http://www.creationismonline.com/TSK/Immortality.html
JOB'S TESTIMONY TO JESUS, AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.
BY THE REVEREND FRANCIS TRENCH, PERPETUAL CURATE OP ST. JOHN'S, READING.
LONDON:
1853
CHAPTER 1.
Jos 19. (part of 25th verse.)
" I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVETH."
'THESE words are not to be considered, independently of that position occupied by their speaker and their writer at the time, but, on the contrary, they derive so much force and illustration from the condition of him who uttered them, that I will briefly recall what that condition was. Job was, at the time, in exceeding misery of body, and in exceeding trouble of mind. He had lost all his children and all his possessions. He was smitten with a sore disease, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. He *as plunged deep in all kind of tribulation; and to make his case worse, even those who came to comfort him only aggravated his distress, by arguing to prove that, as his miseries were greater than those commonly endured by men, and of a most extraordinary character, therefore it was evident that he must have committed some special and extraordinary wickedness beyond that of any other men. How great was their ignorance of God's ways? How scripture was the judgment which they formed of him, and repeatedly urged with all kind of unsound arguments! Now all this bodily and mental affliction, aggravated by such " physicians of no value," brought Job into the very lowest state; and to go no further than his language in the very chapter whence the text comes, we find him addressing his friends, " How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words." And he tells the heaviness of God's hand upon him, " He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head." And then he describes the dreadful alienation of those 'who were near and dear to him, in terms most pitiful, " He hath put my brethren far from me; and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me." Which subject he continues, summing it all up even thus, " All they whom I loved are turned against me." And then we find the touching appeal for compassion, " Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me." But what follows? Something most unexpected. All at once issues forth the longing desire of his heart, that the words he was going to say, might be written—yea, printed—yea, graven—with an iron pen, or inscribed with characters of lead, poured and soldered into the cut face of a rock, according to the custom of the times and the country, when it was sought to render any memorial durable as man could make it. And what was the declaration thus mightily prefaced—thus magnificently ushered in, as that which he would thus perpetuate, and as so unspeakably important, that it should deserve to be written thus—yea, printed—yea, thus indelibly engraved forever? It was his Spirit-given testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ coming in the flesh to this earth. It was the expression of his certainty, that he himself should see the Lord of glory. It was his confession of Christ—the emphatic witness of his heart and mouth—that, amidst all his sufferings, and amidst all his agony, this was his one comfort, and this the one anticipation, which refreshed his soul—" I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and not another." Of this testimony let us now regard the first clause.
" I know that my Redeemer lives." Let us observe, in this language of Job, first, his employment of the pronoun I. There is much force in it, both doctrinally, and practically. It is the expression of one who himself was taught by God. He does not merely declare in a general way, " We know that a Redeemer lives," afraid, as it were, to appropriate the knowledge as his own, but he speaks as one, who, personally and individually, knows the reality of that which he affirms. And very blessed indeed are all such testimonies, while at the same time it is most dangerous for anyone to feel unable thus to speak. We cannot be saved by the knowledge which another has of Christ. Another person's witness to Christ will not and cannot be taken as yours. Yes, very blessed are all such testimonies, because they teach each one of us, personally and individually, what our own spiritual knowledge should be. Therefore David saith, " I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance and my God." Therefore, St. Paul saith, " I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day." Therefore, Peter can make his appeal to the Savior, " Thou knows that I love Thee." And, therefore (not to multiply similar passages, as showing the spirit of the true saints of God), the confession, and the loving claim of Thomas, the apostle, was no other than this, " My Lord and my God." And such is the privilege of all the true children of God.
Let us now look to the second word of the sentence. It is this, " know." " I know that my Redeemer lives." Job does not here employ any weak, hesitating, wavering language. He uses the words of strength and of assurance, " I know." And here is just a proof of what the Holy Spirit can accomplish. Job had not laid open before him, that full detailed knowledge of our Savior’s birth, life, sufferings, words, actions, death, resurrection, ascension, intercession, and future return in his Majesty, which we ourselves have,—we, who have lived since the day of His coming in the flesh,—we, who have the whole New Testament before our eyes, and taught us from the earliest period of our lives. But see what the Holy Spirit accomplished for Job! He, the Holy Spirit, can bless the smallest and most scanty materials of information; or, in his Divine power, He can do without any materials at all. Without any such aids He can effectually teach things the deepest, and the loftiest, and the most glorious, by special and immediate revelation from Himself, as we know that Paul was frequently taught, and as the evangelists seemed to have been qualified, in many instances, to write. Thus, Job could say, " I know that my Redeemer lives." Oh, may we be, each one of us, endowed with the same knowledge, and from the same source! Nothing but the Holy Ghost can properly confer it on any man, woman, or child. We might read the Scriptures all our life, and attend God's ordinances all our life, and hear the Gospel all our life, but we should still remain in a dim, confused, doubting, unsettled state of mind on the grand truths of redemption by a Savior, unless the Holy Ghost himself puts into us the knowledge of these things, and plants them with power, so as to take a firm and eternal root in our understandings and hearts. Till that is done, we may be appealed to by God, or we may be appealed to by man, for a " good confession" of Christ Jesus our Savior, but the mind and heart will not be able to respond, and the tongue will falter in giving it, and no becoming joy will beam on the countenance, because it is not felt in the heart. Oh I therefore, what a call there is to pray for the teaching and guidance of the Holy Ghost, that, on such a subject as this, He may give you for doubt, certainty, for wavering, all firmness, for deadness, life, and real and rightful ability to say, in the sight of God, in the sight of angels, and in the sight of men, " I know that my Redeemer lives."
I pass over the pronoun " my," because in speaking of the pronoun " I," what it would suggest has been already said. The next word of the text is one of no less importance than this—" My Redeemer." Now, among the very many aspects in which the Holy Spirit might have caused Job to look, at this period, unto the Lord Jesus Christ, He selects this. He directs the heart of that holy man unto the Son of God as his Redeemer. He puts this famous title on his lips: " I know that my Redeemer lives." We hear in the Old Testament of various kinds of redemption, all of which point to Christ as the Redeemer of our souls. We hear, for instance, of a kinsman buying or redeeming the estate of a kinsman, who had lost it. Of which a memorable example occurs in the Book of Ruth. Among the commands of God to the people of Israel was this:—" All the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem;" that is, pay a specified offering to God, in the acknowledgment that they are His, specially and primarily His, and to be restored to man through a redemption price. Again, we meet the word as specially denoting Christ; for to whom else does the dying Jacob refer, when blessing his two grandchildren, he saith—" The angel which. redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads!"
To whom David when he saith—"O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer!" To whom Isaiah, prophesying how " the Redeemer shall come to Zion!" To whom Jeremiah, when he tells of God's people, how " Their Redeemer is strong!" Now we find in the law of Moses, an order given by God, that if any Israelite had sold himself unto a stranger or sojourner one of his brethren might redeem him. And in the history of men (as recorded, perhaps, in some narratives which we have often read) it has often occurred that prisoners or captives have been redeemed, whether taken in war, or taken by pirates, or sold into slavery (as in Africa still occurs) by their unnatural relatives or countrymen.
