So when this corruptible, &c.— Or, And when, &c. "When this glorious and long expected event shall be accomplished,—when this corruptible part of our frame shall have put on incorruption, &c. thenshall be fulfilled what is written, Isaiah 25:8. Death is swallowed up in victory; perfectly subdued and destroyed; and so happy a state introduced, that it would hardly be known that death had ever had any place or power among Christ's subjects; in the assured view whereof, the Christian may even now, in faith and hope, with the greatest pleasure, take up his song of triumph, Where is thy sting, O death?" The original has a kind of poetical turn, which seems in some measure to suit the sublimity of the sentiment; for the first of the clauses, 1 Corinthians 15:55, is an Ionic, and the second a Trochaic verse; and Mr. Pope has only transposed them, to make them, as they stand in our verses, the conclusion of one of his stanzas,—O grave! where is thy victory?—O death! where is thy sting? It is generally thought that these words are quoted from Hosea 10:14 where see the note.
Inferences.—The death and resurrection of Christ constitute the grand foundation of our holy faith. It may well be the daily joy of our hearts to think how firm that foundation stands, and what various and convincing evidence we have, that as Christ became incarnate, visited this wretched world, and died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; that as he condescended to go down into the caverns of the grave, and lie there in the cold and silent tomb, humbled in the dust of death; so also, according to the same Scriptures, he was raised again on the third day. How thankful ought we to be, that such convincing proofs were given of his resurrection, demonstrated by such infallible tokens and repeated appearances to all the Apostles, who had every opportunity which the most scrupulous temper could demand of examining at leisure into its certainty! More than five hundred persons were witnesses to it at one time; witnesses, who for many years survived to attest this important fact, and corroborate our faith and hope in God, who quickeneth the dead. As therefore we have thus received, so let us stand fast in this doctrine; remembering that our salvation dependeth on our steadfastly and practically retaining it; and that if ever, on any considerations, we make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, we have believed in vain, and worse than in vain.
It is matter of thankful joy, 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; magnified peculiarly in that humility which he here expresses in so amiable a manner; calling himself the least of the Apostles, declaring that he was unworthy the name of an Apostle; and amidst all the labours and glories of this eminent station in the church, still keeping in his eye that madness, with which, in the days of his infidelity he had so grievously offended. And shall not we also learn of him to say, By the grace of God I am what I am?—Let us be solicitous that his grace bestowed on us be not in vain; and, ever bearing in mind them any sins of our unconverted state, and our great unworthiness since we have known God and been known of him let us labour in our Lord's service with proportionable zeal; and when we have laboured to the utmost, and exerted ourselves with the greatest fidelity and resolution, let us ascribe it to that divine agency which strengthened us for all; and say again, though some should esteem it a disagreeable tautology, Not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Let us meditate with unutterable joy on the exaltation of our glorified Head,—of our gracious Sovereign, who has conquered death himself, and will make all his faithful saints partakers of his victory. He has received from his Father glory, honour, and dominion; and he shall reign till his conquest be universal and complete; shall reign till death be not only stripped of its trophies, but rendered subservient to his triumphs;—till all his purposes for his Father's glory and his own be fully accomplished.
But O! who can express the joy and glory of that day! when Christ shall give up the kingdom to the Father, and present unto him all his faithful subjects, transformed into his own image; a beautiful and splendid church indeed, for ever to be the object of the divine complacence; for ever to dwell in the divine presence, in a state of the greatest nearness to the tri-une God, who shall then be all in all!—Well may the expectation of this illustrious period cheer the Christian under his greater extremities, and make him of all men the most happy; when otherwise, on account of his sufferings in the flesh, he might seem of all men the most miserable. Well may this his rejoicing in Christ Jesus,—that sacred oath which this persecuted and distressed Apostle with so sublime a spirit here uses, encourage him to go on, though he be daily dying; though he were to encounter the most savage of mankind, and death itself in its most dreadful forms. Well may this knowledge of God, and of his exalted Son, and of his infinite love towards his faithful people, awaken us to righteousness, and deliver us from the bondage of sin.
