servants from death, and ransom them from the power of the grave. The Christian, who knoweth that his Lord is risen indeed, looks forward to the resurrection of the just, when death shall be finally swallowed up in victory. 14. "O satisfy us early," or in the morning, "with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." 15. "Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil." The church prayeth for the dawning of that glorious morning, when every cloud shall vanish at the rising of the Sun of righteousness, and night and darkness shall be no more. Then only shall we be 'satisfied, or saturated, with the mercy' of Jehovah; then only shall we 'rejoice and be glad all our days.' The time of our pilgrimage on earth is a time of sorrow; we grieve for our departed friends, and our surviving friends must soon grieve for us; these are the days wherein God afflicteth us, these the years wherein we see evil:' but he will hereafter make us glad according to them;' in proportion to our suffer. ings, if rightly we bear those sufferings, will be our reward; nay, 'these light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.' Then shall our joy be increased, and receive an additional relish from the remembrance of our former sorrow; then shall we bless the days and the years which exercised our faith, and perfected our patience; and then shall we bless God, who chastised us for a season, that he might save us for ever. 16. "Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children." 17. "And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands establish thou it." The redemption of man is that 'work' of God whereby his glory' is manifested to all generations, and which all generations do therefore long to behold accomplished. For this purpose the faithful beseech God to let his 'beauty,' his splendor, the light of his countenance, his grace and favor, be on them: to 'establish the work of their hands,' to bless, prosper, and perfect them in their Christian course and warfare; until, through him, they shall be enabled to subdue sin, and triumph over death. Then shall follow the Lesson taken out of the fifteenth Chapter of the former Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians. I have thought it advisable to place in juxta-position with our received Version, not for the purpose of disparaging in the least the mighty labour of trans lators, but as a valuable aid to many, Dr. Shuttleworth's rendering, as found in his highly useful' Paraphrastic Translation of the Apostolical Epistles; ' for I fully agree with him, that it is very difficult for some persons to pursue an elaborate argument through its finest details, and to take a comprehensive view of the whole chain of the argument, and of the object of the writer. Elucidation, therefore, by the insertion of a few words. which shall give prominence to the writer's object, and leave nothing for the ingenuity of the reader to surmise, or fill up, must of course have a tendency to promote that fluent readiness of perception which is so absolutely necessary for arriving at the real purport of the revealed word of God. It may be worthy of remark, that this chapter, though it stands among the epistles, is called, in the first verse, St. Paul's gospel, and is the fullest account of the resurrection which the whole Scripture affords. The truth of it is so strongly proved, so plainly described, and so pertinently applied, that nothing could have been so suitable to the purpose. The lesson consists of three parts. The certainty of the resurrection is proved, verses 20-34. Secondly, The queries relating to it are solved, verses 35-54. Thirdly, The application of the whole is made, verses 55-58. 1 COR. XV. 20. Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection from the dead. For as in Adam PARAPHRASE. CHRIST We know is risen from the dead, the first fruit to God of those who lie in the grave, and the pledge of their resurrection. For as by one man death came upon mankind, so by one man came also the 're are all men die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that Christ's, at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power: For he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, who did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. surrection of the dead; and as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.' But that end of all things is not yet. Each must wait to receive his reward in that order which God has appointed. Christ was the first-fruits of the grave, and next after him shall be raised Christ's own flock at his second coming; and after that shall be that final consummation when he shall give up the kingdom to God the Father, and finally extirpate every other supremacy and authority and power. For he, our blessed Redeemer, shall reign until God hath put all enemies under his feet." -Psalm viii. 6. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death;' but even that death shall be destroyed in its turn, otherwise that promise, that all things shall be put under foot, would lose its completion. In saying, however, that God shall put all things under his feet, it is of course evident that God the Father himself is not intended to be included in that expression, as he it is who puts |