and reconciled all things to himself: until he hath

finished sin, made an end of transgression, and destroyed the last enemy, death. When all this shall have been accomplished, then will have arrived the period when the sleeping millions of our race, in connection with the living multitudes, shall all realize the resus citating power of Him who is "the resurrection and the life." Then will" the Lord himself descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God - not to destroy his enemies, or to execute judgment, but to arouse the living and the dead to a state of immortal and unending bliss. When he shall make this personal and last appearance on earth, he will have previously closed his process as mediator and judge, will have subdued and reconciled all to himself, and then only remains to raise and deliver up to God his Father the ransomed world, with his own subjection to him, that God may then be all and in all.

When Christ made his second appearance, he is represented as sitting on the throne of his glory, establishing his kingdom, and commencing his reign on earth. But altogether different is the object of his third or last coming. Then his work will be finished; the judgment day closed, and the kingdom, which he received of his Father at the commencement of his reign, ready to be resigned back to him, the Great Father and God of all.

In the second place, these scriptures confirm what we have already stated. John says, But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." This likeness to Christ is effected by the resurrection. See 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52, “Behold, I show 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." To the Thessalonians, he says, "Them, also, which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him." "The dead in Christ shall rise first (before the living are changed). 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." Paul undoubtedly wished to have his brethren believe that their departed friends would all rise again to life and happiness; that death was not one long, eternal sleep, as many of his countrymen actually believed; he, therefore, labors to convince them that Christ, their risen head,

would raise the human family from the sleep of death, that one and all should again meet together, and be forever with the Lord.

He informs his Corinthian brethren that the trumpet should sound, and the dead be raised incorruptible; and that the living should be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trump.

That Paul believed (not in a partial but) in a universal resurrection to holiness and happiness, is evident from 1 Cor. 15: 22, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." All must admit that Adam is the constituent and federal head of the human family. In him all, individually, die. It is also equally admissible, that the same all shall be made alive in Christ. The words, even so, imply that the same all who die in Adam shall, equally and individually, be made alive in Christ, their spiritual head and representative. Man is created "in the image of God." "Christ is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person." Hence, being created in the image of God, we are created in Christ Jesus, as our moral or spiritual head. "The head of every man is Christ." 1 Cor. 11: 3. Consequently, Christ is as truly the moral head of every man, as is Adam our earthly head. And Christ will as certainly reinstate and immortalize every man in himself, as it is certain that in Adam all are fallen.

But to this it is objected, because of the expression in the 23d verse, where it is said, "But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." Some suppose every man in his own order," means (in fact, we have heard it in a sermon) he that dies a sinner, shall be raised a sinner; he that dies a drunkard, shall be raised a drunkard; and he that dies a murderer, shall be raised a murderer, &c. But to this objection we reply, first, in the language of the apostle. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." ` All are made alive in Christ. Therefore, "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5: 17. From this it appears, that those who are in Christ are actually new creatures; old things are done away, and all things become new. Hence, when all are made alive in him, they must, of necessity, all be new creatures old things—that is, sin, all their former vices, evil habits, bad prac

tices, &c. are all done away, annihilated, and gone: the creature is changed, and bears the image of Christ. Hence, Paul says, "And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." 1 Cor. 15: 49. By these facts we learn that all in the earthy image of Adam die, and that the same all (in the resurrection) will be made alive in the heavenly image of Christ. Consequently, all that can be understood by every man in his own order," is, merely, every man in his own time (or class), and in his own identity. "Christ the first fruits," that is, Christ as the first fruits of the resurrection, rose first in his own time, and own individual being; "afterward they that are Christ's at his coming," — that is, when Christ comes to raise the dead, all will then be made alive in Him, but every one in his own identity, or as himself, in his own individual being. Hence, in verse 38, "God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." We think the expression, "But every man in his own order," applies with the same force to those who die, as to those who are made alive. "For as in Adam all die,” that is, not collectively and simultaneously, but every one in his own time and identity, as himself. Thus we die as ourselves, and we shall be made alive as ourselves, and in the time classed or set off.

But supposing our objector should urge his theory, what would the result then be? He says, if one dies a sinner, he will be raised a sinner, &c. Now, admitting this self-contradictory theory to be carried out, and the result would be this: every sinner (having died as such), from the period of mother Eve down to the resurrection morn, must be called up from their tombs with the same characters, propensities, appetites, and passions which they possessed when they went down to their graves. And how is this? Why, sinners, liars, extortioners, thieves, drunkards, murderers, and all as such, must be made alive in Christ; forming parts and parcels of that one body, of which Christ is the head. What kind of a body such would be, and what would be the result, we leave for our opponents to determine.

Should we admit that any in the resurrection would be raised in any other condition than alive in Christ, new creatures, fitted for holiness and happiness in him, we destroy, not only the utility, but every object of the resurrection. The apparent and only object of the resurrection is, to immortalize and happify the ransomed world

of sentient beings, to carry out God's original design, and perfect the work of his own hands. Who will deny the original purpose of God, in ultimately imparting a share of his own perfections to his creatures? He hath said, "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Isa. 46: 9, 10. To say that this purpose and pleasure of God will fail is infidelity. To say that God designed a happy end for one, and misery as an end for another, is still worse. See James 3: 17, "The wisdom that is from above. is without partiality and without hypocrisy." Ps. 145: 9, "The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works." And should we contend that the creature himself, or any other being in the universe of God, will frustrate or defeat his pleasurable purpose and designed end, it would be blasphemous. God is one infinite, holy, undivided being. All wisdom, power, and goodness, are his, and Love is his nature. Man can effect his physical and moral good, by obeying the laws which God has established to govern those principles. But there are no means by which the creature can effect his own resurrection or immortal condition. This exclusively and only belongs to God. It is not only his prerogative to accomplish it, but his word, his nature, and his oath, bind him to effect it for creatures. Amen.

A belief of anything short of universal holiness and happiness in the resurrection state would not only dishonor God, but it must destroy all happiness and consolation in the creature. None can rejoice in that faith which tells of an introduction of feeling, sentient beings into a state of unending woe, pain, and death! And much less could they rejoice when they reflect that such end is the result of this unasked-for existence, and the pleasure of God declared from the beginning! Yet it is a fact which cannot be denied, that the end of man (whatever it may be) is, and will be such, and such only, as God designed, even from the beginning. But, as we have already seen that the purposes of God are good, that the end is life in Christ, we find no reason for mourning or lamenting the purposes of God; but we rejoice "that his counsel will stand, and he will do all his pleasure."

Our hopes of future life are based upon the fact that Christ has