Revenant

“ And from the interweaving of these two traditions with the craving for the Redeemer, you at last get the conviction that when the Redeemer comes he will be immortal; he will give us his body to eat and his blood to drink; and he will prove his divinity by suffering a barbarous death without resistance or reproach, and rise from the dead and return to the earth in glory as the giver of life eternal. ”

“ IT is with great pleasure that I have heard of your Ladyship’s being so supported under your late bereavement, and of the good impressions made on surviving relations by it. Thus the Redeemer delights to magnify his strength in his people’s weakness, and causes the death of one, to be the life, as it were, the resurrection of another. O what amazing mysteries will be unfolded, when each link in the golden chain of Providence and Grace, shall be seen and scanned by beatified spirits in the kingdom of heaven! ”

“ They whose branches were half-withered to the same extent are the wavering; for they neither live, nor are they dead. And they who have them half-withered and cracked are both waverers and slanderers, [railing against the absent,] and never at peace with one another, but always at variance. And yet to these also," he continued, "repentance is possible. You see," he said, "that some of them have repented, and there is still remaining in them," he continued, "a hope of repentance. And as many of them," he added, "as have repented, shall have their dwelling in the tower. ”

“ When their flesh and their heart failed, how reviving was the remembrance of an all sufficient Redeemer; once dying for their sins, now risen again for their justification: How chearing the well grounded hope of pardon for their transgressions, and peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord! ”

“ Long vigils—fastings that wore away the strength of day—prayers that banished sleep from night—hoarded vengeance, that, like a fire, consumed its abode—affections crushed to the very earth—a memory whose love was with the grave,—a faith that had coloured itself with mortal passion,—all these had pressed too heavily on the springs of life and thought ”

“ Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance, and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. ”

“ The Saviour has passed through its portals before thee,
And the lamp of his love is thy guide through the gloom.
2 Thou art gone to the grave: we no longer behold thee,
Nor tread the rough paths of the world by thy side;
But the wide arms of mercy are spread to enfold thee,
And sinners may hope, since the Sinless hath died. ”

“ Lord, 'Have respect to the covenant.' Are you concerned about inward enemies, spiritual enemies, and molested with the powers of darkness? Is your heart full of the habitations of cruelty, and fearfully inhabited with cruel devils, cruel lusts, cruel corruptions that master and conquer, and prevail against you, so that you may ly many a time wounded and dead at the enemy's feet? O here is a covenant of sin-conquering grace, not only a covenant of mercy to your soul, but of vengeance to your lusts, saying, 'The day of vengeance is in mine heart, the year of my Redeemer is come,' Isa. ”

“ There we leave you in that blessed dependency, to hang upon him that hangs upon the cross, there bathe in his tears, there suck at his wounds, and lie down in peace in his grave, till he vouchsafe you a resurrection, and an ascension into that kingdom which He hath prepared for you with the inestimable price of his incorruptible blood. ”

“ And, if we would share in this deliverance, we must ourselves apply to the gospel—Zion, to God's Jerusalem. 2. That there is a remnant interested in this salvation, and for whom the deliverance is wrought. It is in that remnant (that is, among them) that the deliverance is, or in their souls and spirits; there are the earnests and evidences of it. Christ in you, the hope of glory. They are called a remnant, because they are but a few in comparison with the multitudes that are left to perish; a little remnant but a chosen one, a remnant according to the election of grace. ”

“ I hear my Saviour’s voice,
I feel His arm sustain me,
I triumph and rejoice!
105 The Lord will bless for ever
Those who His love have known,
Nor life, nor death shall sever
The Saviour from His own!
Victorious and free
His people shall be;
“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, thy victory?”
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XLVIL
DEATH IS NOT DREADFUL.
Death is not dreadful, no! ”

“ The Saviour awoke from His slumber—
He spake, and rebuked the rude main;
Though the wild cry for aid
Feeble faith had betrayed,
E’en that cry was not uttered in vain.
“Lord, careth Thou not that we perish!”
This oft is the cry of despair,
When affliction’s waves roll,
And the agonized soul
Scarce can breathe forth her anguish in prayer.
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Yet the Saviour is watching beside us,
His eye cannot slumber or sleep,
The bark which he guides
Where His Presence abides
Can never be wrecked on the deep. ”

“ Thou art gone to the grave—but 't were wrong to deplore thee,
When God was thy ransom, thy guardian, thy guide; He gave thee, and took thee, and soon will restore thee,
Where death hath no sting, since the Saviour hath died. ”

“ The deliverance is the consequence of atonement, and the atonement is the cause of deliverance, but both one and the other are included in the full idea of redemption, as we may see, for example, in the song sung before the throne, ‘Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.’ Rev. ”

“ Christ, our King, subdues "us to himself;" he rules and defends us, and restrains and conquers "all his and our enemies." Is he not a perfect Redeemer? He redeems our souls from death, our bodies also from the grave. "My flesh also shall rest in hope," always confident of a glorious resurrection. "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth ”

“ When the Redeemer was about to ascend to the bosom of the Father, and resume the glory which he had with him before the world was, he promised his disciples that the power of the Holy Ghost should come upon them, and that they should be witnesses for him to the uttermost parts of the earth. ”

“ Luke, xxi. 28, our Lord said, ‘When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.’ In Rom. viii. 23, those who have the first-fruits of the Spirit are described as waiting for ‘the redemption of the body,’ or, in other words, for the final deliverance of the body itself at the resurrection, i.e., for the gift promised through the prophet Hosea, ‘I will redeem them from death.’ So in the Epistle to the Ephesians the saints are said both to have redemption, and to be looking for it. ”

