the perfected just ;" and thereby he not only repeats the assurance of celestial glory, but casts a ray of light, as it appears to us, on the magnificence of their destiny: as in another epistle (Eph ii. 6) he avers they were already seated "together in heavenly places in Christ," so here he testifies they had come- that is, in anticipation-" to the spirits of the perfected just,"-perfected by an exercise of omnific energy exalting those that were once so lowly to spirit being and spirit of life.

25. Though by an effort of the understanding, as lately remarked, we are scarcely able to touch the outer verge of this theme,-the "spiritual body," or heavenly mode of existence, -the devoutly inquiring mind may be aided in its meditation thereon by studying the Life of the Son of God between His resurrection and ascension to glory. Merely in its physical facts, it is an astonishing record. He is real and corporeal as before His decease; He walks, is touched, He eats and converses with His friends and disciples as prior to His crucifixion. Suddenly He vanishes from their midst, or appears in their company when arrangements had been made to hinder any ordinary visitor finding access to their presence. Now He is in this locality, and forthwith unexpectedly in another and distant place. And what is even more striking, He apparently manifests Himself to His old and beloved attendants not always in the same form (Mark xvi. 12), about which there is a mystery we attempt not to unravel. He could be visible or invisible, as He preferred, like the God-sent messengers who have visited our world from the upper spheres. Finally, as He travelled not in the ordinary way from one scene to another, and from one pious band to another, so He ascended calmly from a mountain to the regions of the blessed, as by an exercise of His own volition, in the sublime envelopment of imperishable glory. But to this must be added the visible splendour with which He is there permanently invested, a splendour of which the transfiguration was the prophecy and symbol, and clothed in which He appeared to John, banished for His sake to the desolate island of Patmos, when "His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength" (Rev. i. 16). Read in the light of all these facts, the triumphant eloquence of the great Apostle assumes a stupendous import, before which the lowly child of God may well be struck dumb with profoundest amazement," As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. . . . So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY!" (1 Cor. xv. 49, 54.)

IMPRESSIONS MADE ON THE AUDIENCE BY THE REPLY.

26. After explaining the argument against the non-resurrection tenet. of the Sadducees, we may, not without advantage, consider the effect which it produced on the hearers. In our estimate it was valid and unanswerable; how was it regarded by those to whom it was first addressed? This is the impression it left on the questioners, Matt. xxii. 34,-"The Pharisees heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence." By the promiscuous company it was thus viewed, verse 33, -"When the multitude heard this, they were astonished at His doctrine."

Thus it affected one of the Scribes, Mark xii. 28,-" Having heard them reasoning together," he bore witness that Jesus "had answered them well;" but in Luke xx. 39, it is said more of the same class avowed their approval: "Certain of the Scribes answering said, Master, Thou hast well said,"-that is, with wisdom and success.

Such was the verdict, so to speak, of the large and complex jury who heard the case; and the Reply so satisfied those in the audience inclined to cavil at any article in His doctrine, or to perplex Him as a teacher of religion, that their attacks would only end in their own discomfiture, that Luke adds (xx. 40), "after that they durst not ask him any question at all." Of course, the verdict, as we have named it, consisting of the silence of the questioners, the astonishment of the promiscuous throng, the testimony of the Scribes, and the caution which the answer wrought in the minds of all disposed to interrogate, from motives entitling them to blame, is not irrefragable evidence that the reasoning was sound and efficient for its aim. Had they declined to admit its strength, that would have been no assurance to us that it was impotent and a failure. Of its quality we can judge for ourselves; and, apart from the unmeasured inspiration of the Speaker, we can discern the logic of His method and the triumph of His plea. But while this is true, we acknowledge a feeling of more than satisfaction at the general candour manifested on the occasion; for even the "silence" of the Sadducees was a tacit confession that they were worsted on the ground chosen by themselves. That was preferable to railing at One who, in the development of sacred truth, had left them speechless; and they might on the spot have given freedom to their passions, stung into virulence by their intellectual and Biblical defeat. They got their answer, and went home wiser if not better men.

