MAN in the first estate is "a little lower than the angels;" but, in the second, or higher estate, he is to be "crowned with glory and honor," and to take his stand in the universe upon an equality with them in nature and renown. Man's first estate is the natural and animal; his second, the spiritual, or incorruptible. To be exalted from the present to the future state and inheritance, he must be subjected to trial. From the examples recorded in the scriptures, it is evident, that God has established it as a rule. of his grace; that is, the principle upon which he bestows his honors and rewards-to prove men before he exalts them. Probation, then, is the indispensable ordeal, to which every man is subjected in the providence of God, before he is accepted as "fit for the Master's use" (2 Timothy 2:20,21).
