devout men who were then at Jerusalem, out of every nation under heaven, what had become of Him that was dead; Acts, ii, 23. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of by God among you by miracles, wonders, and signs, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; but this Jesus hath God raised up: therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. He also told the Gentile Cornelius, and his friends :-" God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him; and we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead; and He commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it was He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead: chap. x, 38 -43. And Paul told the people of Antioch in Prisidia, that God raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus; and when they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, and had slain Him, they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a sepulchre: but God raised Him from the dead; and He was seen many days of them which came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses unto the people. And he thus writes to the Philippians:-"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross: wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father;" Phil. ii, 5-12. Here Paul affirms again that Jesus which was dead is now alive. III. But what of that? Much every way! 1. After His resurrection, He ascended up on high, and assumed His mediatorial office. There is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. He has ascended on high, and led captivity captive, and hath received gifts for men, yea, for all the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them; for He is exalted a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance and remission of sins; wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. 2. And therefore through this risen, living, exalted Saviour, we have sent upon the earth continually the gifts of repentance and remission of sins. Thus it is written, and thus it behoved 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. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And the times of this ig norance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised Him from the dead. 3. It is to this risen Jesus who is alive that we owe our future prospects. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His abun dant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time;" 1 Peter, i, 3. 4. His resurrection from the dead is an earnest of ours; 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; for He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself; Phil. iii, 21. Thus we find that the resurrection of the body is attributed to that power which governs and subdues all things; for nothing less than the energy that produced the human body at the beginning, can restore it from its degraded condition into that state of life, immortality and glory which it had at its creation, and render it capable of enjoying God to all eternity. 5. This living Jesus will achieve a glorious victory over death. When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written-Death is swallowed up in victory! Jesus ; must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death; but death cannot be destroyed by the mere cessation of death, but by a general resurrection, when death must give up all his prey. If there were not a general resurrection, it is most evident that death would still retain his empire. But behold, I show you a mystery !—we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed; and after the general resurrection, there shall be no more death. 6. And with the fact of the resurrection of Christ and of all the dead, the vital doctrines of Christianity rise or fall. If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain; yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. 7. Hence the death and resurrection of Jesus were the grand themes of apostolic preaching; Acts, ii, 22— 25; iii, 12-16; iv, 10-13; v, 29-33; x, 38-42; xiii, 26—31. THEY WITH WHOM ARE SECRETS. PSALM XXV, 14. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.” It was an observation of Moses the servant of the Lord, that "secret things belong unto God." Known unto Him are all His works from the beginning. All the mysteries of creation, Providence, redemption, grace, death, resurrection, and future life-all things from first to last, together with the secret thoughts of all men, are fully known to Him with whom we have to do. But it hath pleased Him, at sundry times, and to divers of the faithful, to make a partial revelation of His secret counsels. To Enoch, the seventh from Adam, was revealed the mystery of the judgment of the great day; and he said," Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all." To the patriarchs was made known the future residence and condition of their posterity :-" In blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." To the prophets was revealed the future destiny of nations, and the advent, work, and kingdom of the Messiah; and to Daniel and St. John, the future events connected with the world and the church to the end of time. But besides these more public matters, other private circumstances have often been revealed to the saints of the Most High, and especially matters relating to themselves, and those con cerning whom they have been most anxious. In fact, they are led by the Spirit, and walk in the light, and by the Spirit they are taught, and led into all truth. He brings the words of Jesus to their remembrance, and reveals to them the secret of the Lord, so that it is given unto them what to speak and what to do. The Spirit said unto Philip,-" Ĝo near, and join thyself unto this chariot ;" and he ran to do so. The secret of the Lord Let us notice, I. The characters-they that fear the Lord. effects. 1. There are several kinds of fear which arise from different and various causes, and which produce various The fear of man bringeth a snare; the fear of death, torment; the fear of danger, dread; but that which now demands our attention is the fear of the Lord-the filial fear of God. This fear is a holy affection, or gracious habit wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit, whereby it is inclined and enabled to obey all the commands of God, and to do His will in all things, even the most difficult, as in the case of Abraham offering his son Isaac, which brought from the mouth of the angel of the Lord this high eulogium :-"Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me." This fear induces its possessor to hate and avoid evil. It is the beginning of sound wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding; the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do His commandments; His praise endureth for ever. The 2. This fear is of a purifying and enduring nature. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever. Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. It inspires faith and courage -in the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. It comprehends the whole of pure godliness. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:-Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life; it gives that flow of confidence to the soul which is life and peace, and puts away all other fear. 3. Have you the fear of God before your eyes? then |