NUMBER XXXVIII. ON DEATH. Is Death a pow'rful Monarch? True- And I'll disarm the tyrant's rage. DEATH is a solemn subject;-it is a sentence passed on mankind, which cannot be repealed. A change we must all undergo, on quitting this transitory life to enter on eternity. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” Those who will be found alive at the second coming of Christ, when He shall come in His glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, will not die, but they will undergo as great a change as death is to us. Those that sleep in the grave shall awake, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and they that are alive shall be changed, and caught to meet the Lord in the air. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.” Hence we learn that, when Almighty God thinks fit to gather to Himself man's spirit, the disunion of soul and body must take place. Our removal from this transitory life to a state of eternity, cannot be effected without such a change; and yet, of all the evils that oppress, mankind, there is not ope we seem to dread so much as death. Whether considered as the total dissolution of the body, when the senses are all destroyed, and the faculties of the mind cease to perform their accustomed duties;-whether we apprehend the pain and agony that may attend our dying moments, when the parting stroke is given which separates soul and body or whether we behold ourselves on the brink of eternity, and on the very verge of passing into the immediate presence of Divine Majesty, it is awful and appalling. Still, it is not so terrible, perhaps, las man imagines; there is an all-sufficient antidote against the fears; so natural to humanity, of death and dying». \› ‹Did te reflect properly on these important subjects, our minds would in all probability, be delivered from a variety of distressing apprehensións. The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the ་ breath of life, and man became a living soul;" the body was animated, as the soul was infused into it. When all God's purposes, for which He brought us into being, are accomplished in us, he removes us out of this world by death. The breath He breathed into our nostrils departs out of our body-the pulse ceases to beat -the circulation of the blood stops-the intellectual faculties perish, and the body returns to the elements out of which it was formed. We look on sickness, disease, and old age, as prognostics of death. But, distinct from these, "There is a time to die;"-God appoints the hour, and we must obey the call. It is sometimes preceded by a fit of sickness-sometimes comes suddenly upon us—and, sometimes by slow degrees advances. Come when it will, if we learn to familiarize our thoughts with it, by the consolations which revealed religion offers, we shall meet it with Christian fortitude, and resign our breath to Him who gave it, without dismay. Many have died without a sigh or groan; may we not do the same? Death is produced by certain physical causes, and may not be so terrible when near at hand, as when viewed at a distance. Of this we have many proofs. Then why should we perplex ourselves, or anticipate those sufferings which we may never be doomed to experience? The Scriptures speak of death as a sleep: may we not reasonably suppose then, that all fears concerning it are groundless? It is evident that the body feels no pain in dropping off to sleep; neither have we any sensations of fear respecting our nightly slumbers. We compose ourselves for the purpose. Sleep overtakes our wearied minds; we know not when it falls upon us; we sink to rest, and when we awake we are refreshed. Great consolation may be derived by consulting the Scriptures on the subject of death. We shall find by them that we have little reason to fear death or dying, if we look confidently to the promises of the Gospel. Our Lord says, "Fear not; let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” This ought to be a source of great consolation to the dying Christian. And so it will be, if rightly influenced by the truths and principles of the Gospel; with which it is absolutely necessary for us to be well acquainted, in order to relieve us from the dread of death and dying. That our Lord will support us in our dying moments, if we do not neglect to prepare ourselves for His presence, by the means He has prescribed, and receive us unto Himself, that where He is, there we may be also, are glorious prospects, and gracious promises to reflect on; well suited to dispel every gloom-to remove every fear even of the most timid. With these reflections then, let us put ourselves, for once, into dying circumstances, and consider death as it is represented in the Scriptures;-a change from one state to another-a sleep which we fall into, without knowing the precise moment we drop off, and from which we awake" to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."This is certainly an awful reflection; and should teach us to regulate our conduct to the best of our ability, by the rules of the Gospel. But, we find in the Scriptures, an antidote is provided, even in the worst of cases, against the distressing apprehensions it may create in some minds. We are assured by them, that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;" and, "the forgiveness of sins," we should recollect, is one of the chief articles of our faith. Besides which, we may reasonably conclude, from our Lord's assurance to the penitent thief, "Verily I say unto thee, to day thou shalt be with me in Paradise," that when we awake from the sleep of death we shall be as he was, in the immediate presence of our Judge and Redeemer. "The spirit shall return unto God who gave it." To risk an opinion hereon would be profane and daring. The truths of Holy writ are past conjecture; and they are calculated to relieve us from all fears concerning death. And as to 1 |