God Almighty enable us to retain these noble principles of doctrine and action, and to guard against those evil communications, those sceptical and licentious notions, which would corrupt our spirits, which would enervate every generous spark kindled and animated by the Gospel; and, by bounding our views within the narrow circle of mortal life, degrade us from the anticipations of angelic felicity, to the pursuits of brutal gratifications.
We may learn from this incomparable discourse of the Apostle to curb that vain curiosity, which is so ready in matters of divine revelations to break out into an unbecoming petulance; and where we are sure that God declares the thing, let us leave it to him to overcome every difficulty that may seem to attend the manner in which it shall be effected. Nothing may be more useful for the conquering of this weakness, than to observe the operations of God in the works of nature, where he giveth to every seed, whether animal or vegetable, such a body as shall please him. Each is proper for its sphere, and beautiful in its connection and order, though the degree of their glory be different; yea, and thus all the diversity of glory, which shall at last be apparent among the children of God,—even the children of the resurrection, shall serve to illustrate the divine wisdom, and goodness, and faithfulness.
The alterations and process made in every instance will indeed be wonderful, when this mortal puts on immortality, and this corruptible puts on incorruption! O, let us for ever adore the divine goodness, that, when by our relation to the first Adam, we were under a sentence of condemnation and death, he was pleased, in his infinite mercy, to appoint that we should stand related to Christ, as the second Adam, in so happy a bond, that by him we may, if faithful unto death, recover what we have lost in the former; yea, and far more; so that, as we have borne the image of the earthly, we may also bear the image of the heavenly. May we all earnestly aspire after his blessedness, and remember that our bearing the image of his holiness is inseparably connected with the hope of so glorious a privilege!
Let us therefore endeavour, by cultivating holiness in all its branches, to maintain this hope in all its spirit and energy; longing for that glorious day, when, in the utmost strength of the prophetic expression, Death shall be swallowed up in victory; and millions of voices, after the long silence of the grave, shall burst out at once into that triumphant song, O death! where is thy sting?—O grave! where is thy victory? And when we see death disarmed, and the terrors of the law silenced, let us bless God for Jesus Christ, by whom the precepts of the law were perfectly fulfilled, and its penalty endured, that so we might not only be delivered from the curse, but called to inherit the blessing. Let it be considered as an engagement to universal obedience; and, in the assurance that whatever other labours may be frustrated, those in the Lord shall never be vain, let gratitude and interest concur to render us steadfast, immovable, and continually active in his service.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, The resurrection of the dead being a chief article of the Christian faith, the Apostle, in this chapter, asserts and establishes the doctrine, in opposition to some false teachers who had attempted to undermine and overturn this glorious truth, 2 Timothy 2:17-18.
