November 30

THE RESURRECTION OF THE RIGHTEOUS.

"They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life." — John 5:29.

OUR attention is here invited to the consideration of a pleasing subject.

THE RESURRECTION OF THE RIGHTEOUS. Three things may be observed.

The character they bear. "They that have done good." This alludes not to mere moral virtues, which indeed are excellent in themselves, but to spiritual attainments; believers have the root of the matter in them, and manifest this to be the case in the fruits of holiness which they bear. The grace they have received is the foundation on which the superstructure of their good works is built. They have done good by walking worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called, by exerting themselves in the Redeemer's cause, and cultivating holy tempers and dispositions.

The manner of their rising. They shall rise in glory and splendor, like Christ's glorious body; in power, made capable of bearing the weight of eternal glory; spiritual, not that the body is turned into a spirit, but possessed of spiritual attributes and qualities, "a spiritual body." "No scene in nature is more lovely than a summer landscape at sunrise, when every field, grove, and hedge, is spangled with morning dew. The drops seem to sparkle with conscious delight at the appearance of the sun, climbing, as he ascends, to the top of every leaf, as if impatient to meet him in the air; and when the Sun of righteousness shall arise on the morning of the resurrection, the heirs of glory will be as numerous and beautiful as the dew from the womb of the morning."

The happiness they shall attain. "The resurrection of life." A life of freedom from all evil; there not a tear of bereavement is shed, for the parting sound shall be heard no more; there not a pang of sorrow shall be felt, for grief shall be unknown; there no feeling of repentance shall be experienced, for sin cannot enter; not the least taint of corruption shall be found there; "they are without fault before the throne of God." A life of eternal pleasures, suited to the enlarged capacity of the glorified spirit. Baxter says of heaven, "Every day is noontide, every month is summer, every year a jubilee, every age manhood, every life eternity." O blessed eternity! crown of my crown, glory of my glory, perfection of my perfection! Let me seek to be risen with Christ in a state of grace, that I may rise to him in a state of glory!