sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. 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. Divine revelation alone avers, that at the end of time, immediately preceding the general judgement, all that shall then be on earth or in their graves, shall come forth; and every soul and body of the whole human family be summoned before the judgement-seat of Christ.

4th. Wisdom admonishes to a preparation for the future well-being of the body.

The human frame, in view of the distinction to which it is entitled beyond the grave, is of incalculable value. Then let none of its members serve as instruments of unrighteousness unto iniquity, but of righteousness unto holiness. Let not our concern be to make provision for the lusts of the flesh; but for the wonderful attributes of a glorified body. Let not the temporal, but the eternal welfare of these frail tabernacles be motives to direct our ways. Let them not be degraded by any base deed; but let us so love, nourish, and cherish them, that we shall with the most effectual care, secure their revival to all that distinction and enjoyment which a blessed resurrection gloriously proffers.

5th. We are encouraged to entertain the highest apprehensions concerning the future glory of the mind.

If the resurrection will produce such great and delightful things for the inferiour nature; what must we suppose will be the future allotments of the mind, in its nature imperishable and eternal? The utmost efforts of human imagination cannot equal the future glory of the body, as revealed in the word of God. How exceedingly abundant, then, above all that we are able to ask or think, will the mind be exalted, adorned, and enraptured by Him whose glory and delight it is to bless, and who has already enstamped it with his own glorious image.

In

the world of glory, the mind united to a spiritual body, will perceive more clearly, enjoy more exquisitely, and act more gloriously, than it would do, if disembodied. This subject may not only be improved by way of inference, to show that the souls of the righteous will be hereafter completely blessed; but incomparably, inconceivably glorious.

6th. This subject is no ground of comfort, but of alarm to the ungodly and impenitent.

Terrible thought to all unrighteous, unbelieving sinners, that at the resurrection the bodies of all the unjust will come forth from their graves, like guilty prisoners and condemned criminals, to be a source of additional woes to the soul for ever and ever! Has the Lord given some of you, my hearers, healthful and active frames? and do you dote upon their vigour and beauty? Does the framer of your bodies call upon you to employ them in his service? and have you never bowed the knee, nor turned your eyes, nor extended your hands towards heaven in prayer ? Do you say your tongues are your own? And are your hearts so filled with self-importance, that you scorn to use your lips as suppliants, in addressing the throne of divine grace for mercy, and pleading earnestly for the pardon of your sins? Does the blessed Redeemer admonish you, to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? and do you make it your main concern to ornament the body? accounting its pleasures as your chief joy? Alas! what folly and madness, so to think and act, as most fatally to ruin the body, and your immortal souls! Notwithstanding all your care and indulgence of your mortal frames, if you die in impenitence they will be raised to shame and everlasting contempt. If they come forth with the attributes of incorruption, strength, and activity, they will express with awful horrour, the direful passions and torments of your wretched existence. They will not lessen, but augment your intolerable eternal pains. Doleful

reflection! to endure the curses of the God of heaven, in your souls and bodies for ever and ever, without any mixture of mercy! Those bodies which appear in the house of God, in the time of his solemn worship, in a careless and indecent manner, will be far from levity when summoned to the judgement. The wicked will be filled with horrour, when their eyes shall behold the Lord Jesus revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those ears that now listen to the enchanting sounds of temptation and wickedness, and hear the inviting calls of the gospel with indifference and disgust, will be everlasting inlets of anguish to the soul. How will both the soul and body of every Christless sinner be overwhelmed with agony and seized with eternal consternation, when their final sentence, Depart from me, ye cursed! shall be pronounced. Let me remark, that as glorious and delightful as the doctrine of the resurrection is to saints, so inglorious and dreadful must it be to sinners.

7th. This subject is precious and profitable to saints.

By living a few years in these animal bodies, we naturally become attached to them; and it is affecting to think they must shortly decay, become putrefaction, and a mass of vile dust. With secret disgust, and painful sensations our minds turn from the thought.

But in joyful contemplation, the believer with an eye of faith, can look beyond the grave to the resurrection, which will cause an amazing and glorious alteration. Is such a one afflicted with bodily infirmities, pained with acute diseases? Do Do any bear a weak, decaying body, which retards them in their journey towards the heavenly Canaan? Let such take courage, and not despond. Be comforted and strengthened; for in the resurrection, God shall wipe away all tears from your eyes, and there shall

be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain. Yes, your light and temporary afflictions will shortly be exchanged for an eternal and inconceivable weight of glory.

They who have lost near and dear pious relatives and friends may receive consolation in the view of this subject. Have some of you, my hearers, seen the eyes of such, which once sparkled with life and beauty, rolled in death; that tongue, which once instructed and encouraged, sealed in solemn silence; and the whole frame a lifeless corpse, turning to the food of worms? Console yourselves. At the resurrection, their bodies will be rendered incorruptible, glorious, spiritual bodies, fashioned like unto Christ's own glorious body. Then let divine light illumine your understandings: Let heavenly rays beam with consolation upon your souls.

Christian friends, O! frequently contemplate the wonderful, the delightful, and glorious change your frail, decaying tabernacles will experience in the morn of the resurrection. Extend your thoughts a little forward, what divine and blessed realities are presented! And shall not the prospect of the glories of the heavenly world inspire you with Christian fortitude, under the trials of your pilgrimage state? It is your privilege to be profited here below, in the view of the precious, extatick truths flowing from this subject. Yet a little while, and you will mount triumphing on the celestial wings of a glorified body, soaring for ever higher in degrees of perfection; and with seraphick love, shouting God's praises in endless day. Amen.

SERMON XXIV.

MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL ENCOURAGED TO HOLD FORTH VARIETY, AS A PROMINENT TRAIT IN THEIR PUBLICK DISCOURSES.

Matthew xiii. 52.

Every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. THESE words the Saviour addressed to his disciples immediately after the delivery of a number of important parables. They seem to have been apart from the multitude; and he demanded of them whether they understood the things he had related. They readily answered in the affirmative, though perhaps too confidently. Christ, however, did not administer rebuke; but his answer tended to show the importance of their being skilled in the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord: Then said he unto them, Therefore, every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure, things new and ›ld.

Now let us attend to a brief exposition of these words. The scribes were at this time the teachers of the Jews, under the Jewish dispensation: and the Apostles, with their successors in the ministry, were to be the teachers of the Gentiles, under the Christian dispensation. Every one of them, therefore, ought to be a scribe well instructed in all things pertaining to the kingdom of heaven. This the Saviour