While we would set merely a subordinate value on the impressions the argument produced, unless we could determine otherwise that they were just such impressions as ought to have been produced, let us elevate conspicuously into notice the fact that the reasoning of our Lord was understood, in its drift and bearing, at once by the assembly before Him. Had it been otherwise than simple and transparent, such would not have been the case. If, as He reasoned, they in a moment saw its superlative force, we surely may without difficulty arrive at the same discovery by an exercise of our faculties, assisted by an honest desire to perceive its cogency. It might be said to us, and not without a show of reason, judging by the number of the preceding pages, it does not seem just such an easy matter as you represent it to be. Of that we are fully conscious, and owe an apology to the reader for the long journey he has had to travel. But in consequence of errors manifold, which had first to be removed, our progress was slow, and the truth, the transcendent truth, was only reached by toilsome and critical steps. With that defence, we cast ourselves on the reader's forbearance.

HOW OUR LORD BORE HIMSELF IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

27. We have seen how the disinterested onlookers were impressed with the argument delivered in their hearing, and, from the silence of the champions of scepticism, we can imagine they were mortified at the

failure of their attack. They left without a word. From them no confession of ignorance; no thanks for the instruction they had received. They came not with a sincere desire to be enlightened, and they retired embittered that the people had found out, in consequence of their own imprudence, how weak were the supports of their chosen dogma.

Now let us observe, with equal care, how the Christ bore Himself in the circumstances, and venture to determine what emotions would be supreme in His heart. It would appear to have been a silent parting on both sides. In commencing His reply, He had addressed a few words of gentle blame to His adversaries," Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God;" and when His demonstration was ended He closed His lips. Though they departed in an exasperated mood, He followed their retreat with no words of triumph, nor of obloquy at their persistent blindness. That was not His style with those who attempted to do Him wrong. He came to inform, not to insult; to reason, not to rail; to convince men, not to curse them for refusing His lessons. What was the sullen frown of His adversaries to Him who saw Calvary in the distance, and that not a long way off? Triumph! He was immeasurably above petty exultation, like every other selfish feeling, weak or strong. He had but a single object in entering into debate with His antagonists,-not to gather popularity around His name, only to win them as benighted perishing sinners to the hope and inheritance of eternal life. When they retired, unmoved except by hostility to His mission, we may be sure one deep feeling of pity pervaded His inmost being, a feeling identical with that which, on another occasion, found relief in tears, and in the sorrowful wail,-" O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, . . . how often would I have gathered thy children together. . . and ye would not !"

CONCLUSION.

The task we undertook has been a labour of love, notwithstanding its difficulties, and would have been altogether pleasant but for one consideration which not unfrequently threw a shade over the inquiry that has engaged our thoughts. Will the reader listen to a few words accounting for this experience? Its cause was this: the necessity we were under, during the opening up of the Saviour's demonstration, to shake confidence in some ideas that so many have hitherto looked upon as sacred and beyond a doubt. That those we loved with so much affection are really asleep in the tomb, and not in the regions of endless day, appears a cold and forbidding doctrine, and, after the theological training the most of us have undergone, does signal violence at first to the finest sensibilities of our nature. From our youthful years, some of us have been intimately acquainted with a faith thus delivered:

"The souls of believers are, at their death, made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection."- (Shorter Catechism, Question 37.)

Tender associations have twined themselves around this phraseology, and it seems a thankless effort, not to wipe out those dear memories of parental love and watchfulness, for, perish what may, those recollections

are enduring, but to scatter the visions of hope and celestial privilege which devout but mistaken builders had erected to cheer the broken heart and delight the imagination as it looked reverently and trustfully beyond the grave. Nay more, it almost wears the aspect of cruelty to shut heaven, as it were, on those who, amid the sorrows and conflicts of the Christian warfare, have been fondly expecting, at the hour of death, that its blessed gates would be held open by angel hands to receive them. This depressing feeling we had to contend with all along; and yet, O friend, is it not more profitable to have a right understanding of those solemn matters and to know where the "strong" and "everlasting consolation" abounds, than to be the sport of illusions, however dazzling, and refreshed by streams of comfort that do not issue from the throne of God and of the Lamb? The grand hope of the apostolic church was the recovery of being by a glorified resurrection at the Lord's return; and with the sainted Paul each lowly disciple may without a murmur wait God's time, when His promises are to be fulfilled; and in the meanwhile, as a beacon and heavenward attraction to the world drifting, drifting towards perdition, exclaim with a jubilant and thankful spirit,"There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me (at death? no!) at THAT DAY; and not to me only, but unto all them also that LOVE HIS APPEARING (2 Tim. iv. 8). Finally, if through this feeble effort light has been shed on one of the most priceless records of the Sacred Volume, and if the Exposition, notwithstanding its manitold imperfections, may turn out a guide to any who eagerly desire to enjoy "the goodwill of Him that dwelt in the bush," and "the certain hope" of a resurrection to "eternal life," that alone will infinitely requite the author for what labour and anxiety attended its production.

