Death Vanquished From Thoughts
of God by John McDuff 1864 How precious are your thoughts unto
me, O God! I will ransom them from the power
of the grave. I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? Hosea 13.14 Precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of His saints. Psalm 116.15 In the first of these precious
thoughts, God is represented in a past eternity as looking
down the vista of the future. He sees a captive world doomed
to destruction, its perishing millions laden with fetters moving
onwards to death and the grave. He hears their cry. It stirs
the thoughts and longings of his divine heart. I will ransom
them," he exclaims. From the power of the grave I
will redeem them from death. Nor was this a mere passing thought,
a transient emotion akin to the human pity, which is evoked for
the moment by some spectacle of pain or distress. Many generous
and benevolent thoughts of man have never been embodied in deed.
Many noble resolves die away with the hour which gave them
birth. That very day his thoughts perish. But what God thought,
he did. He gave the costliest proof which
omnipotence could give of the reality and intensity of these
thoughts. The ransom price he paid to redeem
from death was the blood of his own son, his only son. By the doing and dying of Jesus,
death has now become to the believer a vanquished foe. No, the hour
of dissolution is in reality the commencement, the birthday
of a nobler life. It is the dropping of the flower
to let the fruit expand, the bursting of the prison bars to
lead the soul out to gladsome light and freedom. We can look
forward with triumph and hope and joy to that hour when this
eternal thought, in all its sublime magnitude, shall be fulfilled.
Buried myriads arising from their graves, their every chain broken,
the king of terrors dethroned and uncrowned, the triumphant
song of the risen dead ascending. Thanks be to God, who gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Reader, the time
of your death is a solemn moment, when about to enter the realities
of the eternal world. But precious is that moment in
the sight and in the thoughts of God. You may possibly then
be removed from the loving thoughts of others. Cherished voices may
be separated by distance when the last enemy overtakes you.
But there will be divine thoughts and a divine presence which cannot
be away. When words can no longer be heard,
when too weak to listen, too feeble to speak, one joyous and
blessed assurance will be yours. My God thinks of me. As an earthly
father's tenderest thoughts are on his dying child, so it is
with our Heavenly Father. The life of His people, indeed,
is lovingly watched over and nourished by Him. But specially
precious in the sight of the Lord is their death. and earthly
father's most joyous thoughts are in the prospect of welcoming
his long absent child once more to his dwelling. Just so, it
is precious and joyous in the sight of the Lord as each member
of his ransomed family stands on the heavenly threshold, ready
to enter the eternal home, the adopted child, the cherished
heir, ready to take possession of the everlasting inheritance.
Or, is it the death of some member of the household of faith who
is near and dear to you? Precious also is their death
in the sight of the Lord. Their pillow is smoothed by divine
hands, so he gives his beloved sleep. They may now be precious
only in your memory, but they are precious in God's sight.
Yes, the beloved of the Lord shall dwell safely. Your unfailing
love is better to me than life itself. How I praise you.