faithful Abraham, and the spirits of just men made perfect, shall be restored to this earth in the resurrection. At that time the earth, also, shall be redeemed and renewed. Then the faithful shall receive those peculiar promised blessings and rewards for the which they waited and prayed during the days of their flesh, and, therefore, we are assured, from the words of God to Moses, that the Patriarchs have not perished, but that they live as spirits unto God, that He may at the end restore them to their bodies, and thus remember and manifest them in the day of His kingdom, power, and glory; that day spoken of by so many witnesses in the inspired records as the day of His government, "of which there shall be no end," which shall increase more and more; it shall widen and extend itself circle after circle, sphere after sphere, until it shall embrace the renewed creation of God, both visible and invisible.

CHAPTER IV.

THE BUNDLE OF LIFE.

Jesus said, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live unto Him.-LUKE XX. 38.

GOD is called the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, and the God of all the just who live in His sight. He has been, and is, their gracious and good God; He has been, and is, the Benefactor of their souls, and at the end He will reunite them to their bodies; He has been, and is, their Shepherd and Keeper. Not only was He to them all that these names signify, during their day and generation, but He is now their Saviour and Sustainer. They rest in the hope of the Spirit. He hath received their spirits, which they committed to Him in the dark valley of the shadow of death, and He keepeth them till the time of the resurrection; so that when they awake to a joyful resurrection, they will find themselves still abiding with Him. As it is written of Jesus, in the Book of

Psalms, looking forward to His resurrection, He exclaimed, "When I awake I am still, or abiding with Thee." This is no marvel, when we consider that it is the Holy Spirit who first brings us into communion with God, and evermore sustains us therein, even in fellowship with the Father and the Son. The souls of the faithful continually abide therein.

The resurrection of the just will enable them to live and reign in the flesh over all flesh, and through the same to exercise dominion over the visible world, and thence to the utmost limits of the universe. God is the faithful Keeper of His promises to all who, from the beginning, have believed in them and embraced them, and who now rest and wait in hope of their speedy fulfilment. He keepeth the souls that trusted in Him, and, therefore, Abraham and the fathers are not dead, but are fallen asleep. All the faithful, from Adam to Abraham-all from Abraham to Jesus Christ -all from Pentecost to those who are Christ's at His coming-shall be restored by the resurrection of their bodies to the land of the living-i.e., to the earth— to receive those blessings for which they now exist in hope under the truth of that Word, who liveth and abideth for ever, and who hath specially entitled Himself" the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of all the just;" and, therefore, Moses was assured by

this assertion from the lips of God, that the Patriarchs and others had not utterly perished, but that they lived as spirits unto God to be restored to their bodies in the day of the Lord, when He shall appear with His risen Saints when He will be revealed as the Lord of Hosts.

Indeed, it may be said even of Abraham, that if in this life only he had hope in God, he was of all men the most miserable and disappointed. Let us consider the facts of the case. He was an emigrant; he stood far off from the possession of his hopes; he waited, and still waits, for their fulfilment. As for the Land of Promise, he had not a foot of it in possession, except what he purchased as a burying-place for Sarah; it was in the possession of the stranger. He lived an ambulatory life; he was led hither and thither, and that, to the eye of sense, for little or nought. He was troubled in his house concerning the affair of Ishmael; his patience was tried by long waiting for the promise of an heir; and when he had received him, he was again tried by the command to offer him up as a sacrifice to God. All his faith, patience, and devotion, were rewarded with nothing but promises of things a great way off; and before their fulfilment, he went out of this world naked as when he came into it.

Yet we are assured, from God's most Holy Word, that after the Patriarchs had yielded up their spirits to God, He still loves to be called their God, signifying hereby that their spirits are in His holy care and keeping, and that He will restore them to that state of being, of bodily existence, in which they will have the power and capacity in the body to enjoy that which God hath promised. What is it, then? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living; yea, God is now the God of Abraham, and of the other Patriarchs, and of all the faithful who live in his sight; therefore, they are not dead as regards their souls. They are dead, indeed, to this world-lost to sight and sense; but they are not lost to Godthey are alive to Him as spirits, in the presence of Him who is a spirit. Though they have departed this life, they have another and a better existence-an eternal life, begun in the spirit, hereafter to be manifested and perfected in the body. It is a life in which God shall be manifested as their God, as the faithful covenant keeping God; a life which, through the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life shall yet have power to take up the body; and by this life the lips of risen humanity will audibly burst forth in a glorious song of praise; for their triumph shall be complete.

In that day, death will be swallowed up of life; eternal