high. The Angel of the Lord descended from heaven-His countenance was like lightning, and His raiment white as snow-and He was terrible to the Roman soldiers, who knew not God, nor His Son, and despised the purpose for which they had been sent there. But He was serene, and gentle, to the poor women of Galilee, who had come first to the tomb, not knowing of the guard, to weep over the body of their Lord. So shall the earth tremble--and the angels of heaven at the great day be the ministers of wrath to the wicked who have lain down without hope-while the same angels shall rejoice to calm the terrors, and to soothe the fears of those who slept in the hope of a joyful resurrection through the Son of God. Then the declaration in this passage of Scripture was accomplished-many bodies of the saints came forth from the graves which had been opened in the hour of the death of Christ, and they appeared to the followers of their common Lord, to prove to us, that though the grave may part us from our kindred and our friends for a season, we shall all be restored to each other, and nothing be left of mortality to disturb our peace and union, which shall continue for ever. If we are Christians indeed, our immortality will be happiness, to an extent, and in a manner, which we must die before we can experience; but of which some faint hints are given us in Scripture, to elevate our affections above this earth, and to place them upon the scenes of endless and certain glory.

Such is the event with which we conclude our

review of the last week of the ministry of Christ. The half has not been told you, but I trust that enough has been said to induce you to study the pages of inspiration, to believe in the truth of the gospel, and to live as in the presence of God. Remember how short our time must be upon earth -look at the length of life, and reflect how much has passed away already. Death cannot be the end of man-it is only the completion of the first stage of an undying existence. The events which you have this day commemorated, demonstrate that you must live again. Prepare then to meet thy God-prepare to meet Him with joy-not as an angry Judge, but as a merciful Deliverer from sin and death, as an eternal and beloved Friend. You are invited to happiness, and peace, and joy -you are entreated to partake of consolation, in the prospect of death, and comfort in the consciousness of approaching dissolution. Believe in these things from the heart. Put away the allurements of known evil-die to the world, and live to God-and the Redeemer who has died and risen again, will rejoice to receive you in the last great day. Follow your Lord upon earth, and He will not be ashamed of His disciples, when all the dead appear before Him-when He cometh in the clouds of heaven, and all His holy angels with Him.

SERMON XXVI.

ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.

[Preached at Northallerton, on Easter Sunday, 1829.]

1 COR. xv. 35-44.

Some man will say, How are the dead raised up ? And with what body do they come? That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, another of birds. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in. weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

THE Christian religion is established upon two kinds of evidence, which are called the external or outward, and the internal or inward evidence. The external evidence consists of a certain number of facts, and actions, which are proved to be true, by the same mode of demonstration by which we shew that any circumstances recorded in history may be

proved to have taken place. The internal evidence consists in this-that there are certain doctrines and declarations in the books of Scripture, which could not have been discovered by human reason, but which may be proved, after they have been once submitted to us, to be perfectly consistent with the most strict and severe reasoning The subject which I have selected for our consideration this morning, must be added to the latter of these. It is the subject of the resurrection of the body. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul was a part of that revelation which was given to man at the beginning, and, therefore, it was a doctrine which was never entirely forgotten among mankind. All nations, however savage, or in other respects ignorant, retained some persuasion that there was within them a reasonable soul, and that that soul was immortal, and would live again in some mysterious manner, after the death of the body. But the resurrection of the body was a doctrine which was never fully revealed, until life and immortality were more fully brought to light by the gospel1; and therefore it was, that, when St. Paul preached at Athens, the philosophers and the people heard him with patience, until he spoke of the resurrection from the dead; and the converts to whom this epistle was addressed, in spite of all their willingness to receive the doctrines of the new religion, were staggered at the difficulties attendant on the resurrection of

12 Tim. i. 10.
D d

the body, and exclaimed in the language of the passage before us-How are the dead raised up? How is it possible that the poor, pale, cold, decaying form, which the weeping kindred commit to the melancholy grave-how is it possible that this corruptible, mouldering clay, can recover from the embraces of corruption, from the revellings of the worm, from the mingling with the elements, and from the laws of destruction, and rise from the crumbling ground, and live, and move again? How are the dead raised up? And even if it be possible that they should be raised, as the Scriptures declare-with what body do they come? Do they rise again in the same form as that in which they were committed to the ground? Can the body of flesh and blood inherit the invisible kingdom of God? Would not such a body be merely a burthen and hindrance to the soul? Shall we again put on the form which has been so long subject to sickness, infirmity, and age? Shall we rise to perpetual youth, and to the renovated beauty of earlier and happier years? How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come? Such was their language, and such is ours also for it is the language of nature, when we think of our own death; and it is the language of affection, when we remember the death of others; and it is a question, therefore, which, even on this account, deserves to be considered and answered. There is, however, yet another reason, on account of which we seem to be required to consider it. There is not one per