Matthew 25:41
Verse 41. On the left hand. The wicked. Ye cursed. That is, ye who are devoted to destruction, whose characters deserve everlasting punishment, and who are about to enter into it. To curse, is the opposite of to bless. It implies a negation of all the blessings of heaven, and a positive infliction of eternal sufferings. Everlasting fire. Fire, here, is used to denote punishment. The image is employed to express extreme suffering, as a death by burning is one of the most horrible that call be conceived. The image was taken probably from the fires burning in the valley of Hinnom. Mt 5:22. It has been asked, whether the wicked will be burned in literal fire-- and the common impression has been that they will be. Respecting that, however, it is to be observed, (1.) that the main truth intended to be taught refers not to the manner of suffering, but to the certainty and intensity of it. (2.) That the design, therefore, was to present an image of terrific and appalling suffering--an image well represented by fire. (3.) That this image was well known to the Jews, Isa 66:24 and therefore expressed the idea in a very strong manner. (4.) That all the truth that Christ intended to convey appears to be expressed in the certainty, intensity, and eternity of future torment. (5.) That there is no distinct affirmation respecting the mode of that punishment, where the mode was the subject of discourse. (6.) That to us it is a subject of comparatively little consequence what will be the mode of punishment. The fact that the wicked will be eternally punished, cursed of God, should awe every spirit, and lead every man to secure his salvation. As, however, the body will be raised, it is not unreasonable to suppose that a mode of punishment will be adopted suited to the body, perhaps bearing some analogy to suffering here, in its various forms of flames, and racks, and cold, and heat, and war, and disease, and ungratified desire, and remorse--perhaps the concentration of all earthly woes, all that makes man miserable here, poured upon the naked body and spirit of the wicked in hell, for ever and ever. Prepared for the devil. The devil is the prince of evil spirits. This place of punishment was fitted for him when he rebelled against God, Jude 1:6, Rev 12:8,9. His angels. His messengers, his servants, or those angels that he drew off from heaven by his rebellion and whom he has employed as his messengers to do evil. The word may extend also to all his followers --fallen angels or men. There is a remarkable difference between the manner in which the righteous shall be addressed, and the wicked. Christ will say to the one that the kingdom was prepared for them; to the other, that the fire was not prepared for them, but for another race of beings. They will inherit it because they have the same character as the devil, and therefore are fitted to the same place--not because it was originally fitted for them. (m) "Depart" Lk 13:27 (n) "into everlasting fire" Mt 13:40,42, Rev 14:11 (o) "prepared for the devil" Jude 1:6, Rev 20:10John 4:54
John 5:28-29
Verse 28. Marvel not. Do not wonder or be astonished at this. The hour is coming. The time is approaching or will be. All that are in the graves. All the dead, of every age and nation. They are described as in the graves. Though many have turned to their native dust and perished from human view, yet God sees them, and can regather their remains and raise them up to life. The phrase all that are in the graves does not prove that the same particles of matter will be raised up, but it is equivalent to saying all the dead. 1Cor 15:35-38. Shall hear his voice. He will restore them to life, and command them to appear before him. This is a most sublime description, and this will be a wonderful display of almighty power. None but God can see all the dead, none but he could remould their frames, and none else could command them to return to life. Verse 29. Shall come forth. Shall come out of their graves. This was the language which he used when he raised up Lazarus, Jn 11:43,4. They that have done good. That is, they who are righteous, or they who have by their good works shown that they were the friends of Christ. See Mt 25:34-36. Resurrection of life. Religion is often called life, and everlasting life. Jn 5:24. In the resurrection the righteous will be raised up to the full enjoyment and perpetual security of that life. It is also called the resurrection of life, because there shall be no more death, Rev 21:4. The enjoyment of God himself and of his works; of the society of the angels and of the redeemed; freedom from sickness, and sin, and dying, will constitute the life of the just in the resurrection. The resurrection is also called the resurrection of the just (Lk 14:14), and the first resurrection, Rev 20:5,6. The