1. He reminds the Corinthians of that gospel which he had formerly preached unto them, which they had received from his lips, and in the faith of which they had hitherto in general persevered. By which also, he adds, ye are saved, if ye keep in memory, or hold fast, what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all, or among the most capital points of the Christian faith, and as the foundation on which all our hopes in time and eternity are built, that which I also received by immediate revelation, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, which had foretold his substitution and sufferings in the sinner's stead; and that he was buried; having truly tasted of death, he was laid in the grave; and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; being delivered for our offences, he was raised again for our justification; and in his resurrection we have an earnest of our own. And of the fact of his being risen we have the most authentic evidence, as I have told you that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, which name they bore, though their original number, by the apostacy of Judas and the absence of Thomas, was not complete. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep in Jesus. After that he was seen of James, the brother or near kinsman of the Lord; then of all the Apostles; all of whom were ready to seal their testimony with their blood; men, who could not be deceived themselves, nor could be under the least temptation of deceiving others, when they expected nothing but suffering and death in every tremendous shape for their fidelity. And last of all, he was seen of me also, that I might be an eye-witness of his resurrection, when called in so miraculous a way to the office and honour of an Apostle. Hereupon,
2. He makes a beautiful digression, with the deepest humility acknowledging his own unworthiness, and Christ's rich grace in calling and qualifying him for the work of the apostleship. He was seen of me, as of one born out of due time; despicable as an abortive foetus, and brought forth with violent pangs: for I am the least of the Apostles, utterly unworthy of the high honour, and last called to it; that am not meet to be called an Apostle, but deserved to have an eternal brand of infamy stamped upon me, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, his amazingly rich and unmerited grace, a happy alteration is wrought in me, and I am what I am, have obtained mercy, and have been called not only to the faith of the Gospel, but to the dignity of an Apostle; and his grace which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain, but wrought effectually; so that under the influence of it I laboured more abundantly than they all, undergoing greater hardships, exposed to greater dangers, and with the most unwearied diligence spreading the Gospel through the world. Yet not I, though constrained to vindicate my character, I impute nothing to myself, but to the grace of God which was with me, enabling me for his work, and crowning it with success. Therefore, whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed: all of us bore the same testimony to a crucified and risen Redeemer, and you professed to make him your whole dependance for pardon, grace, life, and salvation. Note; (1.) A gracious man remembers with deep humility those sad days when he lived in rebellion against God. (2.) Whatever we are or do, to the grace of God alone we are indebted for it, and he must have the glory. (3.) All true ministers of Jesus bring one message, determined to know nothing but Christ, and him crucified.
2nd, Having proved the certainty of Christ's resurrection, he proceeds to shew the certainty of ours; refuting the opinion of those heretical teachers, who suggested that it was impossible, or that Christ did not rise in a public capacity, as the head and first-fruits of his faithful saints. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? From which, if it were true, the following absurdities would necessarily follow:
1. If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen, notwithstanding all the prophesies, and the undoubted testimony of so many unexceptionable witnesses.
2. If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, useless, and unprofitable, the resurrection of Jesus being the grand truth on which the whole Gospel depends; and your faith is also vain; the doctrine on which it is built would have no solid foundation, and the hopes which you thence derive must disappoint and deceive you. Yea, and, on this supposition, we are found false witnesses of God, and must have made use of his sacred name to support a most impious falsehood; because we have testified of God, professing to act by his authority, and under his commission, that he raised up Christ to a glorious and immortal life, in token of the acceptance of his undertaking as the reward of his sufferings, and as he is the head of his faithful saints, who should follow him into his kingdom: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not: for it is evident, if the dead rise not, then it not Christ, who was once numbered among the dead, raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, and all the hopes arising from him are delusive: ye are yet in your sins, under the guilt and condemnation of them: for as there is no atonement for sin, but that which he offered, and on his resurrection the acceptance of his sacrifice depended, if he had continued in the grave, and seen corruption, we must have sunk into despair, and concluded his oblation unsatisfactory; nor could we have expected, that he who remained himself the prisoner of death, should ever be able to deliver us from the power of it.
3. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished, this being the necessary consequence of the above horrid supposition; for if Christ be not risen, their hope in him is vain; and then, though they died martyrs for his cause, they have departed with a lie in their right hand, and are lost for ever; than which thought nothing can be more shocking or discouraging to surviving Christians.
4. If this were the case, that in this life only we have hope in Christ, and after death have nothing to look for, we, who are Christians by profession, and especially the ministers of Christ, who stand most exposed to persecution and all kinds of suffering for his sake, are of all men most miserable; foregoing all the comforts and advantages of this life, and wading through a sea of difficulties and trials: and how absurd would this be, if after death we had no respect to the recompence of reward, and expected not a joyful resurrection! and who would ever seek to be crucified unto the world, and the world unto him, if he looked no farther than the grave, and hoped for nothing in eternity.
