Christ in Death
THEIST IS with you — in the hour and article of death. Never did a believer in Jesus die alone! Alone he may be as to all human aid and Christian sympathy. But he cannot be really and actually alone; for, if ever Christ fulfills this exceeding great and precious promise: I ar)i with you alway’’ it is when His blood-bought, ransomed saint enters and passes through the shaded valley. He is with you to speak the promises, to mete out the grace, to stifle fear, to repel the tempter, to apply the blood, to strengthen faith, and to waken the echoes of the silent valley with
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the music of His voice: ‘’/ am with you.^^ ‘’ Amid the prostration of earthly hopes, when unable to glance one thought on a dark future, when the stricken spirit, like a wounded bird, lies struggling in the dust, with broken wing and wailing cry, longing for pinions to fly away from a weaiy world to the rest and quiet of the grave; in that hour of earthly dissolution, He who has the keys of death at His girdle, nay, who has tasted death Himself, and better still, who hath conquered it, draws near in touching tenderness, saying, ‘Lo, I am with you. I am with you to cheer ycu, to comfort you, to support and sustain you. I, who once wept at a grave, am here to weep with you; I will be at your side in all that try ing future; I will make my grace sufficient for you, and my promises precious to you, and my love better than all earthly aflection. The one is changeable: the one must perish; I am the
CHRIST EYER WITH YOTT. *137
strength of your heart and your portion for ever.’” Blessed Lord!
“Abide with me from morn till eve,
For without Thee I cannot live;
Abide with me when death is nigh,
For without Thee I cannot die.”
Oh! seek much, living and dying, of the sensible presence of Christ. Let this be the grand, essential character of your religion: a religion, the essence, the sunshine of which is, the conscious presence with you ever of Jesus. Walk daily at His side. Cultivate confidential transactions with Him. Suffer no sin to grieve Him, no distrust to wound Him, no coldness, shyness, or distance of fellowship to lessen one throb, to suppress one desire, to congeal one current, or to prevent one act of your love. As His disciple and follower, separate yourself from the world, and bear His cross after Him boldly and uncomj)i*omisinglj, yet meekly and heroically. Be happy in all His dealings ^vitli you; all that He sends or withholds, gives or removes; for He hath said, ‘^Z will 7iever leave thee nor forsake the No! He will be with you until He brings you home to glory. Precious presence of Christ on earth! it is the dawn of glory, the earnest of heaven, the foretaste of celestial bliss, the fii’st-fruits of the golden harvest of eternity!
ILLUSTRATIONS.
The writer knew the parents and grandparents of this dear young man, among his personal friends. The happiness of this devoted Christian youth might be expected from his life. Christ was with him in the dying hour.
Among the many noble young men who have given their lives for the cause of human iii4ependence5 we may class Jasper Stone Laughlin, who died in the twenty-third year of his age, at the West End Military Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 16th, 1862, He was an only son, born in McConnellsville, Ohio, of pious parents, where he spent nearly all his life, with his mother and sister; his father, who was a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church, having died when Jasper was yet a child. It may truly be said of him that ‘’None knew him but to love him.” In the summer of 1858, he stood up for Jesus, and united with the Presbyterian Church. Such was his Christian deportment, that in 1861 he was elected and ordained a Puling Elder in the same Church in which his father lived and died. His place was never vacant when at home, in the Sabbath school, the prayer meeting, the public gatherings of God’s people.
In the fall of 1861, under a deep sense of duty to his country and his God, after prayerfully considering the whole matter, and obtaining the consent of his widowed mother, he volunteered under Captain T. M. Stevenson, Seventy-eighth Regiment O. Y. I., Colonel Leggett. He carried his religion with him. His Bible and Hymn Book were his daily companions. His captain in writing about him, since his death, says: “He was beloved by every one of his regiment. His conduct was so lofty and noble, his life so spiritual and heavenly minded, that the greatest despisers of religion were cowed before his very appearance. Once he said, ‘I never before felt the power and importance of religion as I do here. Cut off from home and the public means of grace, I feel the necessity of leaning upon the Saviour, and committing myself entirely to a kind and good providence.’”
His regiment was at the surrender of Fort Donelson, and in the battle of Shiloh during the second day. After having passed through that fearful struggle, and enduring many hardships, he was found to be failing in health; so much so, that Capt, Stevenson determined to send him home. When the hope was held up before him that he would soon be conveyed to his mother and sisters, he replied: “I am going to a far better home than any on earth. Tell my mother and sisters that I die happy. I am entering the upper kingdom only a few days before them. They rejoiced when I came into the lower kingdom, how much more should they rejoice to have me enter the upper kingdom. Tell them to sing Joyfully’ when they hear of my high promotion from the army, and the high service of my country, to the bright climes of bliss!” After he was placed on the boat at Pittsburgh Landing, May 7th, lie seemed to rally, and expressed himself as being quite comfortable. On the evening of the 9th, however, he felt that he was drawing near his ‘’time to die,” and being asked y)j his attending physician if he had any message to send to his friends, he dictated the following letter:
“Dear Mother and Sisters: I am just entering the glorious portals of eternity! Jesus has not yet made his appearance, but J Icnow that He will. Do not regret that you permitted me to volunteer. The happiness of the present moment makes up for all the suffering I ever endured. I soon expect to see dear father, grand-parents, and above all, Jestts! One of the greatest objects of my gratitude is, that God has granted me the privilege of sending you this message from the chambers of glory. I never enjoyed myself so much as while in the army. You ought to be proud that you have a son to fall in so glorious a cause as that of human independence. Tell our Church to be faithful unto the end, and get the glorious crown of life. Tell my dear pastor to continue in his faithful labors: that I know the blessing of God will follow them. Thank Mr. Chambers, the Baptist minister, for the interest he took in me at the good old Union Prayer Meetings.
* Joyfully, joyfully, onward we move ’ —
will be sung by me in nobler strains, in a short time, and
* Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee:
Ev’n though it be a cross
That raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God to thee, Nearer to thee — I would be, and still nearer to thee.’”
He was conveyed to the West End Military Hospital in Cincinnati, where he was brought under the kind care of relatives and friends. Dr. Dodge, who, spent much time with him, in a letter says:
“He was perfectly rational as long as he had strength to articulate. Realizing fully that his work on earth was done, he departed with a confident assurance of meeting the Saviour. The memory of his example and faith in the Saviour will never be efi’aced from the minds of scores of sympathizing friends.”
His remains were brought home, and
interred by the side of his father.
“Soldier of Christ, well done:
Praise be thy new employ:
And, while eternal ages run,
Best in thj Saviour’s joy.”