miraculous, that the hand of God appears to have been plainly in it; and that the books which contain the accounts of it are genuine and authentic. A wise man may reasonably enough be satisfied with this evidence, and persuaded thereby to be a Christian ; as the wisest, and best, and greatest of men actually have been in every age since it first appeared in the world. If some others reject it, let that give you no concern; whether they are induced to do so by their reason or their passions, is a point you need not determine; to their own Master they stand.or fall. It is of infinitely greater consequence to every one of us, to take care that his own life, as well as his faith, be Christian. For Christianity is not a name, a sect, an outward profession; but it is that grace of God which bringeth salvation, by teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in the present worlds. Let us therefore (in the words of another apostle) add to our faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness ; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

s Titus ii. II, 12.

t2 Pet. i. 5-8.

SERMON II.

ACTS iv. 33.

And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

THE resurrection of Christ being a fact of an extraordinary nature, and urged not merely for itself, but in support of as extraordinary pretensions, it is but reasonable to expect that it should be attended with very clear and satisfactory evidence. But be this as reasonable as it will, it is on the other hand highly absurd to call for such evidence as is unneces→ sary or improper; and absurder still to insist on such as is impossible, and what the very nature of the thing will not admit. The case we are to consider being a distant event, is not capable of every kind of proof. It cannot, for instance, be evinced in a mathematical or metaphysical way, from the connexion and agreement of the ideas; and though some men have been so unreasonable as to insist on evidence, which they had no right to demand, yet none pretend that Christ should appear to every person of every age, in order to give him sensible evidence that he is risen. The matter then at last must depend upon testimony of some sort or other; and the only inquiry with us ought to be, whether what we have at present be credible and sufficient, such as safely may, and such as reasonably ought to be relied on. Exceptions indeed have been made, and many cavils raised against it; but none has been offered

with a greater air of triumph than the circumstance of our Lord's appearing only to his friends and followers. But so different are the sentiments of divine wisdom and of human folly, that this circumstance, which unbelievers urge as a plea for their infidelity, the apostles seem to insist on as an advantage to their cause, and a reason why we should receive their witness. Had Christ appeared after his resurrection to the Jewish rulers, or had he appeared to a more considerable body of men, the Roman senate; nay, had he appeared to all the dwellers both at Jerusalem and at Rome, it is impossible for us to say what would have been the issue. But we all stand here as witnesses, and this day a is a happy indication of the success of that method, which God was pleased to take, in shewing him openly not to all the people, but to chosen witnesses, who were most intimately acquainted with him before his passion, and who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead: upon these accounts the apostles were left qualified to bear witness of this great event, with regard to mere human qualifications; and the further succours, which they received from above, will be taken notice of in the course of these observations. With great power gave the apostles witness, &c.

The words must mean either all or some of these things their power of working miracles, the wisdom and courage with which they preached this article of their Lord's resurrection, or the wonderful success with which their preaching was attended. And taken together, they contain this proposition,

"Easter-day.

b Acts x. 40, 41.

That the apostles were proper, powerful, and successful witnesses of the resurrection of Christ. And I conceive all that is necessary, at least all that can conveniently be offered in a discourse of this nature, will fall within the proof of this single point.

It should however be previously observed, that the raising a person from the dead is a fact capable of being performed; as there is no impossibility, no contradiction in the nature of the thing, and as there is a Power in being able to effect it. It must be observed further, that the restoration of a dead person to life again is a matter capable of being attested; since as good evidence may be given, that the same person who died is alive again, as that he ever lived at all. Both these points may be easily proved, or are rather so evident, that they can scarce be proved by any thing plainer than themselves; and he who denies them does not so much want the faith of a Christian, as the reason of a man. Allowing then that the resurrection of a dead man is a matter possible to be performed, and capable of being attested, the way is open for us to examine the evidence brought for that of Jesus Christ. And that the apostles were proper and credible witnesses in this happy event, will soon appear, if we do but seriously attend to the known qualifications of witnesses in any case, viz. their own certainty of the fact, and their sincerity in reporting it to others. It therefore remains to be proved, that the apostles were certain of, and consequently not deceived in the point of Christ's resurrection; and likewise sincere in their relation of it, without any design to deceive us.

With reference to the first point, if the apostles were deceived as to the fact of Christ's resurrection,

it is either because our senses deceive us in all cases, or because there was something particular in this to occasion such a deception. He who can seriously maintain that our senses always deceive us, is not an adversary to dispute with in this place. He must first be convinced, by a chain of natural consequences, of the infinite perfections of our Creator; that he is not a malevolent or a capricious Being, who delights in the errors, or sports himself with the delusions of his creatures, but of infinite goodness and veracity; and that therefore he could never impart to us faculties, which should inevitably mislead us, and be the eternal sources of error and disorder. We then, who esteem ourselves the workmanship of a good and gracious God, may be fully assured that the senses he has given us may be credited. And if so, how could the witnesses of Christ's resurrection be deceived in it? They had sensible evidence, as good as can be desired; or supposing the fact real, as clear and incontestable as could be afforded; their ears, and eyes, and hands, convinced them that it was their Master. They saw and felt, they eat and drank with him; and a conversation continued for forty days must needs afford them full satisfaction, that it was the same person whom they had attended in his lifetime.

It must be remembered, as a very advantageous circumstance in their favour, that as they were far from expecting this event before it happened, so they were as slow and backward in believing it after. They treated the first news of it as idle tales, and looked upon the first appearances as mere illusions;

c Luke xxiv. I I.