That is, a ransom has been paid for restoring them to liberty, perhaps by some one of rich bounty and goodness and humanity. And when their price or ransom has been thus paid, they have gone forth from their bondage and their misery, happy, and free and rejoicing; and have exchanged the slavery and cruelty of some barbarous clime for the delights of liberty, for the return to the land of their home and nativity, for the bosom of their dear families, which perhaps they had scarcely hoped ever again to see. Now these are just a few illustrations of that which redemption means. And they help to set forth what Jesus has done for us, in his own Almighty love. We, through sin and transgression, have forfeited all good things, all that inheritance, possession, and blessing, which would have been ours, had not Adam fell, and had we not been disobedient to our God. Jesus has recovered or redeemed all good things for us at a " price," as Scripture expressly says, by laying down his own life, that we might have them; by shedding his own blood for us, and thus making in our behalf a full and eternal amends for all sin. But we have not only forfeited all good things and all possessions, we have brought ourselves into a far more lamentable state than this.
A man might lose in a moment all which he possessed; but what would that be in comparison to forfeiting his own life, as some wretched criminal, to the justice of his country, or to being sold into slavery. In comparison with evils like these the loss of goods or possessions would be as it were nothing. But, spiritually speaking, and according to the spirit and language of God's Word, we, my brethren, have not only forfeited all good things, but we have forfeited—we have lost ourselves. We, by the law of God, are brought in guilty and condemned to death; yes, every one of us—and we have all sold ourselves unto Satan, as his lawful captives,—yes, every one of us,—and sentence of death and condemnation to Hell must have been executed on us by a just and holy God, had not Jesus suffered and died in our place; and we must have remained Satan's captives forever, had not Jesus come to break the oppressor's yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, so that his people may say with the psalmist, " My soul is escaped, as a bird out of the snare of the fowler. The snare is broken, and we are escaped." Jesus came down from heaven, and fulfilled to the utmost that law which we have transgressed. " He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." He visited his people sunk in the pit of helplessness, which, had it not been for Him, would have proved the pit of everlasting despair. He " redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us," as St.
Paul writes. He gave himself, " the just for the unjust," taking away our sin, and giving us his righteousness. And so, according to the Revelation, the song of the saved falling down before the Lamb shall be: " Thou vast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth."
Thus Job knew the Lord—even as his Redeemer. And not only did he thus bear witness to Christ, by a title, as needful for us and as glorious as any which are his in all Scripture, but he especially tells of Him, as his living Redeemer. " I know that my Redeemer lives." In this declaration we have brought to our remembrance a truth and fact of value inexpressible. The life of Jesus is not less requisite for us even than His death.
Hear some scriptural testimonies on the subject! Jesus saith himself, " Because I live, ye shall live also." Again, St. Paul saith, " If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain; ye are yet in your sins." Once more, it is written thus, " If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to GOD by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." And how does our Savior announce himself to St. John at Patmos: " I am He that lives and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore." Certainly the time of Job was before the coming of the Lord Jesus to this earth; yet then, as now, and as forever, He was in the eye of GOD, and in the eye of faith, a living Redeemer; for he was the " Lamb slain before the foundation of the world;" and, in the purpose of Divine love, GOD the Father had, even then, given his only Son to die and rise again and live for us; and the very Son of God, in the everlasting covenant, had undertaken, even then, to come and suffer for us, and so redeem us, saying, as it is written, " Lo! I come to do Thy will, O God." Thus Job testified of Him. He, like Abraham, saw his day and was glad. Job probably regarded himself as a dying man at the time. At all events, he knew himself as one whose days were short, even as a shadow which passes away. Like Jacob and Joseph, his feeling was, " I die!" but, like Jacob and Joseph, his mind and his heart rose up to the living Lord, as it were, with eagle's wing and with eagle's gaze, piercing the heaven of heavens, and looking into the coming futurity itself. And what was the one object, whither his faith, his heart, and spirit flew? What was the one object on which this gaze was fixed? What was the one subject of his prophecy, stretching far, far into futurity? It was nothing less than a " living Redeemer,"—living to preserve him, and living to bless him—living to deliver his soul from death, and his eyes from tears, and his feet from falling—a living Redeemer, through whom, to every believer in Him, death itself would be an entrance into life; and through whom he should himself rise, at the resurrection day, and inherit immortality.
I shall no longer dwell doctrinally on the witness of Job to his Savior and our Savior —to his Lord and our Lord. Let us now make a practical application of that which the Spirit taught him, and of that which God has caused to be written for us. Job longed for the iron pen, the rock, and the lead. How far beyond his utmost aspiration has God carried and continued his testimony! Time, and weather, and decay may efface the inscription even of an iron pen; and the lead may be obliterated; and the rock may be rent in pieces, or removed; but there stands the declaration of Job in the pages of God's word. It has gone wherever God's word has gone, and that word endures forever. And what are we here taught? Truly a multitude of most important lessons. We are taught, for instance, how the saints of old had one hope and one calling—one and the same Savior with ourselves—how Job could look forth from the depths of his misery and degradation unto Jesus, his Redeemer, and anticipate his coming with all joy, and in the " full assurance of his faith." I ask, can we do the same out of the depths of our common misery, through the effects of the Fall?
Again, we are taught that, if we are true servants of Christ, it is no presumption, no stepping out beyond our position, no deception of ourselves, to know and be sure that Jesus is ours and that we are his. This was the experience of Job, and this experience he did not shun to declare. And so speaks, so writes another, even the disciple whom Jesus loved: " This is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life. These things have I written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life." And again he goes on to say: " We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true." I ask, can we respond to such declarations as these?
Again we may learn from Job, uttering the words of our text, how mightily and clearly God the Spirit can teach; and shall we observe this without fresh diligence in prayer, that He may teach us more and more concerning the fulness of Christ—give us a deeper and a deeper insight into the glory of his person, and cause us more and more to comprehend Him in the length and the breadth and the depth and the height of his unsearchable love, so that He may be more and more unto us "all our salvation and all our desire?"
Again, let the utterance of Job give all prominence to Christ's work for us, as our Redeemer. Till we know Him, believe in Him, and love Him as such, we can have no peace, no safety, no happiness, no real ability to serve Him at all. " Behold the Lamb of God!" This was the first title to our Lord which the Baptist gave—not behold the Prophet or the King, but "Behold the Lamb" coming thus to redeem. The principle and motive for us Christians, first, foremost, and above all other motives and all other principles, is surely this—even love to Jesus, as our Redeemer. In this love alone we can rightly rest; and not only so, but in this love alone can we rightly work the works of God. All other principles will be too weak and too fluctuating; nor will God honor and use them in us. But it is not so with love to Jesus Christ, as our Redeemer. Knowing him as such—as having bought us from the most awful destruction by the offering of himself, we shall make it our business (as it will be our privilege and delight) to "glorify him with our bodies and our spirits, which are his." And not in vain shall we be commanded to "pass the time of our sojourning in fear" of offending God for this very reason, that we " have been redeemed not with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot." And, lastly, if the utterance of Job is not heard by us in vain, it will and must direct us to Jesus as our living Redeemer, and to the power of his "endless life." For He ever lives to make intercession for us, and He, " as our life," shall soon appear again, that we may also appear and live with Him in glory.
