God shall deliver up the subjects of his mediatorial kingdom to the Father, saying, "behold I, and the children whom thou hast given me." Then shall the church appear altogether glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. "Wherefore, beloved, seeing ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless," (2 Pet. iii. 14.)

2. But how lamentable the condition of the finally impenitent! They must, as the enemies of Christ, be put under his feet. What will avail their rule and authority and power! "The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day," (Isa. ii. 17.) Let them, without delay, throw down the weapons of their rebellion. Let them no longer think of maintaining an unequal contest with Omnipotence. Let them "kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and they perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him!" (Ps. ii. 12.)

SECTION FOURTH-VERSES 33-44.

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.

THE Apostle, having asserted the doctrine of the resurrection of the just, proceeds to warn the Corinthians against the specious arguments and subtile attempts of those who might seek to unhinge their minds, or shake their faith in this momentous point. He guards them against the danger of being deluded by the artful pretences of unbelievers. Referring to a passage in Menander, an ancient Greek poet, he reminds them of the natural tendency of familiar intercourse with persons of vicious habits, or infidel principles, to pollute and debase the mind. 33. “Be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt good manners (plusgovos non xenod' "quiniai xaxa)" Many individuals who have been trained up in the principles of religion and virtue, and who have, for a course of years, preserved a blameless reputation, have been led, astray by the influence of wicked companions, into the paths

of profligacy and impiety. Hence the earnest and frequent exhortations with which the scriptures abound, against the enticements of ungodly men. The book of Proverbs is especially useful to young persons on this account, (see chap. i. 10.; iv. 14, 15. &c.) It is therefore of the utmost importance to fortify the youthful mind against the allurements of worldly company. There is a danger here which even a heathen writer could perceive, whose language the Holy Spirit does not disdain to appropriate, as expressing an important truth. Indeed, amidst much that is erroneous or trifling, many brilliant sentiments occur in the ancient classic authors. He further exhorts his brethren at Corinth to rouse themselves from their sinful and foolish speculations, in a righteous manner, and as became righteous men, to a consideration of the danger they were in of embracing destructive errors, and of provoking the divine displeasure. 34. "Awake righteously (infare dixains, as is right or fit) and sin not." At present it was too apparent that some among them, by their captious objections against a resurrection of the dead, had no right conceptions of the character and perfections of the Divine Being; they were evidently ignorant of his infinite wisdom, goodness and power, and of the transcendant grandeur of his dispensations, both in providence and in grace; and this he said to humble and reprove them for their improper attachment to false teachers, and to bring them to a right sense of the disgraceful part they were acting, in embracing such erroneous doctrines. "Some have not the knowledge (ayarlar xove) of God, I speak for shame (or reproof, wrgon) of you."

Those who denied the resurrection of the body, started two difficulties, first, as to the possibility of such an event, and secondly, as to the manner of it. These objections the Apostle proceeds to answer. 35. "But some one will say, how are the dead raised up, (πws tyugortai, how can they be raised, M'Knight), and with what kind of body (o cμati) do they come?" With regard to the possibility of a resurrection, he observes, in a style of keen but salutary reproof, that the objector, by putting such a question discovered only his ignorance and want of consideration; for daily proofs were afforded him, in the natural world, of a similar exertion of divine power. 36. "Thou foolish or thoughtless man,' (gov) that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die." Referring to the process of vegetation, he desires the objector

X

to reflect on the remarkable change produced on grain, after it has been committed to the ground. To all appearance the seed consumes away, and only a small germ is preserved alive, from which, in its proper season, springs the future plant. A similar figure is employed by our Lord to illustrate the redemption of the world by his death, John xii. 24. "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." There is a very great difference between the grain committed to the earth, and the stalk produced from it. The former has none of the parts which compose and distinguish the latter. From a naked grain of wheat, or of some other corn, springs first the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear. Yet all these were wrapt up in the small seminal particle contained in the body of the decayed grain. 37. "And what thou sowest, thou sowest not the body about to be (smrquero), but a bare grain (yuver xxxos) perhaps of wheat, or of some of the other kinds (Taos Tay Awwr).” In what manner the different parts are unfolded and brought to maturity, by the influence of the soil, the rain, the sun, and the air, is to us utterly inexplicable, and must remain for ever a profound mystery. This is a kind of standing miracle, equally wonderful with many of those recorded in scripture, and yet, because it happens every year in the usual course of nature, it ceases to strike the beholder with surprize. Now, without experience, we should never have known that such an effect would follow. We may suppose a native of some distant country, who was entirely ignorant of the process of vegetation, to become acquainted, for the first time, with wheat as an article of food, and taken to a field where the operation of sowing was carrying on. He would be utterly at a loss to conceive the reason of throwing the seed away, and covering it with earth, and would consider the husbandman as acting a very foolish and unaccountable part. Even if told what would be the result, we may conceive him starting doubts from the apparent impossibility of the thing but when we know the reality of the fact, respecting vegetation, how unreasonable to deny the possibility of a resurrection of the body, which is an exertion of almighty power in some respects similar! It is also remarkable, that every seed produces its own kind, so that wheat never springs from barley-seed or any other, and the labourer calculates on

