latter day upon the earth;" and that "though after his skin worms destroy his body, yet in his flesh he shall see God:" that, "he shall see Him for himself," and that "his eyes shall behold Him, and not another, though his reins be consumed within him"-surely no rational understanding can doubt his firm belief of a resurrection from the dead. But yet when the same Job declares, that his "days are spent without hope," and that his "life is wind," and that his eye" that very eye which he said should behold his Redeemer-" shall no more see good;" that, as the cloud is consumed, and vanisheth away, so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more"-surely they are expressions capable of staggering the Hebrew's faith, so far as it was built upon the testimony of Job!

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In like manner, when David distinguishes himself from the sensualist who lives without the thought of an after-existence, by observing, "As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness"-it is impossible to disbelieve that he considered death more than a transient sleep, and that he looked for a world to come. when the same David inquires of his Maker, "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit ? Shall the DUST praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth?" "Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and

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praise thee? Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave, or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark, and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?"—and then, when he seems, in another psalm, to negative these questions by the declaration, that "the dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence;" and when he further declares, that man is as "a wind, that passeth away and cometh not again"-the Psalmist might certainly be understood, by an unreflecting and carnal-minded Jew, to argue as much against the resurrection as the Sadducees themselves.

Let us supply one instance more, of several passages from the Old Testament, which an inconsiderate and superficial reasoner might adduce as weakening the credibility of a future state. When Solomon, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, distinguishes minutely between the soul and the body; when he recurs to the origin of each, and instructs us as to the several destinies that await them, in accordance with their respective derivations; when he asserts in the most express terms, that "the dust," or the earthy and material part of man, "shall return to the earth as it was;" but that "the spirit shall return to God who gave it "we cannot desire a more direct and positive declaration, if not of the resurrection of the body, at least of a

future state, and of the soul's immortality. But when the same Preacher observes, that "that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast: the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward:" a voluptuary-he who had resolved to pass his mortal existence and to die in imitation of a brute, would gladly seize on and distort the expressions of the Preacher, in order to countenance his irreligious and depraved notions of annihilation after death.

But, my brethren, these and other dubious passages cannot, without great impiety, be adduced to prove that the doctrine of the resurrection was not taught under the Old Law; because our Saviour explicitly asserts that they, who under the ancient dispensation denied it, “erred, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God." At the same time, it is to be carefully remarked, that this truth was not revealed so clearly to the Jews in the Old Testament, as it is to Christians in the New. For, as St. Paul expresses himself to Timothy, " Our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, hath brought life and immortality to light," that is, to GREATER

light" through the Gospel." That which the learned Pharisee attained by the utmost stretch of thought, the unlettered Christian comprehends in a moment. That which was darkly hinted in the Old Testament, is declared in the New in terms which cannot be misunderstood. That which was only touched upon in certain parts of the Law, pervades every part of the Gospel; nor can any contradictory passage be discovered which will counterpoise the force of so many plain texts upon the subject. The most prejudiced reader of the Scriptures (if he believe) cannot reject the authoritative statement of our Saviour, when He solemnly avers, that "the hour is coming, in the which, all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."

The plain declarations of our blessed Saviour, therefore, cannot admit of doubt; and since He Himself arose from the dead in proof of the veracity of His mission, that which He asserted must be true. He who predicted His own resurrection, also predicted ours; and since we are assured that He arose, we may be equally confident that the same event will happen to us. The Resurrection of Christ is built upon a foundation which all the powers of Hell are unable to over

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throw and OUR hopes of that astonishing event are founded on as strong a basis.

If we consider also that Christ is the MERITORIOUS cause of such expectation, it will appear to you, my brethren, still more solidly established.

When Man, by the transgression of his Maker's laws, forfeited that life which he received originally as the free gift of God, and which he held only by the tenure of obedience, Christ, in His unequalled charity, deigned to surrender Himself unto the power of darkness, in order to rescue man from the dominion of death. God the Father vouchsafed to forgive the forfeiture, in consideration of the exalted price paid by our Saviour's blood-to free the imprisoned wretch, and to raise him once again to hope and happiness. This restoration, though in itself an act of God's mere bounty, was yet procured by the satisfaction made for us by His Son. It was the free gift of God, BECAUSE totally undeserved by man; but it was granted, BECAUSE of the allsufficient merits of our Saviour. For, my brethren, the grace of God and redemption by Christ-the remission of sins by the Father and the expiation of sins by the Son-restoration to life freely bestowed on the one hand, and purchased at an immense price on the other, must not be deemed contradictory or inconsistent. Both are alike

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