on 'the new Man,' which is renewed in knowledge after the Image of Him, That Created him: and then insisting that Man, in himself, is nothing, and "that CHRIST is All, and in All" that are His, the Apostle goes on thus to describe what the Spiritual Dress of a true Christian is; exhorting All to seek to be clad in It, saying, "Put on, therefore, as the Elect of GOD, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing One Another, and forgiving One Another, if any Man have a quarrel against Any; even as CHRIST Forgave you, so also do ye! And, above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness! And let the Peace of GOD rule in your hearts; to the Which also ye are Called in one Body; and be ye thankful! Let the Word of CHRIST Dwell in you Richly in all Wisdom: Teaching and Admonishing One Another in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs; singing with Grace in your hearts to The LORD! And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in The Name of The LORD JESUS; giving thanks to GOD and The FATHER by Him."-Col. iii. 9, 10; 11 to 17.

This is the Garment, with Which The HOLY SPIRIT Provides us to take part in the Wedding Feast of The Incarnate SON of GOD with His Church, as His Bride; if we will but cleanse ourselves from all impurity of flesh and spirit, and by faith and repentance perfect Righteousness in the fear of GOD.

As the want of a Wedding Garment (the White Robe of the Saints) will not only preclude any participation in the Delightful Feast of The LAMB, but will insure everlasting want and woe to such Unworthiness; so the assumption of the robe of whiteness by a ministering Priest, though he utter the Counsel of GOD, will not protect against the Visitation of Justice in the Judgment on his immortal Soul, if it have been defiled by inward pollutions; for with GOD is no Respect of Persons. But to them, "which have not defiled their garments," the exalted Honour and inestimable Blessing is Promised, that "they shall walk with The LAMB in White;" and they, that by The Grace of The SPIRIT obtained that Precious Privilege through faith in The LAMB, "shall be Clothed in White Raiment;" whilst the names of the Rejected shall be "Blotted out of The Book of Life."-Rev. iii. 4, 5. 'Blessed is he, therefore, that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and his shame be seen!"-Rev. xvi. 15.

On the miserable condition of Those, who, like the Stranger, presuming on their own righteousness in the Presence of The LORD and SAVIOUR of the World, will, like him, be for ever Cast out of That SAVIOUR'S KINGDOM, Which is That of Holiness and Peace and never-ending Joy, some observations will be found at Chapter viii. 12.__ And on the Universality of CHRIST'S Mediatorial Offering, but on the limited Effect of It, through Spiritual pride and rejection of Its Terms, see Chapter xx. 16. What an Enemy to himself is Man! Invited to That Feast of the Soul, Which is continually Serving up with still increasing gratification; Called to the fulness of the Delights of Heavenly Treasures and Heavenly Communion, of Which all the desirable riches and warrantable pleasures of this World are but a faint image, and to the enjoyment Thereof in such endless succession, he yet shuns This Offer of DIVINE Love, and steeps both Body and Soul in the carnal and mental indulgences and besotments of this short and precarious Life! catching at the flatulent repast of pride or ambition, of letterlearning, or worldly knowledge, of vain conceit or boisterous mirth, which cloy in the possession, disappoint in the acquiring, and disgust in the end! Why, on the contrary, does not every Soul of Human-Kind walk humbly with GOD, its CREATOR and PRESERVER! That GOD, Who is Wisdom and Power, and yet Goodness and Mercy; and Delighting to Spread Happiness as Perfect and Pure as It is Lasting? If The ALMIGHTY only Called a Few, Man, through the perverseness of his disposition, would then, perhaps, be eager to be amongst the

