Bible Commentaries

DISCOURSE: 464

DEATH

Job 14:10. Man giveth up the ghost, and where is he [Note: This is inserted, not as a set Discourse, but merely as a specimen of an easy, popular, and extemporaneous Address on occasion of a Funeral.]?

AFFLICTIONS, whilst they wean us from the love of this present world, serve to familiarize us with the thoughts of death, and to make that which to our nature is terrible, an object of desire and hope [Note: See Job 7:1-10 and ver. 1, 2. of the chapter before us.]. But it is proper for us to contemplate this subject whilst we are yet in a state of health and prosperity; and, especially, to make the removal of others to the eternal world an occasion of considering what our own state may shortly be.

Man consists of soul and body. These, in death, are separated; the body returning to its native dust, and “the soul returning to God who gave it.” This separation must speedily take place, whatever be our rank, our age, our employment. The very instant that “our soul is required of us,” it must be surrendered up; nor can the skill of all the physicians in the universe enable us to ward off the stroke of death one single hour.

And when the hour arrives for “man to give up the ghost, Where is he?” Whilst he is yet alive, we may find him. His office in life will assist us in our inquiry. The student, the mechanic, the man of pleasure, yea, and even the traveller, may be sought for, each in his own vocation, and may be found without great difficulty: but who shall find the man, when once his spirit has taken its flight to the invisible world? No more shall he return to his former abode; no more have intercourse with his former friends. The house he has built, or the books he has written, may remain: but he himself shall be far away, and the place he has inhabited shall know him no more. A tree that is cut down may sprout again: but not so the man that dies: he shall pass away as a morning cloud, and be no more seen [Note: Ecclesiastes 9:10.].

Then where is he,

I. As to any opportunity of serving God?

[Once, he had one talent at least committed to him, and he might have improved it for God: but now it is taken from him: whatever he once possessed of corporeal or mental power, of time, of wealth, of influence, is all gone for ever; and he can do no more for God than if he had never existed in the world — — —]

II. As to any means of benefiting his own soul?

[Time was, when he could read the blessed book of God, and draw nigh to a throne of grace, and pour out his soul in prayer, and lay hold on the promises of the Gospel, and seek from the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, such communications of grace and mercy and peace as were needful for him: but this time is passed away: no access to God now; no help from the Saviour now; no scope for repentance now: none of these things remain to a soul that is once removed to the eternal world [Note: ver. 7–12.]: the work that is unfinished now will remain unfinished for ever — — —]

III. As to any hope of carrying into effect his purposes and resolutions?

[There are few so hardened, but they have some thought or purpose of turning unto God before they die. To the gay, the laborious, the dissolute, the fit time for religious services is not yet arrived: but all have a secret conviction, that the concerns of the soul deserve some attention; and they hope that, in a dying-hour at least, they shall regard what, in despite of all their levity, they know to be the one thing needful. Peradventure the young only waited till they were settled in life; or till their children should be grown up, and leave them more at leisure to follow the dictates of their better judgment: and those who were immersed in earthly cares only waited till they should be able to retire from the world, and to devote a good measure of their attention to heavenly things. But “the day is closed upon them; and the night is come, in which no man can work:” “their soul being, as it were, prematurely and unexpectedly required of them,” their hopes are never realized, their desires never are accomplished — — —]

IV. As to any possibility of preparing for his eternal state?

[The fight is terminated; the race is closed; the crown awarded. There is no return to the field of action; no further scope for amended efforts: “As the tree falls, so it lies;” and so it will lie to all eternity. Pardon, peace, holiness, glory, are all at an unapproachable distance to him who dies without having attained the possession of them. There is an impassable gulf between him and heaven; and he must take his portion for ever in that place for which alone he is prepared — — —]

Permit me, then, now to ask,

1. If the time were come for us to “give up the ghost,” where should we be?

[This is a thought which ought frequently and deeply to occupy all our minds. Of individual persons we can know but little: but respecting characters we may form a very correct judgment. For instance, we know where the man who dies impenitent shall be [Note: Luke 13:3; Luke 13:5.]; and where the man who has not fled to Christ for refuge [Note: John 3:18; John 3:36.]; and where also the hypocritical professor [Note: Matthew 7:21-23.]. And if we will candidly search out our own character, we may form a very accurate estimate respecting our future destination. I beg you, then, to examine carefully into the state of your own souls, in reference to your penitence — — — your faith — — — your obedience to God’s commands — — — and then to say, as before God, what expectations the result of that inquiry will authorize? Reflect, too, I pray you, on the inconceivable difference of those two states, to one of which you must go; and on the different emphasis with which the reflection in my text will be uttered by your surviving friends, according as their hopes or apprehensions respecting you are formed — — —]

2. As the time for your giving up the ghost will shortly come, “Where should you now be?”

[Are the scenes of gaiety and dissipation those which you should chiefly affect? Should not rather the house of God be the place where you should delight to resort? and should not your own closet be frequented by you for the purposes of reading, and meditation, and prayer? — — — In a word, should you not live as dying men, and improve your time in preparation for eternity? — — — Realize the thought of your feelings in that day, when, in the eternal world, you shall say, “Where am I?” O! the blessedness of that reflection, if you died in a state of acceptance with God; and the anguish it will occasion, if you died under his displeasure! I pray you, Brethren, waste no more time in vanity and folly, but attend now to the great concerns of your souls; that, if the inquiry be made either here or in the invisible world, “Where is he?” the answer may be, “He is happy for ever, in the bosom of his God.”]

