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therefore, by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead ;" and "as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

The resurrection of Christ is the great and confirming evidence to the truth of the Gospel Revelation. If he is not risen, we are still in the most woful condition ;-we are, and must be the vassals of death. For if Christ himself is not risen, he cannot raise others who are dead; he cannot call us from our graves to a state of happiness and immortality; and, upon that supposition, we are still in our sins, still under their dominion, and still liable to all the punishments that, by the strictest and unmitigated law of justice, they have deserved. But we are not driven to this hopeless alternative; we are not left in doubt as to the truth and certainty of our Saviour's resurrection. The point is so clear,-the truth of his resurrection is asserted by so strong an evidence, as to leave no doubt or scruple in any thinking and reasonable mind. St. Paul produces the most convincing attestations of it, in the chapter from which the text is taken. He meets the objections and clears up the doubts, that some inconsiderate and credulous persons had raised upon the subject:-and he lays down the happy consequences that accrue from the event itself, which consequences are, "this, our itself,—which present corruptible nature, must put on incorruption, and that this mortal nature must put on immortality." He goes on to say, that, "when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have

put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory :❞—and then he exclaims, in the language of exultation, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

Death is either temporal or eternal. By temporal death is meant, in Scripture, the separation of soul and body, which puts an end to our present life. By death eternal, is meant an existence in another life, but in a state of endless misery. That we die at all, is owing to the transgression of Adam, our first parent. The punishment of his fall was universal; the consequences of it extended to all his descendants; for by him, "sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men." But this is only the death of the body,-the natural dissolution of our outward frame. The second or eternal death is the punishment of every man's own unrepented sin;-and in this sense, the word death is always used in the New Testament, when it is threatened to sinners as the penalty of their crimes.

As man is compounded of soul and body, his body only is affected by the temporal death, because it is left in a state of corruption, and in a natural incapacity of being restored to its original frame. Having ceased to perform its animal operations, or to be under the influence of a directing mind, it dissolves again into that dust from which it was created. This is the victory gained over us by the grave; and to this the Apostle alludes in the text, addressing him

self to the grave by a figurative expression,-intimating that this victory had ceased to be any longer a victory, since its ravages were repaired and limited by Jesus Christ.

Eternal death is the punishment of the soul. It is into this death that the sting is infixed; and this, therefore, it is that ought to alarm our fears, and excite our aversion. Now, the Apostle further tells us, that this "sting of death is sin." It is that, which makes the second death so horrible to think of, and so miserable to be actually undergone. Yet this sting is taken out, and is no longer able to annoy and appal us, through the sufferings and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through him, we are enabled to triumph over death, to view it disarmed of all its terrors, to meet it with resolution, and to enjoy the felicity of that blessed state which immediately follows it.

Hence it is, that, through Christ, we may become conquerors of death both temporal and eternal:-and here it will be proper to enlarge upon the method by which each of these victories is to be obtained.

First, then,-The victory over natural or temporal death, is gained by the resurrection of Christ. By his resurrection, we are convinced of the possibility that a dead body may be reanimated; and from him we have the strongest assurance, that he will raise our mortal bodies in the same manner, and restore them to second life, and to a more glorious continuance. This, indeed, is a truth that we learn solely

from the Scriptures, and, therefore, is matter of pure revelation ;-but then it is revealed so clearly, as to place it beyond the reach of all scruple. The probability that the soul survived the body, was strenuously asserted by those who were guided only by the light of their own reason; but those same persons seem to have had little or no idea of the revival of the body after death. The Jews themselves, considered as a nation, and excepting particular individuals who were divinely enlightened, seem to have had no very clear or positive knowledge upon this point, though it is evident, from several passages of the Old Testament, that they believed it, and that they expected to be themselves raised again from the dead. It is, however, a doctrine of such importance, and so plainly declared in the Christian revelation, that it is connected with the truth and certainty of that revelation, and they must stand or fall together. This is St. Paul's argument in the 13th and 14th verses of the chapter from which the text is taken,-where he says, "If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen; and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith also is vain ;" -i. e. if the dead are not raised again, then what we have preached to you respecting such a resurrection is false and erroneous;-and, as we have inferred and proved it from the resurrection of Christ, that proof must be fallacious, and, therefore, Christ himself is not risen. And if this be the case, what avails your faith, or your believing in him; for “ you are

yet in your sins,"-you must still be captives to sin, and the means of deliverance must be out of your reach. Upon this supposition, we still are subject to death both temporal and eternal; and those who are already "fallen asleep" in Christ,-who have died in the belief of the Christian doctrines, have totally perished, and, of course, are consigned to death eternal. 66 But," he adds, "now is Christ risen from the dead," as I have before proved to you by undoubted evidence, "and is become the first-fruits of them that slept." He is risen first, that they may rise at his call. He is the first fruits; and, therefore, has sanctified the whole mass that is to follow ;-that as mortality was introduced by Adam, and as by him alone as the leader, death came into the world, even so by Christ alone, the second Adam, "came also the resurrection of the dead."

To endeavour to account for the particular manner in which the great restoration shall be accomplished, or how the Omnipotent will proceed in performing it, would be to perplex ourselves with rash and intricate debates, and would be prying much further than our reason can penetrate into the secrets of the Most High. Thus much may be boldly asserted ;-When we are able to account for our own creation, we shall be able to solve the difficulties of our future resurrection. The man who can inform us how his own body was fashioned from the dust of the earth, and how life, and sense, and motion were imparted to it, may be able to teach us how, after its dissolution,