Ordained of GOD: Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the Power, resisteth the Ordinance of GOD: and they, that resist, shall receive to themselves damration! For Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power? Do that which is good; and thou shalt have praise of the Same! for he is the Minister of GOD to thee for good: but if thou do that which is evil, be afraid! for he beareth not the sword in vain ; for he is the Minister of GOD, a Revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil : wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause, pay ye tribute also: for They are GOD'S Ministers, attending continually upon this very thing: Render, therefore, to All their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour!"Rom. xiii. 1 to 7. And that all power is from GOD, or Sanctioned by DIVINE Permission, our SAVIOUR Himself Declared, when on Pontius Pilate Sitting in judgment upon Him, and asserting that "he had power to crucify Him, and had power to release Him, JESUS Said, 'Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were Given thee from Above.'"-John xix. 10, 11. The doctrine of obedience to temporal Governors was also inculcated by St. Peter, thus; "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of Man for The LORD'S Sake; whether it be to the King as Supreme, or unto Governors, as unto them, that are sent by him for the punishment of evil Doers, and for the praise of them that do well: for So is the Will of GOD; that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish Men as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the Servants of GOD: honour all Men! love the Brotherhood! fear GOD! honour the King!"-1 Peter ii. 13 to 17. In his instructions to his Disciple Titus, whom St. Paul ordained to be a Minister over part of the Cretan Converts, he admonishes Titus to "put them in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers, to obey Magistrates, to be ready to every good work; to speak evil of no Man; to be no Brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.”— Titus iii. 1, 2.

In thus Sanctioning and Enjoining becoming homage to temporal Authority, our SAVIOUR equally Admonishes All, both High and Low, to pay due homage to their Universal LORD, The GOD of All Flesh; and to observe, with due reverence, His Laws, Which Apply to the Rich and Great, as well as to the Poor and Lowly. But Mankind, in general, are more observant of deference and respect to Earthly Princes and Governors than to their SPIRITUAL SOVEREIGN, though He Ruleth All the Armies of Heaven, and the Earth is but as His Foot stool; and on His Appointment and Destination hangs the Everlasting State of every Human Soul: indeed, Men, who would willingly sacrifice their Lives, in testimony of their loyalty to their Earthly King, will sometimes spurn the very mention of subserviency to the Will of their HEAVENLY KING, and withheld from Him the tribute of honour and of gratitude, That are so Richly Due to Him for His Providence and Grace. Such is the awfully deceiving influence of pride over the Human heart; and dreadful will be the result, when the Soul, awakening to a visual Eternity, sees all Things in their true light, and finds The OMNIPOTENT, Whom it rejected on Earth, Rejecting it eternally from the Mansions of Holiness and Happiness and Peace.

The Messengers, it seems, though, doubtless, chosen for their keenness and cunning, were utterly confounded; they were struck with silence as with wonder, and went their way. Had their hearts not been hardened as stone, they might have been everlastingly Blessed, by drawing Wisdom from Its Truest SOURCE. Had they really gone for the instruction and guidance they professed to seek, what delight would they have experienced at the Excellent Wisdom and Salutary Counsel Communicated in our SAVIOUR'S Answers! and how would they have

gone on their way rejoicing at The Heavenly LIGHT, That had so Burst on their benighted faculties! No more would they have been the willing Victims of Pharisaic malevolence. May we lay This Lesson to heart, and, when listening to The Oracles of GOD, or making Them the subject of our reading, may we not spend our reflections in unprofitable wonder, but strive to improve Thereby, to mark and inwardly digest Them, that we may understand with our hearts, and regulate both our Lives and conversation correspondingly, in all honesty and patience and perseverance, fulfilling our duties to our Earthly Superiors, as well as to our Equals and Inferiors, but most especially to our CREATOR, REDEEMER, and SANCTIFIER, The TRIUNE GOD!

"The same day came to Him the Sadducees, which say that there is no Resurrection,' and asked Him, saying, 'Master, Moses said, If a Man die, having no Children, his Brother shall marry his Wife, and raise up Seed unto his Brother.' Now there were with us seven Brethren; and the First, when he had married a Wife, deceased; and, having no Issue, left his Wife unto his Brother: likewise the Second also, and the Third unto the Seventh: and last of all the Woman died also. Therefore, in the Resurrection, whose Wife shall she be of the Seven? for they all had her?' JESUS Answered, and Said unto them, 'Ye do err, not knowing The Scriptures, nor the Power of GOD! For in the Resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the Angels of GOD in Heaven. But as touching the Resurrection of the Dead, have ye not read That, Which was Spoken unto you by GOD, Saying, I Am The GOD of Abraham, and The GOD of Isaac, and The GOD of Jacob? GOD is not The GOD of the Dead, but of the Living!' And when the Multitude heard This, they were astonished at His Doctrine."-23 to 33.

The Law, as laid down in the Mosaic Code, will be found in Deuteronomy XXV. 5 to 10.

