Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “ It is a spirit ;" and they cried out . 317 326 We glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation work- SERMON I. · 2 TIMOTHY I. 10. "Our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." THESE words of the Apostle, addressed to his disciple Timothy, contain the simple and solemn declaration, that our Saviour, Jesus Christ, has shown the importance of death, and has revealed immortal life through his doctrine. The text says, Jesus hath "abolished" death; that is, he has shown, that the fear of death is groundless, because death is not, what it seems to be, the end of human existence. In the same manner, Jesus himself asserts, "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death;" that is, to him, who believes in immortality, and acts accordingly, death has no reality, if the word be taken in the sense in which the unbeliever understands it, as the end of man's existence. Accordingly, the words, "he hath abolished death," coincide in their practical meaning with a passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which says, that Jesus has " delivered them, who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage." The words of our text, "life and immortality," as they are put in opposition to "death," we take to be synonymous with "immortal life." |