corroborates the question in our Shorter Catechism, which runs thus, 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. It quadrates with the declaration of the apostle, with respect to believers, who shall be alive at the last day when the great white throne shall be set-when the books shall be opened-when the Son of Man shall come in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; and 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; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. In another passage, he likewise explains and confirms the translation of Enoch,-Now this, I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, (for the trumpet shall sound ;) and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Enoch was changed during his translation to heaven. That power which could prepare the dying thief in a single hour for Paradise, could easily prepare Enoch's body, and fashion it like unto Christ's glorious b dy; according to the working, whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. He was made, in a moment, like a bride prepared for her husband, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. Enoch himself could have, previously, no conception of the change. Nor would he feel any pain more than some of the redeemed feel, when they are called away in an instant, and fall asleep in Jesus. The work would be wrought while he was unconscious of it, as many, and, perhaps, most, are unconscious of the moment and manner in which they are turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whether it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit. When Enoch ascended from the earth, he would behold the angels of God escorting him into the heavenly mansions, and would hear them saying, Sister spirit, come away. These ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who are the heirs of salvation, would rejoice when the message was issued, Convey Enoch to the mansion prepared for him. Often had they been sent upon errands of mercy to

him. Often had they witnessed, and comparatively admired his meetness for the kingdom of heaven; and although they did not know the day or the hour of his departure, and might think, that according to the then average of human life, it might be long ere he might be summoned away from his works of righteousness in the world; yet, with rapture they would receive the tidings, that the time of his sojourning in the earth was at an end. They did not know the mode of his departure; and if astonishment could enter into their minds, they would wonder that he was to be an exception to the common lot of mortals. Death, in Enoch's departure, was to have no employment. He was never, for a single instant, to be under his dominion. He who hath reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who have not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, was, for the first time, deprived of his usual prey. How would this all-potent king stand aghast, when his dominions were invaded, and Enoch escaped! What would be his feelings, and the feelings of the all-devouring grave, which never says it is enough, when one of the sons of men had totally eluded their grasp? They would be totally uncertain if any more of the descendants of Adam were ever to feel the sting of the one, or submit to the victory of the other. Such, however, was the will of the Sovereign Disposer. He hereby shewed, that it was not any irreversible law of nature, as some improperly term it, that men must die. It is true, it is the wages of sin, that the majority must pay; but even this general rule is not without exceptions. We do not deny, that it is appointed to men once to die; nor do we misunderstand the stronger than assertion, What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? These declarations have been verified in every instance but two, and they shall be verified while time shall run. Still Enoch did not taste of death. The bitterness of death was never felt by him. He ascended on the ladder which Jacob, in after ages in vision, saw standing upon the earth, and reaching to heaven. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, while his father, and family, and friends, and enemies, perhaps, beheld his ascent, he would be in heaven. As soon as the sounds of earth died upon his ear, he would be ravished with the symphonies and harmonies of the blessed. He would see the sweet fields which are beyond the swelling flood, without ever dipping his foot in Jordan. Jesus would meet him at the resplendent gates of heaven, and welcome him with that transporting sentence, Come, thou blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdon prepared for thee from the foundation of the world. Abel would welcome him to the

abodes of bliss, and Adam and Eve would also rejoice to see another of their descendants coming to people the many mansions prepared for the righteous. His translation would be new even to the angelic hosts; and they would, in this instance, among many more, learn from the Church the manifold wisdom of God. What an amazing change to Enoch! This moment on earth, the next in heaven! Nor did he even drop the mantle of clay. This instant clothed with the body of sin and death, the next enrobed in the fine linen, white and clean, which is the righteousness of the saints. This second worshipping at the throne of grace,—not so distinct as that which we have this day approached by the blood of Jesus,—the very next in God's presence, where there is fulness of joy, and at His right hand, where there are pleasures for evermore. He had not, indeed, come out of great tribulation; yet he had washed his robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Nor is this unexampled, at least, in these Gospel days. Some have been called into the vineyard at the last hour, and have received as much as those who have borne the burden and heat of the day. We do not say, we have never said, that Enoch was perfect while upon earth. No, he was shapen in iniquity, and in sin his mother conceived him; and as there is no man that liveth and sinneth not, neither was Enoch without sin. No; even he found a law in his members warring against the law of his mind, and leading him into captivity, to the law of sin which was in his members. This contention between the old man and the new, which every child of God feels, made even Enoch to exclaim, Oh! wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Even then, however, he had his times of walking in the light of God's countenance; and, perhaps, his sky was seldom obscured with a cloud. Though he lived under a dark dispensation, yet the God of ordinances shewed Himself to him, there is reason to believe, as distinctly through the dark medium of sacrifices, typifying a Saviour to come, as he shews Himself to His most highly favoured ones in the noontide beams of the Gospel-day. Whatever fightings he had without, and fears within, they are now for ever done away. In that delightful land to which he is removed, sin, and sorrow, and sighing, are for ever done away. All is joy, and transport, and ecstacy, where he is gone. The former things are passed away; and now he is before the throne of God, where he shall serve Him day and night in His temple. He shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light upon him, nor any heat. For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne,

