DISCOURSE II. 197 Cursar, or Seneca, Livy, or Virgil. I add this further : Con- cerning the vigour and spirit of his writings, and the force of argument contained in them, we have the testimony of some of his greatest adversaries, as he himself represents the case. His letters, say thèy, are weighty and powerful ; and he was not . ashamed to appeal to themselves, and threaten them, that he wouldmake it appear that his practice towards"them should have as much force and power as his letters had, when he came the second time to visit them ; 2 Cor. x. 10, 11. And we have the testimony of two others, particularly Luke the physician, in his history of the Acts of the Apostles, who was a fellow-traveller with him ; andPeter, who was another of his countrymen, in his epistles, bears witness to him and to his writings : besides the tes- timony of all theChristian writers from the beginning of Christi- anity ; 2 Pet. iii. 15, 16. Which writings of St. Paul are dig- . nified by St. Peter himself, with the name of the scriptures, yer. 16. they being both men inspired by God, and of chief repute among the apostles: I proceed now to enquire, what were these blessed effects On men in the heathen world, whereby Paul's doctrine of the resur- rection of Christ was further confirmed and established. And here 1- might talk largely of the idolaters, that were turned from their superstitions to the worship and love of the true God, of their abandoning their former vices, and the superstitions and sinful customs of their nations, and the reformation of their lives and manners, to goodness and holiness, &c. but I shall con- fine myself only to those effects which bear a more apparent rela- tion to the resurrection of Christ; and such are these that fol- low : (viz.) 1. How many dead sinners were made alive to God, and virtue, piety and universal holiness, by preaching this doctrine of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? What encourage- mentfor hope of pardon for the worst of sinners, in this blessed doctrine of a dying and a rising Saviour? What an assurance of full atonement made to the justice of God, in that Jesus, who, in death, took our sins upon him, is now discharged from the dead, andhis dismission from the grave is a full token and proof of it. He died for our offences, and rose again for Our justifica- tion; Rom. iv. 25. If Christ be yet under the pain of death, as the apostle ar- gues, 1 Cor. xv. 17. and he not risen, thenn our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins: But if he be risen, then our faith and hope areconfirmed, and our sins are atoned for, and our souls are par- doned, if we trust in him. O howmany guilty consciences aremade easy, and that upon solid grounds, by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead? II,e is . a- God ofpeace, and reconciled to sinners, who brought Jesus Christ x3
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