resurrection of damnation. The word damnation means the sentence passed on one by a judge--judgment or condemnation. The word, as we use it, applies only to the judgment pronounced by God on the wicked; but this is not its meaning always in the Bible. Here it has, however, that meaning. Those who have done evil will be raised up to be condemned or damned. This will be the object in raising them up--this the sole design. It is elsewhere said that they shall then be condemned to everlasting punishment (Mt 25:46), and that they shall be punished with everlasting destruction (2Thes 1:8,9); and it is said of the unjust that they are reserved unto the day of judgment to be punished, 2Pet 2:9. That this refers to the future judgment--to the resurrection then, and not to anything that takes place in this life-- is clear from the following considerations: 1st. Jesus had just spoken of what would be done in this life--of the power of the gospel, Jn 5:25. He adds here that something still more wonderful--something beyond this--would take place. All that are in the graves shall hear his voice. 2nd. He speaks of those who are in their graves, evidently referring to the dead. Sinners are sometimes said to be dead in sin. This is applied in the Scriptures only to those who are deceased. 3rd. The language used here of the righteous cannot be applied to anything in this life. When God converts men, it is not because they have been good. 4th. Nor is the language employed of the evil applicable to anything here. In what condition among men can it be said, with any appearance of sense, that they are brought forth from their graves to the resurrection of damnation? The doctrine of those Universalists who hold that all men will be saved immediately at death, therefore, cannot be true. This passage proves that at the day of judgment the wicked will be condemned. Let it be added that if then condemned they will be lost for ever. Thus (Mt 25:46) it is said to be everlasting punishment; 2Thes 1:8,9, it is called everlasting destruction. There is no account of redemption in hell--no Saviour, no Holy Spirit, no offer of mercy there.Romans 2:7
Verse 7. To them. Whoever they may be. Patient continuance. Who by perseverance in well doing, or in a good work. It means, that they who so continue or persevere in good works as to evince that they are disposed to obey the law of God. It does not mean those who perform one single act, but those who so live as to show that this is their character to obey God. It is the uniform doctrine of the Bible, that none will be saved but those who persevere in a life of holiness, Rev 5:10, Mt 10:22, Heb 10:38,39. No other conduct gives evidence of piety but that which continues in the ways of righteousness. Nor has God ever promised eternal life to men unless they so persevere in a life of holiness as to show that this is their character, their settled and firm rule of action. The words well doing here denote such conduct as shall be conformed to the law of God; not merely external conduct, but that which proceeds from a heart attached to God and his cause. Seek for. This word properly denotes the act of endeavouring to find anything that is lost, Mt 18:12, Lk 2:48,49. But it also denotes the act when one earnestly strives, or desires to obtain anything; when he puts forth his efforts to accomplish it. Thus, Mt 6:33, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God," etc. Acts 16:10, 1Cor 10:24 Lk 13:24. In this place it denotes an earnest and intense desire to obtain eternal life. It does not mean simply the desire of a sinner to be happy, or the efforts of those who are not willing to forsake their sins and yield to God, but the intense effort of those who are willing to forsake all their crimes, and submit to God and obey his laws. Glory and honour and immortality. The three words used here denote the happiness of the heavenly world. They vary somewhat in their meaning, and are each descriptive of something in heaven, that renders it an object of intense desire. The expressions are cumulative, or they are designed to express the happiness of heaven in the highest possible degree. The word glory δοξαν denotes, properly, praise, celebrity, or anything distinguished for beauty, ornament, majesty, splendour, as of the sun, etc.; and then it is used to denote the highest happiness or felicity, as expressing everything that shall be splendid, rich, and grand. It denotes that there will be an absence of everything mean, grovelling, obscure. The word honour (τιμην) implies rather the idea of reward, or just retribution--the honour and reward which shall be conferred in heaven on the friends of God. It stands opposed to contempt, poverty, and want among men. Here they are despised by men; there they shall be honoured by God. Immortality. That