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CLEARLY BEHOLD THE TRIUNE LORD HIMSELF EVEN AS HE IS." But whence are these words? from what book of Scripture, from what record of the primitive church, have they been derived?" I go," said Christ to his disciples, “to prepare a place for you: and if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, AND RECEIVE YOU unto myself, that where I am ye may be also" (John xiv. 2). Here it is plain enough, that the glorious place prepared by Christ for his saints is not possessed by them UNTIL HE COMES AGAIN, Then indeed, according to the intercessory prayer (John xvii. 24), the saints shall be together with Christ, and shall behold his glory: "1 shall be satisfied, O Lord, WHEN I AWAKE with thy likeness (Psalm xvii. 15).

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It seems equally incongruous with the Scriptures and with sound reason, either to require supreme punishment, or to expect supreme rewards, before they have been decreed in judg ment, and their respective causes shewn; and the Scriptures speak of no judgment before the end of the world. That is "the day in which God will judge the orb of the earth (noikovμevn) by Christ" (Acts xvii. 31): "Then shall every work be tried " (I Cor. xiii. 15): "Then shall every one receive according to what he hath done in the body" (2 Cor. v. 10): Then are "the thrones placed, and the books opened, and the dead judged according to their deeds" (Apoc. xx. 11-13): then are the righteous and unrighteous separated, the sheep from the goats; those being placed on the right hand of the Lord, and these on his left; and upon both he pronounces sentence. For this we receive from Christ's own mouth (Matt. xxv. 31 et seq.): "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, THEN shall he sit on the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth hist sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. THEN shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ....THEN also he shall say to those on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

Behold the time, behold the method, the rewards, and punishments, and the sentence of execution pronounced; and all these things future-namely, "WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL COME." But if it be objected that these things are to be understood of the general judgment only; and that there is, besides that, a secret and particular judgment, which is instituted immediately after death, and received by every human spirit on its exit from the body; Produce the texts, if you please; direct us to those sacred Scriptures which attest it, that we may see

whether they demonstrate any such thing. The passages we have cited are before you, as clear as light itself; and they indicate nothing concerning a previous judgment, but rather exclude the idea. In matters of this sort, which rest upon Divine will and the revelation that God hath vouchsafed to us, we may not according to our own will prescribe a new order, to serve our hypotheses. It is true enough that every human spirit, on its exit from the body, undergoes a tacit and private judgment, inasmuch as it is conscious in itself of the good or evil which it hath previously transacted; and carries in its bosom its own witness, and its sentence also; and recognises in that dispensation and affection which it experiences THE PRESENCE of a propitious or of an offended God*; and discerns, yea, SEEs as already imminent, the fate decreed upon it: but all this realizes nothing without, all this transpires within the spirit; .which, nevertheless, continues in one and the same place, state, and habit, till the resurrection.

We have remarked before, that the resurrection is rendered useless by the Roman Church; when it forestals the glory of the saints; and we may add, that the general judgment is rendered no less superfluous by the same violation of Divine order. For if every one be judged already according to his deeds; if the just and the unjust be now separated-those enjoying heaven and the sight of God, these tormented with punishments external as well as internal-then what need for any future judgment? what is it to effect? or upon what actions is it held? Was the former judgment erroneous, that it requires to be renewed? or DO THE DAMNED APPEAL? Surely you dare not suppose it. But you will say, that the sentences pronounced and executed in private, should be demonstrated equitable and righteous before the whole world. This were intelligible, if the injured party could lodge a complaint; but you have supposed that every one condemned is self-condemned; and slowly enough, upon your supposition, is the question of the equity of their punishment examined, when they shall have already suffered the torments of gehenna for ages: and, on the other hand, equally preposterous were an inquiry into the justice of their rewards who have been possessed of all the joys of heaven, not for ages only, but for thousands of years.

Ånd, to return to the resurrection: Let us see what the Papal theology teaches us concerning it. The Romanists say, that the bliss of the human spirit is not more intense after the resurrection

*As "the man after God's own heart" rejoiceth to acknowledge, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: IF I MAKE MY BED IN HADES, BEHOLD THOU ART THERE (Psalm cxxxix. 8); so the bereaved Patriarch, "THERE IS NO DARKNESS, NOR SHADOW OF DEATH WHERE THE WORKERS OF INIQUITY MAY HIDE THEMSELVES" (Job xxxiv. 22).

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than before; or, to be accurate *, "That the glory of human spirits is not augmented in the resurrection, unless in extent, not in intensity" (Bellarm. de Beat. Sanct. chap. ii. & v.)—unless accidentally, and not in itself; the spirit remaining in the same beatific vision of God, in the same light, in the same glory, in the same perfection of its functions, in the same intrinsic bliss, which it had before, according to these theologians. How small an accession of good accrues from the resurrection of the dead! How ill do their words agree with those of St. Paul! (1 Cor. xv.) Is this trivial addition of enjoyment the all," without which, saith the inspired Apostle, "we are of all men most miserable" (ver. 19); without which he esteems the immortality of the spirit as nothing; without which HE would direct our hope to this life alone (ver. 32); apart from which he mentions nowhere all that previous bliss, whether you call it the beatific vision, or by any other name? THEN only he expects his reward; THEN also his crown (2 Tim. iv. 8); thence he procures consolation under every trial, and against death itself (1 Thess. iv. 14, 18). What St. Paul calls "an exceeding eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. xiv. 17; Rom. viii. 18—23; Eph. i. 10-14), they of the apostasy regard as a trivial overflow; and what St. Peter calls "a crown of glory which fadeth not away" (1 Pet. v. 4), they account a mere appendage of our glory, and not the chief nor a principal part of it.

