The Key of Death is in the Saviour's
Hands by James Buchanan from Comfort in Affliction 1837 do not be afraid I am the first
and the last the ever-living one I died but see I am alive
forevermore and I hold the keys of death and Hades the realm
of the dead Revelation chapter 1 verse 17 and 18 When it is affirmed that Jesus
holds the key of death, it is plainly implied that none can
pass out of this present world without His appointment, and
more generally that He is Lord of the living, not less than
of the dead, and has a thorough control over everything that
can in any way affect the lives of man. An absolute power over
death necessarily presupposes a corresponding power over life
and its affairs, and it is by the exercise of his providence
in sustaining life that he fulfils his purpose as to the time and
mode of their departure hence. Has the Redeemer the keys of
death? then this should mitigate the
anxiety which often preys upon the mind when we look forward
into the future and contemplate the prospect of our own death. We should remember that as the
Redeemer alone has the keys of death, nothing can happen to
send us forth from the world before the time which he has
appointed for our departure. Neither man nor devils can abridge
the term of probation assigned to us by our gracious master.
Nor, until he is pleased to call us away, shall any power on earth
or in hell prevail against us. The Redeemer is possessed of
absolute power over the course of our lives on earth and over
the time and manner of our departure out of the world. world. No accident,
no hostile violence, no insidious snare, no dark conspiracy can
touch our life but by His command. And surely when we reflect on
the numerous dangers to which human life is exposed, the frailty
of our frame, the diseases to which it is subject, our constant
exposure to fatal accidents, the malice of our open or concealed
enemies, it must be consolatory to know that the key of death
is in the Saviour's hands, and that, come what may, we cannot
be forced out of the world until He opens the door and bids us
come to Him. But more especially, when we
are visited with disease, and threatened with the speedy termination
of life, the Saviour's power over the keys of death should
repress or assuage those violent anxieties as to the probability
of death or of recovery, and those disquieting speculations
as to the outcome of disease and the mode of its treatment.
for disease cannot kill nor can medicine cure without the appointment
of him who holds in his own hands the keys of life and death and
if he has fixed the outcome of this disease then why should
we be anxious if death is in our cup That cup has been put
into our hands at the time fixed by unerring wisdom and infinite
love.