CHAPTER 2
JOB 19 (part of 25th verse.)
"AND THAT HE SHALL STAND AT THE LATTER DAY UPON THE EARTH."
AFTER Job, in the midst of his sufferings, had uttered, through the Spirit, that mighty testimony, "I know that my Redeemer lives," as declaring whence he derived his strength and his consolation, he goes on to add many other particulars regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, of which I take the first for our present consideration; and may that same Holy Spirit, who gave to Job that faith, that know-ledge, and that confidence, enabling him thus to speak, be with us also now, while we adhere to the very words of his testimony, and examine the next clause, just as spoken by Job, in close detail.
The Patriarch having declared, as his comfort and hope in his tribulation, that he had a living Redeemer as his own, immediately adds of Him, that he should " stand at the latter day on the earth." Now what a vast and stupendous amount of truth, quite unattainable by any human effort, does this assertion contain! What accurate and what extensive conceptions, as to Christ's person, and as to his coining, are here! We who know the Lord Jesus Christ in all the fulness of that clear light which the New Testament conveys, cannot of course form a thought of any other Redeemer except Him, " perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting; " but merely by saying, " I know that my Redeemer lives," and stopping there, Job would not have expressed any prophecy of Jesus Christ, as dwelling in the flesh, on this earth, that He might die for us, in our nature, and be the " first-born among many brethren." Merely by saying, " I know that my Redeemer lives," and stopping there, Job would not have told that the very and eternal Son of the most High God would visit this same earth, on which we dwell ourselves, and that not as an angel, nor as a spirit, nor in any other form, which God might assume, but as man, coming to stand at the latter day upon the earth. But adding this latter clause, he does plainly and accurately tell of Jesus Christ coming in the flesh—or, in a word, of his incarnation.
Having thus pointed out the grand distinctive and discriminating character of Job's prophecy here, I shall now proceed to show how, in one sense and aspect of the truth declared, it has already met its fulfilment; and then how, in another sense, it shall meet its fulfilment by and by. Christ's first coming to stand upon the earth has been already fulfilled. His second coming to stand upon the earth shall be fulfilled hereafter. Both are equally determined and sure. For what God has said is not less certain than what God has done; and the future is as sure as the past, when it is plainly foretold in that " word which cannot be broken," and " abideth forever."
We know very well that when the appointed season had arrived for the first coming of Christ, or to use the very language of Scripture, " when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." God had given his Son before the foundations of the world were laid, to be, in himself, the sacrifice for our sins; and the Son of God hath given himself as a willing sacrifice, even as the " Lamb brought to the slaughter, which before the shearers is dumb." So the word of the Son unto the Father was: " Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." And thus the willing deed both of the Father and the Son was typified by Abraham giving up Isaac, and by Isaac making no resistance, but willingly bound and laid upon the wood, for a burnt offering. God gave his Son and the Son gave himself in the same act. But when the appointed period had come for the manifestation of God's glory upon earth, and of peace to guilty man through the incarnation of the Savior, Son of God and Son of man, " in one Christ;" then was the babe born in Bethlehem, who was to be called Jesus, " because He should stye his people from their sins."
And (passing over rapidly all which does not specially illustrate the text) we know well how that same Jesus from a babe became a child, from a child became a youth, of whom we hear when aged twelve years, and from a youth grew up unto the stature of a full-grown man, dwelling, and standing, and walking on this very earth at the latter day. For the latter day signifies the whole period of time from Christ's first to his second coming; and we are ourselves in the latter day, or dispensation as it is frequently called. Yes, the very Son of God dwelt, stood, and walked in Judea, with the completeness and the perfection of our common nature upon Him; subject unto all our sinless infirmities, exercising all our faculties, " made like unto us in all things, sin only excepted." Man knew Him not. Man knew not who was among them, nor who, as the great Immanuel, had " visited his people." Man knew Him not, until he revealed him- self as the Messiah: but there he stood, walked, and lived on the earth, the incarnate Redeemer, sanctifying all of it with the tread of his blessed feet, giving it more honor than if it all had been one Paradise or Eden, but unvisited by Him, as the Head and the Lord and possessor of it all, because Redeemer of it all through his precious blood. Now what unspeakable love, what unspeakable condescension, what unspeakable wonders in all this! It is one great leading feature in redemption's mystery. But it is all fact! It is all reality! Away with any dim, vague, indistinct notions about the Lord Jesus Christ, which too much and too often prevail! People say that his incarnation is a mystery; and they are right: but some, when they have said this, think that it excuses them for putting the subject away—for not dwelling on it till He takes possession of their minds and hearts But in all this they greatly and most dangerously err. No doubt it is a mystery! But what is the meaning of a mystery? Is it something not revealed at all? By no means. Is it something needless for us to comprehend? By no means.
Is it something which does not concern us? By no means. All the Bible is written, all Divine truth is revealed, and even the very Spirit is sent down and given us, that we might comprehend the mystery of Christ coming in the flesh. For a mystery is that which, though it certainly would have been unknown to man altogether, and would have so remained had not God revealed it, yet is so unspeakably important to its, that God himself has drawn the veil and covering away, that God has opened it to man, for him to see, to receive, and to enjoy. And such a mystery was this, which Job announced, and which God so fulfilled, even that the Son of God " equal with the Father as touching the Godhead," should be conceived of the Holy Ghost in the Virgin's womb, should be born at Bethlehem, should grow and increase in stature to the fulness of the body of man, should suffer for us in the flesh, should make a full atonement for our sins, even by his death upon the Cross; and in a word, should accomplish all which He did, for the glory of God, and for the salvation of man, when, according to Job's prophecy, He " stood at the latter day upon the earth."
Thus far I have spoken retrospectively, I have spoken of that which has been already done in the person of Christ, at his first coming. It now remains to speak prospectively. We must now look forward to his second coming. May God direct us, as we proceed, by the " sure word of prophecy, whereunto (as it is written) ye do well that ye take heed."
Every Christian knows that the Lord Jesus Christ will return again. "Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him." " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels." " I go," saith He himself unto his disciples of all places and times, " to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also." But it is not concerning the general truth of Christ's return in majesty and glory, that I would desire to dwell at this present moment. I would advance (following the Scriptures, and specially the prophecy of Job) into more exact detail on this blessed subject, not diving into secret and unknown things, but merely seeking to concentrate attention on that which is " written for our learning." It cannot be a matter of one moment's doubt that the Holy Spirit revealed to Job's troubled and distressed mind not only the first but the second coming of Christ. If anyone, perchance, should say, that this is not proved from that clause of his testimony now specially under review, all doubt, of course, must utterly vanish away on reading to the end of that inspired sentence which he, spoke, and of which the text is only one small part. How then does the sentence end? " Though after ray skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another."
