“If any one asks whether Christianity is from heaven, or of men, we point him to the ‘tomb hewn out of the rock,’ and say—‘There is your answer! Jesus was crucified, and laid in that cave; but on the morning of the third day it was found empty; our Master had risen, and gone forth from the grave victorious.’
“This is the pillar that supports the whole fabric of our religion; and he who attempts to pull it down, like Samson, pulls ruin upon himself. ‘If Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain, ye are yet in your sins;’ but if the fact is clearly proved, then Christianity is unquestionably true, and its disciples are safe.
“This is the ground on which the Apostle stood, and asserted the divinity of his faith:—‘Moreover, I testify unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you; which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain; for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.’
“_The resurrection of Jesus is the most stupendous manifestation of the power of God_, _and the pledge of eternal life to His people_.
“The apostle calls it ‘the exceeding greatness of His power to usward, who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.’ This is a river overflowing its banks—an idea too large for language. Let us look at it a moment.
“Where do we find ‘the exceeding greatness of His power’? In the creation of the world? in the seven Stars and Orion? in the strength of Behemoth and Leviathan? No! In the Deluge? in the fiery destruction of Sodom? in the overthrow of Pharaoh, and his host? in hurling Nebuchadnezzar, like Lucifer, from the political firmament? No! It is the power which He wrought in Christ. When? When He healed the sick? when He raised the dead? when He cast out devils? when He blasted the fruitless fig-tree? when He walked upon the waters of Galilee? No! It was ‘when He raised Him from the dead.’ Then the Father placed the sceptre in the hands of the Son, ‘and set Him above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the Church.’