1.A 28. LETTER XXVIII

LETTER XXVIII.

Must be fitted for death here A definition of death The effect of separation Distinction between death and annihilation Matter itself indestructible Love of life natural to all Its use The more holy, the more we desire to live Anecdote of a preacher Of Whitefield and Tennent Nevertheless we must all die Death a curse It shall be destroyed Love of life buoys up the believer Cure of melancholy. MY DEAR M : I think it cannot be disputed but that a sanctified soul is prepared to die. It is equally certain that none others are thus pre pared. Unless we adopt the absurd notion of a death purgatory, or a purgatory after death, it is indisputable that a soul must be purified from sin here, or never enter the heaven of holiness hereafter. This, however, has been sufficiently demonstrated in my previous letters, and, in deed, is plainly implied in every requisition of the gospel respecting the necessity of purity of heart to prepare us to see the face of God in peace. "Without holiness no man shall see God."

Without saying more on this branch of the subject, my design in the present letter is to speak on the subject of DEATH itself. But what is death? However difficult it may be to give such a philosophical definition of death as to free it from all obscurities and objections, I think such a definition may be given as will answer our purpose, and present the subject clearly to the mind. Death, then, is the effect of separation. You separate a limb from the body, and the separated limb dies as a necessary consequence. Separate a vegetable from the earth, whence it derives its nourishment, and the vegetable dies. This definition will enable us understand the nature of that penalty denounced upon our first parents, if they should presume to violate the command of God, which prohibited them from eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. " In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die;" that is, thou shalt be separated from communion with me, thy God, and separated from the garden of pleasure in which thou wast destined to dwell, and finally thy soul and body shall be separated. All this, and much more, was included in that original sentence denounced upon Adam, as a punishment for his sin. So also, the spiritual death which comes upon the soul as a consequence of sinning against God, includes, 1. A separation of the soul from communion with God; and, 2. Provided the sinner dies in his sins, an everlasting separation, a " banishment from the presence of God, and-the glory of his power." The death, therefore, which we now contemplate, is a separation of the soul and body, and then, at putrefaction, a separation of the component parts of the body itself; so that each element flies off to its native element, and there mingles again together air to air, water to water, fire to fire, and earth to earth. This is the death of the body. So says Tupper,

" And corruption, closely noted, is but a dissolving of the parts : The parts remain, and nothing lost to build a better whole."

We must carefully distinguish between death and annihilation* This latter is a word that cannot be understood literally; for not anything which exists, so far as we know, is susceptible of annihilation; that is, of being reduced back to nothing to a nonentity. All that matter, in its grossest form, or most refined essence, is capable of undergoing by the separation of its elementary principles, is a modification of its existence; for it exists, in all its essential properties, as much after this separation as it did

* The thought of annihilation is painful! None can wiih It but to floe from guilt. Dr. Young very justly says : " Should st thon be good how infinite thy loss Guilt only makes annihilation gain. Bless d scheme! which life deprives of comfort, death Of hope; and which vice alone recommends." before, only it exists in a modified form. Thus the body that dies mingles again with the elements of which it was composed, and goes to form other bodies, either of vegetables or animals; and thus continues to change its form from one vegetable or animal to another, ad infinitum, so far as we know, but never ceases to be, in some modified form, always perceptible to the senses whenever it comes within their range.* Annihilation, therefore, is a word the literal signification of which cannot be explained by experiment, either by the process of nature, or by any chemical analysis. Not so death, or the separation of those parts of which bodies are composed. This is taking place daily, hourly, nay, momentarily, before our eyes. Our friends are dying, all animals are dying, and the vegetables are decaying continually in the midst of us. In the midst of this ever-changing state of beings and things what do we see? We see a fulfillment of the original decree denounced upon sinning Adam : " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou re turn." And under this decree we find ourselves included. We are doomed to death. Our bodies must soon be separated from our souls, * There is much truth in the following line of Dr. Young : " From human mould we eat our daily bread." and then the bodies themselves must be separated at putrefaction; so that their elementary principles shall fly off, and mingle with their native elements. Have we reason to fear death? Surely those who are fully prepared to meet it, by being entirely sanctified, have not. Yet I apprehend that most of even these have an instinctive aversion to death, and can say from their own experience, 41 How deep implanted iu the heart of man, The dread of death!

Not, indeed, because they fear to meet it as a conquered enemy, but chiefly because it is an enemy with whom though conquered, he is not slain they must contend, and finally overcome, in order to enter into life everlasting. But however much or little we may fear death, we all have an inextinguishable love of life. And I know not but that the more holy a per son is, the longer he wishes to live; because he is conscious that while he lives, he can be instrumental in both getting and doing more and more good. For though he can say with St. Paul, that for him " to die is gain," yet " to live is Christ;" that is, is for the glory of Christ; and it is for the glory of Christ that he should be instrumental in the conversion and sanctification of immortal souls; and the longer such a man lives, and diligently labours in the vineyard of the Lord, the more souls he may be the means of bringing to Christ, and thus surround him with a wider circle and a more brilliant halo of glory.