Job saw Him not at his first coming. But at his second coming, Job shall rise again and see Him with his own eyes. Thus we may be sure that, in telling how Jesus our Savior should stand at the latter day upon the earth, Job foretold that time yet to come when He shall revisit this earth, so that in the very orb and region of the universe where He was " despised and rejected of men," He may be welcomed, and honored, and admired, and adored, as the " God of the whole earth," that, where He wore the cross He may wear the crown, that it may be manifest unto all the intelligent and unfallen creatures of God, that, where Satan for a season ruled, Christ, the conqueror of Satan, shall reign and rule eternally as the "King in his beauty." And not only this, but the very and exact expression of the text has in it the exact truth as to the form and manner, in which He will return again. As He assumed our nature, with our body on earth, so He retained it when He rose again. Those who entered into the sepulcher "found not the body of the Lord Jesus." He rose in the body, in glorified, immortal flesh. On the day of his resurrection He appeared in the midst of his own chosen people, and said, " Peace be unto you! " " They were terrified and affrighted, and supposed they had seen a spirit."
How did He console, strengthen, and assure their hearts? " He said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts (i.e. doubts and misgivings) arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when He had thus spoken He showed them his hands and feet." And let no one venture to think that it is unimportant whether we realize these truths or not. For what repeated assurances our Lord Jesus gave on this very matter. This was not done for nothing. Again and again He ate food with his disciples in that risen body, which is his now, and will be his forever; for " Death hath no more dominion over Him." And you remember how He bade Thomas feel Him,—feel his hands and his side, and "be no more faithless, but believing." And, as a last quotation, when Jesus left this earth at the end of forty days, and ascended up to heaven on Mount Olivet's side, angels were there to bear their witness to Christ concerning his return; and their words seem expressly to provide against any mistake as to the personal appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, the same in body and the same in spirit, as He who had just passed through the heaven of heavens to the right hand of God. For their testimony was,—" This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven."
But not even yet have we taken in the declaration of the text with that exactness which it claims, as describing the return of Jesus to this earth. You see it is written, " He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." And there is another passage, relative to that same time, and to that same glorious event, which must not be forgotten here. Zechariah, in the 14th chapter of his Prophecy, tells of the future glory of Jerusalem, and how " the Lord shall go forth," and fight against her enemies. And then succeeds that wondrous prophecy how " His feet shall stand at that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east." And then follows the detail of some marvelous convulsion of the earth, which the very touch of his living person will effect on that very spot. For the passage continues thus—" And the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley: and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." Now, reasonably speaking, there are but two ways of receiving and apprehending such a passage as this, if we give it our attention at all.
The one is, just to receive God's declaration, as He has caused it to be written for us, in an absolute, literal sense, giving effect to each word and to each sentence as it stands before us. The other is to substitute some fictitious and imaginary sense, of our own devising, and to call this a spiritual interpretation. To this latter system of dealing with the Scriptures, I willingly confess that I bear no favor. I would give it a very different name than that of spiritual. I would rather call it an unbelieving and presumptuous way of getting rid of God's plain, authoritative declarations. It seems to me very likely that this was the very error into which the Jews fell regarding the Messiah, coming to suffer, coming to be humbled unto the death of the cross; that this was the very stumbling block over which they tripped and fell. The passages are plenteous enough in the Old Testament, telling of the Savior, " as one whose visage was marred more than any man," as one who should "give his back to the smites, and his cheek to them that pulled off the hair," who should make his " grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;" who should be " brought as a lamb to the slaughter," and " pour out his soul unto death." The declarations, I repeat, of the Old Testament concerning the person and the work of Christ as a suffering Savior, were plain and numerous enough, and we wonder now, as we may well do, why the Jews altogether overlooked that the first coming of the Lord was to be a coming in humiliation and low estate, while they fixed their thoughts altogether on a triumphant Savior, coming to reign in majesty.
They stumbled at this stumbling-block, and, no doubt, because they would not take God's own word in its literal sense, where it was so wonderful. Let us not err in the same manner. Let us be warned by them, and by the consequences of their unbelief. For though the return of Christ in glorified humanity to this very earth, that He may be adored and obeyed in the very scene where He was despised, rejected, and crucified, is wonderful indeed, yet who will say that it is more wonderful than his coming to bear all indignities and pains, and live the life of " the man of sorrows," and end his life by an agonizing death, even the death of the cross. Here, indeed, is a subject of loud and imperative call. One of the most frequent topics of address, of warning, and of exhortation, employed by the great inspired preachers of Christ, whether by their spoken words, as recorded in the Acts, or whether by their writings, as in the Epistles, is this—that " God hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness, by that Man whom he hath ordained," i.e., by Jesus Christ, perfect man no less than perfect God: and our Savior himself especially declares that the Father hath given unto Him authority to execute judgment, "because he is the Son of Man." He will then come in all the glory of the Father, in his own Divine majesty, and in " perfect beauty," spiritual and bodily, as the Son of Man; and then shall those wonders most assuredly take place, of which the prophet, whom I quoted, speaks; and then shall Jesus gather all nations unto him, and judge the quick and the dead; and then shall Jerusalem be called the " Throne of the Lord;" and He will take unto himself his great kingdom and reign; and of Him it shall again be personally brought to pass (although he is the God whom the heaven of heavens can by no means contain, and though He fills, and shall forever, all the boundless universe with his glory), that once again, as man and as Mediator, His blessed feet shall stand upon this earth in the latter day, as Job announced, in the hour of his tribulation, three thousand years ago.
And not only so; but the word stand has a farther meaning in it, when employed in Scripture on such a subject as this. It represents firmness and steadfastness, strength and victory, success and permanence, never to be overthrown. We say of a thing sure, stable, permanent, " that it shall stand." We are told how the " wicked shall not stand in God's sight." In the passage of the Epistle to the Ephesians, on the Christian armor, we are bid to put it on, that we " may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." But the word is especially applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, as to his triumph and victorious success over all evil, death, and sin. The marginal reading of the passage in the Psalms, on Christ abiding as the Son forever, is this: " They "—that is the heavens—" shall perish, but Thou shalt stand." And Isaiah tells how " in that day,"—the day of Christ's glory on the earth,—" there shall be a root of Jesse,"—that is, the Lord Jesus himself, " who shall stand for an ensign of the people." And another prophet, Micah, speaks thus majestically on the reigning Savior: " He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God."
On this glorious and attractive subject I shall say no more, though we have but entered on its very threshold. For it is time that I should make a short application of those mighty and momentous truths on which we have been engaged. The word of Jesus to us all is this: " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." That we may look unto Him, and be saved, we must see Him by faith, and we must know Him, by faith, as He was, as He is, and as he is to come. St. John the Evangelist gives one special rule, whereby a man may know that he hath the " Spirit of God." That rule is " Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God." We see here the paramount importance of such a confession: which, of course, is not the mere confession of the lips, nor any confession merely taught by man, but the confession of the heart, and of all that is within us, given and maintained by the Holy Ghost. Let us, therefore, see to it, with all diligence, in the means of grace—let us see to it, that we ever keep alive a clear and effectual view of Jesus Christ, standing on the earth in the body, as man! Let us look back unto Him, standing thus, as perfect man, in the day of His humiliation! Let us look forward to Him, standing E thus, as perfect man, in the day of his glorification! For as this earth and its inhabitants were redeemed by His sufferings, when darkness overspread the land at his crucifixion, so this earth shall hereafter be lightened by his glory; and may we not be of that lamentable number who shall then call upon the rocks to fall, and to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, but of that most blessed company, who shall lift up their heads, and enjoy their full redemption, both of body and soul, when our Savior shall come to be glorified in his saints, and when His blessed feet shall again stand on this earth at the latter day, as Job, by the Spirit, foretold!
