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would have been no juftification to us, nor could we have had hope or faith in it, but for the power and glory of the refurrection; which has wiped away the scandal and ignominy of the crofs, and made it a rational act of faith to hope for life and immortality from him, who himself once died upon the tree.

For the truth of this expofition I appeal to St. Paul, who, I Cor. xv. 17, has told us, that, if Chrift be not rifen, our faith is vain; we are yet in our fins. So that faith in the death of Chrift, not grounded on the affurance of his refurrection, is a vain faith, and fuch an one as cannot deliver us from our fins. Nay, that the death of Chrift could not have been a propitiation for fin without his refurrection, he expressly teaches in the next verse, saying, that, if Christ be not raised, then they also, which are fallen afleep in Chrift, are perished.

The power of the refurrection, together with the atonement for fin made by the death of Christ, is very beautifully expreffed by St. Paul, Rom. viii. 34: Who is he that condemneth? It is Chrift that died, yea rather that is rifen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh interceffion for us. The death of Chrift freed us from condemnation; but then was our freedom made manifeft, when he came from the grave in triumph, and led captivity captive; when he afcended to the right hand of his Father to be our perpetual High Priest and Mediator: for, as the Apostle argues, if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, fhall we be faved by his life; i. e. by his refurrection to life and to glory.

This account, as it gives the true interpretation of the text, fo likewife does it fhew of what great moment the refurrection of our Lord was, which was to be the bafis and fupport of the whole Chriftian inftitution, and the ground of our hope and faith in him. That Chrift died the death of a common malefactor, after a life spent in innocency, and a conftant and laborious teaching of the great duties of religion and morality, was but common to him, and others before him, whom God had raised up to be fhining lights of the world. Thus the prophets of old were perfecuted and destroyed by fundry kinds of death: but in their blood there was no expiation for fin: the blood of Abel and of the prophets spoke no fuch language, but cried to God for vengeance against a cruel and a guilty world. Had Chrift died like one of them, and been no more heard of, how fhould we have believed that his death had atoned for all the reft of the blood that had been spilt from the foundation of the world? or that the whole earth had obtained remiffion of fin from God by deftroying one more, and him the greatest of all the prophets, in the most cruel manner? But, when our Lord rofe from the grave, and brought back with him the pardon which he had fealed with his own blood; when, instead of executing wrath upon his enemies, he fent again the offer of peace and reconciliation, and took upon himself to be their Mediator and Interceffor, as he had already been their Sacrifice; what room was there to doubt of the efficacy of his death, the efficacy of which was fo undeniably confirmed by his refurrection? or what reason to miftruft the falva

tion he offered others, when, by faving himself from the power of death, he had given the fulleft evidence how able he was to fave others alfo? The moft incredulous of his enemies defired him only to come down from the cross, and they would believe him: but how much better reafon had they to believe him, when he came, not from the cross, but from the grave, which was by much the furer hold, and from which before no mortal had ever escaped! How undeniable was this teftimony of God's love to mankind, that, after the ill reception his Son had found among them, after all the cruel ufage he had experienced, and the ignominious death he had fuffered, he yet fent him once more from the grave to convince unbelievers, and to proclaim and confirm the pardon he had purchased for them!

His first coming was attended with a mean birth and narrow fortune, his education was suitable to his condition, and the greateft part of his life fpent in obfcurity he had no form or comeliness that we fhould defire him; he was a man of forrows, and acquainted with grief: and when he fell a victim to the malice and rage of the people, his best friends, the conftant companions of his forrow, gave him over for loft; they esteemed him ftricken and fmitten of God all their hopes died with him, and the remembrance of his miracles and mighty works was buried in the fame tomb with himself; and nothing lefs was thought of, than that this was he who fhould redeem Ifrael from all his fins. But, when he came again from the bofom of the earth, having fubdued the powers of darkness and of death, then was he declared to be the Son of God with power;

and the glory as of the only-begotten Son of God fhone clearly through the veil of flesh which had fo long obfcured it. And from thenceforth our faith has ftood, not in the words which the wisdom or cunning of man teacheth, but in the power and demonstration of the Spirit of life and we can with affurance fay, We know in whom we have trufted, expecting life and falvation from him. alone, who is the Lord of life and glory. But, after all, if the refurrection of Chrift is the support of all other articles of the Chriftian faith, how is itself fupported? To our common apprehenfion nothing more incredible than that a man dead and buried should be restored to life again.

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To go into the particulars of the evidence of this great event, recorded in Scripture and the oldeft writers of the church, would open too large a field of discourse at present: and indeed there are some objections which naturally arise in the minds of men, which ought previously to that inquiry to be removed; for the great difficulty at which men stick, does not arise so much from the nature of the evidence we propose, as from the nature of the thing itself. The presumptions against the poffibility of a resurrection operate fo strongly in the minds of fome, that they think it needless to inquire what evidence there is for it, being perfuaded that the thing itself is not capable of being fupported by any evidence. This prejudice was a very early one; for the Apoftle expoftulates this case with King Agrippa, Why Should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God fhould raife the dead?

Let us confider the force of this expoftulation,

and fee whether it is ftrong enough to encounter the prejudice.

Now, nothing can be faid to be incredible, if there is a power in any perfon able to effect it; for, if there is fuch a power, that power may bring into existence that very thing which you doubt of; and it cannot be incredible that a thing should exift, which may poffibly really exift. If we confider only the ftrength of children, it is incredible that they fhould build caftles; but, if we confider the ftrength and ability of men, it would be ridiculous. to doubt whether they could, or no. So that the credibility or incredibility of any thing depends on knowing whether there is, or is not, a power adequate to the undertaking. The refurrection of the dead is in truth a very ftupendous work but neither you nor I am to undertake it if it depended on us, it would be incredible indeed. It is the work of God, and of him only: and furely I have named one of credit and power fufficient to be trufted in this great affair. And this is St. Paul's argument, Why should it be thought incredible that God fhould raife the dead? Whoever therefore affirms that a refurrection is in itself a thing incredible, muft affirm that it is incredible that God has power to raise the dead. And now confider who it is that can confiftently with the common and allowed principles of reafon and nature deny this power to God. No one certainly, who admits that God made the world, can entertain this doubt: for, if God has given us the life we now enjoy, what should hinder him from reftoring life again, after this is loft? Can there be more difficulty in

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