giveness which souls receive from God, must come through the witnesses or servants of God, who stand in that lot, as agents or mediators between God and man. The sinner may indeed receive a reflection of divine light, which may give him some view of his situation, and produce conviction of sin; and it may point him to the true light, and thus enable him to come to it. But as certainly as he comes to the true light, he must make manifest his evil deeds; and he never can receive the abiding treasures of salvation in any other way.

Certain it is that man, in his fallen state, can never come immediately to God; but whatever he receives from God, of a spiritual nature, must either come to him through ministering spirits, or be communicated through living witnesses on earth. Therefore, tho a person under the powerful conviction of sin, not knowing the true order of God for the confession and forgiveness of sin, may cry to God for deliverance, and may have his burden of condemnation removed or suspended, for a time, by the operation of some ministering spirit, and feel his soul comforted for a season; yet, as the treasures of the gospel, for fallen man, are committed to "earthen vessels," and as "the Son of man hath placed power on earth to forgive sins;" therefore sin cannot finally be taken away from any soul, without a confession in the order of God's appointment, to his living witnesses. This doctrine may appear new and strange to many of our readers; but it is agreeable to the testimony of ETERNAL TRUTH.

Jesus Christ, after his resurrection, appeared to his disciples, and said, “Peace be unto you; as my Father hath sent me, even 66 so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on ❝them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Who66 soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whoso66 ever sins ye retain, they are retained."* Thus he commissioned them to preach the gospel of peace, and gave them power to remit and retain sins. But this power was contained in the Holy Spirit which they received. And thus the apostles and elders of the church all had that power committed to them; and so it is in this day.

Without this Divine power, neither the apostles nor any others could ever remit or retain the sins of those who came to make confession: hence they were dependent upon the will of God, manifested in this Holy Spirit which they had received; and therefore, in all their ministrations, they were directed by the gift of God. This is agreeable to the testimony of Jesus; "I do nothing of my"self; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."He that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do also.

* Johaxx. 21, 22, 23.

“And whatsoever, ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that "the Father may be glorified in the Son."*

So it is in the present day: every leader and elder in the church of Christ, is as much dependent on the gift of God, in all his spiritual ministrations, as a child is dependent on its parents; nor do they ever pretend otherwise. Therefore, tho they are the agents, or earthen vessels, (as the apostle expresses it,) to whom this treasure is committed; yet should they attempt to act of themselves, in this holy vocation, without looking to God, and feeling their de pendence on his holy Spirit, they would soon lose all their spiritual power, and be as destitute as Sampson was of natural power after his head was shorn.

It appears by the preceding observations, that the law of Moses enjoined the confession of sin to the priests and elders of the people; that the manner and order of confession was plainly pointed out under the law; and that the figures of the law, on this point, evidently alluded to the manner in which it was to be practiced under the gospel. It also appears that the operations of the Spirit of God, in the work of conviction, clearly teaches that confessions ought to be made before the witnesses of God; that reason teaches the propriety and consistency of it; that Jesus Christ taught it; and that it was practiced under the ministration of John the Baptist, and in the primitive church until the falling away. And this doctrine of auricular confession (as it is called) was well known to the catholic fathers, and was practiced by them; and that it was then, or shortly after, wickedly corrupted in the Catholic church; so that its blessed effects were entirely lost many hundreds of years before the reformation from popery took place.

But man is not required to confess his sins before the wicked; for this would be like bringing darkness to darkness, which would naturally produce an increase of darkness upon the soul. Yet if any one have wronged any of his fellow creatures, he is bound to confess the wrong, and make restitution to the injured person, as far as possible, according to the strict demands of justice; otherwise he can never find a just relation to the work of God. But the true order of confession requires the sinner to come before one or more of the real witnesses of truth, who possess the Spirit of Christ, and there honestly confess, as in the presence of God, the particulars of all his transgressions.

As light makes manifest, and truth reveals the real state of souls, so this doctrine proceeds from the attribute of light in God, and is supported by Divine Truth; and in it is displayed the virtues of humility and honesty. And thus a true principle of light is planted in man, by which souls find forgiveness of their sins and acceptance with God; and this is the only means of introduction into

*John viii. 28 and xiv. 12, 13.

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the kingdom of light. Hence this doctrine is revived, and fully established in this day of Christ's second appearing, as the only door of hope for the fallen race of man, and the only entrance into the, Kingdom of Christ.

CHAPTER V.

The Resurrection.

THE Resurrection is a doctrine generally believed by all who profess a belief in the christian religion. But what constitutes the real nature and substance of the resurrection, seems to be a subject of dispute among many. The most general and popular belief is, that the natural body of man, consisting of flesh and blood and bones, after being divested of the spirit or living soul, and consigned to the grave, will, at a certain future period of time, be raised from the dust of the earth, with which it had been blended by dissolution, and be reanimated with the same living spirit, and arraigned before the judgment seat of Christ, there to be judged and consigned to a state of everlasting happiness or misery. This doctrine is generally believed to accord strictly with the testimony of the scriptures, and therefore supposed to be well founded. To eradicate these long established impressions, and convince mankind that they are erroneous and antichristian, and not taught by divine revelation, is a task of no small magnitude.

