Resurrection

The Resurrection Glory. — Old Master Spenser, who was a rare hand at making metaphors, says, “The body here is like an old rusty piece of iron, but Death shall be the blacksmith; he shall take it and he shall make it hot in his fire, until it shall sparkle and send forth burning heat and look bright and shining.” And so surely is it. We are thrust into the earth as into the fire, and there shall we be made to sparkle and to shine and to be full of radiance; no more the rusty things that we once were, but fiery spirits, like the cherubim and the seraphim, we shall wear a power and a glory the like of which we have not even yet conceived.

God’s Cup. — I see before me an old and battered cup, which many a black lip hath touched, out of which many a villain’s throat has received moisture. It is marred and covered over with filth. Who could tell what metal it is? It is brought in and given to the silversmith; he no sooner receives it, than he begins to break it into pieces; he dashes it into shivers again and again; he pounds it until he has broken it, and then puts it into his fining pot and melts it. Now you begin to see it sparkle again, and by and by he beats it out and fashions it into a goodly chalice, out of which a king may drink. Is this the same? the very same thing. This glorious cup, is this the old battered silver we saw just now? Yes, it is the same, and we who are here below like vessels, alas! too unfit for the Master’s use; vessels which have even given comfort to the evil ones, and helped to do the work of Satan, we shall be put into the furnace of the grave, and be there melted down and fused and fashioned into a glorious wine cup, that in all its significance, shall stand upon the banqueting table of the Son of God.

Resurrection of the Body. — The certainty of the resurrection raises us above the dread which would otherwise surround the dissolution of our body. A child sees a man throwing precious metal into a melting pot, and he is sad because fair silver is being destroyed; but he that knows the business of the refiner understands that no loss will come of the process; only the dross of that silver will be taken away, and the pure molten mass poured out into a comely mold will yet adorn a royal table. Well, my brethren, are we assured that to lose this vile body is clear gain since it will be fashioned according to the glorious body of the Lord Jesus?