which is not corruptible, or subject to decay. It is applied to heaven as a state where there shall be no decay or death, in strong contrast with our present condition, where all things are corruptible, and soon vanish away. These expressions are undoubtedly descriptive of a state of things beyond the grave. They are never applied in the Scriptures to any condition of things on the earth. This consideration proves, therefore, that the expressions in the next verse; indignation, etc., apply to the punishment of the wicked beyond the grave. Eternal life. That is, God will "render" eternal life to those who seek it in this manner. This is a great principle; and this shows that the apostle means by "their deeds," (Rom 2:6,) not merely their external conduct, but their inward thoughts, and efforts evinced by their seeking for glory, etc. For the meaning of the expression "eternal life," Jn 5:24.1 Corinthians 15:23
Verse 23. But every man. Every one, including Christ as well as others. In his own order. In his proper order, rank, place, time. The word ταγμα usually relates to military order or array; to the arrangement of a cohort, or band of troops; to their being properly marshalled with the officers at the head, and every man in his proper place in the ranks. Here it means that there was a proper order to be observed in the resurrection of the dead. And the design of the apostle is, probably, to counteract the idea that the resurrection was passed already, or that there was no future resurrection to be expected. The order which is here referred to is, doubtless, mainly that of time; meaning that Christ would be first, and then that the others would follow. But it also means that Christ would be first, because it was proper that he should be first. He was first in rank, in dignity, and in honour; he was the leader of all others, and their resurrection depended on his. And as it was proper that a leader or commander should have the first place on a march, or in an enterprise involving peril or glory, so it was proper that Christ should be first in the resurrection, and that the others should follow on in due order and time. Christ the first-fruits. Christ first in time, and the pledge that they should rise. 1Cor 15:20. Afterward. After he has risen. Not before, because their resurrection depended on him. They that are Christ's. They who are Christians. The apostle, though in 1Cor 15:22 he had stated the truth that all the dead would rise, yet here only mentions Christians, because to them only would the doctrine be of any consolation, and because it was to them particularly that this whole argument was directed. At his coming. When he shall come to judge the world, and to receive his people to himself. This proves that the dead will not be raised until Christ shall reappear. He shall come for that purpose; and he shall assemble all the dead, and shall take his people to himself. See Mt 25. And this declaration fully met the opinion of those who held that the resurrection was past already. See 2Ti 2:18. (a) "But every man" 1Thes 4:15-17Philippians 3:20-21
Verse 20. For our conversation is in heaven. That is, this is true of all who are sincere Christians. It is a characteristic of Christians, in contradistinction from those who are the "enemies of the cross," that their conversation is in heaven. The word "conversation" we now apply almost entirely to oral discourse. It formerly, however, meant conduct in general, and it is usually employed in this sense in the Scriptures. Php 1:27, where the verb occurs, from which the noun here is derived. The word here used πολιτευμα --is found nowhere else in the New Testament. It properly means, any public measure, administration of the state, the manner in which the affairs of a state are administered; and then the state itself, the community, commonwealth, those who are bound under the same laws, and associated in the same society. Here it cannot mean that their "conversation," in the sense of discourse or talking, was in heaven; nor that their "conduct" was in heaven --for this would convey no idea, and the original word does not demand it; but the idea is, that they were heavenly citizens, or citizens of the heavenly world, in contradistinction from a worldly community. They were governed by the laws of heaven; they were a community associated as citizens of that world, and expecting there to dwell. The idea is, that there are two great communities in the universe--that of the world, and that of heaven; that governed by worldly laws and institutions, and that by the laws of heaven; that associated for worldly purposes, and that associated for heavenly or religious purposes; and that the Christian belonged to the latter--the enemy of the cross, though in the church, belonged to the former. Between true