dead with Christ, we shall also live with him," and our Lord himself told his apostles because I live shall live also."

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If then we begin to perceive the value of this blessed hope of being planted in the likeness of our Saviour's resurrection, as we shall be also in the likeness of his death if he liveth by the power of God," let us next inquire to what kind of life it hath raised him, that we may obtain some idea, however imperfect, of the effect of the same power upon ourselves. If he had been raised, as some had been, formerly through the agency of the prophets, and latterly by his own, merely to enjoy a few years of longer existence in the present state, and then to pass again through the valley of the shadow of deathnay, though his renewed existence were to have continued through a succession of ages, and then to have come to a period, our interest in the event would have been comparatively of small importance. But God hath raised Jesus again, no more to return to the house of corruption- Being raised from the dead, he dieth no more-death hath no more dominion over him"- "he is risen again and ever liveth at the right hand of the Majesty on high" is made a priest after the power of an endless life"-he it is, ❝ who liveth, and was dead, and behold he is alive for evermore.” Hear then the gracious encouragement he gives his faithful followers to connect their everlasting existence and happiness with his own“Let not your heart be troubled-ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive

you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." Yes, my friends, it is not only life, but immortality that is brought to light by the gospel-it is eternal life which is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord-a gift to which that of being, which we originally have derived from his power, owes its principal—I had almost said its only value. So then,

when Christ who is our life shall appear, we also shall appear with him in glory"-" he died for us that we should live together with him." And though "it doth not yet appear what we shall be, yet this we know, that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is"- "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” This corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal immortality”— "Death shall be swallowed up in victory"-mortality by life everlasting.

But while we exult in the thought, and feel all its value as the basis and confirmation of our faith and hope, that as our blessed Lord's nature was, like our's, mortal, so our's shall become like his, immortal -that both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one, partakers of the same flesh and blood, so that he is not ashamed to call them brethren -yet let us not be unmindful of his high character, or neglect to look up to him with due reverence as the prince of life, as appointed of God to be the first that should rise from the dead, by an immediate act of divine energy, to an immortal life—the first born among many brethren-the beginning of the new creation—the first fruits of them that slept—the first born, or, as it is elsewhere expressed, the first begotien from the dead, that in all things he might have the pre

eminence. Let us also recognise, with grateful duty, that authority with which he is invested as head over all things unto his church, and yield him that obedience which he rightfully claims in exclusion of all inferior rulers. Let us remember, at the same time, the moving cause of his advancement. It was not upon any ground or claim of merit, much less of equality, or original deity, which could not have admitted of an increase of dignity, but because he humbled himself, and became obedient even unto death, that God his Father hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name." It was "to this end that Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living." But how could this end have been answered by his death and resurrection, if he were previously in possession of such a dignity, as God eternal and immortal? Nothing can be plainer, than that it was subsequent to these events, that he entered upon the kingdom which his Father hath appointed unto him, "and he shall reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." It is through his agency that the general resurrection will be effected. "I am," said he, “the resurrection and the life—he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." "As the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself." "Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming when all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and

shall come forth" The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God"—" the dead shall be raised incorruptible" and the living shall be changed.

The last, and grandest scene of all, will be that in which Christ shall appear as the Delegate of the su preme Governor of the universe, who hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Then will the Son of man, to whom the Father hath given authority to execute judgment, sit on the throne of his glory. Before him shall be gathered all nations-all the sons and daughters of Adam, who have either existed in ages past, or shall exist in ages yet to come. In this immense congregation, not a single individual shall be lost or escape notice. They shall be divided into distinct classes, according to their different moral characters, and the opportunities for improvement which they have respectively enjoyed, and receive a sentence of righteous retribution.

Thus, my Christian friends, it must plainly appear to you that every circumstance relating to the exaltation of Christ, subsequent to his being laid a lifeless corpse in the tomb of Joseph, is attributable, not to himself, but to the power and good pleasure of his and our heavenly Father; and if I had begun at the point of time, when the voice from heaven, ac-companied with the descent of a visible glory, proclaimed him the beloved Son of God, in whom he was well pleased; and if I had exhibited in order before you, the splendour of his miracles, the wisdom of his discourses, and every circumstance by which the divinity of his mission was attested, I must have contradicted his own most positive and explicit declaration, if I had attributed them to any underived power inherent in himself, and not to his who gave him the

The

commandment what he should say and what he should speak, and who by him did the works, which of himself he could not have done. While we adhere to the axiom, in its unrestricted and authorised sense, that all things are of God-of him only, whose is the kingdom and the power and the glory," our deductions are clear, satisfactory, and convincing. moment we abandon it, and admit the notion of a plurality of persons, or a copartnership in deity, we plunge into the depths of darkness and error. So utterly incompatible are the death and resurrection of Christ with the doctrine of his supreme godhead, and consubstantiality with the Father, that for a long series of years, subsequent to the broaching of that anscriptural tenet, and while the dissensions it bred continued, this grand basis, upon which we find the apostles erected the fabric of Christianity, appears to have been lost sight of. And when, at length, the glaring absurdity of deity and death in the same person was perceived, the till then unthought of expedient was adopted, of attributing to him a double nature, which a moment's calm reflection will discover to be utterly subversive of the previous errors of equality or co-essentiality, and, if possible, still more so of the Athanasian hypothesis with all its distracting medley of assertions and negations. It would seem to be too plain to admit of a question, whether that faith which is simple and intelligible, or that which is involved in mystery and incongruity, will be most influential upon, and best adapted to the noble powers of the human mind, as formed in the divine image, and to its native freedom and love of truth. On the contrary, it has been taken for granted, that the principles we profess tend to the destruc