"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also
glorified with him."
26. Here, then, thou hast the high boast, the honor and the glory of
the Christian. Leave to the world its splendor, its pride and its
honors, which mean nothing else--when it comes to the point--than
that they are the children of the devil. But do thou consider the
marvel of this, that a poor, miserable sinner should obtain such
honor with God as to be called, not a slave nor a servant of God, but
a son and an heir of God! Any man, yea the whole world, might well
consider it privilege enough to be called one of God's lowest
creatures, only so that they might have the honor of being God's
property. For who would not wish to belong to such a Lord and
Creator? But the apostle declares here that we who believe in Christ
shall be not his servants, but his own sons and daughters, his heirs.
Who can sufficiently magnify or utter God's grace? It is beyond the
power of our expression or comprehension.
27. Yet here our great human weakness discovers itself. If we fully
and confidently believed this, then of what should we be afraid or
who could do us harm? He who from the heart can say to God, Thou art
my Father and I am thy child--he who can say this can surely bid
defiance to all the devils in hell, and joyfully despise the
threatenings and ragings of the whole world. For he possesses, in his
Father, a Lord before whom all creatures must tremble and without
whose will they can do nothing; and he possesses a heritage which no
creature can harm, a dominion which none can reduce.
28. But the apostle adds here the words, "if so be that we suffer
with him," to teach us that while we are on earth we must so live as
to approve ourselves good, obedient children, who do not obey the
flesh, but who, for the sake of this dominion, endure whatever
befalls them or causes pain to the flesh. If we do this, then we may
well comfort ourselves and with reason rejoice and glory in the fact
the apostle declares, that "as many as are led by the Spirit of God,"
and do not obey the promptings of the flesh, "these are the sons of
God."
29. O how noble it is in a man not to obey his lusts, but to resist
them with a strong faith, even though he suffer for it! To be the
child of a mighty and renowned king or emperor means to possess
nobility, honor and glory on earth. How much more glorious it would
be, could a man truthfully boast that he is the son of one of the
highest of the angels! Yet what would be all that compared with one
who is named and chosen by God himself, and called his son, the heir
of exalted divine majesty? Such sonship and heritage must assuredly
imply great and unspeakable glory and riches, and power and honor,
above all else that is in heaven or in earth. This very honor, even
though we had nothing but the name and fame of it, ought to move us
to become the enemies of this sinful life on earth and to strive
against it with all our powers, notwithstanding we should have to
surrender all for its sake and suffer all things possible for a human
being to suffer. But the human heart cannot grasp the greatness of
the honor and glory to which we shall be exalted with Christ. It is
altogether above our comprehension or imagination. This Paul declares
in what follows, in verse 18, where he says: "I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward," as we have heard in
the text for the fifth Sunday after Trinity.
_Ninth Sunday After Trinity_
Text: 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not
lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye
idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat
down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit
fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and
twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of
them made trial, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye,
as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. 11 Now these
things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. 12
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but
God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye
are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape,
that ye may be able to endure it.