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rection of the dead, will raise the bodies of all out of the dust; the self-same bodies as before, and bring all to life, from Adam, to the last that shall be born of Adam: let the sight of this day encourage you in all good, that by virtue you may make your resurrection glorious.

But O how terrible will be the resurrection of the wicked to judgment! Let the sight of it deter you from sin; consider well the confusion they will then be in, so as to wish the mountains would fall upon them, and hide them from God's wrath. O who can offend in the sight of an angry prince? Who then dares offend in the sight of an angry God!

Live innocently; or, if you have sinned, rise again by repentance; the sins which are cancelled by confession and penance, shall not rise up against you at that day. Let the sight of a joyful resurrection encourage you to every virtue; to love God, who is all good ; to hope in God, who is all merciful; to fear God who is all justice. Let it embolden you to suffer persecution and death for justice; knowing that this will make your soul happy at death, and your body glorious at the resurrection of the dead: preserve your bodies now from the corruption of sin and impurity, that they may rise to incorruption, and a glorious immortality. That which one hath sown, the same shall he reap.

e. WH

ART. XII.

Life Everlasting.

A.

HY is this the last article of our creed? Because life everlasting is our last end, and the last reward we expect by faith. Q. What is meant by it? A. That such as live well, and die in the state of grace, shall live with God in everlasting glory; but that the wicked shall live forever in the torments of hell. Q. Were all created for this end, that they might be saved? A. They were: It is the will of God that all men should be saved: He wills not the death of a sinner, but rather that he be converted and live, 1 Tim. ii. 4.

Ezech. xxxiii. 11. He made no one to be damned. Q. Why then are so many lost? A. By their own wilful transgressions and impenitent hearts: Thy perdition is from thyself, O Israel. Q. In what consists everlasting life? A. In the clear sight and enjoyment of God. Q. What will follow from thence? A. Such love of him, and joy, and happiness, as no mortal tongue can express, or mind conceive. Q. What means the word Amen? A. So be it; whereby we declare that we believe and assent to every article of the creed.

INSTRUC. This article concludes the creed, and lays down to us the great and glorious end of our creation and redemption, viz. Life everlasting. The life we enjoy here, is as no life to a life eternal. Life everlasting is a perfect and complete happiness, which cannot be expressed by any thing we know on earth, so well. It is called life, because our life is the dearest thing we can imagine; and it is called everlasting, because it cannot be true happiness, if mixed with the thought of an end or death attending it. It is compared in holy writ to a banquet or marriage feast, to repre sent the joy of it. It is compared to a kingdom, to shew the glory of it. It is compared to a pearl, to signify how precious it is.

Life everlasting consists most essentially in the clear sight, possession, and enjoyment of God, who is all that is good; omne bonum: to this we may add the delightfulness of the company, consisting of saints and angels and the place, which is heaven; and this accompanied with an absolute certainty of the eternity of it: here is rest without labour; joy without tears; light without darkness, life without death; and happiness without end. Blessed are they who dwell in thy house, O Lord, Psal. lxxxiii. 5. The reverse of all this will be the portion of the damned in hell: there is a fire that never goes out; a worm that never dies; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth; sorrow, rage, despair.

To obtain life everlasting, we must live well, and keep our souls in the state of grace, so as to die in God's favour: our lives must be adorned with all vir

tues in a word, we must fulfil those words of Christ: If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

All and every one ought to aspire to this happiness, because all are created to this end; and if they miscarry, it is through their own fault, through a wilful transgression of God's law, and final impenitence. God gives to every one sufficient grace and help to save himself: The goodness of God calls thee to repentance, but thou heapest to thyself wrath in the day of wrath, according to thy own hard and impenitent heart, Rom. ii. 5. You have then freedom and free-will to save or damn yourself: Thy perdition is from thyself, O Israel, Osee xiii. ix.

EXHOR. O christian, covet with all your might, with all your heart, and with your whole soul, that blessed end for which you were created, whatever you are to suffer for it; knowing that suffering here will soon have an end, and an eternal weight of glory, even to enjoy the beatifical vision, will attend your labour and suffering hereafter; unite your heart to God now, that you may be absorpt in the love of your Creator for all eternity, God is the only treasure and centre of a Christian soul; without him you can never be happy forever. Spend the little remainder of your life in praising and glorifying him, and join now with the angels and saints in singing, Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of Sabbaoth thus will you come to join with those celestial choirs in the like praises for ever.

