"Christ 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." St. Paul to the Philippians iii. 21.

"But now we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." St. Paul, 2 Cor. iii. 18.

In St. Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, and the fifteenth chapter, we have a long account of the raising of the body at the general resurrection, which we cannot do better than quote. He begins (ver. 35), "But some man will say, How are the dead raised up, and with what bodies do they come?" And replies, "Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die: and that which thou so west, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body."

This signifies, that as the seed, before it becomes a plant, must be buried in the earth, so our earthly body must perish before it is converted into a spiritual body; for the spiritual body will not be the mere earthly body re-formed in its original fashion and constituents, but so far differ from it in glory and excellence, as a plant in its full growth and flower differs from a seed.1

The apostle continues (verse 42)—

"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is

1 The three following verses, 39 to 41, relate to another doctrine of the resurrection, viz. the difference in station and glory which the saints shall attain to in heaven, one above another; a subject which would embrace far too much space to be treated of here.

sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body, There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." "As is the earthy, such are they 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.”

:

Here we are told that the body of Adam was a natural body, but that of Christ a spiritual body: and as Adam's was, so are our bodies, earthy; and as Christ's is, so shall our bodies be converted at the resurrection, and appear, like his, heavenly.

The apostle adds (verse 50 to 52)—

"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: neither dotli corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew 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."1

Thus so different will the spiritual body be from the earthly, that at the last trump, when Christ cometh to judgment, those who will be then found on the earth, though they will not die, yet must they undergo a sudden change, to fit them for the future

state.

These two latter verses touch upon another subject, viz. whether the soul is sensible of the change immediately after the death of the body, or whether it waiteth for the last trump? But of this we can say nothing, as it is known to God only.

Dr. Whitby and Burkitt observe, that the apostle, by shewing the happy change which shall pass upon the raised body, gives a full and satisfactory answer to those philosophers who considered it a thing unworthy of God to raise the body and unite it again to the soul, whose happiness consisted in being separated from it.

Earthy we must needs be here, being formed from one who was created so; but when we shall be raised by Christ, our heavenly Saviour, our bodies shall also partake of the heavenly and immortal qualities of his.—Pyle.

So that in the text, where Adam's body is said to be in the image and likeness of God, the strongest interpretation that we can put upon the words must be, that it bears the same likeness that a seed does to the plant in full growth and blossom.

But this consideration of the glorious nature of the spiritual body naturally leads us to reflect on the state of the resurrection of the wicked.

As the spiritual body will ripen into all perfection, and beauty, and evidence of bliss, so will the condemned body be matured in the image of guilt and misery. The form, then, though easily recognised as that of the sinner on earth, however gifted he might then have appeared, will become an index of his sin, bearing the very stamp of guilt, impiety, revenge, dishonesty, and falsehood; of avarice, indolence, cruelty, or all united. Sin will be then unmasked, and seen in her true colours: the secret sin be exposed to the eyes of countless myriads; and hypocrisy, that clothed herself as an angel of light, stand confessed in her naked deformity.

Then will be seen lust wallowing as a hog, and

pride at the bottom of the gulph. Indolence will never rest, nor the cruel cease from his torment. The atheist will be then convinced, and the blasphemer silenced. But in each eye there will be evidence of eternal misery and despair.

Here we see the two states portrayed-eternal happiness, and eternal pain. But, alas! how many have chosen, and still continue to choose, the latter. Oh that we may be enabled to attain the former!

But if we have no authority for the belief that our bodies will bear a faint resemblance to God's glorious body, yet our Lord has frequently revealed himself to the patriarchs and others, under the figure of a man. Gen. xviii., iii. 8. Daniel iii. 25, &c.

The form of man then being thus honoured by God's appearance in it, and taking upon him our mortal flesh, it may in a sense be said to be hallowed, as being the form most approved of by God. Gen. ix. 6. 1 Cor. xi. 7.

Wherefore then, bearing his image, and answering to his name, "What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness?" Lest pride, however, should take the place of humility and gratitude in our hearts, for God's mercies and condescensions towards us, let us remember that we are but a brother to the worm, as we both came from and return to the same dust.

6

THE QUEEN.

6

THE QUEEN! What a host of touching and powerful emotions does that little phrase summon up! Many are the daughters of earth who have borne that title: ' daughters of the famous nations,' now gone down into the nether parts of the earth.' Imagination loves to conjure up these phantoms of departed greatness, and as they pass in beauty' to question them of the days of old; of the agitating scenes in which they were actors, and of the then absorbing interests, which are now as though they had never been. How vividly does history, that light of other days,' bring before us in living, acting reality, the renowned of other lands, or the beloved of our own! Antiquity is brought home to us; distance of space and of time is annihilated; actions that are long since past are again enacted; and we weep with those who wept, or rejoice with those who did rejoice, as though they were the beings of yesterday, and we the sharers of their joy or grief. Again we tremble at the name of Semiramis, that terror of the mighty in the land of the living:'-again we weep over the fallen fortunes of that Lady of the Desert, the captive Zenobia:lament for the perverted talents of the gifted Cleopatra:-or, as we pause upon the record of more recent times, shudder at the enormous guilt of the cruel De Medicis: -or stand in breathless admira

Wife of Henry II. of France.