could not be disproved by those who could and would have disproved it, had it been false. If the enemies of Christ had only discovered any deception in the testimony of the apostles, they would have discovered Christ to have been an impostor, and justified themselves in putting him to death; and, at the same time, defeated the design of his followers, and crushed the gospel at its birth. If the declaration of the apostles concerning the resurrection of Christ had been a falsehood, it must have been detected at the time of it; and as it was not, and could not be detected then, we must conclude that it was true, and that Christ was certainly raised from the dead according to the scriptures.

3. The Jewish nation were convinced that Christ was really raised from the dead. Though they were extremely loath to believe his resurrection, and took unlawful means to conceal the evidence of it, bribing the soldiers who guarded the sepulchre to say that his disciples came and stole his body while they slept, yet the true testimony of the apostles completely discredited the story of the soldiers. And when the supreme court of the nation apprehended the apostles themselves, and examined them critically concerning what they had publicly ́ declared with respect to the resurrection of Christ, they maintained the truth of the fact, and no threatenings could deter them from continuing to preach the same doctrine. I will read the large and particular account of this legal process in reference to two of the apostles, Peter and John, which we have in the chapter following that of the text. "And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day, for it was now eventide. Howbeit, many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand. And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which

was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them, is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But that it spread no farther among the people, let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God, to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So when they had farther threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them." This was the highest ecclesiastical council in the state. It was held at Jerusalem, where Christ had just been crucified and buried. It was called for the sole purpose of examining the apostles' testimony in respect to the resurrection of Christ, a testimony which had been instrumental the day before of converting five thousand men. The examination was very deliberate, and very strict, as well as very public. When it was finished, the council conferred together, and frankly acknowledged that they could find no falsehood, nor deception, nor any thing else in the apostles, for which they could condemn them. Accordingly, they determined only to command them not to preach any more, lest their testimony concerning the resurrection of Christ should be more extensively spread and believed among the people. As this council, who examined the apostles themselves, were constrained to believe that their testimony concerning Christ's resurrection was true, so their belief of the fact is tantamount to the belief of all the rest of the nation. And if the first men in the Jewish nation, who were best acquainted with Christ, who were the most prejudiced against him, and who were the most reluctant to believe the testimony of the apostles concerning his resurrection, were constrained to believe it, we may well believe it. That evidence which convinced the Jewish council of the truth of Christ's resurrection, and converted five thousand men to the

faith of the gospel, ought to be completely satisfactory to us at this day. It must be added,

4. That there could have been no deception in respect to Christ's resurrection, appears from the known circumstances of the case. The Jews took so much care and precaution to prevent deception, that, had the apostles or any of the friends of Christ been ever so much disposed to palm a cheat upon the world, they could not have done it. Matthew, giving an account of Christ's death and burial in the twenty-seventh chapter of his gospel, says, "Now the next day that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore, that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead; so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch." This seems to have been the most prudent and effectual method that could be devised, to prevent the disciples or any of the friends of Christ from coming and taking away his body in a clandestine manner, and to ascertain whether he actually rose from the dead or not. There is, therefore, no ground to suspect that there was any fraud or deception in the case. The whole story of the bribed soldiers is in its own nature inconsistent and absurd. It is not credible that the disciples should go to the sepulchre, and not perceive the guard that was set there. It is not credible that, if the guard were awake, they should attempt to take away the body of Christ. It is not credible that, if they saw all the guard asleep, and did attempt to roll away the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and to take away the body of Christ, they could have effected their purpose without waking the guard. And it is still more incredible that the guard should have known that they did come and take away his body while they were asleep. The whole affair of Christ's burial was so conducted by his friends and enemies, as to preclude the possibility of his body's being taken away in a clandestine manner. Joseph of Arimathea laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of a rock, and at the same time rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre. Besides, when Christ actually rose, "Behold there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did

And the angel said unto

shake and became as dead men. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, who had come to see the sepulchre,"Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here; for he is risen as he said; come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, say ye, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day." Such are the allowed circumstances of Christ's burial and resurrection; and, under such circumstances, was it possible that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, or that the disciples to whom they told what they had seen and heard at the sepulchre, or that Joseph of Arimathea, or that the chief priests and elders to whom their own guard told the truth at first, should have been deceived as to Christ's resurrection? They all undoubtedly believed the apostles, who were eye witnesses of his resurrection, and who testified, at the risk of their lives, that they saw him alive after his death. And we know that their testimony concerning this infinitely important event was believed by three thousand converts to Christianity on one day, and by five thousand on the next day, and by millions since, in the course of more than seventeen hundred years. According to all the principles of human nature, the apostles spoke the truth; and if we may believe any human testimony, or moral evidence, we may safely believe that God raised Christ from the dead.

IMPROVEMENT.

1. If we have clear, satisfactory evidence that Christ rose from the dead, then we have good ground to believe that the gospel is true. The truth of the gospel rests entirely upon the truth of Christ's resurrection. If the apostles propagated a fraud and falsehood, with respect to the fact of Christ's rising from the dead, then the gospel they preached was a mere cunningly devised fable. But if we have clear and conclusive evidence of Christ's resurrection, then we have equally clear and conclusive evidence of the truth and divinity of the gospel. Our Saviour, before his death, suspended the highest and ultimate proof of the divinity of his person, and of the truth of his

doctrines, upon the event of his resurrection from the dead. He repeatedly and plainly told his disciples that he should be crucified and slain by wicked hands, and afterwards rise from the dead. He said, "As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." He said in reference to his body, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." He said, "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." Sometime before his death, he showed 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." These declarations were known not only to his friends, but to his enemies; who for that reason took peculiar care to ascertain the fact whether he did, or did not rise again, as he predicted. And if he had not risen again, according to his prediction, both his friends and enemies would have had a right to consider and call him an impostor. But by actually rising from the dead, he distinguished himself from all impostors, and exhibited the highest possible evidence that he was what he professed to be, the promised Messiah and Saviour of the world. Accordingly, the apostles made the resurrection of Christ the principal subject of their preaching. Wherever they preached, whether among Jews or Gentiles, they boldly declared that Jesus of Nazareth was risen from the dead, and was the only all-sufficient Saviour of sinners. This was agreeable to the commission that Christ gave them to preach the gospel, just before he ascended to heaven. "And he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. And said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things." Thus Christ founds the truth of the gospel upon the truth of his resurrection, and he directs his apostles to found the truth of it upon that single and all-important fact. And agreeably to this, the apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that the gospel he had preached was founded entirely upon the truth of Christ's resurrection. "If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain ye are yet in your sins." But if it be morally certain, as we have shown, that Christ was raised from the