Part 3 (1/2)
It is not unsuitable for a dying Christian to consider, that he is compa.s.sed about with a great cloud of witnesses, who themselves have died, and who are watching his departure. We ought to die with such faith in Jesus, such confidence in G.o.d, such confident expectation and hope, that they will rejoice to see us conquer death. Our last conflict should be fought in a manner worthy of the company and scenes into which we are immediately to pa.s.s.
We should not anxiously seek to remove entirely from any one, in the course of his life, his fears with regard to death, except as we may subst.i.tute faith for those fears. G.o.d probably intends them now for the increase of faith. Moreover, when the event of death happens, it will be mingled with so much mercy as to make the Christian smile at his fears.
The exhortation of the apostle in view of his great discourse of death and resurrection is noticeable: ”Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
There are cases in which the clouded faculties, or delirium, prevent the full enjoyment of a peaceful, happy death. Such cases seem painful to friends, but the Shepherd knows when it is best to hide the face of a sheep which he carries through the valley, and that it is sometimes better for the sheep to pa.s.s the valley in the black and dark night, than when daylight, by revealing the horrors of the place, would excite fear. All this may safely be left to those hands which spoiled death of his sting, and to that love which is stronger than death. Wherever, and whenever, and in whatever manner we may die, it will be under the care and direction of Him who will no more see us in the power of the enemy, than a strong and faithful shepherd would suffer a beloved member of his flock to fall into the power of the lion.
The last lines of a hymn by Doddridge--
”Then speechless clasp thee in my arms, The antidote of death”--
are altered, by some compilers, who subst.i.tute the word _conqueror_ for _antidote_. But the author saw the truthfulness of his own chosen language, though the word in question be not convenient for musical expression. When we are already stung by a poisonous creature, we take something which proves an antidote to the effect of the sting. This medicine is not so much a conqueror, as an antidote; for the poison is not developed. But the sting is inflicted, and before the poisonous injury is felt, the antidote prevents it. These words of Christ correspond to this: ”Verily, verily I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” How often we behold this verified!
The spectators ”see death,” in his approach, in his effects; they weep and tremble, while the dear patient does not ”see” it; for something else absorbs his thoughts, fixes his attention; he is stung, indeed, by the monster; but Christ is an antidote to death, causes it to pa.s.s by without inflicting pain upon the mind, or in any way hurting its victim.
Dr. Watts ill.u.s.trates and confirms all this:--
”Jesus, the vision of thy face Hath overpowering charms; Scarce shall I feel death's cold embrace, If Christ be in my arms.”
The piece of paper which would suffice to write the twenty-third Psalm upon it, would not be large enough for a common t.i.tle deed; and yet that Psalm, if it expresses our experience, is worth infinitely more than is conveyed, or secured, by all the registries of deeds under the sun. We are each of us to see a time when we shall feel the truth of this. If but these first few words of the Psalm are true in my case, if ”the Lord is my Shepherd,” all the rest of the Psalm is a record, a promise, a pledge, of past, present, and future good.
There are six things declared by Christ to be characteristic of the relation which he and his people sustain to each other, as Shepherd and the sheep:
1. ”My sheep hear my voice;
2. And I know them;
3. And they follow me;
4. And I give unto them eternal life;
5. And they shall never perish;
6. Neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.”
Here we find directions to duty, as well as promises of future good.
Since it is more important how we live than how we die, and since death is merely the arrival at the end of a journey, the beginning, progress, and history of the journey determining what the arrival is to be, we shall do well to dismiss our borrowed trouble with regard to the manner of our departure out of the world, and be solicitous only with regard to the right discharge of present duty. We read, ”Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” The death of every child of his is, with G.o.d, an object of unspeakable interest; his own honor is concerned in it; its influence on survivors is of great importance; it will be among the means by which G.o.d accomplishes several, it may be many, purposes of providence, but especially of his grace. ”No man dieth to himself.” Great interests are involved in his death, beyond his own personal welfare. Now, if we have lived for G.o.d, he will make our death the object of his especial care, and will honor it by its being the means of promoting his glory. Instead, therefore, of gloomy apprehensions as to dying, we should cherish the n.o.ble wish and aim that Christ may be magnified in our body, whether it be by life or by death.
If our life has been a walking with G.o.d, ”THOU ART WITH ME” will be a perfect warrant, now, and in death, to ”FEAR NO EVIL.”
III.
THE SEARCH FOR THE DEPARTED.
No bliss mid worldly crowds is bred, Like musing on the sainted dead.
BISHOP MANT.
We seek in vain, on earth, for one who has gone to heaven. Though better informed as to the objects of our love than they who lingered about the deserted tomb of the Saviour, and were asked, ”Why seek ye the living among the dead,” we nevertheless find ourselves, in our thoughts, searching for them; so difficult is it at once to feel that they are wholly and forever departed. There is an affecting and beautifully simple ill.u.s.tration of our thoughts and feelings, in this respect, in the search which was made for Elijah after his translation. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view afar off, when Elijah and Elisha stood by the Jordan. Elisha returned alone, and these men could not feel reconciled to the loss of their great master. They were not persuaded that he had gone to heaven, no more to return; they sought leave to seek him, and to recover him: ”Peradventure,” they said, ”the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley.” Elisha peremptorily refused to grant them leave. They were importunate; and when, at last, it would, perhaps, seem like obstinacy in him, or like jealousy of their superior love for Elijah, to forbid the search, which at the worst would only be fruitless, he yielded. Three days they explored the valleys, ransacked the thickets, groped in the caves, traversed hills, followed imaginary trails and footprints, but found him not. When they came again to Elisha, ”he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?”