Preparation for Death; the State of the Soul after Death

Preparation for death — The state of the soul after death.

ATT was intended to have added the deathbed experience of the Rev. Dr. Andrew Fuller and of some others, but it seemed that this part of the subject had been extended far enough. Indeed, some may be ready to inquire why so much is said respecting the thoughts and speeches of dying persons. To which we would reply that there is no subject in the world which ought to be more interesting to all men, since all men are appointed to die. Whatever other evils we may escape, “in this war there is no discharge.” It is a scene of which we can have no previous experience, and therefore it is prudent to learn what we can from the experience of those who have gone before us. It is an important and an awful scene, and should therefore occupy many of our thoughts. If due preparation has been neglected in life and health, there is small probability that it will be made on a dying bed. If I had set down all that I have witnessed and read of the dying exercises of unconverted sinners, it would have presented an appalling object for our contemplation. Such scenes have often been exhibited in print, and are not without their use, but such narratives did not fall in with the scope of these essays. But, however insipid or even disgusting these accounts of the dying exercises of believers may be to some readers, there is a class, and a large one too, who will take a deep interest in these things, because they are now waiting till their change come, and are looking forward with intense interest to that inevitable event of which we have been writing so much. These are the persons whom the author has had principally in view in selecting these experiences of departing saints; and as the hopes and comforts of the children of God in life are very various, so he has endeavoured to show that a like variety is found in their views and exercises at the time of their departure out of the world.

The writer confesses also that in dwelling so long on this subject he had some regard to his own edification and preparation for death. As he knows from infallible evidence that he will soon be required to put oif this tabernacle and to emigrate from this lower world, he was solicitous to acquire as much information as he was able from those who have gone before what were the difficulties, sufferings and encouragements of pilgrims in this last stage of their journey. And, however it may be with others, he has derived instruction and encouragement from the contemplation of such scenes as are here described. It appears to him supremely reasonable that during the short time which remains of his life he should be chiefly concerned in the meditation of the things of another world and in making actual preparation for his own departure. He once supposed that the near approach of death would of itself be sufficient to arouse the mind and impress upon it the reality and awful importance of eternal things; but he finds by sad experience that, however his judgment is convinced of the certainty of death and its consequences, nothing will bring these things to bear on the heart but the illumination of the Holy Spirit. He wishes, therefore, to engage in such reading, meditation and writing as may have a tendency to fix his thoughts on the solemn scene before him, when he must close his eyes on the light of this world and bid adieu to all friends and objects with which he has been conversant here. He is not of opinion, however, that the best way to make preparation for death is to sit down and pore over the condition of our own souls, or to confine our exertions to those things which are directly connected with our own salvation.

We are kept here to do our Master’s work, and that relates to others as well as ourselves. We have a stewardship of which we must give an account; and the faithful and wise steward is careful and diligent in dispensing the blessings committed to him to others; this is especially the case in regard to ministers of the gosjiel. We have a responsible office, and our account before the tribunal of Jesus Christ must be solemn and awful; and it will not do to relinquish the proper work of our calling upon the pretext of seeking our own salvation. Our own seeking will be entirely unavailing without the aid and blessing of God, and this we may expect most confidently when we are diligently engaged in doing his work, which is always the duties of our station and calling. Active duty must be performed as long as we have strength for the work; and, like the Levites, we must attend around the tabernacle and altar when we are too old for more laborious services. Many of the faithful servants of God have expressed a strong desire no: to outlive their usefulness, and some have wished that their departure might occur in the very act of preaching. These things we may better leave to the wisdom of God, who directs all the circumstances of the death of his people as well as of their lives. Even when by bodily infirmities the servants of God are obliged to desist from public labours, they do not cease from serving their Master; their lives are not useless. His name is as much honoured by patient submission and cheerful resignation as by zealous public exertion; and the greatest and most effectual work which can be performed by any on earth they can perform — I mean the offering of prayers and intercessions day and night at the throne of grace. Let not the infirm and aged say that they can now do nothing for God. They can do much, and, for aught they can tell, more than they ever did in the days of their vigour.