'THE MAN OF SIN."

AVING on a former occasion offered, through the medium of your

certain person to the sad pre-eminence awaiting the individual destined to assume, and carry out to its clearly-revealed issue, the role of the "Man of Sin," I would now, with your permission, revert to the subject, by briefly recapitulating the evidence I then adduced in favour of my position, and adding some particulars bearing on the question.

So far from its being (as some would persuade us) an attempt to be wise above what is written, to entertain at all, as admitting of even the possibility of a satisfactory reply, the inquiry, who is the "Man of Sin ?" it is evident, from due consideration of the various aids furnished by the Word of God, as guides to the ascertainment of that point, that it is the Divine will that the identification of the individual so destined should be within the easy reach of the unprejudiced, honest, and faithful student of the "sure Word of prophecy."

The individuality, personality, and now nearly-approaching revelation of the " Man of Sin" being now much more generally than heretofore admitted by all who can properly be called students of that Word, I feel

assured that an unprejudiced investigation of the evidence it supplies on the subject before us must lead to a more general reception thereof than has yet obtained.

Without further preface, then, I would refer in the first place to Rev. xvii. 8-11; the particulars of the description in which, as characteristic of the party intended, cannot, I conceive, by any possibility be fairly applied to any other individual that has ever existed, or can ever exist, than to him, to whom I feel assured, they all point, as agreeing, in all the particulars specified, with his most remarkable, world-wide, and well-known history-which is that of the late Napoleon I., Emperor of the French.

How, for example, could verses 10 and 11 be possibly applied to any other man who has ever lived? The angel, addressing John, states that the sixth form of Roman Government was then in actual existence: "Five are fallen, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh he must continue but a short space." Note here the minute correctness of the description given: "the other," not another; for the beast is represented as having but "seven heads;" and as six of the number had appeared, there remained, of course, but one to come.

The Emperorship having been the form then in existence, it necessarily constituted the sixth head. The five preceding ones had been as follows: Kings, Consuls, Dictators, Decemvirs, and Military Tribunes. The Emperorship ceased on the abdication of the then Emperor, A.D. 1806, when Napoleon I. became the acknowledged seventh head, but with a different title; and fulfilled, so far, the prediction that it should. "continue a short space;" he having occupied that position for nearly nine years, viz., from A.D. 1806, till A.D. 1815, when he was politically annihilated, so to say, at Waterloo.

But in ver. 11 we have mention, for the first time, of an eighth head! How comes this, seeing the beast has but seven altogether? Just in this way. The reappearance on earth of the seventh shall be, as it were, an eighth; that is, a quasi eighth, as we say. And that this is the real solution of the apparent inconsistency in the case, is plainly declared in the place before us, as follows: "The beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven."—εK TWV ETTα, that is, one of the number; as if it were εs EкTWV έzτα, one of the seven. How could Napoleon I. be more plainly designated? He would necessarily be one of the seven, having himself been the seventh; and to none of the previous six heads could possibly be applied, consistently with common sense, the language of the whole passage.

The phrase so much in use in works on prophecy, "the SeptimoOctave head," seems to admit and recognise the identity of the seventh and quasi eighth heads as different phases of the same individual. The past history, too, of Napoleon I., as that of one who was, in some measure, the terror of Europe, is such that it would be but natural that the world should "wonder at seeing him again on earth, as we read in chap. xiii. ver. 3: "And I saw one of his heads, as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast." How exactly does this correspond with the case of Napoleon I. in his past history, and clearly predicted post-resurrection state!