Christians, therefore, and others, there is all the difference which arises from belonging to different communities; being bound together for different purposes; subject to different laws; and altogether under a different administration. There is more difference between them than there is between the subjects of two earthly governments. Comp. Eph 2:6,19. From whence also we look for the Saviour. From heaven. That is, it is one of the characteristics of the Christian that he believes that the Lord Jesus will return from heaven, and that he looks and waits for it. Other men do not believe this, (2Pet 3:4,) but the Christian confidently expects it. His Saviour has been taken away from the earth, and is now in heaven, but it is a great and standing article of his faith that that same Saviour will again come, and take the believer to himself. Jn 14:2, Jn 14:3; 1Thes 4:14. This was the firm belief of the early Christians, and this expectation with them was allowed to exert a constant influence on their hearts and lives. It led them (1.) to desire to be prepared for his coming; (2.) to feel that earthly affairs were of little importance, as the scene here was soon to close; (3.) to live above the world, and in the desire of the appearing of the Lord Jesus. This was one of the elementary doctrines of their faith, and one of the means of producing deadness to the world among them; and among the early Christians there was, perhaps, no doctrine that was more the object of firm belief, and the ground of more delightful contemplation, than that their ascended Master would return. In regard to the certainty of their belief on this point, and the effect which it had on their minds, see the following texts of the New Testament, Mt 24:42,44; Lk 12:37, Jn 14:3, Acts 1:11, 1Cor 4:5, Col 3:4, 1Thes 2:19, 2Thes 2:1; Heb 10:37, Jas 5:7,8, 1Jn 3:2, Rev 22:7,12,20. It may be asked, with great force, whether Christians in general have now any such expectation of the second appearing of the Lord Jesus, or whether they have not fallen into the dangerous error of prevailing unbelief, so that the expectation of his coming is allowed to exert almost no influence on the soul? In the passage before us, Paul says that it was one of the distinct characteristics of Christians that they looked for the coming of the Saviour from heaven. They believed that he would return. They anticipated that important effects would follow to them from his second coming. So we should look. There may be, indeed, a difference of opinion about the time when he will come, and about the question whether he will come to reign "literally" on the earth--but the fact that Christ will return to our world is common ground on which all Christians may meet, and is a fact which should be allowed to exert its full influence on the heart. It is a glorious truth--for what a sad world would this be, and what a sad prospect would be before the Christian, if the Saviour were never to come to raise his people from their graves, and to gather his redeemed to himself! The fact that he will come is identified with all our hopes. It is fitted to cheer us in trial; to guard us in temptation; to make us dead to the world; to lead us to keep the eye turned toward heaven. (*) "conversation" "citizenship" (f) "is in heaven" Eph 2:6,19 (g) "look for the Saviour" Heb 9:28 Verse 21. Who shall change our vile body. 1Cor 5:1, and following. The original words, which are here rendered "vile body," properly mean "the body of humiliation;" that is, our humble body. It refers to the body as it is in its present state, as subject to its infirmities, disease, and death. It is different far from what it was when man was created, and from what it will be in the future world. Paul says that it is one of the objects of the Christian hope and expectation that this body, so subject to infirmities and sicknesses, will be changed. That it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. Gr., "The body of his glory;" that is, the body which he has in his glorified state. What change the body of the Redeemer underwent when he ascended to heaven we are not informed; nor do we know what is the nature, size, appearance, or form of the body which he now has. It is certain that it is adapted to the glorious world where he dwells; that it has none of the infirmities to which it was liable when here; that it is not subject, as here, to pain or death; that it is not sustained in the same manner. The body of Christ in heaven is of the same nature as the bodies of the saints will be in the resurrection, and which the apostle calls "spiritual bodies," 1Cor 15:44;) and it is doubtless accompanied with all the circumstances of splendour and glory which are appropriate to the Son of God. The idea here is, that it is the object of the desire and anticipation of the