horsemen and chariots of fire, and the enemy are smitten with blindness, and taken captive by the prophet. If Goliath of Gath confronts the camp of Israel with his challenge, roaring like a lion, till the valley resounds with his voice, a little shepherd-boy goes forth with his sling, and the vaunting blasphemer is smitten to the ground, and slain with his own sword. If the worshippers of the true God are cast into the fiery furnace, or the den of lions, to show the power and gratify the pride of an infamous tyrant, there is one among them “like unto the Son of Man,” and the violence of the fire is quenched, and the mouths of the lions are stopped. But when Messiah was slain and buried, the enemies of God boasted more than ever in their crafty and malicious schemes. This was the great decisive engagement between Heaven and hell. The enemy imagined “the Captain of our salvation” vanquished and destroyed. But his fall was no defeat. He yielded to the powers of darkness apparently, that he might triumph over them openly. He suffered himself to be taken prisoner by death, that he might seize the tyrant on his throne, demolish his empire, and deliver his captives. And if none of his friends on earth had courage to proclaim his resurrection, a preacher descended from heaven to announce the joyful fact:—“He is not here; for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Wonderful message, and wonderful messenger! On the morning of the third day after his crucifixion, Jesus revived in his tomb, and the sound of the earthquake reached the heaven of heavens, and a mighty angel, swifter than the light, descended straight to the new grave in Joseph’s garden, calling on no one for the key, instantly rolled away the stone from the door, and sat upon it, and made it his pulpit, from which he preached to the women the doctrine of our Lord’s resurrection. Let us consider, _first_, the testimony by which this fact is sustained, and _secondly_, the fact itself, as the sure basis of Christianity. I. It appears from the record of the evangelist Luke, that the women were much perplexed at finding the stone rolled away from the mouth of the sepulchre, and the body of Jesus gone. Then they were saluted by two angels in shining apparel, who said;—“Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spake unto you while he was yet in Galilee, saying—The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words.” Here is the testimony of two credible witnesses, a sufficient number to attest the truth of our Lord’s resurrection; who testified to nothing but what they had personally witnessed, and knew to be fact; and delivered their testimony in simple and unambiguous language, that could not well be misunderstood.