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PART VI.

MESSIAH THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD.

Letter I.

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

My Dear Benjamin,

Having in the preceding part given you a brief statement of the second advent of the Messiah, I will now invite your attention to his coming to judge the world, which solemn transaction will be preceded by the general resurrection of the dead, and which is proposed as the subject of the present letter.

§ 1. By the resurrection, is meant the restoration, by the power of God, of the same identical body which died, in all the essential and integral parts of it, rendering it, in a reunion of, or with the soul, immortal, or of an eternal duration in blessedness or misery.

This doctrine is a fundamental article of faith with our people, as well as Christians. You will recollect the 13th article, which reads thus: "I believe with a perfect faith, that the dead will be restored to life, when it shall be so ordained by the decree of the Creator; blessed be his name, and exalted be his remembrance for ever and ever." And the apostle placed it among "the principles of the doctrine of Christ." Heb. 6: 2. And we are not so sure to rise out of our beds, as we are to rise out of our graves. But as there are still some Sadducees amongst our people, and too many

infidels amongst Christians, who do not believe this doctrine, I will endeavor to prove it.

2. There are probably but few who will deny the possibility of a resurrection. Surely all things are possible with God. His knowledge is infinite.

It is easy for God to give to every one his own body.

If it be possible for a gardener that has 30 several seeds in his hand, to be able to distinguish between seed and seed; and for a chemist to extract the elements out of an herb and separate them one from the other; and for a watchmaker to take a watch in pieces, and unite the pieces together again as before; much more is it possible for the omniscient God to distinguish one particle of dust from the other, as well as one man from another, and one stone from another.

§ 3. God is also almighty in power. He can more easily raise the body out of the grave, that we can raise a man out of sleep.

He that believeth the first article of the creed, that God is almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, will believe this article also, viz. that God can raise the dead. For if he car make a body, being nothing, out of the dust of the earth, he certainly can repair it out of the dust when it is something. It is as easy for God to restore a body to a soul at the re surrection, as to breathe a soul into the body at the creation. God has an unlimited power, and raises the dead, not according to natural laws and measures, but according to the efficacy of his own will, which does not stand in need of any to accomplish what he pleases.

Nor is there any thing connected with this subject that is absurd or contradictory. Farther, my dear Benjamin, consider that a resurrection is not only possible, but highly probable. This may be argued,

§ 4. From analogy of both inanimate and animate objects. The constant vicissitudes that are in the world preach

to us a resurrection; such as the revolution of seasons, the dying and reviving corn, and the various changes in creatures that have life. Both philosophers and divines write of the phoenix, that first she is consumed to ashes by the heat of the sun, that afterwards of her ashes arises a young one, which is the same phoenix risen from the dead. The apostle tells us, that the corn must first be cast into the ground, and then die and rot, before it will spring up; which showeth that a resurrection from the dead is possible even in nature. Add to this, that swallows, flies and worms, which lie dead in the winter season, revive again in the spring by virtue of the sun's heat. What is every night but the grave (as it were) of the daylight, and the morning but the resurrection of the day? What is the winter but the death of the fruits of the earth, and the spring but the resurrection of them? What is death but the pulling down of the house of the body? And what is the resurrection, but the rebuilding of the same house? And why then should any one think it a thing incredible for God to raise the dead? It may further be argued,

§ 5. From the view of man, as the proper subject of reward and punishment. If, therefore, the body did not rise, it would have no part either in reward or punishment. Hence the justice and the mercy of God require the resurrection of the body. The former requires that the wicked should be punished in the same bodies that they sinned in; and the latter makes it necessary that the righteous should be rewarded in the same bodies in which they performed their good actions; and therefore, in order to these different ends, the bodies of both must rise again. Hence says the apostle, "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every man may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether it is good or bad." 2 Cor. 5: 10. But I will proceed to show that the resurrection is not only possible and probable, but,

§ 6. Absolutely certain.

It is not only a truth which God can make good, but a truth which he cannot but make good. As there must be a day of judgment, 2 Cor. 5: 10, so there not only may, but there must be a resurrection of the body. But although nature and reason may teach us the possibility and the probability of a resurrection, yet it is divine revelation only that gives us a full assurance of its reality, and a satisfactory account of its nature and properties. Hence, when our Lord reasoned with the Sadducees on the subject, he said, "Ye err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God." Matt. 22: 29. We have several proofs of this doctrine in the Old Testament.

§ 7. We have a very remarkable and explicit declaration of the resurrection of the dead in the book of Job, 19: 25-27; “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me."

Many sublime and interesting passages in various parts of this book arrest our attention, but this is one of the most dignified and important. It contains a remarkable declaration of faith and hope in a divine Redeemer, and of a triumphant expectation of a resurrection from the dead, to the immediate vision and everlasting enjoyment of God. That Job is not speaking of a temporal deliverance from his present afflictions, is very evident

From the solemn and impressive manner in which these words are introduced. "O that my words were now writ ten! O that they were printed in a book! that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!" ver. 23, 24. It was his earnest wish that what he was about to utter might be recorded in the most public and

durable manner, not handed down by oral tradition, but oritten, not on a loose leaf, but in a book; not on perishable materials, but engraven in a rock, and filled out with lead, according to the several methods then in use of registering remarkable transactions: and observe, my dear Benjamin, that God granted and exceeded his desire; for being written in the sacred Scriptures, his words will continue to the end of time, and be made known and useful to multitudes in all ages and nations. Now, such a passionate preface would become no other matter so well, as the great and all-important truth concerning the Redeemer and a future life."

Further, the word Goail, Kinsman, Redeemer, will suit with no person so well as the Messiah, and the spiritual redemption by him. He was promised to be a Redeemer, and Christ the Messiah is said to have redeemed us, and hence the saints on earth and in heaven bless and praise him as their Redeemer. Read carefully the following passages: Isaiah, 49 : 25. 59 : 20. Jer. 31 : 11. Gal. 3 : 13. Eph. 1 : 7. 1 Peter, 1 : 18, 19. Luke, 1 : 68-70. Rev. 5:8.

Some of our ancient Rabbins understood the Messiah by the Redeemer. Targum. R. Hackodesh. Aben Ezra. Many of the ancient fathers and most of the modern divines apply it to Christ and the future resurrection.

Besides, it is evident, from several declarations of Job before he uttered this, that all his hope of a temporal recovery was clean gone. See chap. 6: 11. 7: 7, 8. 10: 20. 16: 22. 17: 1, 14, 15; and chap. 19: 10, 11.

We may therefore consider him as saying, I profess and believe that, through the merits of the Messiah my Redeemer, I shall after death be restored to life, and that the very self-same body shall rise; and that in this my own flesh I shall see God my Redeemer; and these eyes shall behold him, and not another; i. e. I shall appear in my own

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