would tarry under a loosened arch? who would go upon a doubtful bridge? nay, even though the chances were in favour of escaping ;-but the lightest probability would fix our resolve as surely as the greatest. And yet the certain warning, if we could have it, that we should die this day ten years, would move us more deeply than the uncertain chance whether we shall not die to-night. Brethren, we have a large stewardship to account for-a tale of many years, with all the manifold workings of thought and life: our lot, our character, and every particular of what we are; all our opportunities, and all the gifts of God,-all this reckoning must be rendered at His coming. And we have a sharp warfare to maintain against ourselves, against the strong will that wrestles against conscience we have a trying struggle to endure, that we may enter in at the narrow gate. And the time for this great mastery is wearing away, and the day of our probation is well nigh spent. To a man that looks for Christ's coming, how utterly worthless are all things that can perish! How awful is that which is alone imperishable! All things about us shall be abolished. The solid earth shall melt, and the canopy of heaven shall be rolled away: but there is one thing which cannot die; one thing which will cleave and cling to us for ever; which we brought with us into the world;

which, whether we will or no, we must carry out; which, for good or for evil, haunts every man at all times, abroad and at home, in the busy throng of men, or in the dead stillness of solitude; which shall be with us in the hour of death, and stand by us in the day of judgment; -each man's own imperishable self; the immortal spirit of life which, with all its capacities of good or ill, in the beginning came from God, and, with the stamp it has here taken, must return to God again.'

Therefore, brethren, make sure your standing in His sight, and all things shall fall into their place; all parts of a Christian's life are in harmony,-time with eternity; his own soul with God. You will not joy the less, nor weep the more; the happiness of your home will not be clouded, nor the burden of your sorrow be freighted with a heavier load. No; to the true Christian life's cares shall be an easy, tolerable yoke, and all his heart's joys shall be ever deeper and more lasting. If we take all things as from God, and behold all things as in the light of the brightness of His coming, all shall be well. In a little while all will be unravelled, and the snares and bonds of life be broken, and we shall be where no man can be entangled, or offend, or fall any more. A little while, and the veil which hangs

1 Eccles. xii. 7.

between heaven and earth shall be rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and all that you have here held of God and for God you shall carry with you into the holy place; and all that is gone before you shall be found perfect, at the feet of our great High Priest, who standeth before the eternal throne.

Quebec

15 March 1868

3 Sound in Seat

SERMON XXV.

THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.

Behold my

ST. LUKE Xxiv. 39.

hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."

WHILE the apostles and the two disciples who had returned from Emmaus were speaking together of the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, He came and stood in the midst. They were "affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And He said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." He assured them that He was the same Lord with whom they had so long conversed; that He was no bodiless spirit, but the same man, Jesus Christ.

From this we see, that the very body which He took of the blessed Virgin, in which He "in

creased in wisdom and in stature," which was also nailed upon the cross, was likewise raised from the dead. It was not another body like it, nor a mere appearance of His incarnate form; but the very same substantial and palpable frame which they were bidden to handle and see, in which He did "eat and drink" with them "after He rose from the dead." It was a body capable of all the energies of life, susceptible of all the perfect affections of our manhood, but impassible and deathless: for it was no longer a mortal body, but an immortal; and yet it was a body still: as the "natural," or animal body, of which St. Paul speaks, is a true body, not a disembodied life, so the "spiritual body" is a body, not a disembodied spirit. Therefore he says, "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body: there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." Either way, both before and after the resurrection, it is a true body. So here it was the same in all its identity; only a change had passed upon its conditions: death had "no more dominion over" it: "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more." His manhood was thenceforward under the powers of "the spirit of life;" and in that human form He passed the closed doors, vanished out of the sight of Cleophas, and afterwards ascended into heaven.

11 Cor. xv. 44.