It is a beautiful sight to see men laden with fruit even in old age. Such fruits are generally more mature than those of earlier days, and the aged saint often enjoys a tranquillity and a repose of spirit which are almost peculiar to that age. David — or whoever is the author of the seventy-first Psalm — prays most earnestly a prayer which should be daily on the lips of the aged: “Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.” And again: “Now, when I am old and gray-headed, forsake me not until I have showed thy strength to this generation, and thy power to all that are to come.” Let the aged, then, tell to those that come after them the works of divine grace which they have witnessed or which their fathers have told them. Let them be active as long as they can, and when bodily strength faileth let them wield the pen; or if unable to write for the edification of the Church, let them exhibit a consistent and shining example of the Christian temper, in kindness and good-will to all, in uncomplaining patience, in contented poverty, in cheerful submission to painful providences, and in mute resignation to the bereavement of their dearest friends. And when death comes let them not be afraid or dismayed; then will be the time to honour God by implicitly and confidently trusting in his promises. Let them “against hope believe in hope.” It is by faith that the last enemy must be conquered. He that believeth shall not be confounded in this trying hour. The Great Shepherd will not forsake his redeemed flock for whom he has shed his blood; and though the adversary may rage and violently assault dying saints, he shall not overcome them. Each one of them may ay with humble confidence, “Though I walk through the valley and shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” Let us not desire to make a parade and ostentatious display on a dying bed. Death has been called the honest hour, but hypocrisy may be practiced even on a dying bed. Although this event often reveals secrets, and brings deceived souls to a conviction of the sandy foundation on which they have built their hopes, ye( some keep on the mask to the last moment. More, however, suppress the expression of their fears and distress of mind. So much is said often about the manner in which persons meet death that some good men have wished and requested to be left very much alone: they have feared lest they should be tempted to vain glory, even on a dying bed, or they have feared lest their courage should fail them in the last struggle, and they should, through pain and imbecility of mind, be left to bring dishonour on their profession. The late excellent and evangelical Simeon of Cambridge seems to have been under the influence of a feeling of this kind. But the best and safest way is submissively to commit all the circumstances of our death unto God.

We have no conception of the soul but as a thinking, active being. The body is merely an organ or instrument by which the soul acts while connected with it; indeed, it cannot be demonstrated that the soul performs all its acts here by the use of this organ. But whether or not is of little consequence. We know that activity belongs to the soul, not to the body; and it would be a strange conclusion that that which is essentially active should cease to act because it had been deprived of one set of organs. The only legitimate inference is, that when separated from the body the mode of action is different from what it was before. As we learn the various operations of the soul only by experience, it is plain that we cannot fully understand or explain the precise mode of its action after it is separated from the body. Paul teaches us that the soul may exist and have conscious exercises of a very exalted kind; for he says, speaking of his rapture into heaven, “Whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell.” Now, if the soul could not act without the body, he could have told certainly that he was in the body when he witnessed in the third heavens things which it is not lawful for a man to utter. But this truth is taught more clearly and directly by Christ himself, when he said to the penitent thief on the cross, “This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” This testimony is of itself abundantly sufficient, and there is no evasion of its force but by an interpretation so frigid and far-fetched that it only serves to betray the weakness of the cause which it is brought to support.

Paul in another passage speaks clearly and explicitly on this point: “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. We are confident, I say, and .willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” In the previous context this apostle intimates that when the clay tabernacle is dissolved the soul will not be found naked, but that there will be another house ready to receive it, so that it will not be unclothed, but clothed upon. “For,” says he, “in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven; if so be that, being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” It would seem, then, that the soul is never without a suitable dwelling; it will not be unclothed; it only passes from one house to another — from an earthly to a heavenly habitation. But what this celestial clothins; will be of course we cannot now tell. When Stephen was dying he cried, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” The Lord Jesus is everywhere near to his saints; and as he watches over his sheep during their whole passage through the wilderness, so he is especially near to them when they come to the “valley and shadow of death,” so that they may then sing with the sweet Psalmist of Israel, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” But as Jesus the Lord has his residence in heaven, where he occupies a place on the throne of God at the right hand of the Father, and is surrounded by an innumerable host ready to execute all his commandments, so he commissions messengers to attend at the dying beds of believers and receive the spirits of the just and conduct them to his presence. It is evident that the departing soul will need a guide and convoy, for, utterly ignorant of the glorious world into which it- has entered, it would not know which way to direct its course or where to find its allotted mansion. For heaven is a wide domain — the house of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has many MANSIONS, and every redeemed soul has provided for it an appropriate residence, for Christ says, “I go to prepare a place for you.” And that guardian angels are sent to perform these kind offices for departed saints we are not left to conjecture, for we read that as soon as Lazarus died he “was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.” There is no reason for supposing that the privilege now conferred on the beggar was peculiar to him; every saint needs the guidance and guardianship of angels, as well as Lazarus; and we may conclude, therefore, that angels will attend on every departing saint.