SERMON 3.
Jos 19. 26.
"AND THOUGH AFTER MY SKIN WORMS DESTROY THIS BODY, YET IN MY FLESH SHALL I SEE GOD."
IT has always been considered, and very rightly, that in proportion as a prophecy is accurate and detailed, rather than general (as to the terms in which it is expressed), and in proportion as it enters into particulars, does it become more clearly evident that what is foretold was perfectly known and not guessed at, or described in language, which might fit one thing, or fit another thing, just as the event may turn out. The heathen oracles used to be framed precisely with the endeavor that they might mean two or even many E2 things, so that their credit might not be endangered and lost, whichever happened. The inspired oracles of God, and the prophecies given by Him, are framed so as to mean one thing and one only, because they come from Him, who alone can " declare the end from the beginning." Now, tried by this valuable test, how divinely taught, and how super-eminently glorious must this whole prophecy of Job appear to every mind capable of apprehending its value and importance. Most accurate and most detailed has it been from the beginning, in all those parts of it which have already been reviewed. It retains, too, precisely the same character throughout. See this exemplified in the very text; for though as yet Job is not risen, still Christ is risen indeed, risen in the body, and He is the first-fruits of his saints, who sleep in the dust. All the New Testament (of which Job knew not one word, nor one fact in the way which we know it, as that which hath, really been accomplished and done,) sheds back its flood of light on Job's inspired. language; and when we read in the New Testament, " He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies," and how " this corruptible must put on incorruption," and how there shall be " unto every seed its own body," and how the Savior from heaven shall change at his coming " our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body," then we see indeed, and then we may fully estimate how closely and how perfectly the Spirit taught Job on this most wondrous thing, even that resurrection of the flesh (or the body), unto which God's Word doth so fully testify, which we solemnly profess whenever we repeat the Belief, and which Job exactly announced when he said, as in the text, " Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."
Some have attached a special meaning and significance to Job's expression, " Though after my skin," as if representing his wretched and emaciated frame, " all skin and bone" (as the common phrase is), in consequence of the terrible disease which was then upon him. Looking down at his own frame (lately perhaps so healthy, so active, so comely, and so strong), he would now scarcely call it a body at all; and, therefore, he says: " Though after my skin,"—somewhat of a body's covering, though scarcely a body—scarcely deserving the name. But on this we need not dwell. He immediately refers to the state of our mortal bodies, after death has got dominion over us. They " see corruption." Isaiah, the prophet, addresses the dead body thus: " Thy pomp is brought down to the grave;"—" the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee;" and Job himself hath many similar expressions. But we need not quote them, for we all know the fact—know it only too well—know it is one of the hideous effects of sin. None are exempt. Look into the grave! " The small and the great are there—kings and councilors of the earth,"—" princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver,"—the conquerors in battles, and the wise in political affairs, or those who, like one lately lost to us, united the two capacities in one—all, all are there—all " see corruption." The grave —the coffin—the churchyard, and the dark-some vault, all bear witness to this truth. You may be rejoicing now in full vigor and strength; the warm pulse of life may now beat cheerfully in your every vein; you may be adorned with all grace, beauty, and comeliness; you may be rich, or poor, or honored, in man's eye, or insignificant, or prosperous, or otherwise; but (unless our Lord Jesus Christ returns in our day to be the destruction and the Conqueror of death), you too will see corruption, as the strong, like Samson and Goliath; as the fair, like Sarah, and Rebecca, and Rachel, and Esther; as the wise, like Solomon; as the aged, like Methuselah; as the young, like David's child, and the infants of Bethlehem—in a word, like all the myriads who have inhabited this earth since it was created, and, in comparison with whom, those now dwelling alive on its surface, are but an handful of men. The nations of the living are few, few indeed, compared with the nations of the dead. I do not dwell on these remembrances at any length, because I think it better to direct unto Jesus and life rather than to death and the grave—to bid you to look upward rather than downward; and to lead you, by faith, into the Paradise beyond, rather than gloomily fix your gaze on the chilling confines of the grave, although they must be passed by you, and by me, and by all; for death hath passed upon us all by reason of our sin.
It may be observed, that in this clause of Job's testimony, so far as it has yet been considered by us, Job has only announced a fact, well known unto all men, in all countries, and at all times, quite independently of that which is taught by direct revelation from God. The fact that the human body undergoes corruption, and that worms feed upon it, is just as well-known as that flowers fade, or that plants decay, or that trees wither and fall, after they have finished their appointed age of verdure, bloom, and strength. And it is of this that Job has spoken hitherto in the sentence of the text. But now his language takes a prophetical tone. " Although," he says, " it must be so with my present body—although it must be thus destroyed—yet, in my flesh shall I see God." To reconcile this is our business now—to make it clearly evident that, although flesh and blood (such as we now wear) shall not and " cannot inherit the kingdom of God," yet that there shall be a resurrection of the body, and that all the saints of Christ shall see their Redeemer with their own bodily eyes; and as living men—not merely spirits or shades—shall behold Him, who is and ever shall be perfect man, no less than perfect God, and this even face to face, in the fullest and most express signification of these words.
In handling such a subject, the preacher may do it in two ways. He may do it with an express eye to unbelievers, such as were " Hymeneus and Philetus," of whom Paul speaks in his Epistle to Timothy—men whose word did " eat as doth a canker "—who, " concerning the truth erred, saying, that the resurrection was past already." They argued, I suppose, that the resurrection, of which the apostles so constantly spoke, was merely the rising and the new birth of the Spirit, in this life, from its death in trespasses and sins. But again the minister may speak as to believers, sound in form on this subject, and then he has not to contend with such as deny, or attack, or withhold their consent, from such a doctrine as this. What he has to contend with is, the general vagueness, dimness, and obscurity with which it is too generally held amongst us. How many are there who seldom or ever realize unto themselves, with anything like a distinct and clear apprehension, that they will be anything else than spirits in the world to come! How many there are who seem almost to forget that the body no less than the spirit is essential to man, in that complete and renovated state to which he will attain hereafter! How many there are who think it an inferior, and some would even say a low and secondary matter to feel concern about the future state "of the body at all! All I can answer is, that God deems it otherwise, and that the Scripture enforces and commends very different feelings—that the Scripture allows no such indifference as this. Therefore, " to the word and to the testimony," for " in that light we shall see light;" and glad shall I be if employed by the Spirit of God, with any success at all, in scattering away any darkness, and obscurity, and unconcern on such a subject.
