Sermons for the Christian Year (Volume 2) (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SERMON III. Second Sunday After Trinity. LIVING UNTO CHRIST. " For to me to live is Christ."?Philippians, i. 21. A LL that a man hath will he give for his life." " The love of life, at once the means of its preservation and the pledge of its immortality, is one of the most powerful of those principles implanted within us by God. To the gay and happy, life is lovely; the miserable, after years of suffering, still cling to it; the criminal, condemned to execution, cries out, "Give me years of imprisonment, but oh, spare my life!'' and the dying Christian too often reluctantly loosens his hold on his present existence, though assured of a happier one beyond the grave. Nothing can overcome this feeling but the power of faith, or of despair; nor even by these is it overcome, for faith assures the Christian of a life in heaven; and despair whispers, not that there is no existence beyond the grave, but that it cannot be more miserable than an earthly state of wretchedness; so that the triumphant believer and the despairing suicide may feel the ruling passion strong in death. Vol. i:?2 This love of life, religion was designed to modify, and to fasten it on our whole existence, rather than on that brief portion of life which we now enjoy; and in St. Paul we have a happy instance of that state of mind to which it would raise us. He was ready to depart and be with Christ; but willing to remain yet longer on earth, to serve Him in the flesh. He saw so much in the world of glory to draw him away, that he knew it would be gain for him to go; but yet there were so many perishing souls to whom his labors might bring salvation, that he wished to be spared for further efforts, and thus was in a strait betwixt two, and knew not which to choose. Happy apostle ! balancing between an eter...