Him. (Col. iii. 8-17.) The true way to prove both to ourselves and others that we have hope in Christ and believe in the resurrection unto life, is to show that we have already risen from the grave of our corruptions, and are alive unto God by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And then we need have no manner of doubt that He who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in us. (Rom. viii. 11.)

And how happy may we be as regards those who have fallen asleep in Christ. They have not perished. They are in joy and felicity. They are with Christ. Their souls are conscious and happy. They have escaped all the miseries of this sinful life, and secure of their own salvation, are only solicitous for ours. Let us not then sorrow even as others which have no hope, but rejoice in the thought that when Jesus comes without sin unto salvation they shall come with Him, and the dead in Christ shall take precedence of the living, and rise first from their graves. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up

together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord Jesus in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess. iv. 15-18.)

SERMON V.

1 COR. XV. 21-23.

"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

"But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming."

WE sometimes speak of death as a debt of nature, but incorrectly; for nature abhors the change, and was made subject to death, not willingly, but by necessity. Man was formed by his Creator to be immortal. He was fashioned with exquisite skill, and endued with a soul still more wonderful than his body. No one could hurt him but by his own fault.

He was perfectly able to stand, though still liable to fall. He was not a mere machine; neither was he like horse and mule which have no understanding: but he had the gift of reason, and, like the angels, the power of free will. Else his obedience would have been little worth. Moreover, he was the covenant head of the whole human race. If Adam stood, they stood; if he fell, they fell with him. Life was the reward of obedience, death the penalty of sin.

We know the sad result. The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, and she her husband. And, had not the goodness and wisdom of Almighty God provided a remedy for this foreseen and permitted calamity, man must without doubt have perished everlastingly. But God who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, provided a Saviour who should repair the ruins of the Fall, and be in every way equal to the emergency, Satan should be permitted to manifest all his malignity, to exert all his power, and to exult in his supposed victory. But this should only issue in the greater glory of God, and the

increased happiness of redeemed man. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, and none can defeat His purpose. As He maketh the wrath of man, so He maketh the wrath of Satan, to praise Him.

Let us consider, from the words of our text, death by Adam, and life by Christ, and confine ourselves to the death and resurrection of the body; for this alone is treated of in this chapter. It is not spiritual death or life which is here spoken of; these form the subject of other passages; but only the death of the body, and its resurrection unto life at the coming of Christ. May the Lord Himself be with us, and make the subject profitable to our souls' health, for the Redeemer's sake.

First, then, let us speak of

I. Death by Adam. "By man came death. In Adam all die."

1. Now, what is this death? What is its nature and description? It is the extinction of life, the departure of the soul from the body, leaving it a lifeless corpse. It is the fulfilment of the curse, "Dust thou art, and unto dust