1 Cor. XV. 31. I jjrotest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
THERE were many in the apostolic age who denied the resurrection of the dead*. St. Paul, in
a ver. 12.
opposition to them, maintained the truth of that doctrine. In confirmation of his word, he asserted that he himself, no less than the other Apostles, had seen the Lord Jesus Christ in his risen state ; and that, consequently, there must be a resurrection of the dead ; more especially because the Lord Jesus did not rise as a mere individual, but as the head and forerunner of his people, even as the first-fruits be- fore the harvest. He then appeals to his adversaries themselves, whether, upon any other hypothesis than that of a resurrection to a future life of blessedness and glory, it would be possible to account for the conduct of himself and all his fellow Apostles and fellow Christians ; all of whom so readily encountered the severest trials that men could endure in this world, in the hope and prospect of approving them- selves to God, and of being approved by Him in the day of judgment ? " What shall they do who are baptized for the dead," that is, in the room of the dead, like soldiers filling up the ranks of those who have been cut off, if the " dead rise not at all ? Why are they then baptized for the dead ? and why stand we in jeopardy every hour?" Then, for their con- viction, he protests most solemnly before God, that this was his own experience, and that " he died daily." In considering these words, I will notice,
I. The Apostle's experience —
He here declares the daily habit of his mind, \. As the fruit and consequence of the persecu- tions he suffered —
[The Apostle preached the Gospel " with great plainness of speech." By this he gave offence to multitudes, both of Jews and Gentiles, who with implacable animosity sought his life. He had not preached the Gospel many days before his enemies conspired to destroy him ; and necessitated him, for the preservation of his life, to be let down in a basket from the battlements of a walled city. Fi*om that time he was in con- tinual danger, never knowing but that the address he was delivering would prove his last. Truly, he was " in deaths oft'';" and " like a sheep appointed for the slaughter'^;" or
b 2 Cor. xi. 23. '•■ Rom. viii. 36.