There are two ways by which the Scripture elevates our conceptions of the resurrection body. The first is, to compare, or rather contrast it with the body we now have. "So is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption"-Not only incapable of defilement, but of dissolution, of declension, of injury; impassive; immortal. "It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory"-No longer composed of base elements, subsisting on gross supplies, subject to the same laws with the beasts that perish, employed in low and degrading toils and pursuits. "It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power"-No longer fatigued with a little exertion, and requiring long insensibilities of sleep, and frequent returns of food, to renew its strength and keep it fit for action; but capable of serving Him in his temple day and night, without languor, and without repose. "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body"-not a spirit, but spiritual. Not spiritual in its essence, but in the refinement of its senses, and indulgences, and functions, and use. For "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." The second is, to hold forth the conformity it will bear to the body of our Saviour. "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural: and afterward that which is spiritual. 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." "It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but this we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And this likeness takes in the body as well as the soul. What a body was that, which after his resurrection could render itself visible and invisible at pleasure; which walls and doors could not exclude; which moved with the ease and expedition of thought; which ascended up on high without impulsion; which appeared to Saul, and at noon-day shone above the brightness of the sun; in which he is now worshipped by all the angels of God; and in which he will judge the world in righteousness, and reign for ever and ever! But this, O believer, is the model of thy destination. "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who 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." -Let this assurance and confidence lead us to bless God for revelation, and the explicitness of its discoveries. With us the darkness is past, and the true light shineth. And what does it leave undiscovered that is important to our safety, welfare, and comfort? Whatever reasonings and conjectures the Heathen had with regard to a future state, it is well known they gave up the body. No one for a moment ever supposed that the grave could re-open, and the dead arise. When Paul was at Athens (where the immortality of the soul was frequently asserted,) and preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection, even the men of science, forgetting the gravity that became their character, "mocked!" and said, "what will this babbler say?" But there is not a peasant or a child in our land of vision, but knows that the dead, small and great, will stand before God. -This prospect should comfort you in the loss of your connexions. You are not forbidden to feel"Your grief becomes you, and your tears are just.” Jesus wept. But Weeping must not hinder sowing." "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him." "But they were so dear!" They were. But they are much dearer now. They have left all their imperfections, and all their sorrows behind "They sleep in Jesus, and are blest. "How sweet their slumbers are; "And freed from every care." And this is not all. "Martha! Thy brother shall rise again. Rachel! You weep for your child, and refuse to be comforted, because he is not"-"Why was this loved babe born? why was I torn with pain at his birth, and again rent with anguish at his death? What purpose has his brief history answer ed? What has now become of him?" These, and a thousand other inquiries which the busy mind will ask, could never have been answered, but for this book,-never so precious as in the hour of trouble. There the mystery is explained. There you learn that a sparrow falleth not to the ground without your Heavenly Father; that the present is only the threshold of existence; that the soul of this infant is now in the Shepherd's bosom; and that his body will not perish, but be seen again, "all heavenly and divine." "Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and thy children shall come again from the land of the enemy." O ye Children! who are yet spared, and are now responsible for your conduct; let this comfort be put into our hearts with regard to you. Remember your Creator. Live and die in the Lord; and then, though we lose you for a moment, you shall be restored to us, equal to the angels, and be the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. And, you Parents! endeared by so much affection, and whose venerable looks remind us of separation; fear not to go in good time. We will rock the cradle of your age; and comfort you on the bed of languishing; and kiss your cold cheeks, and close your eyes, and lay you in the dust; but we shall see you again; and our heart shall rejoice, and our joy no one taketh from us. -And let this animate you when looking towards your own grave. And surely some of you must be thinking of it. Your complaints, your infirmities, your years, must lead you to ask, How long have I to live? Well! if you are a Christian, you have every reason to think of it with resignation and pleasure. God says to you, as he did to Jacob trembling on the confines of Egypt, "Be not afraid to go down: I will go down with thee; and I will bring thee up again." He will watch over your sleeping dust, and he will bid it rise. If it be trying to part with your companion the body, remember it is only for a time; and it will be restored to you in the image of God's Son. Say then, "I am not following cunningly devised fables. I build upon a rock. It is true, sin takes away my health and breath, and lays my body down in the grave. But I hear him saying among the tombs, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die. At the sound of this, I take courage and go forward. I am not stumbling over a precipice, uncertain where I shall fall, and not knowing that I shall ever rise. I descend into the grave by a gentle flight of steps, leaning on my Beloved and my Friend -I choose to die. It is thou, my God, my Saviour, who callest me; and I give up my life into thy hand, assuredly persuaded, that thou art able and willing and engaged to return it." This is not empty declamation. I have taken the very language from the lips of a dying saint-I stood by-and after she had surveyed her reduced and wrinkled hands and arms, she ended her address, (and life too, a few moments after,) with the words of the sweet Psalmist in our British Israel : |