The following article is taken from a work by Dr. Seiss, entitled The Last Times. It treats upon one of the sublimest themes that can occupy the mind of the Christian; and the reader will find it full of hope and consolation for the follower of Christ. Who can read it without feeling new determinations so to live as to attain to a resurrection from the dead?
There is nothing so repulsive to our natural instincts as death. There are few people who do not feel a cold shudder creeping through and through them whenever they realize the thought that they must die, and have the coffin-lid screwed down upon their foreheads, and be covered up with clods in the damp, dark ground. But the hope of the resurrection of the just throws a radiance around the death-bed and the grave, and helps to reconcile us to the mysterious change. To a good man the sepulchre is but the gateway to the better world,—the resting-place for the wasted and wearied body previous to going forth into the bliss and honors of a divine and eternal kingdom. Its shades are but a quiet night anterior to an everlasting day. Death is but a sleep, which presupposes a future awakening. "An eternal sleep" is a contradiction in terms,—a miserable solecism,—a mode of speech the very phraseology of which brands the atheistic invention with absurdity. Sleep is but the temporary suspension of animation for the purpose of refreshment and invigoration. It is always succeeded by a waking. And such is death to the Christian. Jesus has transmuted it into a refreshing sleep, from which we shall early arise, in renewed strength and glory, for the scenes and employments of a day which shall have no night. The New Testament nearly always speaks of the departure of the believing as a sleep. Jesus said, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." "The saints which slept," is familiar phraseology to the reader of the Scriptures. "David, after he had served his own generation, fell on sleep." As the first martyr died, Luke said he "fell asleep." Paul comforted the mourning Thessalonians, by assuring them that their pious dead "are asleep,"—only "asleep,"—to be waked to life again when Jesus comes. And so all the saints that have departed this life are said to "sleep in Jesus."
Yes, Christian parent, that child which so suddenly sickened, withered, and faded in your arms, and which with so much sadness you yielded to the cold, dark grave, is not lost and gone eternally. It only sleeps—sweetly sleeps—in the arms of its Maker. You buried it; but you buried it looking for the resurrection of the last day, when it shall awake to be yours forever. Weep not, O daughter, as if that sainted mother whom you last saw dressed for the tomb shall never look upon you again with her wonted love and tenderness. She is thy mother still. She is not dead, but sleepeth. She will awake again, and take you to her heart as fondly as ever. Sorrow not as they that have no hope, O stricken one, mourning over a husband's grave. He has only laid him down to rest in soft slumber. God's eye is on that prostrate, buried form. And when thy loved one's Saviour comes he will shake off his sepulchral covering, and be thy constant friend as in the days gone by.
"Soon shall you meet again,
Meet ne'er to sever;
Soon will peace wreath her chain
Round you forever."
And what a reunion of hearts and exchange of happy gratulations shall crown and crowd that day! What glorious meetings and triumphs will then be celebrated! What devout and anxious hopes shall then be consummated! Then shall Jesus say, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust;" and they shall obey his call, and rise to praise him forever. Then will the once afflicted saints of every age and clime "stand dressed in robes of everlasting wear." Then shall these who denied themselves and took up the cross receive their crowns. Then shall the wisdom of their "respect unto the recompense of the reward" be vindicated forever. Then shall God glorify his Son by transforming millions into his glorious image. And "then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."
Earth, my brethren, has been the theatre of some splendid victories, the fame of which has filled the world and echoed along the corridors of ages. But never has earth beheld such a triumph as that which shall be realized at the resurrection of the just. Then shall be enacted another genesis, more glorious than the first. Then shall be performed another exodus, more illustrious than that which Moses led. Then shall truth triumph over error, and faith over unbelief; humility over pride, life over death, and immortality over the grave. Then shall the cross give way to the crown, and corruption to glory; and from the mold and ashes of every christian's tomb shall come forth an undying form, radiant with the transforming touch of Deity—a dear-bought but sublime and imperishable monument to the resurrection and the life. The graves of the patriarchs shall open. The scattered dust and ashes of prophets, apostles and martyrs shall be gathered. Unknown saints of God that have died in garrets, and cellars, and barns, and dungeons—and lowly and despised poor in Christ who sleep in potters'-fields—shall spring forth from their unnoticed graves in sublimer glory than ever adorned the illustrious Solomon. Precious innocents, whose names were never heard, and lamented children, that molder in their little tombs, and pious afflicted ones, who spent their days in pain secluded from the gay world—all, all shall then forsake their resting-places and shine as the stars for ever and ever. Then shall all the waiting saints, of all lands and ages, mysteriously transferred to the bridal halls of heaven, join in holy fellowship to celebrate with untold joy the sublime epiphany of their redeeming Lord, with all their varied tongues in heavenly concord singing the triumphs of that salvation for which they lived, and hoped, and suffered.
"O, scenes surpassing fable, and yet true!
Scenes of accomplished bliss! which, who can see,
Though but in distant prospect, and not feel
His soul refreshed with foretastes of the joy!"
And what adds to the peculiar joy of some, is that they will never die at all, but shall "be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." "The dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them." And what a thought is this, that there perhaps are some listening to me now who shall never know by experience what death is! Those of Christ's people who are living when he comes, shall of a sudden feel the thrill of immortality careering through them, and find themselves transported to join the children of the resurrection. Not one of them who truly believe in Jesus shall be left behind. The humblest and obscurest, the lowest with the highest, all shall be taken together. For he shall send forth his angels, with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. And they shall live and reign with Christ the thousand years. "And so shall we ever be with the Lord." And thenceforward forever shall this song be sung:
"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
And he will dwell with them,
And they shall be his people,
And God himself shall be with them,
And he their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;
And there shall be no more death,
Neither sorrow nor crying,
Neither shall there be any more pain;
For the former things are passed away."
Verily, "blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection!" Was there ever conceived such a system of grace and glory as that which constitutes the gospel of Jesus? How precious are its promises! How transporting are its hopes! How it meets the vast desires of humanity, and pours consolation into the hearts of the children of sorrow! What is there to compare with it? Atheism, with its eternal sleep, may165stupefy the soul, and render it somewhat callous to the woes of life; but how sad and cheerless is the epitaph which it writes on the tomb! Heathen philosophy, with its transmigrations and feeble guesses, may excite some dull and low concern for futurity; but how gloomy is the destiny which it sets before man! It is only Christianity, with its resurrection and another life, that can at all rouse man into a proper consciousness of his dignity, or satisfy the lofty and mighty aspirations that well up from his heart. This is our glorious hope, the price of which cannot be equalled with gold.
And how devoutly thankful should we then be for what God has done for us and purposed concerning us! How should our hearts soften at the contemplations before us, and swell with emotions of love toward so great a Benefactor! How should we be concerned to find out the will of such a friend, and seek to approve ourselves unto him! How gladly should we set ourselves to do his gracious commands, and to keep his loving counsels! In him is our strength, our hope, and our joy. He is not ashamed to be our God, and surely we should not be ashamed to be his people, "looking for that blessed hope, even the glorious appearing of the great God, our Saviour Jesus Christ." Let us, then, give ourselves to him, body and soul, as a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service. Let us fully identify ourselves with Jesus, knowing that "when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." And especially, let us not forget that "every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as the Saviour is pure." He hath prepared for us a city; but "there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie." It is only "the holy" who shall have part in the first resurrection. "The fearful and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." It is only "unto them that look for him" that "he shall appear the second time unto salvation."