of body and soul, it was not intended, that the former should depress the latter, but that the latter should exalt the former. The resurrection of the one from sin to righteousness, is succeeded by that of the other from death to life eternal: and thus it is that the Saviour completely fulfils his promise; "When "I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.' That we should first "rise with Christ," in the sense which has now, it is hoped, been sufficiently explained, is, you see, a necessary and leading point. We are next to consider the sign and proof of such our resurrection.

II. A change of this kind being of so much consequence, it must be a desirable thing for us to learn on what evidence we may rest assured that such a change has passed upon us. On this head we are instructed by the words following; for whether they be rendered, as our translators have rendered them, in the imperative-"Seek those things which are "above," or, as they may be rendered, in the indicative, "Ye do seek those things which are above," it will come to the same. He who is risen with Christ, seeks, or ought to seek, the things which are above; it will be the effect, it will be the proof, of such his resurrection.

For to "seek," or make search, implies, 1. that a person is alive. A dead man, as he knows nothing, can desire nothing; and as he desires nothing, he can seek after nothing.

2. It implies not only life, but motion, the sure sign and exertion of life No one, who is alive and awake, will continue motionless, as if he were dead:

the same spirit which causes him to live, will excite him to move. When the apostle says, "In him

"(that is, in God) we live," he adds immediately, " and move." The Christian life is not a life of indolence: that, if it be not death, is the way that leads to it. A true Christian is active and zealous, always thinking, speaking, or performing something for the honour of God or the good of man. But,

3. Seeking or making search, if done as it should be, with a desire and resolution to find, implies more than mere motion and activity; it implies, labour, diligence, perseverance. Nothing valuable is to be obtained without these, even in the present world; much less are the wonders and the rewards of eternity. It is possible to seek as Pilate did, who asked, "What is truth?" but never waited for an answer. We may seek carelessly; or begin well, and in a little time grow weary, and give over; or we may seek in a formal manner, without love of that which is sought; and therefore a search in earnest, and one that deserves the name, implies,

4. A relish and affection for the thing sought, which cannot be possessed by a person who is dead. After that which we do not affect, we shall never long take the trouble to seek. Our apostle to the words, "Seek those things which are above," subjoins, "Set your affections on things above, not on

things on the earth." The Greek word here used for, "set your affections," is one of very extensive meaning: "it comprehends the actions and opera"tions both of the understanding and the will," and cannot be fully translated by any one English word;

PROVEITE, sapite, understand, mind, relish, affect, those things which are above. Wisdom, which is the mental faculty of rightly discerning and distinguishing between one thing and another, resembles that bodily sense residing in the palate, and perceiving the different taste and flavour of the various kinds of food; and it is very observable, that in the three languages of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, the same term is used for both; on in the first, gova in the second, sapere in the last. "Set your affections on "things which are above;" acquire such a knowledge of them, as may incite you to relish, to regard, to attend, to search after them more and more, as the objects of your love, desire, and affection. All this complication of meaning seems involved in the one word, goveite. And therefore how diligent and industrious, how ardent and persevering ought we to be in the search thus enjoined by the apostle! Certainly the man of the world should never be suffered to outstrip and put us to the blush, by their pursuits after honour, pleasure, or wealth. Beautiful is the exhortation of the wise man; which each person may regard as if addressed to himself: "My son, if thou "wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments "with thee; so that thou incline thine ear to wisdom, "and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy "voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hidden treasures;

LEIGH in PARKHURST.

"then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, "and find the knowledge of God."

We shall be greatly quickened in this our search, if we consider the apostle's account of the things to be sought, or the objects of our search, namely, "the "things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand "of God."

III. To be exalted above others in place and power upon earth, is the too general wish of all. From the parabolical discourse of Jotham we learn, that even the bramble was not exempt from it. And during the abode of Christ upon earth, we read of one, who desired for her two sons, that they might sit, one on the right hand, the other on the left, in his temporal kingdom, which was then imagined to be near its establishment. Such, however, was not the nature of our Lord's kingdom, or of the promotion to be obtained in it. He himself is seated at the right hand; but it is "the right hand of the Majesty " in the heavens ;" thither must his disciples look for their exaltation. We may say of the Creator, in a more elevated sense than that intended by the Latin poet,

Os homini sublime dedit, cœlumque tueri
Jussit

This is a holy ambition, to which no bounds need to be set; worthy a princely progeny, a royal race, the sons of God, those eagles that can ascend the

Prov. ii. 1. et seq.

66

heights of the sky, and contemplate the brightness of the meridian sun. 66 Why seek ye the living among the dead?" Our Lord, our Redeemer, the object of all our hope and all our delight, "is not "here; he is risen; he is gone up on high;" he is upon his throne; he "sitteth at the right hand of "God."

Such

The attitude denotes rest; the place, honour. And what can we wish for more than these? The attitude, that of sitting, denotes rest. it was to our blessed Lord himself. His life on earth was a life of labour; he looked not for rest till his labours were at an end. His days were passed in going about to do good among men; his nights, in thinking of them, and praying for them: often, indeed, he "had not where to lay his head." By taking our nature upon him, he submitted to its inconveniences and troubles, its sorrows and its pains: he laboured, and then he rested from his labours.

In time we shall do the same; but the time is not yet. The sad effects and consequences of sin are still in the world, and lie heavy upon it. "The "whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain to

gether until now;" and we groan and travail with it: we ourselves, though redeemed by Christ, and favoured with his grace, that we may be enabled to support our miseries; we have, and upon earth ever shall have, miseries to support, and those miseries increasing, as we draw nearer to our dissolution. All things are full of labour and sorrow, without us and within us without are the incessant toils of life, the