The Call of Death

By living in this sin-cursed world, where sin and death are sole monarchs, the children of God have imbibed a false conception of death and dying. It is to be admitted that death is our last enemy; but on the other hand, according to John's statement in Rev. 14: 13, "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors," to die is a great blessing.

There are three great days in the life of the child of God. The first is the day when he was converted and born from above. 0, who can ever forget that glorious day, when the burden of sin and guilt rolled away, and the inexpressible joy of heaven flooded the soul and made it feel like flying away with the body! Is it any marvel that people never get through talking about the day of their conversion, when the hills and valleys smiled, and the trees clapped their hands, and all nature joined in a harmonious song of praise

The second great day, in the life of the Christian, is the day when he is sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost and fire; when his heart is purified from all inbred sin, and the Father, Son and Holy Ghost come into his soul, in the fullest sense, to abide forever. Ofttimes there comes such power, grace and glory, on this occasion, that the soul is almost swept out of the body. J. A. Wood said, speaking of his sanctification: "I had always been much prejudiced against people losing their strength; consequently, as might be expected, when the Holy Ghost came upon me in the stand, surrounded by some thirty or forty preachers and three thousand people, it was God's order to take control of both soul and body, and swallowed me up in His presence. After about three hours, I regained strength to walk to the tent." Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers, in speaking of her sanctification, said: "I was deeply penetrated with His presence and stood as if unable to move, and was insensible of all around me. I sank down motionless, being unable to sustain the weight of His glorious presence."

The third and greatest day of the child of God upon earth, is his dying day. Satan would have us fearful and to look forward to that day with dread; but according to the voice of inspiration, and the long line of testimonies of those who have gone before, we are constrained to exclaim with Saint Paul, "O death, where is thy sting O grave, where is thy victory "

Rev. E. Payson said, when dying: "The Sun of Righteousness has been gradually drawing nearer and nearer, appearing larger and brighter as He approached, and now fills the whole hemisphere, pouring forth a flood of glory in which I seem to float like an insect in the beams of the sun, exulting, yet almost trembling, while I gaze on this excessive brightness, and wonder why God should deign thus to shine upon a sinful worm."

Alfred Cookman said, when dying: "I am sweeping through the gates of the New Jerusalem, washed in the blood of the Lamb."

We next notice a few things death calls us from:

1. He calls us from a life of labor and care. Ever since God pronounced the curse upon Adam, saying, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground" (Gen. 3: 19), mankind has had to sustain life by labor and toil. 0, what a blessing to be set free from earth's rigid toil!

2. Death calls us from a life of sorrow and disappointment. Truly, sorrow and disappointment is a universal malady. It is found to a large or small degree in every home; yes, in the gilded mansion and in the lowly hovel. Sorrow has pressed her bitter cup to the ups of every son and daughter of Adam, but thank God, Death sets the Christian free!

3. Death calls us out of a cumbersome, painful, decaying house of clay. O, where is there a being to be found upon earth who is perfectly free from sickness, aches and pain O, how severely some poor unfortunate creatures are lashed by the cruel scourge of disease! Therefore they should gladly welcome death, if ready to go.

We will next briefly notice what death calls us to.

1. Death calls us to our eternal home, where there is no sin, no sorrow, no tempter, no grief and no grave. 

2. He calls us to our great reward, viz., a starry crown brighter than the sun and a mansion in the city of God.

3. He calls us to the greatest of re-unions, where we shall meet with Adam the first man, Noah the first in the new earth, Moses the law-giver, Joshua the great warrior, Elijah who was translated in a chariot of fire, the disciples of the Lord Jesus, and the millions of redeemed saints who have gone before us. We shall also meet our saved loved ones, and, best of all, our glorified Redeemer. 

"O, what a meeting and a greeting,

When our loved ones we shall see,

Waving palms of victory."