6. The "I Will" of Resurrection

      Then there is another "I will" in John 6:40; it occurs four times in the chapter: "I will raise him up at the last day."

      I rejoice to think that I have a Saviour who has power over death. My blessed Master holds the keys of death and Hell. I pity the poor unbeliever and infidel who has no hope in the resurrection. But every child of God can open that chapter and read the promise, and his heart leaps within him for joy.

      The tradesman generally puts the best specimens of his wares in the window to show us the quality of his stock. When Christ was down here, He gave us a specimen of what He could do. He raised three from the dead, that we might know what power He had–(1) Jairus' daughter, (2) the widow's son, and (3) Lazarus of Bethany. He raised all three so every doubt might be swept away from our hearts.

      How dark and gloomy this world would be if we had no hope in the resurrection. But when we Christians lay our little children down in the grave, it is not without hope. We have seen them in the terrible struggle with death; but there has been one star to illumine the darkness and gloom–the thought that though the happy circle has been broken on earth, it shall be completed again in yon world of heavenly light.

      You who have lost a loved one, rejoice as you read this "I will"! Those who have died in Christ shall come forth again by and by. The darkness shall flee away, and the morning light of the resurrection shall dawn upon us. It is only a little while, and the voice of Him who has said it shall come, shall be heard in the grave–"I will raise him up at the last day."

      Precious promise! Precious "I will"!

      I had an unsaved brother for whom I was very anxious. For fourteen long years I tried to lead that brother to "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

      He was the Benjamin of the family, born a few weeks after my father's death. When he was seventeen, he had a long run of typhoid fever, and he never fully recovered from it.

      I did everything I could to bring him to Christ. He was a young man of considerable promise. I know no one who could sit down and discuss against the divinity of Christ like that man. I was not any match for him in argument. But day by day I preached to him as best I knew how.

      I think I never loved a man on earth as I loved that brother. (I never knew what it was to love a father, because he died before I remember.) Because he was sickly, that drew my love and sympathy toward him; and oh, how my heart yearned for his salvation!

      After preaching one night, I said, "Now if any of this audience would like to take up his cross and follow Christ, I would like him to rise." I cannot tell you what a thrill of joy filled my soul when that brother of mine arose! It seemed the happiest night of my life. I was full of joy and thankfulness.

      Afterwards my brother and I worked together for a time. We talked of the Gospel. And in the summer we sat upon the hillside and talked of the old home.

      After a year had passed, I went to Chicago. He was to go with me. He bid me good-bye, and I said, "Samuel, I will see you in a few days, so I will only say good-bye till then."

      A few days after, a telegram came, saying, "Samuel is dead." I traveled a thousand miles to bury him. I got more comfort out of that promise, "I will raise him up at the last day," than anything else in the Bible. How it cheered me! How it lighted up my path! As I went into the room and looked upon the lovely face of that brother, how that passage ran through my soul: "Thy brother shall rise again." Thank God for that promise! It is worth more than the world to me.

      When we laid him in the grave, it seemed as if I could hear the voice of Jesus Christ saying, "Thy brother shall rise again."