The Old Testament is not without its own witness to this truth of the resurrection of the body. Although it was Christ, who " brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel," life and immortality are no doubt in the pages of the Old Testament, and we shall see them there, if we search for them. In addition to that celebrated passage, on which we are now engaged, we find Daniel prophesying, how " many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame and contempt." And in order to prove to the caviling Sadducees that the resurrection of the dead was really announced in the Old Testament Scriptures, Jesus Himself saith, "As touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living," by which He of course proves that this very passage had contained in it the truth, how the dead should rise again. And, to take an argument from Pearson, the able and well-known commentator on the Creed, "God saith of the same three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I have established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.' (Ex. 6. 3, 4.) It is not said, to give their sons,' but to give them' the land of Canaan, and, therefore, because, while they lived here, they enjoyed it not, they must live again that they may receive the promise."
The Pharisees too, on this point, were right —that is, on the resurrection; and St. Paul, you remember, took advantage of this fact, when before the Council. It is, therefore, evident that the " resurrection of the dead was revealed under the law,"—that the Sadducees, denying it, " erred, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God,"—that our blessed Savior proved it from the Old Testament,—that the light had therein dawned, which He, as in the brightness of mid-day, was to reveal in word, and to establish in person, and to spread throughout the world by the voice of his ambassadors, wherever the Gospel is preached, or his holy Word read.
And now to the pages of the New Testament! There, first of all, the declarations of our Savior are most express and full: " The hour is coming (saith He), in the which all that are in their graves shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." And, once for all, I remind you that such declarations cannot possibly be made about the spirit of men. That never dies at all,—that never descends into the grave at all,—that F2 never ceases to live. So, again, Christ speaks of the reward which the charitable person shall receive. "Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." And to pass over many other passages, where the apostles tell of this resurrection, I will only remind you that it is the subject of one whole and magnificent chapter, (I mean the fifteenth of the 1st Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians,) and in one verse at the conclusion, the whole doctrine and whole chapter is applied, as pointing throughout to that resurrection day, when Christ's servants shall all rise again and reap their sure and joyful reward for all their works of faith, and all their labors of love, and all which they endured in his holy cause. " Therefore, my beloved brethren,"—therefore, because there is that resurrection to come, of which the whole chapter has told, that resurrection of the body, when full blessedness shall be yours to enjoy,— "therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor shall not be in vain in the Lord."
This, this was the joyful and the coming day unto which Job looked, and of which he spoke, saying, " In my flesh shall I see God." Like St. Paul, he foretold how the day should arrive when the saints should arise, when their corruptible should put on incorruption, when their mortal should put on immortality. Difficulties without doubt there are to our understanding how this will take place. But with that we have nothing to do. God is able to accomplish that which He hath said. And look even to natural and common things, and see how they illustrate the power of His future work in the resurrection of the body of man! Nor need we go farther than the very instance selected by St. Paul, in the very chapter on which I spoke just now. If we did not know (by experience and fact) that the seed. cast into the ground would lie there for a little time, and seem to decay and die; but that in due season a tender germ or sprout should appear, which germ would become a blade, and then a stalk, and then the full body of a flourishing plant,—I say, had we not by experience known this, should we have even thought that it was possible Q Most certainly not! No one ever yet saw any living plant, which had grown from seed, and no one ever yet cast a seed into the ground and witnessed the plant come forth, who did not thereby see the resurrection of the body most plainly symbolized, if he had grace and knowledge to apply the fact. " That which thou sows is not quickened except it die. And that which thou sows thou sows not that body which shall be," i.e., you do not put into the earth the whole risen plant; " but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or of some other grain.
But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body." Insect life, too, most strikingly illustrates the truth. First, the worm crawling on the earth. Then, the motionless and the seeming death of the chrysalis. Then, the winged insect rising forth and flying joyously in the midst of heaven. But why need we seek elsewhere a still farther advanced explanation of Job's words, when the same chapter gives it? Job says, that, though the flesh, which was his then, should perish and be destroyed, still that " In his flesh he should see God." And, continuing the chapter in the Corinthians, we find this fully explained: " All flesh is not the same flesh." It varies even in the creatures of this earth, a4 in men, in beasts, in fishes, and in birds. So God will give to us, in the resurrection day, that flesh and that body which will be appropriate to our new capacities. But it will be flesh and a body still. And although we as yet know not full and particular details, yet we know amply enough, if we will learn and enjoy and anticipate what Scripture infallibly tells about our glorification; for though, as St. John writes, " it doth not yet appear what we shall be," still we know that when Jesus shall appear, " we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is;" and then our " vile body shall be fashioned like unto his glorious body;" and all this is summed up, and mightily and briefly, in Job's declaration, when he saith—" In my flesh shall I see God."
There is much more on which I should be glad to dwell in connection with this subject. But enough has perhaps been said in proportion to the treatment given by us to the rest of Job's testimony. Let me, therefore, only add, that, seeing God here undoubtedly means seeing Jesus Christ in his own glorious person, at his coming in majesty, and throughout eternity. We have no reason to believe that the eye of the creature, even when glorified, shall ever behold God the Father, the Almighty Spirit who, according to Scripture, "dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto—whom no man bath seen or can see." He is declared, or known and made manifest, in his Son, and in his Son only; and seeing God, in the text, and in so many other places of the Scripture, means, no doubt, seeing Him in Christ. This is the general opinion on this great mystery. Oh! may it be our blessed portion thus to behold our God and Savior! May this expectation be fulfilled in us, who, repenting of our sins, and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be accounted worthy of the resurrection. May we have the same spirit and desire which was in St. Paul of old, even to know Jesus, as the life of His people, and " the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death, if by any means we might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." May every object of earthly ambition or desire fade away and become dim in comparison with this most glorious anticipation of joy! May it encourage, and cheer, and sustain us! May it sweeten each trial, and all things wearisome and painful, which we may have to endure in the body here, even as it was with Job, when, in the midst of his accumulated woes, and of all the calamities oppressing him at the time, he could look on his poor body, all emaciated, worn, and stricken with disease, yet utter in faith, and by the Holy Ghost, that doctrine, that prophecy, that truth, and certain fact of the text, concerning himself, and equally concerning every true saint and every true servant of the Lord: " Though after my skin worms destroy the body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."
SERMON 4.
JOB 19. 27.
" WHOM I SHALL SEE FOR MYSELF, AND MINE EYES SHALL BEHOLD, AND NOT ANOTHER, THOUGH MY REINS BE CONSUMED WITHIN ME."
IN treating, on three former occasions, Job's inspired prophecy concerning the resurrection of his own flesh or body, I sought closely to follow the course pointed out by the exact words of each successive sentence. Having described the condition of Job (at the time when he spoke it) as one whose bodily frame was reduced to the lowest and most deplorable state, I drew special attention to the testimony which he gave, on his possessing living Redeemer as his own.