Although we cannot now understand how the soul will act in the future world when divested of the body of clay, we cannot doubt that its consciousness of its identity will go with it. The memory of the past, instead of being obliterated, will, in all probability, be much more perfect than while the person lived upon earth. It is by no means incredible that memory in the future world will present to men everything which they have ever known, and every transaction in which they were ever engaged. The susceptibility of joyful emotions will also accompany the soul into the invisible world; and one of the first feelings of the departed saint will be a lively sense of complete deliverance from all evil, natural and moral. The pains of death will be the last pangs ever experienced. When these are over the soul will enjoy the feelings of complete salvation from every distress. What a new and delightful sensation will it be to feel safe from every future danger, as well as saved from all past trouble! But the most important change experienced at this time will be a perfect purification of the soul from sin. The soul, heretofore struggling with inbred corruption, which damped its ardour, darkened its views and stupefied its feelings, now can act without any moral obstruction. Who that has often complained, like Paul, “Oh, wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” but will feel this to be indeed heaven begun, when there will no more be felt any secret workings of pride, or envy, or selfishness, but when it shall be pure, and sweetly conscious of its own purity?

As perfection in holiness supposes a clear knowledge of spiritual objects, so we know that we shall no more see the divine glory, as it were, by reflection from a glass, but directly, or “face to face.” The soul of man, though probably greatly enlarged in its powers, may have new faculties developed for which there was no use here, and of which it had no consciousness; yet the field of knowledge being boundless, and our minds being capable of attending only to one thing at a time, our knowledge of celestial things will be gradually acquired, and not perfected at once. Indeed, there can be no limit set to the progression in knowledge; it will be endless. And no doubt the unalloyed pleasures of the future state will be intimately connected with this continual increase of divine knowledge. And as here knowledge is acquired by the aid of instructors, why may not the same be the fact in heaven? What a delightful employment to the saints who have been drinking in the knowledge of God and his works for thousands of years, to communicate instruction to the saint just arrived! How delightful to conduct the pilgrim who has just finished his race through the ever-blooming bowers of paradise, and to introduce him to this and the other ancient believer, and to assist him to find out and recognize, among so great a multitude, old friends and earthly relatives.

There need be no dispute about our knowing in heaven those whom we knew and loved here; for if there should be no faculty by which they could at once be recognized, yet by extended and familiar intercourse with the celestial inhabitants it cannot be otherwise but that interesting discoveries will be made continually; and the unexpected recognition of old friends may be one of the sources of pleasure which will render heaven so pleasant. But as the fleshly bond of relationship is dissolved at death, it seems reasonable to think that the only bond of union and kindred in heaven will be the spiritual bond which unites all believers in one body and to Christ their living Head; therefore we may presume that there will be felt an ardent desire to form an acquaintance with the most remarkable personages who have lived from Adam downward. Who, if admitted into paradise, could repress his curiosity to see, and, if possible, to converse with, the progenitor of our race? Doubtless he could tell us some things which we do not fully understand. And who would not wish to see the first person who ever entered those blessed abodes from our earth? Ay, and Enoch too, who never tasted death, and who still possesses his original body, changed and glorified, it is true, but still substantially the same? We might expect to find him in the company of Elijah, who is similarly circumstanced; and some think that the body of Moses, though it was dead and buried, was raised again, as he seems to have appeared in his own proper body on the Mount of Transfiguration. And where is Abraham, that venerable saint, who in faith and obedience exceeded all other men, and obtained from God the honourable appellation of “the father of the faithful” and the friend of God? And who would be in heaven ever so short a time without desiring to see Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles; and not him only, but Peter and John and all the college of the apostles?

