LECTURE XXX.

June 6, 1852.

1 CORINTHIANS, xv. 21-34.-"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.-For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.-But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father: when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.-For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.-For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.-And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.— Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead ?-And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?-I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.-If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die.-Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.-Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame."

IN following the train of argument contained in this chapter, it must be clearly kept in remembrance that the error combated by St. Paul was not the denial of immortality, but the denial of a resurrection. The ultraspiritualizers in Corinth did not say, "Man perishes for ever in the grave," but, "The form in which the spirit lived shall never be restored. From the moment death touches earthly life, Man becomes for ever a bodiless spirit." No doubt in this chapter there are passages in which the Apostle speaks of Immortality, but they are

only incidental to the general argument; as for example, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." The chief thing, therefore, to lay stress on is, that in the early Church there was not so much a denial of an Immortality, as of a Resurrection.

In the earlier part of this chapter St. Paul proved the Resurrection by the fact of the resurrection of Christ, which he treats neither as a doctrine, nor a hope, nor an aspiration of the soul, but as a historical reality which, duly recorded and witnessed, took place actually and visibly upon this earth. Eye-witnesses tell us, said the Apostle, that on numerous occasions openly, and after death, they saw, felt, heard, and talked with Christ. On that fact Christianity rests, and if there is anything in the universe that can be substantiated, it is that fact. With this he triumphantly concludes that reductio ad absurdum, which is contained in verses 13-20: “Now is Christ risen from the dead."

To-day we consider

I. The results of Christ's resurrection to us.

II. Corroborative proofs.

I. The first result is thus expressed: "He is become the firstfruits of them that sleep." The expression is Jewish; and to discover what it implies we must remember the ancient custom. The firstfruits of the harvest were dedicated to God, whereby He put in His claim for the whole, just as shutting up a road once a year puts in a claim of proprietorship to the right of way for ever. It was thus St. Paul understood the ceremony: "for if the firstfruits be holy, the lump is also holy." Thus when

the Apostle says that "Christ is the firstfruits of them that slept," he implies that part of the harvest has been claimed for God, and, therefore, that the rest is His too. The resurrection of Christ is a pledge of the resurrection of all who share in His Humanity.

Now two questions arise on this:-1. Why does this result take place? 2. When will it take place?

1. The ground on which it rests:-"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”—ver. 22. Two doctrines are given to us in this text-original sin, and original righteousness; the doctrine of the natural corruption and fault of our nature, and the doctrine of the Divine life which belongs to our higher nature.

And first: "In Adam all die."

Do not understand this as if the Apostle merely said, "If you sin as Adam sinned, you will die as Adam died." This were mere Pelagianism, and is expressly condemned in the article of our Church on Original Sin. According to the Scriptures we inherit the first man's nature, and that nature has in it the mortal, not the immortal. And yet there are in all of us two natures, that of the animal and that of the spirit, an Adam and a Christ.

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Let us see what St. Paul meant by being "in Adam.” He explains himself: "The first man was of the earth, earthy;" and again, "The first man Adam was made a living soul." But here we must recollect that the term a living soul" means a mere natural man. The soul, as used by St. Paul, is distinguished from the body and the spirit, as that part of our complex humanity which embraces all our natural powers. "A living soul" is, then, the term used by the Apostle to express the natural man endowed

with intellectual powers, with passions, and with those appetites which belong to us in common with the animals. In this our immortality does not reside; and it is from fixing our attention on the decay of these that doubt of our immortality begins. It is a dismal and appalling thing to witness the slow failure of living powers: as life goes on to watch the eye losing its lustre, and the cheek its roundness; to see the limbs it was once such a pure delight to gaze on, becoming feeble and worn; to perceive the memory wander, and the features no longer bright with the light of expression; to mark the mind relax its grasp; and to ask the dreary question— Are these things immortal? You cannot but disbelieve, if you rest your hope of immortality on their endurance. When you have identified these things with the man, no wonder if a cold and faithless feeling steals over the heart -no wonder if the gloomy thought be yours, The end is coming, the long night on which no dawn shall ever break!

Now the simple reply to all this is, that the extinction of these powers is no proof against immortality, because they are not the seat of the immortal. They belong to the animal-to the organs of our intercourse with the visible world. And though it may be proved that that eye shall never open again, those limbs never again thrill with life, yet such proof does not touch the truth that the man the spirit-shall live for evermore. Therefore, it is not in what we inherit from Adam the man, but in what we hold from Christ the Spirit, that our immortality resides.

Nay, more: It is in the order of God's providence that

the growth of the Christ within us shall be in exact proportion to the decay of the Adam. "Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." And this evidence of our immortality, blessed be God! is perpetually and not uncommonly before us. It is no strange or unknown thing to see the spirit ripening in exact proportion to the decay of the body. Many a sufferer in protracted illness feels each day more deeply the powers of the world to come. Many an aged one there is, who loses one by one all his physical powers, and yet the spiritual in him is mightiest at the last. Who can read that ancient legend of the Apostle John carried into the Christian Church, able only to articulate, "Little children, love one another," without feeling that age and death touch not the Immortal Love?

2. The next question which we proposed was, When will this result take place? This is answered by St. Paul in the twenty-third and the following verses: "Every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming; then cometh the end."

Confessedly this is a mysterious passage; nevertheless, let us see how much is clear. First, that the resurrection cannot be till the Kingdom is complete. Paul does not say that the consciousness of the departed shall not begin till then, but that the Resurrection-that finished condition when Humanity shall be fulfilled—is not to commence till the second coming of Christ.

Secondly, that certain hindrances at present prevent the perfect operation of God in our souls. Evil in a thousand forms surrounds us. We are the victims of physical and