DISCOURSE: 465

THE CHANGE THAT TAKES PLACE AT DEATH

Job 14:14. All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

“IS there not an appointed time to man upon earth [Note: Job 7:1.]?” Yes, there is: the time for every man’s entrance into the world, and the time for his continuance in it, are fixed by Almighty God, from whose hand we come, and by whose hand alone we are upheld. Successive generations arise, and are swept away, like the foliage, which by revolving seasons is produced and destroyed. But in this the illustration fails: “for there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground, yet, through the scent of water, it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant: but man dieth, and wasteth away; yea, “man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?” “As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up; so man lieth down, and riseth not, till the heavens be no more [Note: ver. 7–12.].” The change at death is complete: and, therefore, whether a man be elated with joys or depressed with sorrows, it becomes him to look forward to that period, when all present things shall have passed away, and an eternity, an unalterable eternity, shall commence. In the prospect of this period, Job consoled himself under his accumulated sorrows; and determined to wait with patience all the days of his appointed time, till this change should come.

It will be profitable to consider,

I. What is that change that awaits us all—

The voice of inspiration tells us, “It is appointed unto men once to die; and after that the judgment.” Now, the change that takes place in death is,

1. Great—

[That which passes upon the body we can in some measure appreciate; because we see before our eyes the frame, which but lately exhibited the loveliest evidences of creative wisdom, despoiled of all its powers, and reduced to the lowest state of degradation and deformity.

But who can estimate the change which death produces on the soul? Who can form any adequate idea of its views and feelings in a disembodied state? Respecting it we know little more than that it exists: of the mode of its existence, or the nature of its operations, or the extent of its powers, we have no means of judging. That it is in a state of inconceivable happiness or misery, indeed, we have no doubt: but all beyond that is mere conjecture. This, however, sufficiently warrants us to affirm, that the change which takes place in death is great.

It is also,]

2. Momentous—

[It is a transition, not only from the use of means to the absence of all means, but from a state of probation to a state of retribution. Here we can read the word of God, and hear it from God’s appointed ministers. Here we can draw nigh to God in prayer, and implore mercy at his hands, and plead his great and precious promises, and flee for refuge to the hope that is set before us. In our present state there is “a cloud of witnesses,” surveying all our motions, and, with affectionate solicitude, panting for our success [Note: Hebrews 12:1.]. God himself is watching over us, and saying, “How shall I give thee up [Note: Hosea 11:8.]?” “Wilt thou not be made clean? When shall it once be [Note: Jeremiah 13:27.]?” But the very instant that the soul departs from the body, its state is fixed; all opportunities of promoting its welfare are terminated [Note: Ecclesiastes 9:10.]; and a sentence of happiness or misery is awarded to it, according to what it has done in the body during the period of its existence here.

The awfulness of this change is yet further increased by the consideration of its being,]

3. Permanent—

[True it is, indeed, that the body shall undergo a further change; because it will be raised again, to participate the lot which had been previously assigned to the soul. But, from the instant of its dissolution, its doom was fixed; and to all eternity will it remain an heir of happiness or woe. Conceive now the soul and body exalted to the throne of God, to enjoy all his blessedness and glory; or cast down to hell, to endure all the terrors of his wrath! Conceive its state irreversibly and unalterably fixed, so that, when millions of ages shall have rolled on, it shall be no nearer a termination than at its commencement! In what a view does this exhibit the change that shall take place at death! Truly, this is a subject which deserves the deepest consideration, and which, above all others, ought to operate with the greatest force upon our minds.]

Let us consider,

II. Our duty in reference to it—

We should continually look forward to that change, and “wait” for it in a state,

1. Of patient expectation—

[When trouble comes upon us, we are apt to feel impatience, and are ready, like Elijah, to pray that “God would take away our life.” Many, alas! proceed even to the extremity of terminating their lives by suicide: and I cannot but think that the act of suicide would be still more common, if the dread of an hereafter did not operate to produce a submission to present ills, as, upon the whole, a preferable alternative. But we should bear in mind, that “the number of our days is determined” of the Lord; that they are continually drawing to a close; that, in a little time, our afflictions, how great soever they may at present be, will come to a close; and, consequently, like persons waiting for the morning, we should submit with patience to the evils of the night.]

2. Of diligent preparation—

[The present is the only time for securing happiness in the eternal world. Now, therefore, every hour should be improved for that end. Whatever talents have been committed to us, we should employ them so as to give a good account of them at last. If we have but one talent, we should not hide it in a napkin, but turn it to the best account that we are able; that so our Divine Master may, at his coming, receive his own with usury.]

Let this subject teach us,

1. The folly of ambition—

[What if we possessed all that the world could give? We might speedily, like Job, be dispossessed of all, or be rendered incapable of enjoying it. At all events, the instant our “change” comes, we must resign it all, and go naked out of the world, even as naked as we came into it. Who, that reflects on this, does not see that vanity is inscribed on all created good?]

2. The wisdom of true piety—

[Piety is that which alone will profit us in the eternal world: and the effects of that remain unchangeable for evermore. Know, then, that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do thereafter: the praise of it endureth for ever.”]