of his wrath, that it fully implies, that this is the final day of judgment, and as such, according to the common notion of a natural resurrection, must have been a subsequent event to that circumstance. But when our Lord terms it, The resurrection of damnation, I presume that it implies, that the resurrection, and the judgment, is embodied in it, as one act, therefore that the judgment constitutes the resurrection, and the resurrection, constitutes the judgment. And this will appear more evident, if we notice the connection of the former scripture, at the 8th verse, where the prophet is speaking of the judgment of the last day, saith, It is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of the recompenses for the controversy of Zion. Now mark when, and upon whom, the recompenses for the controversy of Zion was to take place. Our Lord then, in his last ministerial address to the Jewish house, and which was preparatory to the final judgment both of the quick and the dead, saith, Mat. xxiii. 34, Wherefore, bebold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill, and erucify, and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagouges, and persecute them from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth; from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar; verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation.

Now relative to the final judgment of this dissolving state, we further notice in connection the 9th verse of this chapter, which saith, The streams thereof shall be turned into pitch: it shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever and ever; that is, like Sodom and Gomorrah, it shall be sat forth as an eternal example of the righteous judgment of God. It is evident then, that when these heavens departed as a scroll, and all their host were dissolved, that the unjust came forth from their graves, be

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the nature of the resurrection of damnation what it may, because the entire system of this creation was then annihilated and as a day of judgment, it was a day of general account for the controversy of Zion, when the blood of the prophets, was required and found, at this spiritual Babylon. But mark what follows in its immediate connection, and which must be startling to some, who suppose that the circumstance of eternal judgment only occurs, when the successive generations of mankind have ceased to continue. It is then said in the 10th verse of this chapter, From generation to generation it shall lie waste, none shall pass through it for ever and ever. I ask then, is it possible, that this eternal judgment as expressed from generation to generation can be applied to men in a future state of creature existence, when according to the common theory of this subject, the successive generations of mankind must necessarily before this event have ceased to exist?

We observe again, that a resurrection of condemnation is not a resurrection of life; otherwise it would have the same denomination, and the same act would produce the same effect. Therefore the nature of these being totally ditsinct from each other, should never be confounded; for although they mutually progressed together in the judgment of a resurrection dispensation, either as being the subjects of life unto life, or of death unto death, they have no necessary relation to each other by that circumstance. But it is proposed by some, that though they do not terminate alike, that they progress together to a certain extent; that is, as far as to obtain a future creature existence, and then diverge from that point to experience in judgment, either an eternal felicity in heaven, or an eternal punisement in hell. But we observe to such, that when the just obtain a resurrection of life, that mortality by that act has already put on immortality; otherwise it would be a resurrection of life, pulting on eternal life; or immortality putting on immortality, which would be a palpable

absurdity; therefore the resurrection, the judgment, and the glorification of the just, are involved in the one act of a resurrection of life. And in reference to the resurrection of the unjust, as mortality is never proposed as that which puts on immortality, or that such are raised a spiritual body, or thereby obtain a victory over death: so necessarily their resurrection neither begins nor ends in life, which I presume clearly demonstrates, that it is only through a resurrection dispensation to which they stand related in judgment, that they experience the second death.

The judgment then, or the resurrection of the unjust, is that which they realize as a dispensation matter; and as such, is clearly revealed as that which relates to men in the body, and not to that of a future state of creature existence.

We observe again, that the apostle saith, The wages of sin is death. Therefore sin never obtains any life, either natural or spiritual, for those who are under its dominion; and in reference to those who obtain eternal life, and which term includes both a personal existence and a personal righteousness, this is only realized as a redemption blessing, and which results from the death, and the resurrection, and intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. If then eternal life is the sovereign gift of God, it necessarily follows that immortality is not the inherent property of human nature. The apostle saith, To them who by patient continuance in wel! doing seek for glory, and honour, and immortality eternal life ;-but why seek to obtain immortality eternal life, if these were inherent properties already in possession?

God said to Adam, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. This then as a personal address, comprehended the full extent of his nature, and not as some suppose, that a part of him was dust, and another part immortal; for in this definition of character, immortality is not even hinted at.

The apostle saith, in reference to Adam and his

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posterity, as being one body collectively, there is a natural body, as it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul. And again the first man is of the earth, earthy; therefore as such, his mortal nature by transgression, both in its moral and natural condition, became the subject of death.

It necessarily follows then, that where there is no moral incorruptibility from being born again of God, there is no eternal existence; but if there were an eternal existence without a spiritual capacity to enjoy it, it would be an eternal evil; because it is impossible for the natural man to have any communion otherwise than with earthly things which are congenial to his natural bias. Therefore it is declared that the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be ; and again, that the natural man discerneth not the things of the spirit, for they are foolishness unto him: neither can be know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Hence the spirit of man requires to be qualified, as well as preserved for an eternal existence. There are not so many immortal beings in our world as some people imagine; the evidence of the broad impress of immortality, is that of faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ; therefore as a fruit of the spirit, it makes manifest, that the vessel of mercy who possesses it, is fitted for an eternal communion with God and his Christ, in a spiritual kingdom which will never end.

I presume then, that on the subject of the immortality of the natural man, an unintentional error has arisen from attaching to him a natural resurrection, and which has originated from substituting that, which only applies to him, relative to a dispensation matter while in the body; for that which is supposed to refer to him in another state of creature existence. But I ask, how do men read such portions as these, in which the corruptible and incorruptible seed are distinguished from each other. Peter saith, chap. i. 23, Being born again,

not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever: for all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass; the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever; and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

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We notice in this scripture, that the incorruptiblo seed is not only compared with that which is corruptible, as being sinful, but also with that of its transient duration, as being comparable to withering grass. Now as the apostle saith, 'That all flesh is as grass, the glory of man as the flower of grass, I would ask, is this immortality? But it may be said this only refers to his earthly condition, as being the subject of mortality in that state. Therefore in reply, we notice what the apostle states when alluding to this subject, as being that which is contrasted with the preserved spirits of the faithful; he saith, 1 Thess. iv. 13, I would not have you ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others who 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. Now as the subject referred unto, was the future existence of the creatures who had died in faith, why in this respect does the apostle refer to the unbelieving as being void of hope? because upon the common theory of creature existence, when God would bring the spirits of the faithful with Christ, then the spirits of the disobedient would also be present, as the subjects of resurrection life at the same time; and which would destroy the propriety of the apostle's comparison altogether. I ask, was it not because there was no ground of hope, being as he elsewhere states, without hope, and without God in the world; or, because there was no promise of life for the unbeliever to rest on; and who as such, had no hope of interest in what had been obtained, relative to a resurrection of