Christian, to be made just like Christ in all things. He desires to resemble him in moral character here, and to be like him in heaven. Nothing else will satisfy him but such conformity to the Son of God; and when he shall resemble him in all things, the wishes of his soul will be all met and fulfilled. According to the working, etc. That is, such a change demands the exertion of vast power. No creature can do it. But there is One who has power entrusted to him over all things, and he can effect this great transformation in the bodies of men. Comp. 1Cor 15:26,27. He can mould the mind and the heart to conformity to his own image, and thus also he can transform the body so that it shall resemble his. Everything he can make subject to his will. Mt 28:18; Jn 17:2. And he that has this power can change our humbled and debased bodies, so that they shall put on the glorious appearance and form of that of the Son of God himself. What a contrast between our bodies here--frail, feeble, subject to sickness, decay, and corruption--and the body as it will be in heaven! And what glorious prospect awaits the weak and dying believer, in the future world! (a) "change our vile" 1Cor 15:43, 1Jn 3:2 (*) "fashioned" "formed" (b) "working whereby" Eph 1:19 (c) "even to subdue" 1Cor 15:26,27 REMARKS. 1. It is a privilege of the Christian to rejoice, Php 3:1. He has more sources of real joy than any other persons. See 1Thes 5:16. He has a Saviour in whom he may always find peace; a God whose character he can always contemplate with pleasure; a heaven to look forward to where there is nothing but happiness; a Bible that is full of precious promises; and at all times the opportunity of prayer, in which he may roll all his sorrows on the arms of an unchanging Friend. If there is any one on earth who ought to be happy, it is the Christian. 2. The Christian should so live as to leave on others the impression that religion produces happiness. In our intercourse with our friends we should show them that religion does not cause sadness or gloom, sourness or misanthropy, but that it produces cheerfulness, contentment, and peace. This may be shown by the countenance, and by the whole demeanour--by a calm brow, and a benignant eye, and by a cheerful aspect. The internal peace of the soul should be evinced by every proper external expression. A Christian may thus be always doing good--for he is always doing good who leaves the impression on others that religion makes its possessors happy. 3. The nature of religion is almost always mistaken by the world. They suppose that it makes its possessors melancholy and sad. The reason is, not that they are told so by those who are religious, and not that even they can see anything in religion to produce misery, but because they have fixed their affections on certain things which they suppose to be essential to happiness, and which they suppose religion would require them to give up without substituting anything in their place. But never was there a greater mistake. Let them go and ask Christians, and they will obtain but one answer from them. It is, that they never knew what true happiness was till they found it in the Saviour. This question may be proposed to a Christian of any denomination, or in any land, and the answer will be uniformly the same. Why is it, then, that the mass of persons regard religion as adapted only to make them unhappy? Why will they not take the testimony of their friends in the case, and believe those whom they would believe on any other subject, when they declare that it is only true religion that ever gives them solid peace? 4. We cannot depend on any external advantages of birth or blood for salvation, Php 3:4-6. Few or no persons have as much in this respect to rely on as Paul had. Indeed, if salvation were to be obtained at all by such external advantages, it is impossible to conceive that more could have been united in one case than there was in his. He had not only the advantage of having been born a Hebrew; of having been early trained in the Jewish religion; of being instructed in the ablest manner, but also the advantage of entire blamelessness in his moral deportment. He had showed, in every way possible, that he was heartily attached to the religion of his fathers, and he began life with a zeal in the cause which seemed to justify the warmest expectations of his friends. But all this was renounced, when he came to see the true method of salvation, and saw the better way by which eternal life is to be obtained. And if Paul could not depend on this, we cannot safely do it. It will not save us that we have been born in the church; that we have had pious parents; that we were early baptized and consecrated to God; that we were trained in the Sabbath school. Nor will it save us that we attend regularly on the place