3rdly, The certainty of Christ's resurrection being proved, and the glaring absurdities demonstrated which must follow from a contrary supposition, the Apostle passes on to the effects of Christ's resurrection, as ensuring the resurrection of all the descendants of Adam, and especially the resurrection to glory of all the faithful saints of God.
1. Because Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept and shall sleep in him. He is the first-begotten from the dead, and the first-born of many brethren,—all the persevering saints, whom he will bring unto glory; and his resurrection is the pledge and earnest that all his faithful people shall live with him for ever. God, in raising him up, has given his saints, who persevere in the love of him, the assurance, that they shall be blessed and gathered in with him in their season: for since, or because, by man came death, which followed on the first sin, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, by the second man, the Lord from heaven. For as in Adam, our common parent, all die, involved in his guilt, and exposed to death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal; so in Christ shall all mankind be made alive; and especially all his faithful saints, who, by virtue of their union with him, shall be raised to a life of eternal glory. But every man in his own order, (εκαστος) Christ first, and then his saints, shall each in their time, rank, and order, rise into glory—Christ, the first-fruits, who consecrates the harvest, and is the pledge of our resurrection; afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming, even all his faithful people.
2. The Apostle proves that we must rise, because death is among those enemies which the exalted Mediator shall destroy. Then cometh the end of the world, and of all the sorrows of the faithful, when, having gathered in all his persevering saints, he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that mediatorial kingdom, the peculiar administration of which has been entrusted to him as the Son of man: when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power; abolishing every form of civil and ecclestiastical government, and subduing every enemy, human or diabolical, that tyrannized over his people; for he must reign, as Mediator, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death, when the dead bodies of his faithful people shall be raised to immortal life, no more to see corruption. For he, even God the Father, hath put all things under his feet, and appointed him to be Head over all things to his church. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that this refers only to all created beings, and that he is excepted which did put all things under him; for God himself can be subject to none. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, and the ends of his Mediatorial kingdom answered in the complete salvation of all his faithful saints, both in body and soul, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him; he will then resign the peculiar government committed to him, surrendering himself as the Head of his church, and the members of his body mystical, into his Father's hands, to receive those eternal rewards which are due to him in virtue of his great atonement; that God may be all in all; and henceforth the delegated power and authority of Jesus, as Mediator, shall cease, and the one glorious God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, shall be the immediate fountain of dominion and blessedness to the church triumphant for ever.
3. He argues the certainty of the resurrection from the very baptism of Christians. Else what shall they do which are baptized? If there be no resurrection, how absurd and strange would it be to take up the Christian profession, when, if they had nothing in prospect after death, and here stood exposed to every misery, and the danger of daily martyrdom, they would seem merely baptized for the dead, and be of all men most miserable if the dead rise not at all. Why are they then baptized for the dead? Who with such a prospect would ever be prevailed on to embrace Christianity? And why stand we in jeopardy every hour, and ready to seal our testimony with our blood, if we had not the glorious hope of a better resurrection? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus, by all the comforts of Christianity, and as surely as that Spirit lives who is the author of them, I die daily, living continually in the nearest views and expectations of martyrdom. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, encountering men brutish and savage in their tempers, and have exposed myself to conflicts as dangerous as those which the condemned criminals sustain when obliged to encounter wild beasts in the public amphitheatres, what advantageth it me, what benefit could I reap from such perilous adventures, or what could ever induce me thus to hazard my life, if the dead rise not? Surely if this were the case, that nothing was to be hoped for after the grave, it would be our wisdom rather to adopt the principles of Epicurus, than of Christianity, and to say, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die, and rather enjoy present pleasure, than suffer needless pain, if there were no hereafter, and death put an end to us for ever. Note; (1.) Nothing but the prospects of eternity can possibly engage any to the practice of Christianity. Till we have realizing views by faith of the things not seen, it is impossible that we should take up the cross of Christ. (2.) One great support in suffering is a respect to the recompence of the reward.
