fill truth of our religion is so clearly and fully proved. It is a striking circumstance, that of all the facts of our Lord's earthly ministry, none are so incontrovertibly established as the fact that He rose again. The wisdom of God, whoknov/sthe unbelief of human nature, has pro- vided a great cloud of witnesses on the subject. Never was there a fact which the friends of Grod were so slow to believe, as the resurrection of Christ. Never was there a fact which the enemies of God were so anxious to disprove. And yet, in spite of the unbelief of friends, and the enmity of foes, the fact was thoroughly estab- lished. Its evidences will always appear to a fair and impartial mind unanswerable. It would be impossible to prove anything in the world, if we refuse to believe that . Jesus rose again.
Let us notice in these verses, the glory and majesty luith which Christ rose from the dead. We are told that " there •was a great earthquake." We are told that " 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." We need not suppose that our blessed Lord needed the help of any angel, when He came forth from the grave. We need not for a moment doubt that He rose again by His own power. But it pleased God, that His resurrection should be accompanied and followed by signs and wonders. It seemed good that the earth should shake, and a glorious angel appear, when the Son of God arose from the dead as a conqueror.
Let us not fail to see in the manner of our Lord's resurrection, a type and pledge of the resurrection of His believing people. The grave could not hold Him beyond