Thus we may greatly rejoice this day in the change that Christ Jesus our Lord hath wrought by His resurrection in the things before death. As new creatures called to newness of life, with all the blessedness of fellowship with Christ, we may go on our way rejoicing. Great is our joy now in Christ, for our change is great; and if we will but continue walking in newness of life, we shall have greater joy still in a little time, a joy undimmed by any sorrows, unchecked by any temptations or infirmities; for we shall be raised up from our graves to partake of the Supper of the Lamb in heaven, where we shall rejoice for ever. "The grave could not hold Thee long, O holy and eternal Jesus; Thy body could not see corruption, neither could Thy soul be left in hell: Thou wert free among the dead, and Thou brakest the iron gates of death, and the bars and chains of the lower prisons. Thou broughtest comfort to the souls of the patriarchs, who waited for Thy coming, who longed for the redemption of man, and the revelation of Thy day. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saw Thy day and rejoiced and when Thou didst arise from Thy bed of darkness, and leftest the grave clothes behind Thee, and didst put on a robe of glory, (over which for forty days Thou didst wear a veil,) and then enteredst into a cloud, and then into glory, then the powers of hell were confounded, then death lost its power, and was swallowed up into victory and though death is not quite destroyed, yet it is made harmless and without a sting, and the condition of human nature is made an entrance to eternal glory: Thou art become the Prince of life, the first-fruits of the resurrection, the first born from the dead, having made the way plain before our faces, that we may also arise again in the resurrection of the last day, when Thou shalt come again unto us to render to every man according to his works." JEREMY TAYLOR. JOHN HENRY PAKKER, OXFORD AND LONDON. Tracts for the Christian Seasons. MONDAY IN EASTER WEEK. Things after death.-Paradise. PROPER LESSONS: Morning, 1st. Exod. xvi. ; 2nd. St. Matt. xxviii. EPISTLE, Acts x. 34. GOSPEL, St. Luke xxiv. 13. POWER to contend with sin and to overcome, peace flowing from union with Christ and from obedience to His will, heavenly consolations in seasons of trial and distress, are among the present fruits we gather from the death and resurrection of our Lord. But we must look beyond this world for the richer fruit of the passion and victory of Christ. Here He gives us weapons for the war; here He succours and strengthens us in the fight; here He enables us to overcome the world, forasmuch as He Himself has overcome; but yet His Church is militant; it is a time of warfare; it must still be said "without are fightings, within are fears;" we are still with our armour on; we are still enduring hardness as soldiers of Christ, exposed to assaults, sieges, snares, open opposition, wiles, stratagems, trials, distresses, temptations within and without; whatever our gifts, our privileges, our aids from heaven, our consolations, there is here no rest for the people of God; it is the day of battle. Beyond the world, in the unseen state beyond, must we look for that more joyful and blessed portion which our Lord obtained for us in His day of triumph. The things after death are all changed, all brightened by the power of Christ; the whole state after death is changed, the first things and the last things, the state when the soul is without the body, the state also when soul and body meet together again and are one for evermore. Christ has altered both these states, that which only lasts till the day of resurrection, that which lasts for ever. For when it is said, "He hath opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers," all that is of God beyond is included in the term, whether it be the outer or inner parts, whether it be paradise or heaven; as both are parts of but one kingdom, one heavenly sovereignty, so Christ has bought them both for His well-beloved; He has opened the outer courts and inner chambers to His elect; both are Christ's, and both are theirs through Him; both have been purchased for us with His own right hand and His victory over death and hell; both are the gifts of His right hand. His true disciples are carried first to paradise, then to heaven. Now as the souls of the faithful are first of all carried into paradise, let us consider the blessedness of that first change which death makes in our condition, that is, the blessedness of the first things after death. That it is a happy and blessed change is clear from what is said of the beggar Lazarus, whose two states, that in this world and that in the next, that before death and that after death, are contrasted with each other. After a description of his earthly tribulations, it is said by way of shewing us how his lot was altered for the better after death, he "was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom," which is a Jewish expression for paradise; and when the rich man makes his piteous prayer, it is said of Lazarus, that he had had his evil things in the world, and had reached his good things after death. So also when the penitent thief besought our Lord to remember him in His kingdom, Christ cheered the dying penitent by exclaiming, To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise." Where Christ was about to go, he was to go also from the cross to paradise was Christ's soul to be borne; from the cross to paradise was the |