The text, I may add, has been graphically illustrated in the
life and labors, as well as in the death of her who now lies before us
in that beautiful casket, covered with so many rich and fragrant
flowers, the gifts of dearly beloved friends.

While I do not believe in eulogizing the dead, yet, nevertheless, I
think, nay, I experimentally know, that great good is derived from
reflection upon the lives of the great, the pure, and the noble ones
who are beyond the flood. Nothing stimulates me so much to increased
activity and aggressiveness in Christian work as the thought of the
numerous servants of the Most High God now in heaven:

"How bright those glorious spirits shine,
Whence all their white array?
How came they to the blissful seats
Of everlasting day?"--"Par." lxvi. 1.

Paul, who uttered the words of our text, was passing through great
suffering when he wrote this epistle to the Church which he planted at
Philippi. He was at this time a prisoner for Christ in the palace of the
imperial city of Rome: for he declares, "That _the things that happened
unto me_, have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel; so
that," he adds, "my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and
in all other places."

There are just two thoughts that we want to try and develop this
afternoon, namely, that conformity to the likeness of Christ in life
brings glorious gain to the Christian at death. Or, in the words of the
great Apostle of the Gentiles, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die
is gain." From the sacred hour that the blessed Jesus met him on his
way to Damascus, to the day of his martyrdom, his continual cry was,
"God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me." "I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."

"That man," says the Hebrew bard, "hath perfect blessedness, who not
only refraineth from walking astray, but who delights in the Law of the
Lord." _Lex rex_, was his motto--"The Law is King!" For the Master has
said: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I
am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." He desires to corroborate the
fact that--"Ye are the light of the world"--hence, he adds, "Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father which is in heaven." "The city set on a hill cannot
be hid."