A SERMON.

IT IS SOWN IN CORRUPTION, IT IS RAISED IN INCORRUPTION; IT IS SOWN IN DISHONOR, IT IS RAISED IN GLORY; IT IS SOWN IN WEAKNESS, IT IS RAISED IN POWER; IT IS SOWN A NATURAL BODY, IT IS RAISED A SPIRITUAL BODY. 1 COR. xv. 42, 43, 44.

THE love of existence, and the desire of knowing futurity, may be ranked among the strongest propensities of the human heart. The first of these is repressed by death, the last is encouraged by the prospect of a resurrection. So great is our attachment to happiness, and so great our aversion to misery, that whatever discloses to us our future state, cannot but be highly interesting and important. We must therefore feel peculiarly indebted to our beneficent Creator, for assuring us of the resurrection of our bodies. The language of the Saviour was, "the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." He who was caught up into the third heaven said, " the trump shall sound, and the dead shall be raised." John, when he beheld in vision the resurrection, said, “I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God-and the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and hades delivered up the dead which were in them." But our inquiries may perhaps extend farther than merely to ascertain the fact of the resurrection of the dead. We may be disposed to ask, as some did in the Corinthian church, "how are the dead raised? and with what body do they come?" These questions imply a desire to know the manner in which the resurrection should be effected. They also imply a disposition to

doubt the resurrection, unless the persons who proposed them should have their inquisitive curiosity fully gratified. This is the reason why the Apostle replies with severity, and says, "thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain; it may chance of wheat or some other grain; but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." The Apostle in these words reproves the unreasonableness of those who are disposed to doubt or deny a fact, merely because they cannot comprehend the manner in which it is accomplished. He intimates that there is nothing more mysterious or unintelligible in the resurrection of the body, than there is in the germination of a grain of wheat. This, when cast into the earth, will neither spring nor grow, unless it dies. But who can tell how the death of that which is sown, is essential to the life and growth of that which springs up? That this is the case we cannot deny, though the manner in which the fact is accomplished is entirely beyond our comprehension. When the bare grain is sown in the earth, the future body of that grain is not sown. The grain dies, the principle of life ascends, and God clothes it with such a body as he pleases. The Apostle proceeds to show that there will be different grades of people in the resurrection, and that then there will be as great a diversity in the bodies and appearances of men as there is in the present state. These ideas are implied in the following words. "All flesh is not the same flesh; there is one kind of flesh of men, another of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestial. The glory of the celestrial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another of the stars; for as one star differeth from another star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead." But though there will be in the world of the resurrection such a diversity in the bodies of men, yet there are certain circumstances in which they will all agree. These are expressed in our text. "It (body) is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor

it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body."

This expres

1. The body is said to be sown in corruption. sion includes the whole state of man, from his first formation till the morning of his resurrection. For there is a contrast kept up through the text, between man's mortal and immortal state. Man, like all animated nature, is subjected to the great law of corruptibility. The condition of things is such, in this world, that wherever there is life, there must be death. When we consider the constant tendency of animal substance to putrefaction, and the numerous external and internal causes which may induce it, we are astonished that men should continue so long in life as they do. What preserves us one moment from experiencing the effects of corruptibility, we cannot tell, unless it is the immediate and constant agency of God. For all the animal and vegetable substances we consume for the support of life, would afford us no nourishment, unless they would dissolve by putrefaction. It is from this that we derive our life; and yet as soon as it attacks our constitution we change into the same, we die and turn to dust. The inspired Apostle was so sensible of the corruptible state of man's body, that he used the emphatical expression in the text, "it is sown in corruption," as if it was buried in it. It does not appear that when man was in innocency, he was exempt from corruption, any farther than by the supernatural bounty of God. Adam, when placed in Paradise, had access to the tree of life. By means of this he might perpetuate his constitution in health and vigor. Man never had any other kind of immortality in this world; for, considered as an animal, he must die, unless the decays and diseases of his nature were remedied by the tree of life. By disobedience to the command of God, Adam subjected himself and all his posterity to death. When excluded the garden, he beheld the flaming sword guarding the way of the tree of life. What must have been his consternation to feel the attacks of disease, without having access to the tree of life! Alas! he must sink into the shadow of death, and be "sown in corruption." Thus death entered the world, and ever since has been executing his dread commission, and burying the human race in ruin. But