The operation of this Law is confirmed by the early history of Ruth and her Mother in law Naomi, the Wife of Elimelech, for on the death of the Husband and two Sons of Naomi, Ruth, being the Widow of one of the Sons, and on Naomi determining to return to Israel (which she had left on account of a famine,) from Moab, whither she had taken refuge, and where her Sons took their Wives; and en her Daughters in law urging her to let them accompany her to her native Land, Naomi thus met their affectionate offer saying, "Turn again, my Daughters! why will ye go with me? are there yet any more Sons in my womb, that they may be your Husbands? Turn again, my Daughters, go your way! for I am too old to have an Husband. If I should say, I have hope; if I should have an Husband also to-night, and should also bear Sons, would ye tarry for them, till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having Husbands?"-Ruth i. 1 to 13.

In their application to our SAVIOUR, the Sadducees appear to have been actuated by no such reprehensible motive as the Pharisees; which is fairly to be inferred from the different reception they met with; for CHRIST did not Accuse the Sudducees, as He did the Pharisees, with being hypocrites, but Answered them in a Manner the most Earnestly Regardful of their Spiritual interests, as well as with the most unrefutable Reasoning. The Sadducees had been bred in the belief of a particular tenet; and understanding that CHRIST Taught a Doctrine directly opposed to it, they came to Him with a statement of imagined insurmountable difficulty for Him to Overcome, being of circumstances just possible, but probably supposititious. They came, therefore, if not with a desire for information, and to be set right, if they were wrong, having only that prejudice about them, which long habit naturally communicates when strengthened by plausible argument. Whether the opinion of the Sadducees, as regarded the Resurrection, was confined to the disbelief of any reunion between Soul and Body after death, by the rising of that Body from death unto Life; or whether they rejected

all faith in any part of Human Nature, even the Soul living after the earthly death, may be matter not unworthy of consideration, nor difficult of solution, upon a careful investigation of history with reference to that particular Sect; but as this is not expressly disclosed in this part of Scripture, the fact is, in some degree, left to inference. The important Truth, however, for Man to know, is, that he must, of necessity, live in his Spiritual or Intellectual Part for ever; and his condition in all That Eternity of Being and of consciousness, which assuredly awaits him, whether happy or miserable, must depend on his having secured or rejected, in this Life, the Favour of GOD, by cherishing or by setting at nought that faith in the Atoning Sacrifice and Meritorious Mediation of The SON of GOD, and that resignation to the Gracious and Purifying and Guiding Influence of the HOLY SPIRIT, Which by meekness, humility, obedience, and singleness of heart, alone qualify the Soul for Heavenly Society. This Truth admitted, we may safely leave to the Wisdom and Goodness of GOD, in the most unmeasured confidence, the nature of our Being in a future State, whether wholly Spiritual and Intellectual, or partly partaking of our Earthly Tabernacle, Regenerated, as seed by corruption in the ground, into an inconceivably more purified and beauteous State by the Revivifying and Refining Power of The HOLY GHOST: for we may rest assured that to Those, who, in a future State find Favour in the Sight of GOD, nothing will be wanting to fill up the measure of their perfect Bliss. Whether the Soul, from the instant of its separation from the Body, retains a consciousness, and retains it under any new order of relationship, until the Resurrection of the Body at the Great Day of Universal Judgment, may be, and often is, questioned. And to that character of doubt, our SAVIOUR'S Answer on the occasion Seems Encouragingly to Apply.

The narrative of this very interesting interview, as given by St. Mark, is as follows, "Then come unto JESUS the Sadducees, which say there is no Resur rection;' and they asked Him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, 'If a Man's Brother die, and leave his Wife behind him, and leave no Children, that his Brother should take his Wife, and raise up Seed unto his Brother.' Now there were seven Brethren, and the First took a Wife, and, dying, left no Seed; and the Second took her, and died, neither left he any Seed; and the Third likewise; and the Seven had her, and left no Seed: last of All the Woman died also: in the Resurrection, therefore, when they shall rise, whose Wife shall she be of them? for the Seven had her to Wife?' And JESUS Answering, Said unto them, Do ye not, therefore err, because ye know not The Scriptures, neither the Power of GOD! For when they shall rise from the Dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the Angels which are in Heaven. And as touching the Dead, that they rise, have ye not read in the Book of Moses? how in the Bush GOD Spake unto him, Saying, 'I Am The GOD of Abraham, and The GOD of Isaac, and The GOD of Jacob.' HE is not The GOD of the Dead, but The GOD of the Living! Ye, therefore, do greatly err!"-Chap. xii. 18 to 27.