I then showed how he proceeded to declare that he should behold this living Redeemer standing in His own person, at the latter day, upon the earth; and how he announced that, although the body which he then wore, should see corruption, and be the worms' food, still, that he should see God, not in the spirit, and not as a spirit alone, but in the risen body of incorruptible flesh—of flesh glorified forever. There only now remains for consideration the last clause of this wondrous prophecy; and may the Holy Spirit lead us on still, and enable us to comprehend, realize, and apply that mighty fact which Job announced for himself, and all true believers in Christ, who shall have died on this earth before His second coming in glory and in majesty—" Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me."
We need not dwell at any length on the truth, that the resurrection of the human body—subject to corruption, to be turned into dust, and wasted into particles so minute that perhaps man's eye could not see them at all—is a very marvelous thing. We may just bring this to our remembrance, and then observe, with increased interest, that, in consequence of this very fact—the marvelous character of the resurrection of the flesh—we find in the Scripture the most full and repeated testimony thereupon, perhaps not less of exact testimony than we possess to any other fact of revealed history. Take first the resurrection of Christ in the flesh. What a multitude of proofs—" infallible proofs," as they are entitled—did He give on this matter during the forty days in which he showed himself " alive in the flesh," to so many witnesses. He said to them, " A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." He bade Thomas stretch forth his finger, and feel him—" Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing." He ate and drank with His disciples. He was seen by single individuals —as Peter and Mary. He was seen of two together—as by Cleopas and his companion, on the way to Emmaus. He was seen of seven—as at the sea of Tiberias. He was seen of twelve—as by the apostles while they sat at meat. He was seen of " five hundred brethren at once," of whom we know that the greater part were alive when St. Paul wrote his celebrated chapter on the resurrection of the flesh. And, lest any doubt should exist on the second coming of Christ, in the body, and as perfect man, no less than perfect God, we have, in the Acts, one of the most explicit testimonies which language can convey, as if G 2 , to preclude all vagueness and uncertainty—as if to compel attention to the one fact therein recorded. For when the Lord had risen in the body from Mount Olivet's side, the two men who stood by in white apparel proclaimed—" This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Nor only is it as to Christ's resurrection in the body that Scripture speaks so repeatedly, so explicitly, so much in a way to arrest and to fix our closest attention. The same rule applies to man's resurrection too; and, in an especial manner, to the resurrection of the saints, about which much more is told than about the resurrection of other and ungodly men, though on that, too, there is abundantly enough to warn them. I repeat it; the very same rule applies to man's resurrection too.
No subject is more plainly told, and more continually enforced. " The hour is coming," saith the Lord, " in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." And to pass over a multitude of passages, just corresponding with these words of that Savior, to whom heaven and hell, and the past and the future, were all open and displayed, even as the sky and the sun to our mortal eyes, we find one whole chapter, the fifteenth of the first of the Corinthians,—and a very long one too,—proving the resurrection of the body in that glorious way, which the Spirit alone could employ. And these illustrations are supplied, so apt and instructive as to chase away all dimness and doubt, and to fill every intelligent believer with delight, while he learns. how God will act with our bodies, as He does act with each seed cast into the ground. It appears to die there, but in due season, it puts forth from itself the germ and the blade, and the stalk, and then the verdant plant with all its richness and beauty of leaf, and flower, and fruit, even (to use Scripture), " the new body as it hath pleased Him."
And not only so, but the Holy Spirit gives us illustrations from animal life, as well as from vegetable life; and thus checks any rising thought that, because our present flesh is vile and decaying, and subject unto death, there can be.no other flesh all new and glorious to bear, by reminding us that God can make flesh just what pleases Him, even as He can make spirit just what pleases Him. " All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds." Nor do the illustrations supplied by God on this one matter, cease yet. He draws them, for us, even from the heavens as well as from the earth. He shows how He himself can give unto matter, such as man's frame, body, or flesh, infinite change and infinite variety and glory as it pleases Him. " There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differed from another star in glory." And then, immediately, the application comes in, —" So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body." Surely, if we were here considering the work of man, our expression would be,—what exceeding pains, —what an amount of labor is employed here to impress and possess our minds with the fact of the resurrection of the flesh. But as it is God's doing, by his inspired instrument, let us at all events mark his goodness here; and let us hereby learn and apply the paramount importance of this truth, not only once declared, but thus repeatedly enforced, and thus richly illustrated. Nor let us forget that the same Holy Spirit spoke by Job of old time on the very same truth, and would not close his mouth, when he had said, " I know that my Redeemer lives," nor when he had said, " And He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth," nor when he had said, "Though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God," but also caused him to finish his testimony, as in the language of the text, " Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another."
Hence then, as well as from many other parts of God's Word, we, of a surety, learn that just in the same manner as each one of us shall be the same spirit, or the same soul, forever, as we are now, though with a wonderful change—for misery if lost, and for blessedness if saved—for assimilation with the condemned in hell if we die impenitent, and without faith in Christ, but for assimilation with all holy creatures, and with God himself, if true believers in his Son—so it shall be with the body too. Contradictory as it may sound, still it is most true, that every individual now here among us, will, in body, be the same individual forever, whatever change may pass upon that body by the will and power of the Lord God Almighty. Does this seem strange? Why should it? This earth is the same earth as that which the flood overwhelmed, notwithstanding the convulsion which it has endured; and so it shall be with the risen body of every individual, man, wo- man, or child. Now it scarcely ever has entered into man's imagination to 'conceive that men should rise again with other souls. The very idea would seem to defeat all the first principles of God's word as to the punishment attached to transgressions of this present life in the future world, and as to the future blessedness attached to a life of faith and obedience towards God. No one doubts, questions, or fails to expect that the same spirits or souls should live the second or eternal life which have lived this first, or present life; but when St. Paul tells us that to every seed his own body is given, he tells us, by a parable, or likeness, taken from things which we see around us, that it shall be thus not only with each spirit or soul, but with each body too; and when he saith, " this corruption shall put on incorruption," the body's personal identity is again made sure; and, doubtless, of each separate body Daniel speaks, where he tells how " they that sleep shall awake from the dust of the earth;" and St. John, too, when in the Revelation he proclaims how " the sea shall give up the dead which are in it, and death and the grave shall deliver up the dead which are in them," for the spirits of men are neither in the dust, nor in the grave, nor in the sea with the drowned bodies of men; and the dust, and the grave, and the sea have only the bodies to give up, as they shall do at the latter day; and there in the body each saint of God shall experience, in his own risen and glorious and immortal frame, the truth of Job's prophecy, concerning his Redeemer," Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another."
Mighty practical results, bearing on our conduct, are connected with the due and intelligent perception of this truth. Even did we not see this connection, we should not the less be indebted to God for that knowledge which he gives us regarding our future selves and our own personal and everlasting state. Such information ought of itself to be most precious. It was a proof of God's love to his favored servant Abraham that He would not hide his purposes from him. And truly thankful should we be for all that is revealed to us, as to our bodies not less than as to our spirits. Both are the work of God's Almighty hand, Both are the objects of his everlasting care. Both are capable of unspeakable misery, and of unspeakable happiness. Both are redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Both here partake of the fall. Both, in the saved, shall partake of full and eternal restoration. Yes, to a blessedness greater than that bf our unfallen parents in Paradise, and sure forever. Therefore we would have to thank God heartily for telling us the truths, which we have now been employed in considering, even had they no practical concern with us, as bearing on our present conduct. But is it not so? No, far otherwise!
