various ways-sometimes in fire; and then comes the question, How are all these scattered portions to reunite? do we really mean that the sound of the Archangel's trumpet shall bring them all together again? And then those who are wise in such matters tell us, that there is not a single portion of the globe which has not, some time or other, been organic form. The other question is not a philosophical one, but merely a sneer, With what body do they come? It is as if the objector had said, "Let there be nothing vague: tell us all about it, you who assert you are inspired."

Now, to these objections the Apostle Paul replies by analogy, and so far shows the credibility of the Resurrection. He discerns in this world three principles: First, that life, even in its lowest form, has the power of assimilating to itself atoms;-he takes the corn of wheat, which, after being apparently destroyed, rises again, appropriating, as it grows, all that has affinity with itself, such as air and moisture that body with which it is raised may be called its own body, and yet it is a new body. It is raised anew, with stem, and leaves, and fruit, and yet all the while we know that it is no new corn: it is the old life in the seed

reappearing, developed in a higher form. It is a marvellous thing to see the power whereby that which we call the germ grows; how nothing can withstand it: how it creeps, climbs, and pierces even through walls, making for itself a way everywhere. Observe the force of the argument that arises from this fact-the argument of analogy. It does not prove the Resurrection, but it shows its probability.

The second analogy that St. Paul sees in nature is, the

marvellous superabundance of the creative power of God. God has planted illimited and unnumbered things. "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars," and yet there is a difference between them-" one star differeth from another star in glory." There are gradations in all these forms-bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial-"but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another." Here is an answer to all objections—“ With what body do they come?" Are we to believe that God has exhausted His creative power, that He has done all He could have done, and that He could make no new form? Are we to believe that the Wisdom and the Knowledge, which have never been fathomed by the wisest, are expended, and that the Power of God should be insufficient to find for the glorified spirit a form fit for it? We simply reply to the objection, "With what body do they come?"-"Look at the creative power of God!"

The third principle which St. Paul refers to, is the principle of progress. The law of the universe is not Pharisaism-the law of custom stereotyped, and never to be changed. The law of God's universe is progress; and just as it was in creation-first the lower, and then the higher-so it is throughout, progressive happiness, progressive knowledge, progressive virtue. St. Paul takes one instance: "That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural." At first we lead a mere animal life -the life of instinct; then, as we grow older, passion succeeds; and after the era of passion our spirituality comes, if it comes at all—after, and not before. St. Paul draws a probability from this, that what our childhood was

to our manhood-something imperfect followed by that which is more perfect-so will it be hereafter: our present humanity, with all its majesty, is nothing more than human infancy.

Lastly, St. Paul finds that all this coincides with the yearnings of the human heart. "When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." This is the substance of two prophecies, one in Isaiah, the other in Hosea, and expresses the yearnings of the heart for immortality. And we may observe that these yearnings are in accordance with our own. No man, in a high mood, ever felt that this life was really all. No man, then, ever looked on life and was satisfied. No man ever looked at the world without hoping that a time is coming when that creation which is now groaning and travailing in bondage, shall be brought into the glorious liberty of the Son of God. No man ever looked upon our life, and felt that it was to remain always what it now is: he could not and would not believe that we are left here, till our mortality predominates, and then that the grave is all. And this feeling, felt in a much greater and higher degree, becomes prophecy. Isaiah says, "Death shall be swallowed up in victory." We find a yearning in our own hearts after immortality, and that not in our lowest, but in our highest moods; and when we look around, instead of finding something which damps our aspirations, we find the external world corroborating them. Then how shall we account for this marvellous coincidence? Shall we believe that these two things point to nothing? Shall we

believe and shall we say that God our Father has cheated us with a lie? Therefore St. Paul concludes his masterly and striking argument thus: "When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

Of course, if there be no Immortality and no Resurrection, it matters not whom you injure, nor what you do. If you injure him who has trusted you, of what consequence is it? In a few years all will be past and over. And if there be no Immortality and no Resurrection, it matters not what you do to yourself, whether you injure your own soul or not. But if there be a Life to come, then the evil deed you did is not ended by its commission, but it will still go on and on. The evil you have done to others will remain throughout Eternity; the evil you have done to your own soul will spread; as when you throw a stone into a pond the circles go on widening and spreading, so will that sin spread and increase over the sea of Eternity. If there be no Resurrection, then there are deeds of sacrifice which it would be no use to do; but if there be an Immortality and a Resurrection, then whatever good you do shall never be left unrewarded: the act of purity, the act of self-denial, the act of sacrifice, will ennoble you, making you holier and better. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap;" or, as at the conclusion of this chapter: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord!"

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LECTURE XXXII.

January 18, 1852. (MORNING SERMON.)

1 CORINTHIANS, xv. 46-58.-" Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.-The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.-As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.-Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.-Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,—In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.— For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.-So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.—Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

THE fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, which has so often fallen on our ears like music in the night amidst funereal blackness, is filled with arguments, presumptive and direct, which tend to make Immortality credible: and, amongst others, St. Paul uses the analogy of the harvest, and argues from it the resurrection of the body: "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body."

Now many an objector, on hearing this saying, might plausibly ask, Why this delay? why should not God