is the author and finisher of their faith, is what constitutes the happiness of the saints in heaven; for whom have we in heaven but thee? and there is none on earth that we desire beside thee (Ps. 73. 25); for God shall supply all our wants in glory. (Phil. 3. 21. Col. 1. 5, 12.) For in the glorified Assembly there is no ministry, neither are there orders or degrees; for the souls of the saints being purified and illu1 minated by God, faith and hope shall cease; for faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11. 1); and love, which is the bond of union of the blessed, shall reign supreme and for ever in the city of Jehovah. 'For now we see through a mirror, enigmatically; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then shall I know even also as I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.' (1 Cor. 13. 12, 13.)

In the heavenly passover the Israel of God shall celebrate their deliverance from the body of corruption and humiliation, of which feast our blessed Lord testified when he said to his disciples, 'With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God' (Luke, 22. 16), of which the following Scriptures do testify: Matt. 25. 11, 12, 34. Luke, 22. 30, Acts, 23. 6; 26. 6-8. Gal. 5. 21. And the heavenly Jerusalem, which the apostle Paul calls the kingdom of the Christ and of God (Eph. 5. 5), is typified by the kingdom of God on earth; for as in this dispensation the Christ is the Lord and the King of the saints (Luke, 1. 32, 33. Matt. 28. 18. Acts, 2. 36. Eph. 4. 5. Col. 1. 13), so also is Jehovah the King of the Israel of God. (Eph. 4. 6.) And thus it will be likewise in the new creation, for then, as now, the Son of God will be subordinate to the Father; for at end of the age he shall deliver over to him the kingdom which he purchased with his blood, and God will be all

things and in us all. (1 Cor. 15. 28). And we shall worship Jehovah in his Son Jesus the Christ, who is the living and visible manifestation of God, in the glorified Assembly, 'For the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his slaves shall worship him ; and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be no more night, and they shall not need the light of a lamp, neither the light of the sun; for the Lord God will lighten them, and they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show unto his slaves the things which must shortly be done. And behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.' (Rev. 22. 3-7; comp. 1. 3.) And 'Blessed are they who wash their robes, that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.' (Rev. 22. 14.) And blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Christ, who according to his great mercy hath begotten us again, that we might have a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus the Christ from the dead, of an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

May we, then, my brethren, be rooted and grounded in love to one another, and know the love of God to us in his Son, the Anointed Man Jesus, who is our hope of glory, until the day when, clothed with an incorruptible body, and crowned with the diadem of the just, we shall sing the hymn of victory over sin and death in the city of the living God, to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen!

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CHAPTER XV.

THE LAST JUDGMENT.

'Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto a resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto a resurrection of judgment.'-John, 5. 28, 29.

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him; and they also that pierced him: and all the families of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.'

Rev. 1. 7.

I. DEATH is the judgment of God on fallen man for sin, and hell is his judgment on the enemies of his Son Jesus the Christ.

II. The Gehenna.

III. The judgment of the great day is announced by the prophet John.

IV. God is justified in judging the workers of iniquity at the last day.

I. Death is the judgment of God on fallen man for sin, and hell is his judgment on the enemies of his Son Jesus the Christ.

As there are but two classes of men to be raised again from the dead, it is evident that if all the dead come forth at

the last day, that all those who have not faith in the Son of God must be damned; but death is the wages of sin, and not hell which is the judgment of God upon the workers of iniquity, that is, upon the enemies of the Son. For the soul or immaterial part of man which thinks, and wills, and feels, is not immortal; and hence it is an error to suppose that it is destined to live for ever, either in happiness or in suffering, after the death of the body; for the life which God breathed into man when he created him was not everlasting, but the life which he partakes of in common with all other animals. The immortality of the soul of fallen man is therefore a gift of God to the elect by faith in Jesus ; but it is a curse to the enemies of the Lord, who shall suffer the judgment of the Gehenna at his coming. The soul of fallen man being mortal like his body is condemned to perish (Gen. 2. 17; 3. 19), and hence there is no resurrection but for the brethren of the Lord, and for the workers of iniquity, according to the testimony of the prophet Daniel. 'Many of those,' saith he, that is, of the children of Israel, 'that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.' (Dan. 12. 2.) Now, as all the people of Israel shall not awake from the dead at the last day, it is evident that the resurrection of the dead is not for all men ; and accordingly when Jesus announced that the hour is coming when all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, he meant to say that all his brethren and all his enemies shall hear his voice and come forth, the former unto a resurrection of life, and the latter unto a resurrection of judgment. And when he told his disciples that all nations shall be gathered before him at the day of judgment, it is manifest also, that all nations shall awake like the people of Israel, some to everlasting life in glory, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

The resurrection of all who die in the Lord is certain

(John, 6. 40); but the resurrection of all those who die without faith in him, is not taught by the word of God, but the contrary; because they who shall awake from the dead and come forth for judgment at the last day, shall be judged by their works. Now it is manifest that a child cannot have a resurrection unto life, not having faith in the Christ; and neither shall it have a resurrection unto judgment, for not having the knowledge of good and evil, it cannot be an enemy of the Lord. Neither shall they who have never heard of the Saviour rise again, for they cannot have a resurrection unto life, not having faith in him; and neither shall they come forth to a resurrection unto judgment, as they have never rebelled against him; and as regards those who have heard the word of salvation, but who have not received the gift of faith, there can be no resurrection unto life for them; and neither shall there be a resurrection unto judgment, except they have done evil by opposing the testimony of Jesus, in which case they shall be judged by their works at his coming. We conclude, therefore, from the word of God that the soul of fallen man is mortal, and that annihilation is the judgment for sin; according to the words of our Lord, who said, 'He that heareth my word, and believeth in him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life.' (John, 5. 29.) And again, 'Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.' (John, 11. 26. Comp. 3. 14-16. Luke, 12. 16-21.)

At first sight the everlasting judgment of those who do evil may appear to be a matter which does not concern those who have passed from death unto life, but as it manifests the character of our heavenly Father as a righteous Judge, it is incumbent on us to ascertain who are the workers of iniquity who shall be judged according to their works; for which purpose we must consult the scriptures according to the counsel of Paul to