The next witnesses which appear in favour of the resurrection, are the holy angels. For as the devout women, who came betimes in the morning, with a pious but needless care, to perform the last instance of duty and affection to the body of their Lord, were much perplexed at what they saw; lo, two of the inhabitants of heaven, ever rejoicing to minister to the heirs of salvation, appeared in robes of glory, and reproved them for expecting to find their Master among the tombs, as if it were possible that he should be holden of death, who was to give life to all. Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spake unto you, when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." As if they had said, "How long will ye be ignorant of the divine dispensations concerning the Messiah, and continue seeking the Lord of life in the regions of death? He died, indeed, unto sin once, as he told you he should; but do you not bear in mind what he told you at the same time, that, after payment of the debt, he should be released from prison, naming the very day of his discharge, the third day, which is now come. He is risen, as he said; and, being so risen, he dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him, nor hath he any further connexions with mortality." The same heavenly messengers were seen by Mary Magdalen in the sepulchre, arrayed in white, and sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. The grave

' Luke, xxiv. 5.

was now rendered a scene of joy and triumph, where Christ had overcome the sharpness of death; and where, from thenceforth, the bodies of the faithful rest in peace, under the care of heaven, till the general resurrection; when they shall become as the angels of God, and shall walk with him in white.''

As one set of witnesses descended from above, to bear testimony to the resurrection of Jesus, so others ascended, for the same purpose, from the lower parts of the earth. For many bodies of saints which slept, arose, and came out of their graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.'2 The astonishment produced in Jerusalem by the sudden appearance of these new and unexpected evidences, is more easily conceived than expressed. We may only observe, that if this fact had not been as the gospel represents it, it must have exposed the inventors of the tale to utter scorn and contempt, and proved the ruin of the cause which it was intended to support.

But it is time to allege the many appearances of Christ himself, after his resurrection, to Mary Magdalen apart; to the other devout women with her; to the two going to Emmaus; to St. Peter, to St. James, to the eleven; to above five hundred brethren at once;' to St. Stephen, just before his martyrdom; and to St. Paul, at his conversion. And so far were these witnesses of the appearances of Christ from being credulous, that they were altogether sceptical; God having in a wonderful manner provided for the confirmation of our faith,

Rev. iii. 4.

2 Matt. xxvii. 52.

by suffering them to doubt to the last. For not only the reports of those who had seen him were disbelieved by those who had not, but when he presented himself in the midst of the eleven, they could not credit their own senses. And when all the rest were convinced, Thomas still stood out, till ocular and palpable demonstration forced from him that ever memorable confession, MY LORD, AND MY GOD!' "Thus was there no capacity of mankind, no time, no place, but had visible proof of the resurrection of Christ. He appeared to men and women, to clergy and laity, to sinners of both sexes; to weak men and to criminals, to doubters and deniers, at home and abroad, in public and in private, in their houses and their journeys, unexpected and by appointment, betimes in the morning, and late at night, to his disciples in conjunction, and to them in dispersion, when they did look for him, and when they did not; he appeared upon earth to many, and to St. Paul and St. Stephen from heaven. So that we can require no greater testimony than all these are able to give us, who saw for themselves and for us too; that the faith and certainty of the resurrection of Jesus might be conveyed to all ages and generations."

To enable the apostle thus to convey it, the Spirit of truth himself set his seal to this article of our creed, by coming down upon them on the day of Pentecost, and bestowing on them wisdom to teach, power to confirm, and patience to suffer for the doctrine of the resurrection, until, converted by their preaching, the nations of the earth bore universal testimony to the reality thereof. For that a religion which taught men to be meek and hum

ble, disposed to receive injuries, but not to do any; a religion which gave countenance to the poor and lowly, at a time when riches were adored, and ambition and pleasure had possessed the hearts of all mankind; that such a religion, in such an age, by the sermons and conduct of fishermen, men of mean breeding and illiberal arts, should so speedily triumph over the philosophy of the world, and the arguments of the subtle, and the discourses of the eloquent; the power of princes and the interests of states; the inclinations of nature and the blindness of zeal; the force of custom and the solicitation of passions; the pleasures of sin and the busy arts of the devil; that is, against wit and power, superstition and wilfulness, fame and money, nature and empire, which are all the causes in this world that can make a thing impossible; this, this is to be ascribed to the power of God, and is the great demonstration of the resurrection of Jesus. Every thing was an argument for it, and improved it; no objection could hinder it, no enemies destroy it; whatsoever was for it, made the religion to increase; whatsoever was against it, made it to increase. If the Christians had peace, they went abroad and brought in converts; if they had persecution, the converts came in, to them. In prosperity they allured and enticed the world by the beauty of holiness; in affliction and trouble they amazed all men with the splendour of their innocence, and the glories of their patience. Quickly therefore it was, that the world became disciple to the glorious Nazarene, and men could no longer doubt of the resurrection of Jesus, when it became demonstrated by the certainty of those who saw it, and the courage of those who died for it, and the

multitude of those who believed it; who, by their sermons and their actions, by their public offices and discourses, by festivals and sacraments, by arguments of sense and experience, by reason and religion, by persuading rational men, and establishing believing Christians, by their living in the obedience, and dying for the testimony of Jesus, have greatly advanced his kingdom, and his power, and his glory, into which he entered, upon his resurrection from the dead." I

Thus we have taken such a view, as the usual time allotted to discourses of this kind will allow us to take, of the evidence for our Lord's resurrec tion, predictive and historical; to the completion of which it is hard to conceive any thing wanting, unless it were the testimony of the adversary to the truth of the disputed fact, by the futility of an ob jection started to overthrow it. And with this proof likewise the Roman guard, under the direction of the Jewish rulers, has thought proper to furnish us.- The disciples,' say they, 'came by night, and stole him away, while we slept.' The disciples came and stole the body! They, who all forsook their master at his apprehension, and fled; they, who, from that time, had absconded,

1

Bishop Taylor's "Moral Demonstration of the Truth of Christianity," republished, since this Discourse was written, by a learned and amiable prelate of our church. May it meet with the success it deserves; for no tract ever came from the pen of man, better calculated to dispel those doubts and difficulties which may arise in the mind of a believer, or to work conviction and conversion in that of the unbeliever, who can bring himself to give it a fair and attentive perusal. This has ever appeared to me to be its true character, since the hour when, with equal surprise and pleasure, I first met with it, where it so long lay hidden from the fashionable world, in the Ductor Dubitantium.