St. Luke's account is thus, "Then came to JESUS Certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any Resurrection; and they asked Him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, 'If any Man's Brother die, having a Wife, and he die without Children, that his Brother should take his Wife, and raise up Seed unto his Brother.' There were, therefore, seven Brethren; and the First took a Wife, and died, without Children; and the Second took her to Wife, and he died childless; and the Third took her; and in like manner the Seven also: and they left no Children, and died: last of All the Woman died also: therefore, in the Resurrection, whose Wife of them is she? for Seven had her to Wife.' And JESUS Answering, Said unto them, The Children of this World marry, and are given in marriage but They, which shall be Accounted worthy to obtain that World, and

the Resurrection from the Dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more; for they are equal unto the Angels, and are the Children of GOD, being the Children of the Resurrection. Now that the Dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the Bush, when he calleth The LORD, 'The GOD of Abraham, and The GOD of Isaac, and The GOD of Jacob' for He is not A. GOD of the Dead, but of the Living: for All live unto Him.'"-Chap. xx. 27 to 38. This Doctrine of the Sadducees is adverted to by St. Paul; when arraigned before a Council of the Jewish Sanhedrim, and when "perceiving that the one Part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out, Men and Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the Son of a Pharisee! of the Hope and Resurrection of the Dead I am called in question!' And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the Multitude was divided for the Sadducees say, That there is no Resurrection; neither Angel, nor Spirit!' But the Pharisees confess both."-Acts xxiii. 6 to 8.

From hence, indeed, it should seem that our SAVIOUR'S Powerful Reasoning had not Wrought conversion in the minds of the Sadducees generally, and that their rejection of all faith in a Resurrection was not confined to the regeneration of the Body, but to the existence of the Soul in any after-state; since they denied that there were either Angels or Spirits: and a doctrine more replete with error of the most distressing and destructive nature it is difficult to conceive: for though there is much of Providential Blessing in this Life, yet amidst the inequality of condition, the prevalence of physical and moral ill, the fate of Man, if terminating with this Life, would be, perhaps, (from the very possession of that, which is esteemed his highest honour and his chiefest good, the being an Intellectual Spirit after the Image of his MAKER,) in the disappointment of that Immortality, to which it cannot but soar in hope, the most miserable of all the Creatures of the whole Earth; and a change with the most insensible of the Brute Creation would, perhaps, be a change to be desired. The Mosaic institution, on which the Sadducees grounded their faith, is thus recorded in the last Book of the Pentateuch : "If Brethren dwell together, and One of them die, and have no Child, the Wife of the Dead shall not marry without unto a Stranger: her Husband's Brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to Wife; and perform the duty of an Husband's Brother unto her and it shall be that the First-born, which she beareth, shall succeed in the name of his Brother, which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel."-Deut. xxv. 5, 6. In the early age of the Jews, as a Nation, this Law hould seem politic, as tending to preserve union within each Tribe, composing a istinet part of the National Family, and thereby, most effectually discouraging all hought of sexual alliance with the Inhabitants of the Heathen Nations around hem. But, however wise or politic as a Human Institution, the Sadducees maniested a most worldly and carnal-minded notion of the Glorified State in a World o come, to suppose, if any Such awaited us, that the narrow ties of Kindred and Conjugal Connection and familiar Acquaintance here would bind the Spirits, Raised 9 a Communion embracing all the Good and Excellent selected from Generation Generation in all the Ages and in all the Nations of the World; when their fections should be altogether set on Heavenly Things, and their minds stored ith Heavenly Wisdom, by the Full and Free Inspiration of The HOLY SPIRIT, as to be fitted for The KINGDOM of HEAVEN, and the union in worship of The Then Visible JEHOVAH, with Cherubim and Seraphim and all the Angels HEAVEN, in one bond of holy love and pure and Spiritual Fellowship. The anion in A Kingdom Characterized peculiarly as a Kingdom of Peace and foliness, to which the revival of such mixed and prejudiced Relationships as exist Earth, would give rise, seemed, to the Sadducees, a sufficient reason for denying a After State and the Resurrection, which would lead to it. And that such will

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