Side by side they lie in the
dust and worms cover them both by William Nicholson from Approaching
Mortality 1862 Only a few years will pass before
I go on the journey of no return. Job chapter 16 verse 22. Death is a great journey. It
is the last journey we shall ever take. The sun rises daily
and we think little of it. Just so the frequency and commonness
of death causes it to be little thought of. Every day men go
to their long home, and the mourners go about the street. While death
is gloomy and melancholy to the man of pleasure, to the man overwhelmed
with business, and to the devotee of mammon, it is nevertheless
sometimes regarded as a welcome messenger by the afflicted, and
those who possess a good hope through grace. Job 19.25 Death is full of solemn import. What is death? It is forever
leaving the present scene of existence. It is the cessation
of existence here on earth. The lungs no longer heave. The
heart stops beating. The blood ceases to flow and
congeals. The tongue is silent. The hand
forgets its skill. The whole body becomes motionless,
pale, and ghastly. Death is the separation of body
and soul. Death is the dissolution of every
relative and social tie, however tender and endeared. Death is
the cessation of all human pursuits, and the relinquishment of all
human possessions. Death is a journey that must
be performed alone. Death is a journey that must
be taken by all. Death has passed upon all men,
for all have sinned. Romans chapter 5 verse 12. It
is in the grave where the rich and the poor meet together. Kings as well as subjects, philosophers
as well as fools, A century removes all the inhabitants of the globe
to the silent grave. All who now live in one hundred
years to come will be no more. Death is unavoidable. Death is
an established fact, by God's inviolable decree. Dust you are,
and to dust you shall return. It is appointed unto men once
to die, and after that the judgment. Death is a fact characterized
by the greatest uncertainty. Great God, amid what a mass of
perils do we live! A grain may suffocate, a crumb
may stop the springs of life, a breath, a cough, a sigh may
prostrate all our vital powers and fit us for the worms. So
various, too, the texture of our bodies, so fine the mechanism,
so complex the structure, that every motion has its risk, and
all our hours, our very moments, are beset with hazards, perils,
fears, and ambushed ills. What then is life? A bubble that
is blown for death to burst. Man knows not his time when his
hour may come. Ecclesiastes 9.12 Why, you do
not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for
a little while and then vanishes. James 4.14 Death may invade us at a period,
apparently the most unlikely, when we are not at all prepared
for it. It may come in the spring of
life, and mar its strength and vigour and beauty. One man dies
in full vigour, completely secure and at ease, his body well nourished,
his bones rich with marrow. Another man dies in bitterness
of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. Side by side they
lie in the dust, and worms cover them both. Job 21.23-26 Death may come to the place of
business, to the hall of pleasure, to the couch of sensual indulgence. It may come suddenly, in a moment,
or it may come by protracted disease. And I'll say to myself,
you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take
life easy, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, you
fool. This very night, your life will
be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have
prepared for yourself? Luke chapter 12, verse 19 and
20. Death is an event followed by
vastly solemn results. To the individual himself, death
ends his probation, is the departure of his soul into eternity, is
the apprehension of it either by demons or angels, is the transmission
of it to heaven or to perdition. The time came when the beggar
died and angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man
also died and was buried in hell where he was in torment. Luke
chapter 16 verse 22 to 23 Death ends all the conflicts
and trials and sorrows of the righteous. Death is the commencement
of all the woes of the wicked. Death is a journey from which
there will be no return. But now he is dead. Can I bring
him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall
not return to me. 2 Samuel chapter 12 verse 23. In vain we linger by the corpse. The countenance will no more
smile upon us. In vain we go to the grave. It
is deaf to our cries. It will not give back its trust. But man dies and is laid low. He breathes his last and is no
more. As water disappears from the
sea, or a riverbed becomes parched and dry, so man lies down and
does not rise. Job 14. The fact of death should awaken
the soul to reflection. In the midst of danger, we have
been sleeping. While the darts of mortality
are flying around us, we are calculating on future pleasures,
pursuits, plans, life, etc., etc. It is high time to awake
out of sleep. Death may come as a thief in
the night. Do not be taken by surprise when
the bridegroom comes. When the chariots of God come
down and Christ says by death, Come up hither, be ready. The fact of death should animate
the saint. Now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed. He shall soon be free from sin
and suffering, soon see God and heaven, and realize the glorious
raptures of eternity. Death teaches the value of the
gospel which is the sovereign remedy for death. Our Savior
Christ Jesus who has destroyed death and has brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel. 2nd Timothy chapter
1 verse 10 you