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him, and that he had prepared for those who love him a mansion of glory, he caused Enoch to be taken from the earth without passing through death.

We have only three instances of this assumption of a human body into the other world upon record; that of Enoch, and those of Elijah and Jesus Christ, all in distinct ages of time.

Thus in different periods did GOD vouchsafe to give men a demonstrative proof of the reality of a future state. And this, in the antediluvian world, was peculiarly necessary, being strikingly calculated to impress the minds of men with a belief of a most important truth, which, through their long residence here, they might have been apt to forget. Enoch, a public character of eminent gifts and virtues, a preacher of righteousness, and an examplar of holy living, was removed from this world, without enduring the customary pangs of dissolving nature, or becoming a lifeless and putrid corpse. Such an instance could not but produce much observation among his contemporaries, and the circumstance doubtless was carefully handed down from one generation to another with wonder and reverence. But if this be a proof of the doctrine of a future state, it is no less an evidence of that of the resurrection; for if corruption is thus made to inherit incorruption, if that which is mortal is made to put on immortality, and a perishable body is translated into the realms of eternal life, why should it be deemed a thing incredible that GOD should raise the dead? Does it require a greater act of power to recover the scattered particles of the dead from the dust of the ground, or from the waters of the ocean, than to raise the body and soul of a man from earth to heaven?

Both are equally miraculous acts, and both are equally the same thing to Him, who by his word created all things out of nothing.

Let us, then, humbly believe and adore the Divine goodness, who, in raising Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus

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Christ, has given us a powerful assurance, that he will raise us up also at the last day. But let this consideration also beget in us the resolution of taking the Word of GOD for our guide in this life, that we may not fail of receiving a glorious habitation in the life to come. By faith and holiness we shall pass through the dark and perplexing paths of this sinful world, as the friends of GOD, who will at last cause us to be brought into his presence, where, with Enoch, and with all the holy men of old, patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs, the good and pious of every age and clime, we shall partake fulness of pure joy, and taste of Divine pleasure for

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evermore.

NOAH.

Born in the Year of the World 1057; entered the Ark in 1656; died in 2007.

THOUGH mercy and goodness are the leading characteristics of the Almighty, in his dispensations to man, yet are his judgments terrible, certain, and just. He forbears long with the wickedness of men, and withholds his vengeance from falling on their guilty head till the cup of their iniquity is full, when justice necessarily takes place of mercy.

The long-suffering of God, when contrasted with the impiety and ingratitude of man, will, to the humble mind, always account for the awful visitations of Divine Providence, and for the apparent inequalities of the moral government of the world, which so often perplex the inconsiderate, and occasionally disturb the most pious minds.

At the birth of NOAH, in the year of the world one thousand and fifty-seven, the earth was full of inhabitants, and iniquity had increased in an equal proportion with population.

The father of this great patriarch was Lamech,

the son of Methuselah, who died at the age of nine hundred and sixty-nine years. The father of Mcthuselah was Enoch, that eminent man, who was no less remarkable for the holiness of his life, than for his translation to glory.

Thus the history of the creation, and the most important truths of religion, could easily be transmitted through a long space of time, without misrepresentation or perversion. Adam communicated them to Enoch, and that venerable man committed the precious deposit to Methuselah, and probably to Noah himself. This was a wise and gracious order of things, to answer an important end, which could not have been effected, if the age of man had extended no farther than its present contracted period.

But with all the advantages of religious information possessed by the inhabitants of the old world, their history is black in the extreme. One or two pious exceptions only are recorded, while the rest. are represented as being so wicked as "to grieve the spirit of GOD," Genesis iv. 6, by their iniquity. For a considerable time, it should seem, the children of Cain, and those of the other branches of Adam's family, kept at a distance from each other. The former were very ingenious, and made many discoveries, some of a mechanical nature, and others in the way of elegant refinement. But the men of this race were gross idolaters, and devoted their skill and accomplishments to the corruption of morals and the dishonour of God.

The posterity of Seth, on the other hand, were distinguished by the simplicity of their manners, and by an adherence to the faith revealed, and the worship instituted in Paradise.

In process of time this division between the two great families of the antediluvian race became less distinct. The "sons of GOD," as the children of Seth were called, being allured by the blandishments of the "daughters of men," formed marriages with them; and, by thus sacrificing their religious

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