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Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable,

always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

of

now thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and that which gives strength and efficacy to sin is that law of moral righteousness which we have all of us fallen short. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory, not through our own merits, but through the expiation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, continue firm in your faith, unmoved by the seductions of the world, and to the end of your career abounding in the work of the Lord, resting fully assured that your labour in the Lord's service shall not remain for ever without its reward.

It is well known that the primitive Christians were often insulted by the Heathen philosophers for their hope of a resurrection. The Apostle, therefore, in this noble chapter may be supposed anxious rather to prove the resurrection of Christians, than a resurrection in general; we should be very thankful that

such convincing proof was given of our Lord's resurrection, demonstrated by such infallible tokens, and repeated appearances to all the Apostles, who had every opportunity of examining into its certainty; more than five hundred persons were witnesses to it at one time, and witnesses who survived many years to attest the important fact, that our faith and hope might be in God; in God who quickeneth the dead, and who by the resurrection of his Son, hath begotten us again to a lively hope, of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away; and it is matter of peculiar joy and thankfulness that St. Paul was added to this cloud of witnesses, who attested the resurrection of Jesus,-that great Apostle, in whom the grace of God was so richly magnified. The portion of the chapter used in our office for

Burial, which commences at the twentieth verse, is mostly occupied in illustrating, vindicating, and applying the doctrine of the resurrection-the proof is short, being for the most part from verses twelve to nineteen. Well may we rejoice to see the doctrine of our own resurrection so closely connected in the sacred writings, and especially in this powerful discourse of St. Paul, with that of our blessed Redeemer, as that they should be declared to stand or fall together. For Christ is assuredly risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept; he has repaired to all his spiritual seed the ill that Adam brought upon his descendants, and is become to them, the author of a far nobler life, than the posterity of Adam lost by him. Let us endeavour, by cultivating holiness in all its branches, to

maintain this hope in spirit and energy, looking for that glorious day when in the utmost extent of the prophetic vision, "death shall be swallowed up in victory."

After the lesson, the body is carried

from the house of God to that spot where it is destined to remain, till the sounding of the last trumpet. The church, unwilling to lose such a favourable opportunity of fixing religious impressions in the mind, when the mortal remains of a neighbour, of a friend, or relation, are about to be committed to the silence of the grave, when the mind is often softened and subdued, and the world, with its pleasures and temptations, for a time at least, deprived of their power, offers some affecting reflections upon the shortness of life, accompanied with earnest supplications to God for mercy and forgiveness, for deliver

ance from eternal death, and for protection and support when our own last hour shall arrive.

RUBRIC.

When they come to the grave, while the corpse is made ready to be laid into the earth, the Priest shall say,

Man that is born of a woman, hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down like a flower: he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay.

In the midst of life we are in death: of whom may we seek for succour, but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins art justly displeased?

Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O holy and most merciful Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death.

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy Judge eternal, suffer us not at our last hour for any pains of death to fall from thee.

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