4. The Apostle closes this part of his discourse with a solemn caution. Be not deceived by those false teachers who endeavour to sap the foundation of your hopes: Evil communications corrupt good manners; the bad principles of these seducers could not but produce immoral practice; and to be connected and intimate with such men was dangerously infectious. Note; Bad company should be shunned as the plague. Awake then to righteousness; be on your guard, and see that ye walk as becomes your holy profession: for I perceive by these dangerous doctrines which have been introduced among you, that some of you have not the knowledge of God, and of his mind and will, as revealed in his Gospel. I speak this to your shame, that men of such bad principles and corrupt conversation should be among you, permitted as teachers, or suffered to communicate with the church as members. Note; We are blameable not only for the evils that we commit ourselves, but those which we connive at in others.
4thly, Two plausible objections against the resurrection are here suggested. (1.) How are the dead raised up? what power is sufficient for such a work, to recover the scattered atoms? and (2.) With what body do they come? with the same identical particles, or in some other shape and form? In answer to the objector, the Apostle replies, Thou fool. Probably the persons who opposed the doctrine of the resurrection pretended to high attainments in science, and to reason as philosophers; but they proved their ignorance, rather than their wisdom, and erred, not knowing the scriptures, or the power of God.
1. That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. The same Power, therefore, that every year raises, from under the clod where the seed was sown and corrupted, a plenteous harvest, can raise from the grave the body which has returned to its dust again; and it would be as absurd to object against the possibility of the one as the other.
2. As to the manner of the resurrection, and with what body we shall come from the grave, to continue the similitude, I answer, That which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, without any of that rich clothing which afterwards it produces, the blade, the ear, and then the full corn in the ear; it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain, which dies and revives again: but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body; so ordering it, in infinite wisdom, that every seed produces its own species. In quality, indeed, the resurrection body will differ from the present, though in identity of person the same. Nor is this strange, when we see out of the same materials, that bodies of very different qualities are formed. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds; the substance is originally the same, though, by divine power, wonderfully diversified in quality. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but, though all formed of the first created matter, they greatly differ in excellence; the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another: such difference will there be between the present and the resurrection body, as between a clod and a star. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory, is of greater magnitude, and shines with greater splendor; so also is the resurrection of the dead. Such will be the difference between the saints in glory, according to their excellencies. We are raised by the same divine power which makes the corn vegetate; and that almighty hand which modifies the same matter in the different bodies around us, can make the like glorious difference between our present and our resurrection body, though the manner how, may be to us inconceivable. It is sown in corruption, from the day of its generation till it is putrified in the dust; it is raised in incorruption, incapable of putrefaction or dissolution. It is sown in dishonour; in life full of defilement, covered with shame; in death loathsome and most contemptible; it is raised in glory, like unto Christ's glorious body, shining as the stars for ever and ever. It is sown in weakness, is at present liable to a thousand infirmities, pain, weariness, sickness, accidents, and death; and in the grave must be a prey for worms; it is raised in power, vigorous and active, fit to join the immortal soul, and, without weariness, and without ceasing, to serve God in his temple for ever. It is sown a natural body, which needs the constant support of meat and drink, and sleep, like the beasts that perish: it is raised a spiritual body, requiring none of these animal refreshments. There is a natural body, such as we now possess; and there is a spiritual body, suited to the celestial world which is the inheritance of the saints. And so it is written, The first man Adam, from whom we derive our present body, was made a living soul, was endued with animal life, and required all those supports which we do: the last Adam, the Lord Jesus, was made a quickening Spirit, possessing life in himself, and the fountain of it to believers, having, since his resurrection, a spiritual body: and by virtue of his power, and the union of his faithful saints to him, he shall fashion their bodies like his own.
