world. Above all, and as a general rule, he exhorts us to "seek first the kingdom of God ;" to seek the things which are above;" and not to set any such value on earthly enjoyments, possessions, or advantages, as shall make us unwilling to resign them. And why? For this plain reason; that this world is not our portion we are to rise above it. Our Lord and Saviour is risen; and bids our souls mount now towards him and heaven, that hereafter our whole frame may be "delivered from the bondage of corruption, and introduced into the glorious liberty of the sons of God." when this mortal shall have put on immortality, and this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is thy victory? O grave, where is thy sting? It is Christ, that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, and maketh intercession for us; that when he, who is our life, shall appear, we also may appear with him in glory." 3

2 See 1 Cor. vii. 30.

31 Cor. xv. 53 Heb. vii. 5. Col. iii. 4.

"So

217

EASTER DAY.

SERMON XII.

CHRIST THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.

JOHN xi. 25.

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die."

THESE words were spoken to Martha, who was lamenting the death of her brother Lazarus. Jesus had said to her, Thy brother shall rise again. This Martha fully believed, both from the opinion prevailing among the majority of the Jewish people, and because it had been confirmed in the plainest manner by our Lord himself, and made the foundation of all his teaching. So she replied, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. But Jesus was aware, that although she expected a resurrection and a life to come, still her infor

mation upon these points must as yet be very defective; so he took the opportunity of declaring certain truths, which she might ponder in her heart till she was able to comprehend them more fully. He directed her attention to himself and forbade her, as it were, to think of the resurrection, without at the same time referring to him as the author of it. I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and he that liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. No words can afford a more suitable subject of thought for the present season. May the solemnity of it assist in fixing them with fresh impression upon our hearts!

Our Lord says, I am the resurrection and the life. As much as to say, You talk of the resurrection; you have believed it, and expect it. But hereafter, when you think of it, learn to think of me as its sole cause and principle. By the first man, Adam, came death; by me, the second Adam, comes the resurrection of the dead. As" in Adam all died;" even so in me, the "Christ, shall all be made alive."

And if we take the scriptures for our guide,

and inquire in what manner this mysterious promise is realized, we shall find how Christ offers by an everlasting covenant to all who trust in him, life from the dead, and resurrection from the grave. As he is THE LIFE, he quickens the souls of all who trust in him, and gives and preserves to them a spiritual being; spiritual feelings, and spiritual desires, and spiritual powers. And as he is THE RESURRECTION, he will raise their bodies from the grave, and make them "like unto his glorious body;" equally capable of infinite enjoyment and of eternal existence. This two-fold promise I shall consider in its order.

I. He that believeth in him, though he were dead, yet shall he live. I need hardly remind you, that to be living "at enmity with God," or "without God in the world," in scripture language, is death; is to be in a state of death. Because it is, here on earth, to be dull, and cold, and inactive to all those thoughts, and pursuits, and affections, which are the proper business of man, the true purpose as well as the highest ornament of his nature; and because the end of such a state is eternal death. "The

wages of sin," says St. Paul," is death. To be carnally-minded, is death."

If there should be any here who know what this state is, either from what they have been, or unhappily still are, let me ask them whether there is no suitableness in the phrase; whether a course of trespasses and sins, an ungodly state of heart, an ungodly habit of acting, is anything better than a living death, when compared with the noble existence which the gospel offers to our view? The apostle certainly looks back upon it in that light, and speaks of it in such terms, when he writes, "We all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ."1 Hath given us new life; for out of this wretched and degraded condition it is the purpose of our blessed Lord to raise the souls of all that believe in him. So he declared at his first appearance: "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall 1 Eph. ii. 3-6.