When we faithfully use the power that the Lord has imparted to us by redemption, by following Jesus in the way, we then become possessed of salvation, and are numbered among the elect children of God.
January Fifteenth.
DEATH AND RESURRECTION.
"And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."—Rev. xiv. 13.
THE Gospel, Gods-spoll, which literally means good tidings, is indeed the glad tidings of truth—it is a light most precious, but which too often shines in our darkness that comprehends it not. It is, however, still the glory of the world, and that by which life and immortality are brought to light. (2 Tim. i. 10.)
O what wonders on wonders are contained in the word immoriality! it means ever-living, and altogether excludes the idea of death or extinction of being. Come then, O my soul, and contemplate with pleasure; rather than with fear and horror, the death of thy earthly frame; for it is nothing less than a change in the mode of human existence. Yes, to the true Christian death is the gate of life! to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. (2 Cor. v. 8.) We cling too much to this world, and to the things thereof, which makes us paint death in horrors. In this way we are deceived; for life, then, is too flattered, and death too much traduced. What is the soul?—the very seat of all that is human, both in
