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to the love of God; and when he has attained to that, his affections are placed where they ought to be.

If you would plainly understand the difference between these two sorts of men, view them upon their death-beds. When death approaches, the Christian finds himself drawing nearer to the objects he has desired: but the man of the world is hasting toward those terrors of the Lord, which he has vainly endeavoured to forget. The one parts with what he never valued, and in exchange looks for that which never can decay: the other is torn away against his will from all he has delighted in, never more to be delighted with any thing. The one leaves his friends, with a certainty of meeting such of them, as are worth finding, in a better world: the other leaves all good men, without the hope of conversing with them any more. The one is at length conveyed by Angels to the bosom of Abraham; the other goes, where he went, who had received the good things in this life.

Who can make this comparison without saying, in the words of Balaam, Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! Let us then remember, my friends, and let us never forget it, that the righteous dies this death, because in his life-time, he set his affection on things above. Which that we may all do in like manner, God of his great mercy grant, and assist us therein daily, for the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

SERMON III.

COME, SEE THE PLACE WHERE THE LORD LAY. MATTH. XXViii. 6.

IN these words, the Angel which descended from heaven at the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, invited those holy women, who came to seek for him, to look into his sepulchre, and see how the present state of things demonstrated to their senses, that he, who had been laid there three days before, was risen from the dead. On this day, the same words call upon us, and all Christians, to go along with them to the sepulchre of Christ; there to meditate on the certainty, and the wonderful manner, and the glorious power of his Resurrection. This is the use I mean to make of the words: I shall suppose, that you and I on this blessed day are going together to that garden of Joseph of Arimathea, where was a new tomb hewed in a rock, with a stone rolled to the mouth of it; the body of Jesus being buried within it, and a guard of Roman soldiers keeping watch without it : and that when we come there, we find such things as those devout women did, who came early in the morning to visit the place. With those things before us, we shall be affected nearly as they were; and consequently we shall be delighted and edified. There is not one circumstance attending the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which doth not carry instruction with it; and therefore I shall consider them nearly in the same order in which they happened,

and shew you the meaning and the reasons of these wonderful things. In all such events as relate to our Salvation, the Providence of God disposes the circumstances in such a manner, that they give us light and learning; and they were undoubtedly recorded for our instruction and edification.

more expressly, that Here then you see,

The first circumstance attending the Resurrection of Christ may serve as a specimen, to teach what we may expect from the rest. In the first verse of the 28th chapter of St. Matthew, we are told, that the Resurrection happened as it dawned toward the first day of the week. St. Mark says, it was at the rising of the sun. as on many other occasions, the natural works of God bearing testimony to his spiritual works for the salvation of man. At the crucifixion of Christ the sun was darkened; and from the duration of the darkness for the space of three hours, we may infer that this darkness happened from an eclipse of the sun: the natural sun failing in its light, so long as the Sun of Righteousness, who is the true light of man, was suf fering upon the cross. So at his resurrection, the Sun of Grace and the sun of nature rise together. From whence this inference is necessary, that he is, as he said of himself, the true light; and, that he is the author of a new life to the world, as the sun begins a new day. We learn that as nature rises with the sun, so doth the world rise with Jesus Christ, and receive life and immortality from his resurrection: and it is not improbable, but that where he is said to have brought to light, that is, (as the word signifies) to have illuminated, life and immortality, his resurrection at the rising of the sun may be referred to for certainly his resurrection did diffuse life, as truly as the sun did then bring on the day. There

fore every rising of the sun should remind us of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we receive the benefit of every day's light, we should return thanks for the light of life and immortality, by the resurrection of our Lord. And this is the grand reason why natural things and spiritual are thus coupled together, that in the one way we may daily read the other; and that the sight of Nature may lead us to our prayers. Happy are they who make this use of it. The rising of the sun is a glorious sight; but it is only the pattern of a more excellent glory, and as such, a Christian should daily consider it.

So

The next observable circumstance is that of the earthquake and here the resurrection of our Lord teaches us what we are to expect at the general resurrection of the dead; when the earth shall tremble as if it were under the pangs of delivery. That a dreadful shaking of the earth shall precede or attend the raising of the dead, is to be gathered from those other occasions, on which a resurrection was brought to pass. At the crucifixion, when Jesus expired, the earth shook, and the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened, and the bodies of saints arose. again, when he was rising from the dead, there was a great earthquake. And the like had happened before in that vision of the prophet Ezekiel, when the dry bones were raised to life*. "As I prophesied, said he, there was a noise and a shaking (the word signifies an earthquake) and the bones came together. bone to his bone." Whether this great shaking of the earth be intended as a circumstance of solemnity and terror; or whether it be necessary, as an operative cause, toward that great effect of opening the graves, and bringing forth the dead, and restoring * Ez. xxxvii. 7. [compare xxxviii. 19}

their bodies to life and motion; can be known only to God, who hath the direction of this great event: but so it will be, and we shall all feel it.

We may gather farther, that as this earthquake happened when the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, to minister in the work of our Saviour's resurrection; so will the whole earth be shaken, at that moment of time, when the Son of Man shall descend in the clouds to call the dead from their graves, and to sit in judgment upon them. So the Psalmist saith, "the earth trembled when God arose to

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judgment."

The work of the angel of the Lord, and the effects of his appearance are wonderfully described, and in such words as are very striking to the imagination. For my own part, I feel myself tremble when I read them. He came; and with power and force more than mortal, he rolled away the massy stone from the door of the sepulchre, and then seated himself upon it in defiance; while his face shone bright as lightning, and his raiment was white as snow. If the description of this is so affecting, what must the sight have been? It was intended to confound the enemies of Jesus Christ; who were keeping watch, and supposed they could confine him in his grave by force of arms They saw this bright messenger repair to the door of the sepulchre, to set the dead at liberty; but they dared not to interrupt him, for they were trembling and dying with fear. Such is the weakness of human force, and the folly of human wisdom, when it opposes the designs of God, and the forces of heaven. What can a sword or a spear do, when it is held up against a flash of lightening?

From the case of these keepers, all the enemies of Jesus Christ may understand what shall happen to

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