Howbeit, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual: Adam's animal body was first, Christ's spiritual body afterwards; and such is the order also established for the faithful, first to bear the natural, then to receive the spiritual body. The first man was of the earth, formed from the clay; and by his sin he became earthy, returning to the dust whence he came. The second man is the Lord from heaven, coming thence to take our nature upon him; and is now returned thither with his human nature glorified; and his faithful people may expect him to come from thence to make them like himself. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; as Adam's body was, so must our's be, who sprung from him, mortal and corruptible; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly; as many as are born from above, and made partakers of a divine nature, and are faithful unto death, shall be conformed in their bodies to their Lord, and shall shortly be glorified together. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, by nature the children of corruption, sprung from a fallen parent, and like him must return to dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly; as many as are by faith perseveringly united to Jesus, and renewed in the spirit of their minds, shall bear shortly his bright image in their bodies, as well as souls, for ever.
5thly, The Apostle,
1. Gives the reason of the change which he had described. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood, such as our bodies are at present, cannot inherit the kingdom of God; they are unable to bear the eternal weight of glory, and incapable of tasting the delights, or being employed in the services, of that blest world to which the faithful are going. Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. The body must be refined from its corruptible dross before it can enter upon or enjoy the incorruptible inheritance.
2. He informs them of a secret unknown to them. Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep in the dust, but we shall all be changed; on as many of the saints as shall be found alive at Christ's appearing, a change will pass equivalent to death and resurrection, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, when the voice of Jesus shall awaken the dead. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed, the bodies of the faithful undergoing a happy alteration in their qualities, though preserving their identity; for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality, that they may be capable of enjoying that celestial happiness which Jesus has purchased and provided for all those who shall have followed him faithfully through the regeneration.
3. When this awful season comes, then shall death be for ever abolished. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Isaiah 25:8. Death is swallowed up in victory. And that king of terrors shall be so utterly destroyed, that he shall never more be able to lift his arm against one of the glorified saints; and, in the prospect of this happy day, the faithful soul can even now, in faith and hope, antedate her eternal triumphs, and, exulting, cry, O death, where is thy sting? I defy it. O grave, where is thy victory? I rise immortal, and tread thee beneath my feet for ever.
4. The ground of the believer's triumph is here declared. The sting of death is sin; this arms the monster with all his terrors; and the strength of sin is the law, binding over the transgressor to a future judgment; and not merely denouncing bodily death as the wages of sin, but passing sentence of eternal death, and consigning body and soul to hell. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. In his adored name we lift up our banners; in his righteousness we make our boast, since he has died in our stead, he has led captivity captive; though the faithful see corruption in the grave, death cannot hold dominion over them; they shall rise glorious and immortal; and, through their great Redeemer's power and grace, come and reign with him in glory everlasting. Note; (1.) Death is no longer dreadful, when the sting of sin, through the atoning Blood, is taken out of the conscience. The faithful shall find, by the way of the grave, the golden gates of life and immortality, which open into the paradise of God. (2.) That which will be the subject of the everlasting praises of the righteous, should now be the matter of their songs.
5. He closes the whole with a warm exhortation, arising from the foregoing discourse. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, firm, and unwavering in the faith and hope of the gospel, especially in the great doctrines of the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus, with the blessed effects thence flowing, of the immortal life and glory of all the faithful; unmoveable by any of the artifices of Satan, or the craft of seducers; founded on the rock which storms assail in vain; always abounding in the work of the Lord, zealously and abidingly engaged in his service, cheerful, and willing to undergo any sufferings, in spite of every opposition, increasing with the increase of God; knowing, as the most assured truth, that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord, but that, perseveringly cleaving to him in faith, he will strengthen, uphold, and own you in life and in death, and, after death, raise up your bodies to immortal life, and bestow the never-fading crown of righteousness and glory upon you, the reward, not, indeed, of debt, but of grace. Note; (1.) Our practice will keep pace always with the strength of our faith; and the more realizing our views of eternal things are, the more vigorously shall we press towards the mark for the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus. (2.) It is the strongest encouragement to labour for the Lord, that the faithful soul is sure to succeed in his service. (3.) Whatever we do or suffer for Christ, we shall never regret in the day of the resurrection, and shall only then be ashamed that we have loved him no more, and served him no better.