But methinks we are in danger of indulging our imaginations too far, and of transferring to a heavenly state too many of the feelings and associations of our earthly condition. And I am reminded also that as the twinkling stars are lost in the blaat, of the rising sun, so there is one Person in the highest heavens, visible to all who enter that place, whose glory irradiates all the celestial mansions, whose love and smiles diffuse ineffable joy through all the heavenly hosts, and in whom every believer has an absorbing interest with which no other can be compared. On his head he wears many crowns, and in his hand he holds a sceptre by which he governs the universe; but yet he exhibits visibly the marks of a violent death, which for us he once endured. His name is, The Word of God, King

OF KINGS AND LoRD OF LORDS, ThE AlPHA AND

Omega, The Almighty. And behold, all the angels of God worship him. And the host of the redeemed, which no man can number, sing a song of praise to the Lamb which no man can learn, except those that are redeemed from among men; for the burden of their song is, “Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. These are they that have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Every redeemed soul upon being admitted into heaven will, for a while, be so completely absorbed in the contemplation of that Divine Person that he will be incapable of paying much attention to any others; like that Armenian princess of whom Xenophon gives an account, who, after all the rest of the company had been expressing their admiration of Cyrus, one praising one thing and one another, upon being asked what about this royal personage she admired most, answered that she did not even look at liira, because her whole attention had been absorbed in admiring him (her young husband) who had offered to die for her. But the saved sinner may say that his attention was completely absorbed in gazing upon Him who not only said that he would die for him, but who actually did die in his place, and by this sacrifice redeemed him from the curse of the law and from all iniquity. The sweet and intimate intercourse which the redeemed soul will have with his. Saviour cannot now be conceived: it will far transcend all the ideas which we now can form, and will be a perfection of bliss so great that nothing can be added to it in any other way than by an increase of the capacity of the soul.

But still, all that is enjoyed in this intermediate state between death and judgment is but a part of that felicity to which the redeemed of the Lord are destined hereafter. It- is only the enjoyment of a separate soul; but “the exceeding great and eternal weight of glory” laid up in heaven for the children of God. is for the whole man, made up of soul and body; and as even in this world many pleasures are enjoyed by means of bodily organs, who can tell what new and ever-varying delights may be let into the soul by means of bodies of a celestial mould — bodies fashioned after the model of the glorious body of Jesus Christ? If our senses now bring to our view so many glorious objects both in the heavens and the earth, how rich and delightful will be the vision of the upper heavens by the eyes of the resurrection body! Then shall we see Jesus with our bodily eyes; then shall we behold what now no tongue can describe nor even heart conceive. The departed saints, therefore, though blessed to the full amount of their present capacity, yet are living in joyful expectation of a more glorious state.

We should not think that the redemption and resuscitation of the body is a small matter. The body is an essential part of human nature, and the glorified body will add to the felicity of the redeemed in a degree which we have no means of calculating. The inspired writers, therefore, when they speak of the blessedness of heaven, speak sparingly of the state of the separate soul, but when they describe the resurrection, they seem to be enraptured. Hear Paul drawing a comparison between this mortal, corrupt and earthly body and that immortal, pure and spiritual body which will be possessed by every saint: “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorrui)tion. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in gloiy. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sewn a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. As we have borne the image of the earthy, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

No sooner shall these resuscitated bodies open their immortal eyes than they shall behold the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven. And no sooner is the judgment set than all these shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and shall be so highly honoured as to have a place, as assessors, on the judgment-seat with him. And when the awful transactions of that day are ended, the redeemed shall accompany their Lord and Saviour to heaven, where they shall be put in full and eternal possession of that felicity and glory which Christ has purchased for them by his precious blood. In this sublime temple their songs shall mingle with those of the holy angels for ever and ever. It need not be supposed that saints in heaven will be continually employed in nothing but praise. This, indeed, will be their noblest employment, and the anthems of praise to God and the Lamb will never cease; but may we not reasonably suppose that the exercises and pursuits of the saints will be various? The wonderful works of God will open to their contemplation. They may be employed, as angels are now, as messengers to distant worlds, either as instruments of justice or mercy; for we find that the angels are employed in both these ways. While, then, one choir surrounds the throne and elevates the celestial song of praise for redemption, others may be employed in executing the commands of their Lord; and then, in their turn, these last may keep up the unceasing praise while the first go forth on errands of mercy or wrath. Some have divided the angels into assisting and ministering: the first are supposed to be always engaged in acts of worship, while the last are always employed in other services. But it would be much more reasonable to suppose that they all, in turn, take their part in both these services. Here, however, it becomes us to pause, and in deep humility, on account of our ignorance and unworthiness, to put our hands on our mouths and our mouths in the dust. We are slow to learn earthly things; how then can we comprehend those which are heavenly? But if we are the children of God, we shall have experience of these celestial employments and never-end-

»ng joys. Soon, very soon, these things which are now dimly discerned by means of faith will be realized, when every humble saint shall appear with Christ in glory, and shall never be exposed any more to danger or suffering. Let us, then, now begin the song which shall never cease to Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own precious blood.