"That there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust,"* is a truth which all must acknowledge; for Jesus Christ himself plainly testified it, and also his apostles after him: and without it, the hope of the christian is vain, and his faith vain. Jesus Christ testified, saying, "The hour is coming, and now is, "when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they "that hear shall live." And again; And again; “Marvel not at this: for the " hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves,† shall

*Acts xxiv. 15.

+ Munuɛbois i. e. monuments or places of remembrance. Much stress is laid upon the word graves, as evidence that Christ alluded particularly to the natural body; but the original word which is translated graves, was used by the ancient Greeks to signify places of remembrance, called by the Romans monumenta, in English monuments, which is a more correct translation than graves. But if those only who have monuments erected to their memory are to be raised, the number must be very small in proportion to the whole human race; for a vast portion have never even had the honor of being put into graves. Jesus evidently used the expression in a figurative sense, to show that the time was approaching in which all the fallen race, in their various places and orders, would be brought to a remembrance or consideration of their lost state, and of what they had done; and that their past lives, with all their sins would come into remembrance and be clearly laid open to their view; and being

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"hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, "unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto "the resurrection of damnation."* Many other passages might be added in proof of the resurrection of the soul; but all this has no reference to the natural body, except as a figure. This will appear evident from the following considerations.

1. Jesus Christ, when on earth, declared himself to be the resurrection: "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in 66 me, tho he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth, "and believeth in me, shall never die." If then, Christ is the resurrection and the life, it necessarily follows, that all who are in Christ, are in the resurrection, whether their bodies be dead or living. And also, if he that believeth in Christ, shall live, tho his body be dead; then it must be the soul to which Christ had reference: for the dead body of a man cannot believe, any more than the dead carcass of any other animal. And again: If by the expression, "Whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die," Christ alluded to the animal body, his promise has certainly failed: for the bodies of all christians do die. Therefore Christ must have had particular reference to the soul, and not to the body.

Hence it is clearly evident that the reanimation of the natural body, after its return to the dust, is not necessary to constitute that kind of resurrection to which Christ alluded. He evidently meant that in him was that spiritual life which constitutes the true resurrection; and that those who believe in him, and receive his life, are made partakers of his resurrection: for it is the power of eter nal life, dwelling in him, which in truth constitutes the resurreċtion.

2. The apostle Paul plainly testifies that, "Flesh and blood "cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption "inherit incorruption." Therefore the natural body, which is composed of flesh and blood, and returns to corruption, can never be admitted into Heaven, even upon the supposition that it could be raised from the dust and be reanimated. Of course it must either remain upon the earth or go to hell; and therefore its resurrection can be of no benefit to the believer, seeing that, according to the apostle's doctrine, it must necessarily be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven. "Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." The natural body of man is corruptible. If then, as some say, it is to be so transformed as to become incorruptible, then corwaked up to a sense of feeling, by the sound of the everlasting gospel, which is the voice of the Son of God, they would either come to the resurrection of life, by honestly confessing their sins, and obeying the gospel; or to the resurrection of damnation, by obstinately refusing to comply with the calls of the gospel; as many are now doing, contrary to their own light and conviction.

* John v. 25, 28, 29.

† John xi. 25, 26.

+ 1 Cor. xv. 50.

ruption must inherit incorruption; which is contrary to the apostle's express declaration.

But (says the objector) the same apostle testifies, in the same chapter that, "The dead shall be raised incorruptible." Very true; but what dead? Surely the apostle could not mean the dead bodies of men and women: for these are made up of flesh and blood, and have returned to corruption; and certainly he would not contradict himself, and that in the same chapter too. The apostle here alluded to dead souls, those who were dead in trespasses and sins. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” The sound of the gospel trumpet wakes up souls who are dead in the works of Adam, and raises them to the life of Christ; and thus they come into the resurrection, according to the testimony of Christ to Martha; "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, tho he were dead, yet shall he live."

But the apostle says, "This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." This is also true; but in what sense? It is impossible for corruption itself to put on incorruption; and it is equally impossible for mortality to put on immortality. Such a transformation can no more take place than sin can be transformed into holiness. Yet a soul lost in a corrupt nature, and clothed with a corruptible body, may put on incorruption. But then all that corruptible stuff which it possesses, whether of body or spirit, must be put off: for corruption and incorruption can never dwell together. So also a soul who possesses a mortal body, may put on immortality; but that immortality can never render the body immortal. Nor can any soul be completely happy in its immortality, until it is divested of its mortal body, and of every thing else which is either mortal or corruptible. When this takes place, then "Death is swallowed up in victory.'

Some have attempted to support the absurd notion, that the natural body is to be transformed into a spiritual body. But no transformation whatever can ever change matter into spirit. "That “which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the "spirit, is spirit." And tho the living spirit may be enclosed in a body of flesh; yet they cannot be so blended together as to become one in essence. The one is natural, temporal and mortal, and must perish, like all other material substances; and the other, being of a spiritual and eternal substance, must exist forever. But even admitting the supposition, that the natural body could be transformed into a spiritual body, its original materials, being composed of flesh and blood, must necessarily be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven.

3. It is universally acknowledged that, "God is a Spirit;" that the Almighty Creator and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, does not possess a natural body of flesh and blood, like mortal man ;