of worship, or that we are amiable, correct, honest, and upright in our lives. We can no more depend on these things than Saul of Tarsus could; and if all his eminent advantages failed to give him a solid ground of hope, our advantages will be equally vain in regard to our salvation. It almost seems as if God designed, in the case of Saul of Tarsus, that there should be one instance where every possible external advantage for salvation should be found, and there should be everything that men ever could rely on in moral character, in order to show that no such things could be sufficient to save the soul. All these may exist, and yet there may not be a particle of love to God, and the heart may be full of selfishness, pride, and ambition, as it was in his case. 5. Religion demands humility, Php 3:7,8. It requires us to renounce all dependence on our own merits, and to rely simply on the merits of another--the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are ever saved, we must be brought to esteem all the advantages which birth and blood and our own righteousness can bestow as worthless, and even vile, in the matter of justification. We shall not despise these things in themselves, nor shall we consider that vice is as desirable as virtue, nor that a bad temper is to be sought rather than an amiable disposition,nor that dishonesty is as commendable as honesty; but we shall feel that in comparison with the merits of the Redeemer all these are worthless. But the mind is not brought to this condition without great humiliation. Nothing but the power of God can bring a proud and haughty and self-righteous sinner to this state, where he is willing to renounce all dependence on his own merits, and to be saved in the same way as the vilest of the species. 6. Let us seek to obtain an interest in the righteousness of the Redeemer, Php 3:9. Our own righteousness cannot save us. But in him there is enough. There is all that we want, and if we have that righteousness which is by faith, we have all that is needful to render us accepted with God, and to prepare us for heaven. When there is such a way of salvation,--so easy, so free, so glorious, so ample for all,--how unwise is any one to rest on his own works, and to expect to be saved by what he has done! The highest honour of man is to be saved by the merits of the Son of God; and he has reached the most elevated rank in the human condition who has the most certain hope of salvation through him. 7. There is enough to be gained to excite us to the utmost diligence and effort in the Christian life, Php 3:10-14. If men can be excited to effort by the prospect of an earthly crown in a race or a game, how much more should we be urged forward by the prospect of the eternal prize? To seek to know the Redeemer; to be raised up from the degradation of sin; to have part in the resurrection of the just; to obtain the prize of the high calling in heaven; to be made everlastingly happy and glorious there--what object was ever placed before the mind like this? What ardour should it excite that we may gain it? Surely, the hope of obtaining such a prize as is before the Christian should call forth all our powers. The struggle will not be long. The race will soon be won. The victory will be glorious; the defeat would be overwhelming and awful. No one need fear that he can put forth too much effort to obtain the prize. It is worth every exertion, and we should never relax our efforts, or give over in despair. 8. Let us, like Paul, ever cherish an humble sense of our attainments in religion, Php 3:12,13. If Paul had not reached the point of perfection, it is not to be presumed that we have; if he could not say that he had "attained," it is presumption in us to suppose that we have; if he had occasion for humiliation, we have more; if he felt that he was far short of the object which he sought, and was pressed down with the consciousness of imperfection, such a feeling becomes us also. Yet let us not sink down in despondency and inaction. Like him, let us strain every nerve that we may overcome our imperfections and win the prize. That prize is before us. It is glorious we may be sensible that we, as yet, have not reached it, but if we will strive to obtain it, it will soon be certainly ours. We may feel that we are far distant from it now in the degree of our attainments, but we are not far from it in fact. It will be but a short period before the Christian will lay hold on that immortal crown, and before his brow will be encircled with the diadem of glory. For the race of life, whether we win or lose, is soon run; and when a Christian begins a day, he knows not but he may end it in heaven; when he lies down on his bed at night, he knows not but he may awake with the "prize" in his hand, and with the diadem of glory sparkling on his brow. 9. Our thoughts should be much in heaven, Php 3:20. Our home is there; our citizenship is there. Here we are strangers and pilgrims. We are away from home, in a cold and unfriendly world. Our great interests are in the skies; our eternal dwelling is to be there; our best friends are already there. There is our glorious Saviour, with a body adapted to those pure abodes, and there are many whom we have loved on earth already with him. They are happy now, and we should not love them less because they are in heaven. Since, therefore, our great interests are there, and our best friends there; and since we ourselves are citizens of that heavenly world, our best affections shoed be there. 