Lastly: The Lord Jesus Christ himself hath taught us not to antipicate nor expect the redemption of the saints before the end of the world (Luke xiv. 14; xxi. 28); and he promises not any retribution before the resurrection of the just so opposite to the doctrine of the Gospel are the decrees of the Roman church on this point. That which the Apostles, the blessed martyrs, the ancient fathers, esteemed as the chief promise of the Gospel, the foundation of the Christian faith, the anchor of hope, is rendered, according to those decrees, all but void, useless, and superfluous. And be it remembered, that Christ hath purchased that redeemed life, that renewed hope, with no less a price than his own life, and confirmed it by his own resurrection (1 Pet. i. 3,21; Heb. ii. 14; 2 Tim. i. 10). And him that rises not, HE treats as lost, in that sacred discourse of John vi. 39, &c.; as also doth St. Paul, in his memorable argument to the Corinthians, 1.Cor. xv. 16–18.

THIS, then, is the miraculous operation of the Divine energy, even the victory and the triumph of God IN DEATH ITSELF made manifest;-this the summit of our perfection; for which we strive; to which we all aspire (Philip. iii. 10); and beyond it, ambition (however great) hath not an aim.

* Animarum gloriam non augendam esse in resurrectione: nisi extensive, non intensivè,

By what has been said, it appears to me sufficiently demonstrated, both out of the Scriptures and the ancient Fathers, that the bliss of the saints either entirely or chiefly depends on the RESURRECTION; and that the supreme perfection, and the consummate felicity or glory, which the beatific vision of God expresses, are not imparted to human spirits before the day of judgment and the advent of the Lord. And if, from paucity of the number of testimonies adduced, we feared that the question should suffer detriment, it would be easy to bring forward many more, of the fourth and following centuries: but the force of Holy Writ (which ought to be sufficient alone) is obscured by too much collateral proof; and I shall therefore only add (and that as an appendix) some of the more obvious and indisputable passages of a later date to the same effect, which may either be consulted or disregarded as the reader's mind seeks comfort and support from his fellow-mortals or not.

THE TRANSLATOR.

And now this eloquent author (the Reverend Doctor Burnet, Master of the Charter-House in 1727) proceeds to quote the testimonies of Chrysostom, Theodoret, Ecumenius, Theophylactus, Euthymius, &c.; Plures patres in Not. Cortholt. ad Justin. xliv. Col. 1 et 2; Hilarius, Ambrosius, and Augustin; (Expos. ad Psalm xxxvi. 10; Enchirid. ad Laurent. c. 118; Gen. ad. Literam, 1. 12, c.35; De Civ. Dei, 1. 12, c. 9; Retract. 1. 1, c. 14; Confess. 1. 9, c. 3; D. Bernardus; Clemens; Cyprian; Dyonisius the Areopagite; Epiphanius; Shaplet. Defens. Auctorit. Eccles. 1. 1. c. 3;) and in the first instance Auctor. Quæstionum et Respons. ad Orthod. apud Justin Martyr; together with all the ancient Liturgies: but in these days it is presumed that he would altogether have rested here; " For, indeed, when they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither would they believe though one rose from the dead."

My effort has been, not so much to give the language, as to write in communion with the spirit of our author: at the same time, the liberties which I have taken in this translation are not important enough to be mentioned. WE OFFER

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CHURCH THE TRUTH AS IT IS, as it was seen to be by five hundred brethren at once, IN THE PERSON OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. "He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear." And as for those disciples whom Satan, or the world, or the desires or hopes or flattering unctions of the flesh, have so blinded, that they esteem themselves, or hope themselves to be, greater than their Lord; as for those servants, I say, may God be merciful unto them, for his own Name's sake!

REVIEWS AND MISCELLANIES.

66

VAUGHAN'S POPULAR ESSAYS.

Self-manifestation the End of all God's Counsel and Operations. The Truth: a Series of popular Essays designed to lead Men into the Knowledge and Enjoyment of God. By E. T. Vaughan, M.A., Vicar of St. Martin's, Leicester."

WE should not have delayed to bring the Popular Essays of Mr. Vaughan under the consideration of our readers until the present time, had we not entertained the daily hope that they would have been completed under the superintendance of the same master spirit that indited their commencement. That hope has now closed upon us; and we have therefore no motives to induce us to refrain, but many to urge us on to give some account of this invaluable treatise; and not among the least may be mentioned, an apprehension that it is not so universally known as it ought to be, for the benefit of the church of God.

The Notes to Mr. Vaughan's edition of Luther's treatise De Servo Arbitrio, the Life of Robinson, as well as his Sermons, and the little work which is the subject of these remarks, evince the author to be a theologian of the first order, in any age, and in any church; and in our day, in the Church of England, absolutely without a rival. In estimating the value of an ininstrument, the first element in the calculation is an accurate knowledge of the nature of the work which it has to perform; and, rating the importance of Mr. Vaughan as a divine very high, it is proper to shew the grounds upon which that judgment has been formed.

Although the labours of Bishops Horsley and Porteus, Messrs. Biddulph, Faber, Cunninghame, Frere, and some others, kept the prospect of the Second Coming of the Lord from dying quite out of the remembrance and hope of the church in these latter days, it was not till the publication of the letters under the signature of Basilicus, by Mr. Way, that the subject was brought to her attention, once more, with a force sufficient to rivet the regard of all who, being taught by the Spirit of truth, have the witness within themselves to any branch of it that is presented from without. Many, who had never considered the subject before, began now to search the Scriptures, to see whether these things were so or not; and finding that they were, believed them, to the saving of their souls. But, along with the precious seed of the kingdom sowing up and down the land, Satan was busy in planting tares: where he could not prevail upon men abso

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