I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy sins. Is. xliv, 22. Our God will abundantly pardon. Isa. lv, 7. I will pardon all their iniquities. Jer. xxxiii, 8. The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; for I will pardon them. Jer. 1, 20. If the wicked will turn, his xviii, 21, 22. sins shall not be mentioned, Ezek. Micah vii, 18. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses. Dan. ix, 9. Acts v, 31. Do you feel yourselves to be sinners, exposed to the wrath and under the curse of God? or are you sinning with a high hand, setting at defiance the Majesty of Heaven, and saying in your hearts, "Tush! God careth not for it?"-If the remembrance of your sins be grievous unto you, have you sought the forgiveness of them, through Jesus Christ? If not, apply to him now for pardon; for he has said, (Rev. xxii, 17.) "Whosoever will, let him come." He pardoned David, Manasseh, and Peter, and he will also pardon you. He took upon himself your nature he put himself in your stead-he has satisfied the offended justice of God, by having kept that law which you have broken; and having suffered the punishment due to your offences, if you flee to him for refuge, he will say to you, (Matt. ix, 2.) "Thy sins be forgiven thee-The Lord hath put away thy sin." But if you should die with your sins unforgiven, it would have been better for you never to have been born. Absolution.--He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent. Litany.-Pray that it may please God to forgive you all your sins, negligences, and ignorances. 11th Sunday after Trinity.--O God, who declarest thy Almighty power most chiefly in shewing mercy and pity, &c. Collect. O God, whose nature and property is ever to have mercy, and to forgive--though we be tied and bound with the chain of our sins, yet let the pitifulness of thy great mercy loose us. On the Creed. No. 10. ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY, AND THE LIFE EVERLASTING. What are the two last articles of the Creed? [I believe in] the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. How does man differ from the brutes? He has a living soul, which shall exist eternally; while the spirit that animates the brute, perishes together with its body. The resurrection unto eternal life is one of the principles of the doctrine of Christ; (Heb. vi, 2.) and one of the privileges of the members of Christ. What is death? The separation of the soul from the body. Let this child's soul come into him again. 1 Kings xvii, 21. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Eccles. xii, 7. What becomes of the bodies of men when they die? They are dissolved by corruption, and turned again into dust. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, thou art my mother and my sister,---when our rest together is in the dust. Job xvii, 14, 16. All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust. Job xxxiv, 15. Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. Ps. xxii, 15. If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved. 2 Cor. v, 1. Death is sometimes in the Scriptures called a sleep :not a sleep of the soul, but a sleep of the body till the last day. Now shall I sleep in the dust. Job vii, 21. Ps. xii, 3, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth. John xi, 11. It is the common lot of all, except Enoch, (Gen. v, 24.) and Elijah, (2 Kings ii, 11.) and there is no escaping it. Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Gen. iii, 19. What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Ps. Ixxxix, 48. Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Rom. v, 12. It is appointed unto men once to die. Heb. ix, 27. What becomes of the souls of men at death? They go to a place of happiness or misery, accordingly as they are prepared for the one or the other. Lazarus and Dives: the rich man was tormented in hell; and Lazarus was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. Luke xvi, 23. To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise. Luke xxiii, 43. The spirits of just men made perfect. Heb. xii, 23. I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, &c. and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? Rev. vi, 9, 10. How long will the bodies of men continue in the grave? The harvest is the end of the world. Matt. xiii, 39. What is a resurrection? The re-union of the soul and body. The valley was full of bones: and they lived and stood up upon their feet. Ezek. xxxvii, 1, 7, 8, 10. This is equally as easy to God, as the uniting them together at first. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? Acts xxvi, 8. Will the same body rise which we now inhabit ?--Will there be no alteration in it? Our bodies will be the same, but they will experience such a change as will take away from them all tendency to decay, and adapt them for that eternal state of existence, for which we are hereafter destined. The bodies of the saints will be fitted to bear an exceeding and eternal weight of glory; and those of the wicked to endure unspeakable and everlasting torment. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. 1 Cor. xv, 44. We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. 1 Cor. xv, 51, 52. This corruptible must put on incorruption; and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Cor. xv, 53. Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. Phil. iii, 21. The dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17. We shall rise with the same tempers and tastes which we had at the time of our death. The proofs of a general resurrection are many. The prosperity of the wicked and the sufferings of the righteous in the present life, afford a strong presumption of it. The angels who sinned were punished: for God, who is just and holy, cannot permit sin to pass with impunity; and rewards have been promised and punishments threatened to mankind in general; it follows, therefore, that as there cannot be equal retribution here, there must be a resurrection "in which every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. v, 10. Nor is there any thing in the fact itself which should render it improbable. Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. John xii, 24. Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. 1 Cor. xv, 36. The dust out of which Adam was made, was as far from being flesh, as any dust now. The doctrine of a resurrection is taught both in the Old and New Testament. [Abraham] accounted that God was able to raise [Isaac] up, even from the dead: from whence also he received him in a figure. Heb. xi, 19. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Job xix, 25, 26. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. Ps. xvii, 15. God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for he shall receive me. Ps. xlix, 15. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Isa. xxvi, 19. Many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. Dan. xii, 2. O grave, I will be thy destruction. Hosea xiii, 14. The Sadducees denied a resurrection: but the Pharisees, and other Jews, firmly believed it. Matt. xxii, 23; Mark xii, 18; Acts xxiii, 8; 1 Cor. xv, 12. Now, that the dead are raised, even Moses showed 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. Matt. xxii, 31; Luke xx, 37, 38. Jacob had been dead two hundred years when Moses thus spake. The Son of Man shall sit upon his shall be gathered all nations. Thou shalt be recompensed at the xiv, 14. throne of glory, and before him Matt. xxv, 31, 32. resurrection of the just. Luke Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth. John v, 28, 29. That of all which [the Father] bath given me, I should lose nothing; but should raise it up again. John vi, 39. I know [my brother] shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. John xi, 24. They preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead. Acts iv, 2. [Paul at Athens] preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. Acts xvii, 18. God, who quickeneth the dead. Rom. iv, 17. If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Rom. vi, 5. He that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also mortal bodies. Rom. viii, 11. quicken your God will also raise us up by his own power. 1 Cor. vi, 14. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. 1 Cor. xv, 13, 21, 42, 51. He which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. 2 Cor. iv, 14. But I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, &c. We which are alive shall not prevent them which are asleep. 1 Thess. iv, 13--16. Enoch prophesied, saying,--Behold, the Lord cometh, with ten thou sand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, &c. Jude, 14. Who will be raised on this awful day? All men who have ever lived-every individual of the race of Adam, both the holy and the wicked. Before him shall be gathered all nations. Matt. xxv, 32. There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. Acts xxiv, 15. We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Rom. xiv, 10. Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Cor. xv, 22. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Cor. v, 10. I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. Rev. xx, 12. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. Rev. xx, 13. |