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therefore, fix the date of that Day of Judgment of which the Bible speaks. We must show that there will be a General Resurrectionnot merely an existence of the soul after death-but a General Resurrection of the bodies of men, such as we know has not yet taken place; and that, at the time of that Resurrection, there will be a Day of Judgment, which will be followed by Retribution, according to the deeds done in the body. A Retribution, pursuant to the sentence pronounced at the time of the General Resurrection of the bodies of men, must be beyond this life, and it evidently behooves men to prepare for it.

The immortality of the soul may be made probable on philosophic grounds, and has been held by many of the heathen. But the Resurrection of the Body is purely a matter of revelation. The utmost that philosophy can do is to confute objections, and prove that, for anything that we know, the bodies of men may be raised from the dead. Positive proof

that they will be raised, must

come wholly

from the word of God. Nearly all that can be done without impropriety, is to select and arrange appropriate texts, so as to show what the Bible teaches. If it can be shown that the Scriptures foretell a General Resurrection, a General Judgment, and a Retribution after that Judgment, then, the theory which justifies the neglect of the soul's future welfare will be demolished, and all who receive the Bible as the word of God, must acknowledge that they ought now to be diligent in preparing for another life. This will be attempted in the following pages.

One of the chief obstacles to be encountered in this attempt, is the notion that the Resurrection is impossible; that when a human body is once really dead, it can never be made alive again. This objection, probably, presses upon the minds of many, when contemplating the General Resurrection, who never think of it in connection with the resurrection of Christ. If they believe that he was really dead,-as dead as any other dead man,—and that he really rose from the dead,

then they must admit that the resurrection of the dead is not a universal impossibility. To raise a body which has been dead three days, evidently requires a special exertion of divine power; and none who admit that such a resurrection has taken place, will deny that the power of God is equally able to raise a body that has been dead four days, or four thousand days or years; and that, notwithstanding all the dispersion of its parts, which the providence of God may have permitted. If, then, God has raised the body of Christ from the dead, the objections of philosophy must cease, and we have only to learn from the Bible, whether God intends to raise others also. It appears desirable, therefore, to bring distinctly before the reader's mind, the Scripture testimony concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This will be the subject of the next chapter.

CHAPTER II.

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

THE Resurrection of Christ implies, first, that he was really dead, and secondly, that his body was afterwards made alive. On each of these points, the testimony of Scripture is unequivocal and abundant.

1. Christ really died upon the cross.

When taken down, he not merely seemed to be dead, but was really dead. It was not mere fainting. It was not a case of suspended animation. It was actual death, such as others suffer who die on the cross. The evidence of this is conclusive.

Christ predicted that he should die. Mat. 16: 21.

From that time forth, began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must

go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the Elders and Chief Priests and Scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day." The reality of his death, too, is implied in all those passages where he foretells his Resurrection. Mat. 17: 9. "And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead." Mat. 26: 32. "But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee." The predictions were not that he should recover from a state of apparent death, but that he should rise from the dead; which certainly implies that he should really be dead. The Evangelists evidently believed that these predictions had been fulfilled.

The apostles, in their preaching and correspondence, spoke habitually and decidedly of his death, as an undoubted matter of fact. Acts 2: 23. "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." Acts 3: 14, 15. "But

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