The Scripture constantly warns us against sin (done in the body and against the body,) by bringing to remembrance that the body shall rise again. And for what? Here is the answer in the language of God's Word:—" That every one may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad." We are warned to fear Him who can " destroy both body and soul in hell." We are told that our bodies are the " temples of the Holy Ghost," and that whosoever " defiles the temple of God him will God destroy." It is written thus against fornication, a sin done in the body: " Shall I take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? " We are exhorted to present our bodies as "living sacrifices unto God, which is our reasonable service." We are commanded to " glorify God in our bodies, and in our spirits, which are His." And all this is undoubtedly with a sure eye to future retribution, either of wrath to be inflicted on each body, or of happiness to be enjoyed in each body. And whether we, with those who are taught by the Spirit of God, receive doctrine like this, and act upon it; or whether we, with the multitude at large, quite disregard it, and live to please the flesh, there it stands just the same in God's holy " Word, which cannot be broken!" There these mighty principles shine forth, whether we behold them, or whether we shut our eyes to them! And we may be perfectly sure that, on the one hand, not one word of these threatening shall fail, and, on the other hand, not one word of these special promises shall be unaccomplished.
Therefore let us take heed, lest in any way we indulge in bodily sin, of whatsoever sort it may be. And let us confess to God, with shame and contrition of heart, all our former transgressions of this kind, and abhor them, as we ought to do, and never rest till we have good reason to believe that we, through faith, receive the full benefit of Christ's atoning blood, applied to these special sins, as well as to the sins of our heart and spirit within. Moreover, let us all see that our life, as to the body, be henceforth pure, temperate, self-denying, holy, and in all things acceptable to God. And thus the doctrine, which has occupied our thoughts this day, shall be unto us no mere barren or unfruitful thing—no mere curious speculation of the mind—but a constraining truth—a principle on which to act in the regulation of hourly and daily life; for while we remain in the body on earth, hardly any hour and surely no day will pass, wherein we shall not shew, whether we keep our body in subjection, and render it a " living sacrifice" to God, or whether we fulfil the lusts of the flesh, and virtually say to the Lord that He shall not have dominion over us, nor rule our bodies, by his Spirit and his Word. Oh! let everyone dread to act thus, and rather live with the body given unto Him who made it, and preserves it, and has redeemed it, yes, and has sanctified it too in every child of God, and made it his own forever, " to the praise of the glory of his grace."
I have now, in conclusion, only to remark, that, if the words of Job, and the parallel truths, so frequently and fully declared in the Scripture, are words rich in promise and encouragement for all who truly love and truly serve the Lord Jesus Christ, at all times and in all circumstances, Oh! how strong may our comfort in them be, at special times and in special circumstances, which must be met by us all in the course of our earthly pilgrimage. We live among the dying. We die ourselves. So far as refers to this present life, we must lose our kindred, or they must lose us. We are subject to all bodily infirmity, to all wasting disease, and to any excruciating pain, if the Lord thinks fit to send it. We witness many afflictions in those whom we love. The very and exact trials of Job may not be ours, nor any such severe calamity; but, nevertheless, we must ever be prepared, both in behalf of others and in behalf of ourselves, to seek, and find, and enjoy just that consolation and just that support which is warranted and sanctioned by God's holy Word. The sentence of death, passed on our bodies for our sin, ought to distress any thinking mind, except as viewed through one medium, which is this: That the sentence shall not be for evil to us, but for good, through the redemption, which is by Jesus Christ.
Then it need no longer distress us, for then we shall see and feel that the very curse is turned into a blessing, that through death is the resurrection unto eternal life, and that this vile body shall thus be made glorious. Therefore, whatever our afflictions on this earth may be, and, specially, when we feel our own vital powers decay, or look upon our failing limbs, and diseased and emaciated frame, or utter our gasping sighs on the bed of sickness, and of approaching death, let us, in no wise, forget the resurrection! We shall only be leaving for a while our old, incommodious, not to add, sinful abode—yes, even the tent or tabernacle of the body—for a short season, that we may inhabit and occupy it once more, rebuilt, and adorned, and beautified, and sanctified, and glorified forever, by the hand of our Father and our Almighty God.
And when we behold the chill and corruption of death seizing the beloved frame of any one near and dear to the affections of our heart; may it not be our part and our privilege too to fetch consolation from the appropriate source—to remember that all this fearful work of death is only for a time, and not for ever—that the very same body will rise again —that every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ must assuredly partake of the fruits of His victory over death, and shall have his mortal body quickened by the Spirit at the Resurrection day? What saith the Word of God on this very matter—on this very source of comfort, whereupon I speak? (see 1st Thess. Chapter 4th): "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep," i. e., those who have departed in the faith; " that ye sorrow not, as others, which have no hope." And then follows the account of the resurrection of the just. And after this comes the exhortation " Wherefore comfort one another with these words." God provides them for our consolation. Shall not we receive them? Shall not I, as a minister of God, heartily commend them for all acceptance, application, and use, in the time of need? And truly, at such seasons, have we not need of all heavenly support? And besides that, is it not a sin—is it not a most ungracious and most faithless thing to neglect or reject such springs of consolation, as those to which the Lord leads, and which he opens? Sad it is to see the blooming, and healthy, and sprightly child reduced, in a few days, or even a few hours, or it may be in a few minutes, to the coldness of the marble, and the darkening hues of death.
But that infant body shall again rise. Sad it is to see the hale and vigorous man laid low in the prime of life and in the midst of his years, with limb, and nerve, and muscle, all denoting his strength, but with motion and with animation all and utterly gone. But that body shall renew its strength on the resurrection day, with powers and capacities of which we now can form no conception at all. Sad it is to see the venerable form of age yielding at length to the enemy—death, though protected and preserved by God for so many long years from its grasp. But that body shall rise too, and live forever in that kingdom of Christ, where neither sudden stroke, nor the sure and gradual decay of this present life shall ever touch it again. No doubt, in all this we speak only of those who really and truly do belong to Christ. We speak of those only whom God has chosen for Himself, and whom the Spirit has brought, in the day of their sojourn on earth, to true repentance of heart, and to true faith in the living Savior. Remember that solemn limitation to which the promise is joined—" If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." (Rom. 8.) All such may take. upon their own lips, and appropriate to themselves, the full prophecy of Job concerning the resurrection. Thankful am I to have had the privilege of following it out in such details as I have been enabled to pursue. And now I would only add, May we remember and apply these truths of God's revealed word for our souls' benefit! And as the resurrection of the body is not less sure than our existence in the body here, God grant that we may so live in this present world, as to be delivered from the " bitter pains of eternal death;" and having " made our calling and election sure," may attain to the resurrection of the just; and (to use the words of our Funeral Service) " with all those that are departed in the true faith of Christ's holy name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in his eternal and everlasting glory."