work of your lives, which is his work. That continued to appenl to the phamix as a proof your labour is not in vain. The thought of of the resurrection. The greatest ancient the verse is the s11me ns that of Gnl. vi. 9, thinkers-like Tacitus-believed in the "And let us not be weary in well doin.,.; existence of that fabulous bird, o.nd even in for in due see.sou we shall renp, if we fo.i~ t the genuineness of a specimen of it which not." had been exhibited o.t Rome. Was there no Some general facts are very observable in "grace of superintendency" at work which this glorious chapter. I. One is that St. prevented the sacred writers from adopting Pnul does not meet doubt by angry denun- tho universal error of their day? Had St. ciation, or by crushing it with the iron P"ul appealed to the phcenix, centuries of mace of impatient authority. What would Christian writers would have continued to now be thought of Christians who denied maintain the existence of that creature ; and the resurrection? Doubtless they were net science, laughing the belief to scorn, would mere speculative deniers of the resurrec- (most unjustly) have made any allusion to- tion, like Hymenreus and Philetus (2 Tim. it a proof of men !al weakness, and of the ii. 17), but recent Gentile converts, who falsity of the doctrine which it was supposed could not get over their pagan difficulties. to prove. 4. A fourth point to be observed Yet St. Paul meets them by person11l is the wisdom with which St. Paul holds appeals, by he) pful analogies, by lofty reason- himself aloof from speculative fancies. He ing, by the glowing force of inspiring con- does not, like Plato, appeal to the doctrine of victions. Instead of taking refuge-more "reminiscence" (anamne~is ), or of unfulfilled ecclesiastico-in anathema and excommuni- idea~. He does not, like Kant, build any argu, cation, he meets error by the counter-presen- ment on man's failure to obey "the categori- tation of ennobling truth. 2. Another note- cal imperative" of duty. He points to the worthy fa.et is that St. Paul's hope of the sinless Man-to the fulfilled idea of Christ. resurrection rests, like nil his theology, on His argument, which nil could understand,. the thought that the life of the Christian is is summed up in the words," Ye are Christ's, a life "in Christ." 3. A third is his and Christ is risen." Your resurrection superiority to false o.na.logies-like those from the death of sin to the life of righteous- of the butterfly and the phceni:s:-which ness is e. pledge of your participation in. sufficed many ancient reasoners. Even Christ's resurrectiou from the grove. Christian writers like St. Clement of Rome
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-11.-The apostolic gospel. "Moreover, brethren," etc. On all hands we hear persons talk about the" simple gospel." And it appears to us that, iu the m~jority of cases, the expression means nothing more than e. few crude notions which the speaker has received, or possibly formed, about the gospel. Somo men's "simple gospel" is an offence to reason, a. dishonour to God, a.nd a curse to Christianity. The passage under review presents to us Paul's "simple gospel." And let us look at Christianity as here in'dicated, We observe- !. THAT CHRISTIANITY IS BASED UPON filSTORICAL FACTS. It is not founded upon human reason-upon any of its primitive axioms or logical conclusions. It is not founded upon human imagination·; it is neither an ingenious hypothesis to account for any phenomena, nor a poetic myth to adumbrate any truth. It is based on facts. 1. These facts are personal. 'l'hey are connected with a person, and that person is not :::iocrates, Plato, nor Cresar, but one whom Paul calls Christ. It is founded upon the personal history of one, and but one, individual, and that is Christ, 2. These facts am few, He "died," he was "buried," and he "rose." 'l'hese facts o.re compendious facts; they imply many more, and may be reduced even to less. ,'l'he resurrection of Christ involves the whole; and in the subsequent verses of this chapter, Paul uses it as such. 3. These facts a.re well cittested. Arter his resurrection, Paul tells us here that he "was seen of Cephas," of •• the twelve," then of "five hundred," and theu of "Dlll also." No facts on record are better attested than these. II. THAT CHRISTIANITY IS DESIGNED FOR THE REMOVAL OF EVIL. Why did these facts take place? What is the aim of the whole? He "died for our sins." 'l'ho great end of Christianity is to "put away sin" from tho world, to ~ut it away_from the hearts literature institutions, customs, and governments of mankmd. Let sm bo put away: and all ~vil is put away; nntt)ral evil is but the ~ffcct of moral: . Philo- liophically, there is no system on earth suited to destroy man a srnful d1spos1t10n anJ 494 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORIN'l'HIANS. '[c11. xv. 1-58.
io change his heart but Christianity, and historically nothing else has ever done it. Let the fact ring louder and louder through the world, that the grnnd end of Chris- tianity is not the formation of creeds, however correct, nor the or.,.anization of societies howe,·er scriptural; but it is to" put away sin." " ' III. THAT CHRISTIA?-ITY rs TO DE PREACHED WITH THIS DESIO!<. "By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory [hold fast] what I preached unto you," etc. Paul preached that they might be saved, but they could only be saved as they renounced cand hated sin. The passage suggests three ideas in relation to Paul's preachin.,. with ,this view. 1. He preached Christianity convincingly. He says, "The "ospel ;hich I preached unto you, which also ye ... received." They believed his gospel~ then he must have convinced them by arguments. Christianity in preaching is to be commended "to every man's conscience." 2. He preached Christianity scripturally. He showed <those facts in the light of the Scriptures, "according to •the Scriptw·es." 3. He 71reached Christianity humbly. The expression "born out of d_ue time" evidently indicates his humility; and then in the next verse he says, "For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called au apostle," etc. We thank God for such a system as this-a system built not on propositions, but on facts, personal,few in number, but well attested. Such facts are most palpable and attractive· a system which cures the evils of the moral world by taking away its sins. Let it b~ preached as Paul preached it-convincingly, scripturally, and humbly. '