You, my dear M., will join with me, I doubt not, in admiring the saying I once heard drop from the lips of a devoted minister in the pulpit, namely, " That he would greatly prefer, were it left to his choice, to be an itinerant minister of Jesus Christ, than to be an angel in heaven. Yea," said he, " I would not exchange places with Gabriel! Why not? Because, while I am thus employed, I may be instrumental of snatching some sinners as brands from the burning; but if I were a disembodied spirit, I could no longer preach Jesus Christ and him crucified, but must be content in enjoying my rest in heaven. I therefore wish to live as long as God shall see fit to prolong my life, that I may promote the glory of Christ in the salvation of sinners." This was a wise saying, indicative of an en lightened understanding and a pious heart. Thus the poet expresses it :

" I would the precious time redeem, And longer live for this alone, To spend, and be spent, for them aloue, Who have not yet my Saviour known : Fully on these my mission prove, And only breathe, to breathe thy love." This brings to my mind an anecdote I once heard respecting Whitefield. It seems that Whitefield was in the habit of sighing out, every now and then, " that my work were done, that I might go to heaven!" Being in company one day with a number of clergymen, among whom was the holy Mr. Tennent, Whitefield, as usual, sighed out, " O that my work were done, that I might receive my reward!" and then ap pealed to the brethren present, whether that was not a just sentiment. To which they all except Mr. Tennent, who said nothing assented. Whitefield then appealed to Tennent, and wished to know what he thought of it. This holy and considerate man replied, " I think it is a very foolish wish. What would you think, if you had a hired man at work in your field, who, in stead of working on with cheerfulness, were to look up at the sun every now and then, and sigh out, O that my work were done, that the sun would set, that I might receive my wages? Would you not conclude that he was a lazy, mercenary being, who was more anxious to get through his day’s work, and get his wages, than he was to serve his employer?"

These sensible remarks opened their eyes to the folly of expressing a continual desire to die and go to heaven, instead of being content to labour on cheerfully in the vineyard of the Lord, striving to do all the good we can, knowing that the longer we live, the more we suffer and do in our Master’s service, the greater will be our reward, and the brighter our crown in heaven. But we must all die! And the prayer of the holy soul is expressed in the following words of the poet :

" O that without a lingering groan, I may the welcome word receive; My body with my charge lay down, And cease at once to work and live!"

Death is a curse, and therefore must be endured as a mark of God’s displeasure at sin. And surely we cannot look at this curse with pleasure, only as it is an entrance into life, after which all living animals long. I say all living animals long for life. And this is a mark of God’s benevolence his fixing in the very nature of man this inextinguishable love of life, and, of course, an aversion to death. Hence we instinctively shrink back from everything which threatens death. To avoid it, man will submit to all manner of hardships, privations, and sufferings, and will take the most nauseous food in order to prolong his life. " All that a man hath, will he give for his life," is a truth written in every man’s breast. Were it not for this strong love of life, the world would soon become depopulated. For who else would submit to the pains, the labours, the privations, the disappointments, and the sufferings of the pre sent life? I apprehend no one! If we were entirely indifferent to life could embrace death with the same pleasure that we go to sleep, eat our food, or enjoy the society of our friends, all would die soon, and the earth would become a barren desert.

It appears, therefore, that God has wisely and benevolently implanted this inextinguishable love of life in every human heart, and he has provided a means by which it may be gratified to its fullest extent, for " he that doeth the will of God, abideth forever." It is, therefore, to this innate principle of our nature that God addresses himself, in order to induce us to embrace the Lord Jesus as our Almighty Saviour. " He that believeth on him, shall have ever lasting life." Hence the hope of life of ever lasting life after death has sustained the holy Christian in the midst of his trials, supported the martyr in his pangs, and stimulates the believer in Christ to perseverance amidst the oppositions, the crosses, and the sufferings, with which he may be called to contend, to the termination of his pilgrimage. It is respecting such that the poet says, " Who are these array d in white, Brighter than the noon-day sun? Foremost of the sons of light;

Nearest the eternal throne 1 These are they that bore the cross;

Nobly for their Master stood; Suffrers in his righteous cause;

Follwers of the risen* God." This hope reconciles us to death. We no longer view it as an enemy merely, but as a friend, come to admit us into the presence of Him who came to conquer this enemy, and convert him, against his will, into, and actually makes him do the office of, a friend! Indulging in this blooming hope, he can adopt the following words of the same unrivalled poet :

" Jesus, in thy great Name I go, To conquer death, my final foe; And when I quit this cumbrous clay, And soar on angels wings away, My soul the second death defies, And reigns ETERNAL in the skies."

I thank God for this view of death! To what am I indebted for it? To Christianity. This has brought life and immortality to light. It

* 1 have substituted " risen" for " dying," which the poet used, for very obvious reasons has not only brought life and immortality to light, but it has provided a medium by which the sinner may be reconciled to God, and may be thoroughly sanctified, and thereby fitted to participate in those pure joys which "are at his right hand forever more." Hence I anticipate the day, when it shall be said of me, as well as of my dear M., and all those who have " washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,"

" And let this feeble body fail, And let it faint or die; My soul shall quit the mournful vale, And soar to worlds oo high : Shall join the disembodied saints, And find its long-sought rest, That only bliss for which it pants, In the Redeemer’s breast." In the mean time we may adopt the following, as the anxious inquiry of our hearts :

" And am I only bom to die . And must I suddenly comply With nature’s stern decree T What after death for me remains T Celestial joys, or hellish pains, To all eternity."

Hence the necessity of employing ourselves, while our probation lasts, to the best possible advantage. And surely every pious heart will adopt the following language of the same hymn from which I before quoted :

" How then ought I on earth to live, While God prolongs the kind reprieve, And props the house of clay? My sole concern, my single care, To watch, and tremble, and prepare Against that fatal day." And to guard ourselves against the gloom which the contemplation of death tends to cast upon our minds, let us look beyond the tomb to those fields of immortality, "where our posses sion lies." How well calculated to inspire this thought are the following words of Young :

" See, from the tomb, as from an humble shrine, Truth, radiant goddess! sallies on my soul, And puts delusion’s dusky train to flight; Dispels the mists our sulky passions cause, From objects low, terrestrial, and obscene, And shows the real estimate of things." May you, my dear M., and I, and all who believe in immortality, so live, that whenever death comes, it may " show us the real estimate of things," and find us fully prepared for " an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our God!"