night? Who will commit themselves to Him to-night? Who will do it this last night we are to preach the Gospel? Who will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved? I must confess that I hate to close this meeting. They have been ten very sweet weeks to me; ten precious weeks; but there is one sad thought about it all, that there are a few who have been here every night and have missed hardly a night. I have looked for their coming. I have watched them, I have gone to their houses-some of them -and talked with them. I have not had time to go to many. I have gone down into the congregations and spoken to them, and they have just wavered and halted, and it seems as if I could not have these meetings close and leave them out. It seems like a visitation of God, and if these will not accept Him now I fear they never will. May every man and woman in this assemblage trust the Lord. THE RESURRECTION. My subject this morning is Christ's Resurrection. It is one of the chief corner stones of our religion. The Apostles preached the resurrection, as much as they preached the death, of Christ. In all their sermons, it is the key note. The door hangs on two hinges, the death and the resurrection. New Testament. 66 The resurrection is spoken of forty-two times in the Christ himself refers to His own death and resurrection. In the 16th chapter of Matthew, 21st verse, it says, From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the Chief Rulers and Scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day." Then in the 17th chapter and 9th verse, after they had come down from the Mount of Transfiguration,-" And as they came down from the mountain Jesus charged them, saying, 'Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead."" Then in the 9th chapter of Mark, 31st verse," For He taught His disciples and said unto them The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; and after that He is killed, He shall rise the third day." Christ taught the resurrection Himself, and told them plainly that on the third day he should rise again. When the Pharisees came and wanted a sign thereof, He told them they should have no other . sign than that of Jonah. What was that? A Welch preacher once called my attention to it; he said that was the sign of resurrection. Undoubtedly when the Captain of that boat got ashore, he reported the wonderful thing that had taken place, how this man got overboard, and how he had been seen to be swallowed by the fish. Undoubtedly the news reached Nineveh, how this man had refused to take the Lord's message, how he had been swallowed up by the whale, and how he had afterwards appeared in the streets. That is the very sign that Christ said they should have. It seems to me to be evidence enough; we want no more proof. I could give you verse after verse that is full of that doctrine of the resurrection, but that is enough. There was not an othodox person in the days of Christ, but that believed in the resurrection; and yet there is not one-hundredth part as much said in the Old Testament about it, as there is in the New. The Pharisees believed there was a resurrection. There are a great many Sadducees in New York to-day, hundreds of men here who do not know that Christ is risen; they have heard it, but they do not believe it. When they hereafter ask for the news, tell them Christ has risen ; they will be surprised. What if Christ had remained in the sepulchre where they left Him ? Earth and hell did all they could to keep Him there. Undoubtedly all the dark and fallen angels of Satan hovered over it and strove to keep it in their possession; but the moment that angel came down from the world of light, the fiends vanished. One angel from God's world above could easily take care of a hundred thousand men. How were those guards who had been placed there going to keep Him in, after He had accomplished His work? He had gone down there and conquered the powers of death and darkness; and instead of their taking Him into the grave, it was love for you and me that went down into the sepulchre. He went down there to conquer death for us. We ought all to turn Methodists this morning, and shout Hallelujah, from the depths of our hearts. The Lord has risen! He has burst open the bars of the tomb; He has come forth from the grave! Him, they dared What a wonderful scene, on that Easter morning, that eternal blessed morning when the hopes of the Church had been dashed to the ground! If you had asked any one in Jerusalem that morning before the sun came up, what was the hope of Christianity as proclaimed by Christ, they would have told you, “It is utterly gone, there is not one ray.” All the chief men were against it, and of His disciples, one had betrayed Him, sold Him, and if he had any disciples they were hid away, they dared not own not come out; they were moral cowards. But wait a little while; wait until you hear the news, the best, most glorious news that ever came to the Church of God: He had risen; He had conquered death and overcome it! I see those hands folded across His breast; they lie cold in death. But suddenly they begin to grow warm, and soon He leaps up out of the sepulchre ! They had rolled away the great stone which was the door, and which they had set there for a seal. It was death to any man to break the Roman seal; but what was that seal to Him who had conquered death? An angel far swifter than the morning light, came down and rolled away that stone, and the earth quaked and the men who beheld it trembled, and they fell as dead men. They could not arrest the angel of light that opened the door; and the Conqueror had fled. Just about daylight two or three women are coming along toward the sepulchre; they are saying "Who will roll away the stone?" Mary Magdalene was one. They had marked the place well where He was laid, so they might not miss it the next Easter morning. They were coming back to anoint His body. They were bringing with them the sweet spices; I suppose they had not slept any that night, but had been all night long preparing them. While they were talking of who should roll away the stone for them, lo, and behold! the stone was rolled away! Now they do not wait long to tell the news, but flee back into the city, to tell Peter and John that some one had been there and taken away the Lord, they knew not where ! Peter and John then came in great haste. John outruns Peter. These men whose hearts are sad and heavy, as Peter's was, cannot run as though their hearts were leaping within them for joy. Then they hasten back again to proclaim the glorious news of the resurrection, that Christ was among the living and not among the dead. Undoubtedly they could scarcely believe it,—it was too good to be true; and Mary Magdalene could not bear the thought of leaving that place, even though the angels had proclamed that He had risen, and even though Christ had said that He would rise. At last as she was still sitting there weeping alone, one came up whom she supposed to be the gardener, and asked her why she was weeping? She said "They have taken away my Lord. Tell me where have they put Him, that I may take care of His body." She thought, perhaps they thought He was unworthy to lie in Joseph's tomb, and that they had therefore cast Him out, and she wanted the body to take it away. At last the man, who was Christ, spoke to her again and she knew that familiar voice and fell at His feet. The blessed news was brought first to that woman, which after 1900 years have rolled away is still the most blessed news of all. Then before they came to the city, Christ showed Himself to them again, saying "All hail!" The next time he appeared it was to Simon Peter; for Paul tells us that Simon Peter had an interview with Him, and Luke tells us that Christ and Peter met. The first appearance was on |