CHAPTER IX.

THOUGHTS ABOUT DEATH.

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me." PSALM xxiii. 4.

ALL sickness should remind of death. For it is one of God's merciful ways of leading us to prepare to die.

And sickness rightly used helps Christian people to gain that "Peace with God," which enables them calmly to face death when they know it is near at hand.

The previous chapters have set forth the way to gain Peace. We must seek for it from God, who is ever ready to give it; by the use of the means of grace, in penitence and simple faith. If you have not gained Peace, delay not to tell God's minister; speak openly and freely to him; and pray that he may have grace to direct you. To do otherwise is to trifle with your soul.

Probably the most frequent obstacle to Peace

is the difficulty of feeling quite resigned to God's Will. We cling naturally to life, as we say, meaning life in this world. We forget that the life which really deserves the name of life, is not confined to the life here, and is quite independent of it. Our affections and interests bind us so closely to earth that it seems hard to break these ties. And perhaps we are leaving some behind who have been dependent on us, and we fear for them that their future will be sad and hard.

But all these feelings spring from having a weak grasp of the truths, which God has taught successive generations of men through His Church. If we have gained an understanding of these, we know that we are members of Christ and have received a share in the Life which He gives through the Holy Spirit, and of which this present life in the world is only the beginning. And if our hopes have been raised to Heaven and the Life to come, our affections will be there too, and not confined to earth. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." And, with respect to our dear ones left on earth, if we have been accustomed to commend them in simple faith to

the constant care of our Father in Heaven, we shall know that He who has protected them hitherto, through us as His instruments, will not neglect them because we are called away, but will raise up others in our place to administer His bounty.

But some have gained Peace, and yet fear death. If it be so in your case, it will be well to ask yourself, Why? Probably you shrink from all thoughts about death. And if so, the only way to get rid of your fear, is to force yourself calmly to think and reason about it1.

1 "If the sick person hath not before disposed of his goods, let him then be admonished to make his Will, and to declare his debts, what he oweth, and what is owing unto him; for the better discharging of his conscience and the quietness of his executors. But men should often be put in remembrance to take order for the settling of their temporal estates whilst they are in health." (Order for Visitation of the Sick.)

That you may do this justly and rightly, pray to God, before you consult your adviser, in words such as these:

GOD, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed; Grant unto me a wise and upright spirit; that I may arrange my worldly affairs with justice and piety; so that being freed from all earthly cares and anxieties, I may fix my thoughts without distraction upon the things above; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Saviour Jesus Christ has conquered death. He took our nature upon Him, "that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

Death could not hold the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither will death be able to hold you. The resurrection of our Lord is a certain assurance that the Christian will be raised again. "We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body." believe in "the Resurrection of the Body." "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

I

Sin is the foundation of all fears about death. Sin makes death terrible. S. Paul says, "The sting of death is sin." But if we believe that our Lord is "The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," this terror may be entirely done away in our case. For if we have sought for pardon through the precious Blood of Christ, and trusted ourselves in simple faith to the Redemption which He wrought, we may join in the triumphant thanksgiving of the heirs

of salvation,-"Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." And for this cause S. Paul sums up his noble argument respecting death and the Resurrection with these most comforting words, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

For what is death to the Christian? The act by which he escapes to his rest from toil and sorrow. The moment of departing from this present state into-it is true, an unknown state, yet-one distinctly revealed in the Bible as a better.

Think of the littleness of earthly life. The chief pleasure of almost all things here is in their pursuit. Riches which seem so tempting, as enjoyed by others, are found to bring many cares when they are won. Enjoyments which are pursued with intense eagerness are often disappointing when we have gained them. And we soon grow tired even of things which once gave the greatest pleasure. With earthly things the best comes first; "and afterwards that which is worse." The things of this world