Captain E. Carre, Ed. Living Links.
WE are all bound, at times, to be moved to serious reflection as to what death—the door through which our soul is ushered into the Great Beyond—means to us. But in times such as these the urge to consider its proximity and possibilities is imperative and inexcusable.
I make no excuse, therefore, for this brief discussion with men like yourselves who may suddenly be called to meet it face to face.
There is no need for me to dwell upon its proximity—for you will already have been closely pondering that point—what I would focus your attention upon is the possibilities it holds for each of us.
In doing so I say a word first of all to any unsaved among my readers who, like the many of the careless and thoughtless around him, says, and means it,
“I’m not afraid to die!”
Of you I would ask: “Have you ever considered the possibilities which lie before you when death calls you hence, or your solemn responsibility in regard to them? For I can picture exactly what that dark door conjures up before your mind if you will but contemplate it with me, having been in precisely the condition and position from which you view it as you read this message.
To me in those unconverted days “the gates of death” held only the darkness of ignorance, of despair, of doom, How cordially at that period did I hate the thought of dying, even as you must, seeing that you will be leaving and losing all that you hold dear, and will be thrust into another sphere wherein you have no expectations, no hopes, and no possessions, nothing but the dread of the unknown.
“The dread!” because “the sting of death is sin” your conscience forewarns you of your guilt in the sight of a just and holy God, and consequently of your eternal peril, when He touches your soul with such warnings as these: “It is given unto man once to die, but after this the judgment!” Therefore,
“Prepare to meet thy God!”
But death holds an altogether opposite aspect to me now, as it does to every one of my readers who, through a simple, personal, God-given faith in the Saviour’s death for their sins on the Cross, can say with Paul: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain!” I vividly recall the impression that the experience of a friend, whose ship had been suddenly cut down and sunk one night in a collision, made upon me when he said: “When I got out on deck, and saw her going down by the head, an overwhelming feeling of joy filled my soul as I thought that in a few moments I might see my Lord!” Need I add that his feelings did not impede, but rather energized him in doing his utmost for his ship and shipmates in that emergency.
In the late war, a picture was published depicting a bluejacket on duty at his station out on deck in a howling gale of wind, and by his side, mid the spume and spray,
there stood the figure of an angel,
unseen and unrecognized by the lonely watcher.
Surely this is a perfect illustration of the spiritual reality of which a Christian voyager of long ago tells us, as he told his despairing shipmates at the time: “There stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, ‘Fear not!’” Why not take Him as your Saviour, Captain, and Friend, now, my reader? Then, and then only, can you look the King of Terrors with fearless confidence in the face.
And the only way into this new and spiritual life is open to you through Him Who still pleads with you and with all men: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”