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at very important periods in the history of the church, we
are, on the whole, inclined to the opinion that there will
be a resurrection of martyrs at the commencement of the
millennium, because the phrase, "they lived and reigned
with Christ a thousand years," is directly contrasted with
the declaration that "the rest of the dead lived not again
until the thousand years were finished;" and as the latter
quotation must be taken in a literal acceptation, so must
the former. To this "first resurrection" Paul, with the
crown of martyrdom before him, may refer, when he de-
sires to "know the power of Christ's resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto
his death; if by any means he might attain unto the resur
rection of the dead," or from the dead.

The general change will be instantaneous-“in a mo-
ment, in the twinkling of an eye." Of the origin of the
universe it is recorded, "God spake, and it was done;" so,
at this universal renovation of the bodies of men, of the
heavens, and of the earth, the Almighty will renew at
once, thereby, as at creation, demonstrating most strongly
his omnipotence.

6. The time of the resurrection will be "at the last trump," when, in the language of the Apocalypse, it will be declared, "Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth."

7. The agent by which the resurrection is to be effected
is the Holy Spirit, operating through the atonement of
Christ, which procures his agency," But if the Spirit of
Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he
that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."
"It is the Spirit that quickeneth,"-although, as at crea-
tion, so in the resurrection, each person in the trinity is
often spoken of as an agent.

8. Lastly, we approach the consequences, the renovation
of heaven, earth, man; triumph over death;
the " resur-
rection of the dead, and of eternal judgment;" the aug-
mentation of happiness to the righteous, of misery to the
wicked; the congregating of all the good in one place, of

all the bad in another; the eternal shout of saints, 'O, death, where thy sting? O hades, where thy victory?" Let the righteous hold on his way, and the wicked beware.

SERMON XXXI.

The Appearance of Evil.

BY REV. GEORGE PECK, D. D.,

OF THE NEW-YORK CONFERENCE.

"Abstain from all appearance of evil."-1 Thess. v, 22.

THE general tendency of the human mind is to place too high an estimate upon outward appearances. Hence outward religion comes to be magnified at the expense of inward holiness, and some are led to practice great austerities, and to affect sanctimonious airs, when there is but little or no religious principle in the conscience, or love of God in the heart. To guard against a merely outward religion, or a hypocritical show of piety, great stress is laid in the Bible upon the religion of the heart, and all mere formality or outward morality is represented as abominable in the sight of God. "He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything, but a new creature." "God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of hegoats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations: incense is an abomination unto me; the new-moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting." Isa. i, 11-13.

These and similar passages place so much stress upon

the state of the heart, and so pointedly discard mere formalism, that a class of minds are driven to the opposite extreme. If they do not wholly discard outward religion, they at least underrate it, and, by the same process of reasoning, become blind to the appearances of evil. The doctrine which they maintain is, that appearances are nothing-it is with the heart that God has to do.

The object of the apostle in the text is to give appearances their real importance. He consequently connects a precept upon the subject with several other injunctions, all of which relate to inward and practical godliness, and follows it with a prayer for the entire sanctification of those whom he addresses, in a way to show most clearly and conclusively that abstinence from "all appearance of evil" is a necessary accompaniment, or an essential attribute, of an entirely sanctified state. With these remarks upon the general aspects and real importance of the subject presented in the text, I shall proceed to illustrate and apply it: in doing which, I shall first explain the import of the precept in the text, and, secondly, show its real importance.

I. The first thing, then, which I propose, is to explain the import of the precept: "Abstain from all appearance of evil."

Moral evil itself is, in many ways, interdicted in the Scriptures. In the text before us, however, it is not moral evil itself, but its appearance-eidovs, image, shape, or form that we are admonished to abstain from. This is the view of the text most generally adopted by commentators, and the one we think the best sustained, though some critics give it another turn. But, as I have no time for verbal criticism, I shall not enter into the argument.

There may be the appearance, or image, of evil, where no evil is intended, and where there is no evil in fact, further than the mere appearance is itself evil. This may exhibit itself,

1. In our actions.

Several instances will now be given which may stand for the whole. In our intercourse with society we may aim to show a proper regard to men of the world, and associate with them, for their improvement or for our own. Our business relations may seem to require that we should

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seek the company of such as are essentially worldly in their spirit, and we may think to exert a good influence over them: while these associations may appear, to every one else besides ourselves, to be the result of elective affinity. Those who look upon us may honestly suppose that we seek the company of worldly minded persons because we prefer it-because our spirit is congenial with theirs. All appearances may go to justify this conclusion, and we may presume men generally will not go beyond the first and plainest indications for an explanation of our conduct.

In our pursuits we may seem to ourselves to be merely "diligent in business"-only to pay a laudable and proper attention to our temporal interests: while our zeal and energy in the prosecution of our worldly plans and enterprises may seem to contravene the Saviour's prohibition of taking thought for the morrow, and laying up treasure upon earth; our whole course of conduct may indicate that we are principally, if not wholly, concerned for the things which perish with the using.

In our dress and equipage we may merely intend to conform to the world in things indifferent, or seek our own convenience and comfort to an allowable extent: while those around us gather that we think more of gay apparel and elegant furniture and fixtures than we do of the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price.

In our contributions to public or charitable objects, or in our expenditures, we may seem to ourselves to be merely liberal, and to avoid parsimony: but we may appear to others prodigal.

Finally. In our bearing toward the other sex we may think ourselves merely courteous, when to others we appear amorous. Under this head I only intend to embrace the more slight deviations from what would, by a correct taste, be considered due and proper reserve, I have no reference to those who are in the habit of gossiping, romping, and flirting with the other sex; much less do I refer to those whose bearing toward the other sex is lascivious or amorous. Their course is expressly forbidden in the word of God, and their character is not to be mistaken. The evil is not merely in appearance, it is in the heart, and perverts the whole soul. But persons who indulge in

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these practices not unfrequently endeavor to keep them-
selves in countenance among decent and religious peo
by saying, "I mean no harm-I am of an ardent tempe
ment-this is my way." Ah! and this too is the way
the rake and the debauchee-and it is also the way to he
The least appearance which can be fairly construed i
the want of the strictest chastity should be avoided.

Or, to take the reverse of all these instances, for
are not merely exposed in one direction, we may find the
danger of becoming an occasion of stumbling to others by
an opposite course of conduct.

We may shun worldly society for the purpose of avoid
ing its contamination, thinking that we only obey the in-
junction to "come out" from the world "and be separate:"
when we seem to others to have lost all sympathies with
men, and to hold them at an undue distance. We may
seem to have forgotten our social relations, and our obli-
gations growing out of the social state-that while we are
required to scatter our light abroad, we are hiding it under
a bushel.

We may design merely to live above the world, and to carry out our Saviour's injunction to take no thought for the morrow: while we may seem to all the world to be neglectful of our business-to be idle, and criminally negligent of the duties and obligations imposed upon us as

citizens.

While we merely intend to be simple and plain in our dress and equipage, it may seem to others that we are making religion to consist too much in plainness and simplicity of apparel, furniture, &c.

We may think ourselves merely economical-making laudable efforts to acquire, by proper diligence, all we consistently can, and merely saving all we can, or keeping what we acquire for some good use: but others may suppose us penurious and niggardly.

Or, finally, we may suppose ourselves correct in our conduct and bearing toward the other sex, when we appear to others to want for them due respect and consideration.

It is no part of my present business to determine upon which side of the happy medium the greatest evil lies, but to show that there is danger upon either side sufficiently threatening to call for the greatest vigilance. One may

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