1461 Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah, O my soul. 2 As long as I live will I praise Jehovah; I will sing psalms unto my God while I have my being. 3 Put not confidence in nobles, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his purposes perish.
5 Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Jehovah his God, 6 Who made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is therein; who keepeth truth for ever; 7 Who executeth judgment for the oppressed, who giveth bread to the hungry. Jehovah looseth the prisoners; 8 Jehovah openeth [the eyes of] the blind; Jehovah raiseth up them that are bowed down; Jehovah loveth the righteous; 9 Jehovah preserveth the strangers; he lifteth up the fatherless and the widow; but the way of the wicked doth he subvert. 10 Jehovah will reign for ever, [even] thy God, O Zion, from generation to generation. Halleluiah!
1471 Praise ye Jah! for it is good. Sing psalms of our God; for it is pleasant: praise is comely. 2 Jehovah doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth the outcasts of Israel. 3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. 4 He counteth the number of the stars; he giveth names to them all. 5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. 6 Jehovah lifteth up the meek; he abaseth the wicked to the earth. 7 Sing unto Jehovah with thanksgiving; sing psalms upon the harp unto our God: 8 Who covereth the heavens with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains; 9 Who giveth to the cattle their food, to the young ravens which cry. 10 He delighteth not in the strength of the horse, he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man; 11 Jehovah taketh pleasure in those that fear him, in those that hope in his loving-kindness.
12 Laud Jehovah, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. 13 For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee; 14 He maketh peace in thy borders; he satisfieth thee with the finest of the wheat. 15 He sendeth forth his oracles to the earth: his word runneth very swiftly. 16 He giveth snow like wool, scattereth the hoar frost like ashes; 17 He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? 18 He sendeth his word, and melteth them; he causeth his wind to blow—the waters flow. 19 He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. 20 He hath not dealt thus with any nation; and as for [his] judgments, they have not known them. Hallelujah!
151 But I make known to you, brethren, the glad tidings which I announced to you, which also ye received, in which also ye stand, 2 by which also ye are saved, (if ye hold fast the word which I announced to you as the glad tidings,) unless indeed ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you, in the first place, what also I had received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures; 4 and that he was buried; and that he was raised the third day, according to the scriptures; 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the most remain until now, but some also have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to an abortion, he appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called apostle, because I have persecuted the assembly of God. 10 But by God's grace I am what I am; and his grace, which [was] towards me, has not been vain; but I have laboured more abundantly than they all, but not I, but the grace of God which [was] with me. 11 Whether, therefore, I or they, thus we preach, and thus ye have believed.
12 Now if Christ is preached that he is raised from among [the] dead, how say some among you that there is not a resurrection of [those that are] dead? 13 But if there is not a resurrection of [those that are] dead, neither is Christ raised: 14 but if Christ is not raised, then, indeed, vain also [is] our preaching, and vain also your faith. 15 And we are found also false witnesses of God; for we have witnessed concerning God that he raised the Christ, whom he has not raised if indeed [those that are] dead are not raised. 16 For if [those that are] dead are not raised, neither is Christ raised; 17 but if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then indeed also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are [the] most miserable of all men.
20 (But now Christ is raised from among [the] dead, first-fruits of those fallen asleep. 21 For since by man [came] death, by man also resurrection of [those that are] dead. 22 For as in the Adam all die, thus also in the Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each in his own rank: [the] first-fruits, Christ; then those that are the Christ's at his coming. 24 Then the end, when he gives up the kingdom to him [who is] God and Father; when he shall have annulled all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he put all enemies under his feet. 26 [The] last enemy [that] is annulled [is] death. 27 For he has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he says that all things are put in subjection, [it is] evident that [it is] except him who put all things in subjection to him. 28 But when all things shall have been brought into subjection to him, then the Son also himself shall be placed in subjection to him who put all things in subjection to him, that God may be all in all.)
(Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-11)
The word resurrection, usually points out our existence beyond the grave. Of the apostle's doctrine not a trace can be found in all the teaching of philosophers. The doctrine of Christ's death and resurrection, is the foundation of Christianity. Remove this, and all our hopes for eternity sink at once. And it is by holding this truth firm, that Christians stand in the day of trial, and are kept faithful to God. We believe in vain, unless we keep in the faith of the gospel. This truth is confirmed by Old Testament prophecies; and many saw Christ after he was risen. This apostle was highly favoured, but he always had a low opinion of himself, and expressed it. When sinners are, by Divine grace, turned into saints, God causes the remembrance of former sins to make them humble, diligent, and faithful. He ascribes to Divine grace all that was valuable in him. True believers, though not ignorant of what the Lord has done for, in, and by them, yet when they look at their whole conduct and their obligations, they are led to feel that none are so worthless as they are. All true Christians believe that Jesus Christ, and him crucified, and then risen from the dead, is the sun and substance of Christianity. All the apostles agreed in this testimony; by this faith they lived, and in this faith they died.
(Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19)
Having shown that Christ was risen, the apostle answers those who said there would be no resurrection. There had been no justification, or salvation, if Christ had not risen. And must not faith in Christ be vain, and of no use, if he is still among the dead? The proof of the resurrection of the body is the resurrection of our Lord. Even those who died in the faith, had perished in their sins, if Christ had not risen. All who believe in Christ, have hope in him, as a Redeemer; hope for redemption and salvation by him; but if there is no resurrection, or future recompence, their hope in him can only be as to this life. And they must be in a worse condition than the rest of mankind, especially at the time, and under the circumstances, in which the apostles wrote; for then Christians were hated and persecuted by all men. But it is not so; they, of all men, enjoy solid comforts amidst all their difficulties and trials, even in the times of the sharpest persecution.
(Read 1 Corinthians 15:20-34)
All that are by faith united to Christ, are by his resurrection assured of their own. As through the sin of the first Adam, all men became mortal, because all had from him the same sinful nature, so, through the resurrection of Christ, shall all who are made to partake of the Spirit, and the spiritual nature, revive, and live for ever. There will be an order in the resurrection. Christ himself has been the first-fruits; at his coming, his redeemed people will be raised before others; at the last the wicked will rise also. Then will be the end of this present state of things. Would we triumph in that solemn and important season, we must now submit to his rule, accept his salvation, and live to his glory. Then shall we rejoice in the completion of his undertaking, that God may receive the whole glory of our salvation, that we may for ever serve him, and enjoy his favour. What shall those do, who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Perhaps baptism is used here in a figure, for afflictions, sufferings, and martyrdom, as Matthew 20:22,23. What is, or will become of those who have suffered many and great injuries, and have even lost their lives, for this doctrine of the resurrection, if the dead rise not at all? Whatever the meaning may be, doubtless the apostle's argument was understood by the Corinthians. And it is as plain to us that Christianity would be a foolish profession, if it proposed advantage to themselves by their faithfulness to God; and to have our fruit to holiness, that our end may be everlasting life. But we must not live like beasts, as we do not die like them. It must be ignorance of God that leads any to disbelieve the resurrection and future life. Those who own a God and a providence, and observe how unequal things are in the present life, how frequently the best men fare worst, cannot doubt as to an after-state, where every thing will be set to rights. Let us not be joined with ungodly men; but warn all around us, especially children and young persons, to shun them as a pestilence. Let us awake to righteousness, and not sin.
