faithful disciples, with honour and glory. Then their pure and holy and bright bodies will become the habitations of their sanctified spirits. We do not yet know of what kind those bodies will be, for we are told that 'flesh ¹ and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.' But we know that they will bear to our present bodies something of the same relation which the bright and fresh young plant bears to the decayed ² seed from which it sprang. With regard to the glorious resurrection of the redeemed it is thus written in the holy Scriptures: 'Our ³ citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.' And in another place it is said: 'There ⁴ are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural ⁵

body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural ¹ body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living ¹ soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.'

At the time of the 'regeneration²' of the world, which is mentioned by the Lord Jesus in St. Matthew's Gospel, the earth too, which through man's sin has been cursed ³ and ruined, will be delivered from that curse, and will become new and glorious. And the Lord Jesus Himself, who once appeared upon it wearing our human nature and the form of a servant, and was despised ⁴ and rejected by men, shall at last descend ⁵ upon the earth from heaven with great power and glory. He will then judge and punish the unbelieving and those who are His enemies, but to the true believers in Him and to those that love Him He will give glory, honour and immortality. God's infinite grace and goodness will for ever be their portion. The