Again: let those eternal torments below, the wages of sinners, dismay you from evil; how can you behold in your mind what they endure, and yet venture on in sin? O blindness! folly! madness! Beseech God, with holy David, that he would enlighten your darkness, that you sleep not in death eternal.

WHA

SECT. I.

Of Hope.

WHAT virtue is necessary to salvation after faith? A. Hope. Q. What is hope? A.

It is a gift of God, whereby our souls are raised to a lively expectation of eternal glory. Q. On what is our hope founded? A. On the power of God, and the promises and merits of Christ, who has promised heaven to such as do good works by faith, and grace whereby to do them. Q. What does hope work in our hearts? A. It encourages us in virtue, it strengthens us in affliction, it takes away all anxiety in death. Q. Are our good works meritorious of eternal life? A. They are, through the merits of Christ, when we work with grace, and are in the state of grace; while God dwells and acts in the soul by grace, its works are the works of life. Q. Can we do good works that merit heaven by our own strength alone? A. No, we cannot; their merit is all from the grace of God with us, and our cooperating with it, and by it.

INSTRUC.-Hope is the second theological virtue, which regards not this, but the life to come, and hath God for its immediate object: for the proper and principal object of our hope, is eternal bliss in the enjoyment of God, and this is to be obtained through the help of his grace. It is infused, with other graces, into. our souls in baptism; it raises up our minds to God, and gives us, amidst the miseries of this life, a holy confidence in him, and a lively expectation of arriving at length to eternal glory, by the help of all the good we do through his assistance. Our Lord is well pleased with them that confide in his mercy, Psalm cxlvi. 11.

We are not then, by any means, to hope and rely on ourselves, or any good works we can do by our own natural strength; knowing ourselves to be unprofitable servants, and that we are unable to do any thing to merit heaven, but all through the grace of Christ with us. It is he only that has gained heaven for us, and has made our works meritorious. In all the good we do, we must profess with St. Paul, Not I, but the grace of God with me, 1. Cor. v. 8. Thus when we pray, fast, give alms, these and all other good works must be done through grace, and in the state of grace to merit a reward in heaven. We are, says St. Paul, God's co

adjutors; we work with him, and he works with us, 1. Cor. iii. 9.

Our hope, as a theological virtue, is wholly grounded upon the merits and promises of Christ, his death and passion, which opened the gate of heaven to us; upon the power of God, who has promised us eternal glory, with all-sufficient grace to attain it, though so far above

us.

This hope works all good in our hearts; it is the anchor of our souls which keeps us steady and firm in all storms of afflictions, temptation and persecution; it makes us enter even now, in spirit, into that which is within the veil, eternal beatitude; it makes us rest secure in expectation of it, and conducts us safely at length unto it: it encourages us also in all good, and keeps us obedient to the law of God; it disposes us to suffer willingly for his sake; it supports us in our last agony, and crowns us with final perseverance. These blessed effects of hope were in Job, when he said, Although he kill me, yet I will hope in him, Job xiii. 15. And in King David, when he said, In God have I hoped, I will not fear what man can do to me, Psalm 1v. 5.

EXHOR.-Beseech God to increase this divine gift of hope in your heart. Remember you are to trust not to the world, nor to man, nor to yourself, nor to any creature, but to God alone, to bring you to everlasting life; at the same time, others may be instrumental causes, under God, in obtaining for you, by the way of intercession, the means necessary to bring you thither, and so far you may hope in them, while you rely upon the merits of Christ, and the power and promises of God for your salvation let your hope be founded also on a good conscience, since it is not enough to hope only, but we must work in good; for the hope of the wicked shall perish, Prov. x. 28. As you must never despair, because Christ died for you, and the power of God is sufficient to raise the worst of sinners, by justifying grace, and has already pardoned innumerable repenting sinners; so neither must you presume that he will save Lou, without keeping his commandments; or give you

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