320 THE DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. concealed enemy. We know not how or when he shall approach; whether he shall be gradual or sudden; whether he shall come upon us sleeping or awake; whether he shall take us in the house, in the church, or by the way. He is an irresistible enemy. "There is no man that hath power over the Spirit, to retain the Spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war." Strength cannot resist him, cunning cannot shun him, and money cannot bribe him. He is formidable in his approaches. Pain and tossings, sickness and weakness, paleness and coldness, often give warning of his advances. He is dreadful in his ravages. There are few families without a breach; and so many of our relatives and acquaintances who began the world with us are gone, that if we were not to make new friends, we would soon be alone. Death shall be destroyed.-The destroyer of death is Christ. "He must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." "O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction." Having all power in heaven and on earth, he will in due time vanquish this formidable foe; yea, by his resurrection he hath vanquished him already, and by and by will utterly destroy him. Christ destroys death by taking away his sting from all his followers. The sting of death is sin; but when sin is pardoned it stings no more, and henceforth death is not an enemy to the Christian, but a friend. Christ destroys death by removing the terror or fear of death from the mind. The Christian calmly looks at death through death's conqueror, and feels and says, "Death cannot hurt me; all the bitterness of death is past." Christ destroys death by taking away his power. He took away his power in the cases of Enoch and Elijah, and he will control it in a similar way in the case of all those who are alive at his coming. They shall not die, THE DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. 321 He shall but they shall all be changed in a moment. destroy death by taking away his very being. Christ shall come, the last trumpet shall resound through creation, and awake the slumbering dust; and the earth shall have its broad surface covered with reanimated beings. The righteous shall be acquitted, and the wicked condemned, and there shall be no more death; for he who had the power of death shall be shut up for ever and ever. JULY 14. Christ is Preached. "Christ is preached."-Phil. i. 18. CHRIST is preached in the dignity of his person. He is God-man, the one Mediator. He is called by the same names as the Father-God, Lord, Jehovah. He is adorned by the same perfections-holy, wise, omnipotent, unchangeable. He performs the same wonderful works-creation, preservation, and miracles proclaim his divinity. And he receives the same divine honours-angels and saints worship him. Every leaf of the Bible testifies his divinity as plainly as if it were engraven on every leaf of the forest. What dignity and consciousness of power, when he calmed the storm, fed thousands with a few loaves and fishes, and raised the dead to life again! Christ is preached in the holiness of his character. He was holy, harmless, undefiled. He did no sin, and no guile was found in his mouth. Enemies and friends who had opportunities of seeing and knowing him, alike testified his innocence and purity; and when he challenged his hearers, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" no one could utter a word against him. The sun is the brightest and the most glorious object in the universe, yet astronomers detect spots on the sun; but Jesus is the uncreated Sun 322 CHRIST IS PREACHED. of righteousness, without a cloud and without a spot. Well may his brightness attract every eye and inflame every heart. Christ is preached in the wonders of his love. His love is ancient in its date: "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." It is unspeakably great. Had I an arm that could girdle the globe, it would not be able to embrace it. Had I an eye like the sun in the firmament, it would not be able to survey it. Had I a mind like an archangel, it would not be able to grasp it. Herein is love, unchanging May it kindle a flame in my heart that shall burn love. for ever! Christ is preached in the efficacy of his atonement. When he suffered and died, his work was complete. The law of God had no further demands, the justice of God had no further claim. He wrought out, and brought in, a righteousness "which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon all them that believe." Where shall I wash away my sins and uncleanness, but in the fountain of this blood? O my soul, what keeps thee back from Jesus' blood, the virtue of which is as great, at this moment, as when it streamed from his hands and his side? When on Christ is preached in his willingness to save. earth he saved publicans and sinners, and no applicant ever met with a refusal; and he is the same still. His bosom is laid open to the chief of sinners, and he yearns to save all from misery. "He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." JULY 15. The Lord is my Shepherd. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."-Psalm xxiii. 1. JESUS is called the good shepherd, the chief shepherd, THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD. 323 the shepherd of souls, the shepherd of Israel, and the great shepherd of the sheep; and the Christian here calls him his shepherd. Think of the party speaking-the claim made and the confidence expressed. The party speaking.-He reckons himself one of Christ's sheep. He was a lost sheep, wandering from God, and from the fold of Christ, and so stupid that he never thought of returning, and never would have returned of himself. "I have gone astray like a lost sheep." "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." He is a recovered sheep. The great shepherd, out of compassion to him, went and sought him out by his providence, by his word, by his servant; and he heard, believed, and obeyed; so that he is now in the fold of Christ. He now belongs to Jesus. Being redeemed, converted, and saved, he is the property of Christ, and wears the mark of Christ. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." The claim made.-"The Lord is my shepherd." This is the language of appropriating faith. Some profess to believe, and yet have nothing; but the real Christian claims and possesses Christ, and all saving blessings with him. The Lord is my shepherd to guide me in a right way. wandered once, and I would wander again if I did not keep by my guide. He leads, and I follow him. He is my Shepherd to protect me from danger. Enemies of all kinds seek my life, temptations seek to draw me away from Jesus, and dangers frighten, and trials crush; but the kind shepherd delivers me from every lion and every bear. is my shepherd to instruct and comfort me. His watchful eye beams love upon me, and his good words encourage me: "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." He The confidence expressed.—"I shall not want." I shall not want temporal supplies. He who feedeth the ravens 324 THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD. when they cry, and makes the little bird happy, when it does not know where its next meal is to come from, shall feed me from his storehouse. He who clothes the lilies with beauty, and the fields with herbage, shall clothe me from his wardrobe. "The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water." I shall not want a friend. Jesus is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, to advise me in difficulty, to sympathize with me in distress, and to help me in time of need. I shall not want a home. I shall have a home on earth, and a home in heaven-a home of plenty, and a home of happiness. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." JULY 16. Death Desired. “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace."-Luke, ii. 29. THE aged Simeon had waited long for the consolation of Israel; and when he got the child Jesus in his arms, he was so gratified and so happy that he had no other earthly desire. He was like Jacob when he found the long-lost Joseph: "Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive." Think of the Christian's character-the Christian's death-and the Christian's resignation. The Christian's character." Thy servant." He is a servant of God by voluntary choice, having renounced sin, Satan, and the world as sources of happiness. Knowing that God takes no pressed men, he has willingly yielded to the claims of divine love, and resolved to devote himself to glorify God. He is a faithful servant-faithful to God, faithful to his cause on earth, faithful to conscience, |