This will be evident to any one who observes that St. Paul, having (ver. 22.) declared that all men shall be made alive again, tells the Corinthians (ver. 23.) that it shall not be all at once, but at several distances of time. First of all Christ rose; afterwards, next in order to him, the saints should all be raised; which resurrection of the just is that which he treats and gives an account of to the end of this discourse and chapter; and so never comes to the resurrection of the wicked, which was to be the third and last in order: so that, from the 23d verse to the end of the chapter, all that he says of the resurrection is a description only of the resurrection of the just, though he calls it here by the general name of the resurrection of the dead. That this is so, there is so much evidence, that there is scarce a verse from the 41st to the end that does not evince it.

That this was his design may be seen by the beginning of his discourse (ver. 12-21.), and by the conclusion (ver. 58.) in these words, 'Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord: forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' Which words show that what he had been speaking of in the

immediately preceding verses, viz., their being changed and their putting on incorruption and immortality, and their having thereby the victory through Jesus Christ, was what belonged solely to the saints as a reward to those who remained steadfast and abounded in the work of the Lord.

"The like use of the like though shorter discourse of the resurrection, wherein he describes only that of the blessed, he makes to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. iv. 13-18.), which he concludes thus: 'Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.'

"Nor is it in this place alone that St. Paul calls the resurrection of the just by the general name of the resurrection of the dead. He does the same Phil. iii. 11., where he speaks of his sufferings, and of his endeavours if by any means he might attain unto the resurrection of the dead,' whereby he cannot mean the resurrection of the dead in general, which, since he has declared in this very chapter (ver. 22.) all men, both good and bad (?), shall as certainly partake of as that they shall die, there need no endeavours to attain unto it. Our Saviour likewise speaks of the resurrection of the just in the same general terms of the resurrection, Matthew xxii. 30.; And the

resurrection from the dead,' Luke xx. 35., by which is meant only the resurrection of the just, as is plain from the context."a

b

Other Scripture passages, which teach us that the soul will be in conscious union with a spiritual body, are strictly limited to the state of the righteous. St. Paul says, that "we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." " This is "the same that he had told them in the first epistle, ch. xv. 51., should happen to those who should be alive at Christ's coming. There are two aspects in which this passage may be regarded. We We may either "understand by youvol 'naked,' as I do here, the state of the dead, unclothed with immortal [spiritual] bodies until the resurrection; which sense is favoured by the same word, 1 Cor. xv. 37.;" or we may "understand the clothing upon' which the Apostle desires to be those immortal bodies which souls shall be clothed with at the resurrection; which sense of 'clothing upon' seems to be favoured by

a

Paraphrase on St. Paul's Epistles, by John Locke, p. 172. et seq.

b 2 Cor. v. 4.

1 Cor. xv. 53, 54., and is that which one would be inclined to were it not accompanied with this difficulty, viz., that then it would follow that the wicked should not have immortal bodies at the resurrection." This latter sense, however, appears the more probable; but whichever we may select, this passage clearly confirms the belief that the wicked do not at the resurrection participate in an union with the spiritual body; for we cannot doubt that "whatever it be that St. Paul here means by 'being clothed upon,' it is something that is peculiar to the saints, who have the Spirit of God, and shall be with the Lord, in contradistinction to others, as appears from the following verses and the whole tenor of this place." "

a

Observation of the harrowing effects produced upon those who suffer from attacks of nightmare, of delirium, or from certain forms of madness, abundantly proves that even in this life mental agony is immeasurably more severe, more wearing, than that of the body. In mental disease or affliction, little or no relief can be obtained by ease of body, and all sources of recreation for it are closed; but, from the records of the Martyrs' sufferings, we have the clearest proof a Paraphrase by John Locke.

that indescribable torture of the body may be almost forgotten and destroyed by a noble elevation of thought towards Heaven, and by the soothing influence of undaunted religious trustfulness. Whether, however, the state of the wicked be one of purely immaterial punishment or otherwise, we will not now pause to inquire; for our hopes are fixed upon eternal life, and in humility and trustful faith we look to Him who can alone save us from the power of the Destroyer. But a calm examination of all that is to be gathered from Scripture does not, I think, support the belief that this visible material body will enter the gates of heaven; "for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." It rather leads to the conclusion that the soul of the righteous will be united to a truly spiritual body, immaterial, infinite, and eternal, from which blessed communion the soul of the sinner will for ever be excluded.

a

Similarly restricted in its application is the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, wherein St. Paul speaks of us as "waiting for the fruit of our adoption, which is, that as we by adoption are made sons and coheirs with Jesus

a 2 Cor. iv. 18.