“ Outside the covenant they are clouds of wrath, portending an eternal deluge of fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries of God. Fly then for refuge; fly to the shelter of the covenant. Come to Christ Jesus for salvation. Come before the storm breaks in fury. Come where you can stand and see the bow when life’s tempests sweep; when the heavens are dark; when the night of death settles. ”

“ This creed, which made the most agonizing death so easy, and filled the most wretched with peace, calmness, joy—must indeed be the creed of redemption, high above all that the wisdom of men had yet devised—and it would surely pour balm even into his aching wounds, and bear him up on the wings of enthusiasm to triumph over the terrors of death. ”

“ Call upon the nations to repent, both old and young, both bond and free, saying, Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord: for if I, who am a man, do lift up my voice and call upon you to repent, and ye hate me, what will ye say when the day cometh when the thunders shall utter their voices from the ends of the earth, speaking to the ears of all that live, saying, Repent and prepare for the great day of the Lord! ”

“ Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before: This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. ”

“ Thus shall the blest Redeemer's voice
Call forth his servant's to rejoice.
For He, whose word is truth, hath said,
His power to life shall wake the dead,
And summon those he loves, on high,
To "put on immortality!" ”

“ Redemption waited the evidence of resurrection. Nothing was to be accounted as sealed and finally certified, till Jesus should deliver himself from the power of death. All of the gospel, all the hopes it brings to us, all the promises with which it comforts us, were taken for their final verdict, as true or false, sufficient or worthless, to the door of that jealously-guarded and stone-sealed sepulchre, waiting the settlement of the question, will he rise? ”

“ May the Redeemer own and bless what is sent in it! Then all will be well. I know your prayers will not be wanting. I am glad you have found out another thief, that lay hid in the chambers of imagery, which are in your heart. Time and temptation will draw out ten thousand more, which as yet, you know nothing of. Happy they, who can discover, pluck out, and cut off their right hand and right eye corruptions. This must be done, or we shall only take up with the bare semblance of holiness. The Redeemer must sit as a refiner’s fire upon our hearts, or we shall never be purified as gold or silver. ”

“ He went on to speak of the blessing of the Redemption, and he besought the people to do what lay in them to hasten it forward, by raising up the fences of the Law, and by constant and scrupulous obedience. "Let all repent," he said, "of former slackness and misdoings; for the Lord your God is merciful, long suffering, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil. ”

“ Repentance from dead works, that is, conversion and regeneration, repentance from a spiritually dead state and course; as if he had said, "Beware of destroying the life of grace in your souls; your minds were changed by conversion, and so were your lives. Take care that you return not to sin again, for then you must have the foundation to lay again; there must be a second conversion a repenting not only of, but from, dead works." Observe here, (1.) The sins of persons unconverted are dead works; they proceed from persons spiritually dead, and they tend to death eternal. ”

“ Here the redeemed are represented as ascribing praise to both the Creator and the Redeemer. And again, every created intelligence in the universe, in joyful sympathy with man in view of his redemption, is represented in chap. v, 13, as ascribing “blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, unto Him that sitteth upon the throne [the Creator] , and unto the Lamb [the Redeemer] , forever and ever.” ”

“ At that time they were strangers and pilgrims, but when they come to the realization of the promises they will no longer be strangers and pilgrims, for then they will be of those spoken of by our Saviour, in His promise, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth," and they will join in that grand song of redemption, "Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth." ”

“ By typical sacrifices covenant relationship between God and man was made possible as soon as man fell and redemption became a necessity. Had no provision been made till the real covenant sacrifice Christ was offered upon the cross, all who died from Adam to Christ would have hopelessly gone down into death and the grave under the sentence, "Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return." ”

“ These voices said kindly, ‘There is mercy yet for poor erring man.’ It appeared like the bow of the covenant, telling us to look and remember that though this world has been cursed by sin, yet a new heaven and earth are promised, of which this is a shadowy resemblance. ”

“ The Redeemer, by a significant act, shews them where alone, at such an hour, comfort can be found. He points the mourning spirit to its only true source of consolation and peace in God Himself, teaching it to rise above the mortal to the immortal—the corruptible to the incorruptible—from earth to heaven. ”

“ Are ye ready this day to eat of the bread of Atonement?
What it denoteth, that know ye full well, I have told it you often.
Of the new covenant a symbol it is, of Atonement a token,
'Stablished between earth and heaven. Man by his sins and transgressions
Far has wandered from God, from his essence. ”

“ Vengeance is mine, and I will repay. Because this people will not repent after I have delivered them, they will be cut off the face of the earth.” This is why I refused to go against my enemies again. ”

“ Those new desires which in thee burn
Were kindled by his grace.
2 Return, O wanderer, now return!
He hears thy humble sigh!
He sees thy softened spirit mourn,
When no one else is nigh.
3 Return, O wanderer, now return!
Thy Saviour bids thee live;
Go to his feet, and grateful learn
How freely he’ll forgive.
4 Return, O wanderer, now return!
And wipe the falling tear;
Thy Father calls—no longer mourn,
’Tis love invites thee near.
Collyer.
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Incline your ear, and come.
Isaiah 55:3.
The Saviour calls; let every ear
Attend the heavenly sound;
Ye doubting souls, dismiss your fear ”

“ Tells to all he meets, his crosse:
He that sinnes, hath he no losse?
He that findes a silver vein,
Thinks on it, and thinks again:
Brings thy Saviours death no gain?
Who in heart not ever kneels,
Neither sinne nor Saviour feels. ”