10. We look for the Saviour, Php 3:20,21. He will return to our world. He will change our vile bodies, and make them like his own glorious body. And since this is so, let us (1.) bear with patience the trials and infirmities to which our bodies here are subject. These trials will be short, and we may well bear them for a few days, knowing that soon all pain will cease, and that all that is humiliating in the body will be exchanged for glory. (2.) Let us not think too highly or too much of our bodies here. They may be now beautiful and comely, but they are "vile" and degraded, compared with what they will soon be. They are subject to infirmity, and to numerous pains and sicknesses. Soon the most beautiful body may become loathsome to our best friends. Soon, too offensive to be looked upon, it will be hidden in the grave. Why, then, should we seek to pamper and adorn these mortal frames? Why live only to decorate them? Why should we idolize a mass of moulded and animated clay? Yet (3.) let us learn to honour the body in a true sense. It is soon to be changed. It will be made like the glorified body of Christ. Yes, this frail, diseased, corruptible, and humbled body; this body, that is soon to be laid in the grave, and to return to the dust, is soon to put on a new form, and to be clothed with immortality. It will be what the body of Christ now is--glorious and immortal. What a change! Christian, go and look on the creeping caterpillar, and see it changed to the gay and gilded butterfly--yesterday, a crawling and offensive insect; to-day, with gaudy colours, an inhabitant of the air, and a dweller amidst flowers; and see an image of what thy body shall be, and of the mighty transformation which thou wilt soon undergo. See the change from the cold death of winter to the fragrance and life of spring, and behold an image of the change which thou thyself wilt ere long experience, and a proof that some such change awaits thee. "Shall spring the faded world revive ? Shall waning moons their light renew ? Again shall setting suns ascend, And chase the darkness from our view! Shall life revisit dying worms, And spread the joyful insect's wing ? And oh! shall man awake no more, To see thy face, thy name to sing? "Faith sees the bright, eternal doors Unfold to make her children way: They shall be clothed with endless life, And shine ill everlasting day." DWIGHT. 11. Let us look for the coming of the Lord, Php 3:21. All that we hope for depends on his reappearing. Our day of triumph, and of the fulness of our joy, is to be when he shall return. Then we shall be raised from the grave; then our vile bodies shall be changed; then we shall be acknowledged as his friends; then we shall go to be for ever with him. The earth is not our home; nor is the grave to be our everlasting bed of rest. Our home is heaven--and the Saviour will come, that he may raise us up to that blessed abode. And who knows when he may appear? He himself commanded us to be ready, for he said he would come at an hour when we think not. We should so desire his coming, that the hours of his delay would seem to be heavy and long; and should so live that we can breathe forth with sincerity, at all times, the fervent prayer of the beloved disciple, "Come, Lord Jesus, COME QUICKLY !" Rev 22:20. "My faith shall triumph o'er the grave, And trample on the tombs; My Jesus, my Redeemer lives, My God, my Saviour comes. Ere long I know he shall appear, In power and glory great; And death, the last of all his foes, Lie vanquish'd at his feet. "Then, though the worms my flesh devour, And make my form their prey, I know I shall arise with power, On the last judgment-day. When God shall stand upon the earth, Him then mine eyes shall see; My flesh shall feel a sacred birth, And ever with him be. "Then his own hand shall wipe the tears From every weeping eye; And pains, and groans, and griefs, and fears, Shall cease eternally. How long, dear Saviour! oh, how long Shall this bright hour delay ? Fly swift around, ye wheels of time, And bring the welcome day." WATTS.
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