this constancy of nature, with the utmost certainty. The same thing is true of every other vegetable, "whose seed is in itself,

after its own kind." To what are we to ascribe this wonderful operation? Not to the wisdom of man-not to the effect of chance--not to the action of unconscious elements; but to the power of the great Creator. 38. "God giveth it a body as he hath pleased (xaows nλnos), and to every seed its own proper body."

Dr M'Knight concludes, from this passage, "that the body to be raised is not numerically the same with the body deposited at death, but something of the same kind formed by the energy of God." Had this learned critic said that the reasoning of the Apostle proves that the resurrection body shall not be in all respects the same with that we now possess, it would readily have been admitted; but the concession which he here makes to those who oppose the doctrine in question, on the ground of its incredibility, seems by far too great: it is evident, that if the resurrection body be not numerically the same with the present, it cannot be called a resurrection, but a new creation. The illustration in the text seems clearly to prove, that so much of the original frame shall be restored, as to maintain its identity.

The Apostle, in answer to the second question, "with what kind of body do they rise?" reminds the objector of the endless variety observable in the animal kingdom. 39. “All flesh is not the same flesh." The different genera of living creatures are possessed of bodies differently organized, and variously sustained. The flesh of which these bodies are composed, is differently constituted, so that we can commonly distinguish, by its colour or texture, to what creature it belongs. "There is one kind of flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes and another of fowls." These different tribes are produced in various ways, are endowed with peculiar instincts, they are fitted for the different elements in which they live, and the diversified ends of their formation. The different species are also preserved distinct by an universal law, so that whatever temporary confusion may take place, by the union of different kinds, it is immediately stopped by the incapacity of the individuals, so produced, to perpetuate that confusion. The bodies of all are wonderfully formed, and each affords an affecting display of the wisdom and goodness of the Creator. The minute inhabitant of the brook, and the insect that flutters in the gale, proclaim his divine per

fections, no less than the towering elephant, or the huge monster of the deep.

40, 41. Every part of the universe is furnished with its appropriate inhabitants. "There are also bodies celestial (rwμaтa exovganiα), and bodies terrestrial (wμara ya)." The heavenly bodies are hung in the vast expanse, and the surface of the earth is richly diversified with mountains, rivers, woods, and seas. And as nothing is created in vain, it is reasonable to suppose that the planets and other celestial luminaries are the habitations of various orders of intelligent beings. These various objects have a glory peculiar to themselves; and, in different degrees, declare the divine perfections, (Ps. xix. 1.) "The glory of the celestial (bodies) is one (riga) and the glory of the terrestrial is another. Among the heavenly bodies, the sun appears most conspicuous, by the greatness of his orb, and the splendour of his beams, affording light, heat, and vigour to the earth and other planets. The light of the sun is reflected, in a more soft and chastened manner, by the moon," pale empress of the night," while a more faint and distant light is emitted from the innumerable stars that garnish the face the sky. In short," There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars." Even among the stars a diversity of brightness is observable, according to their distances or magnitude; some shine by their own light, others by a borrowed lustre; some appear of a pale white, others of a deep yellow, others of a red colour; "for star differeth (dig, excelleth) from star in glory."

It is not therefore wonderful if the human body should be capable of a similar diversity in its appearance, when restored from the dust. 42-44. "So also is the resurrection of the dead: It is 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, or animal, body (uxxer), it is raised a spiritual body (LaTxov): there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." According to some, the word rugsras, it is sown, refers to the burial of the body in the grave, as compared to the sowing of grain; but it seems to include also the present condition of the body, as sprung from frail and sinful parents, as well as its state of dissolution in the tomb. It is produced a frail and perishing substance, with the seeds of mortality within itself, and at last dissolves in corruption, and becomes the prey of worms;