shall man forever be the prey of all-devouring death? Shall his body be forever lost in the grave? Surely not, for though it is sown in corruption, our text assures us—

2. “It is raised in incorruption." A state of incorruptibility is so different from the present, that we can form but an imperfect idea of it. We can scarcely conceive how bodies can subsist, in the utmost vigor and activity, without the aid of nourishment. And yet, in the world of the resurrection, this will certainly be the case; for there we shall be as the angels of God. For this corruptible must put on incorruption; and this mortal must put on immortality. So then shall be brought to pass the saying, as it is written, "death is swallowed up in victory." If we shall have obtained a complete victory over death, we shall be free from disease and pain. These are his attendants, and these must fall, when the king is dethroned and buried in ruin. The bodies of the righteous and the wicked will be raised in the same manner, and alike be incorruptible and immortal. Their difference, as to happiness and misery, will result wholly from the moral state of their minds. Christ said of the righteous, that they should shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. With what extasy will they triumph, when they look back over the vast chasm of ruin which yawns from the walls of Eden to the barriers of eternity; when they feel immortal vigor springing within them, and behold immortal youth blooming in every face! May they not with propriety exclaim, O! death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

3. The next trait in the state of man, as to his body, is, that "it is sown in dishonor."-This was not the state of man when he came from the forming hand of the Almighty. He was made in the image of God; he held dominion over the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea. The Psalmist, addressing God, says, concerning man, “thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor." But alas! man being in honor, abode not! He fell into disgrace by revolting against his Maker. As soon as he lost the honor in which he was formed, the whole animated world shunned his society, and refused to submit to his dominion. He was surrounded with enemies, and liable to dis

solution. The completion of his disgrace was death; for God said to him, "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." This is the sentence executed on the criminal. Thus man is sown in dishonor." But let us not dwell on the dark side of

the picture. The text assures us, that—

4. "He is raised in glory."-Man, by his fall from primitive rectitude, appeared to dishonor God, his Creator. His body, by its liability to pain, disease and death, appeared unworthy the great Builder of the universe. But how wonderfully will God's glory appear, when his voice shall call to the sleeping millions when they shall rise from their graves free from corruption, vigorous and immortal? Will not here be a greater manifestation of divine power, than in the creation of a thousand inanimate worlds? But though the resurrection of all will display the glory of God, yet that of believers in a more peculiar manner, and in a higher degree. For they will be fashioned like to Christ's glorious body! "When Christ, who is their life, shall appear, then shall they also appear with him in glory." They will be clothed in the brightness of the sun, and sit with Christ in his kingdom. Thus they will be raised in glory.

5. In the next place, the text says, concerning the body," it is sown in weakness."—No animal is brought into the world in so feeble and helpless a condition as man. He possesses neither the power nor means of subsistence. The preservation of his life requires the perpetual assiduity of others. "At his best estate he is altogether vanity." A breath of air, a spark of fire, the falling of a tile, may destroy his grandeur, and lodge him in the grave. When he sinks into death, he is helpless as a clod of earth, and a worm becomes his master. But the body will not always remain in this state; for—

6. "It is raised in power."-Angels are represented as exalted beings, and excelling in might. The Saviour said, concerning those who should obtain the resurrection, "they are equal unto the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection." Their nerves will be strung with unfailing vigor weakness and disease can never reach them: eternity itself cannot weary their utmost exertions in the service of God. When the dead shall rise, all nature will feel the power of God.