shall lead him and feed him by living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from his eyes. Like righteous

Lot, he was

grieved from day to day with the filthy conversation of the wicked; but now he hears no more oaths, and blasphemies, and revilings of men. He has now come unto God, his exceeding joy. God walked with him before, or he walked with

Paul

and dimly beheld; but now he sees Him face to face. Before he knew in part, now he knows even as also he is known. Before, he thought with an apostle dearly beloved,-Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; but now he is sat down with Christ in His kingdom, even as He has sat down with the Father in His kingdom. Could we now enter into that how he is rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory, within the vail, and shew you the exalted state of Enoch, and how your ambition would be excited; so that you would be led to say, that the time of our departure were at hand! O that we had wings like a dove! then we would flee away and be at rest; so that we might be for ever with Him. But these discoveries cannot be made to our bodily senses was caught up to the third heavens, and heard unspeakable then see or hear the transports of the inhabitants of heaven, words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. they durst not be told. It is enough, that the time will speedily come, when all the redeemed will be equally learned. Now we walk by faith, not by sight. Let us then leave Enoch to play on his golden harp, strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine, to sound in God the Father's ears no other name but that of His only-begotten, well-beloved, and ever-blessed Son. He will be singing that song, ever new, Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood; to Him be glory and dominion for ever power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory, and blessing. Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto

and ever.

the Lamb, for ever and ever.

Himself; and long

Could we

God has taken him to be with now has he been in His beatific presence.

Nor is he waiting, like myriads, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of his body. tion of both soul and body.

He has the full fruiHe has enjoyed, ever since

his translation, all that the redeemed shall enjoy when body and soul, which have been so long separated, shall meet never to part. We generally believe, that they shall experience a

joy similar to that of the dearest friends that have long been separated, and are again met to be separated no more. But have they greater delight than those have who have never been separated by space or affection? Does he enjoy more happiness who has been reproached, and persecuted, and almost destroyed, but lives to overcome it all, than he who has never had the scourge of tongues raised against him, nor has experi enced all the force of the wrath of man? Had the father of Archbishop Leighton-whose undeserved sufferings, when they were merely rehearsed, made the Parliament of England burst into tears like one man-more happiness than the Archbishop of Glasgow enjoyed, who lived in more halcyon days! We would, we believe, all negative the question; and it will not be admitted, that frail and short-lived as we are, mankind are conferring upon us an inestimable boon, when they are traducing and destroying our reputation, and impairing our health, that we may enjoy greater happiness when we outlive these attempts; and by the storm of persecution abating, and the clouds of imputation slowly dispelling, mankind are forced to believe, that we were not so guilty as we were called, or, perhaps, were not guilty at all of what was maliciously al leged. The analogy may not hold; but, at any rate, we fearlessly assert, that Enoch was as happy as the full and eternal enjoyment of the God who had taken him could make him. No long sleep of the body in the grave, and meeting with it again, like the meeting of friends long parted and wistfully desired, could increase his joy. This, we believe, nevertheless, will increase the joy of the redeemed, after body and soul have been long separated; but the cases are not parallel. Enoch would never have been translated without tasting of death, had it been to detract one jot or one tittle from his present and everenduring joy. God hath taken him; and he shall come with Christ to judgment, as an assessor on His right hand. He shall not stand, we have reason to think, and answer for the deeds done in the body, whether good or bad. He hath been fully approven; and as he was exempted from the pain of dying, so, we apprehend, that he will be exempted, in some degree, from what some even of the redeemed shall undergo. He shall not, like them, receive at the resurrection a body raised from corruption, and completely glorified and prepared for the enjoyment of God. Their bodies shall, in some manner, increase their happiness, and fit them more for the enjoyments and employments of the blessed. Enoch has ever been in possession of his body, as perfect as it shall be even after the resurrection of the just, and the stream of time has again been