LORD A. P. C―, the well-known evangelist, was drowned near Adolphus-town, Lennox, Western Canada, the evening before last, while out alone in a small boat. The body of the deceased was found yesterday, and taken to Napanee, where it was embalmed.
“His lordship was crossing the bay of Quinto, in the lake of Ontario, going from Belleville to Adolphustown, in order to hold a series of meetings at the latter place. He stood up in his boat to adjust the sail, when he lost his hold, and fell headlong into the lake. The accident was seen from the shore, and boats were sent out at once to his rescue, but he had sunk before help could reach him.”
Such was the brief account of the departure of a beloved and devoted servant of the Lord in a daily newspaper. Suddenly, unexpectedly, in the midst of active service, he was summoned home. One moment in active life in this world, seeking the salvation and blessing of precious souls; the next, in the unseen world, in the presence of his Lord. Who can tell how vast the change! How mysterious are the ways of God; surely they are past finding out! How little those who knew him thought to hear that he was so suddenly taken away! And yet it is sweet to know it was in the way he himself desired, for he had once said, on hearing of another being drowned, “That is the way I should like to go to the Lord, if He does not come for us, and we all meet Him in the air.” The gracious Master thus granted His dear servant his desire, and his work done, he passed on to hear from His lips, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
It is written of one, that “he was not, for God took him” (Gen. 5:2424And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Genesis 5:24)). In a moment he was translated to heaven, without seeing death, having walked with God for three hundred years. Truly the same words can be used of this one, though in another sense. “He was not, for God took him,” but it was by the way to man appointed-by death. But what is death to the believer, who has passed from death unto life, and possesses eternal life in the Son? It is a solemn matter, but there is naught to fear. ‘Tis but the short, quick, momentary passage out of the body of sin and death into the blessed presence of the Lord forever. With the sting of death removed by the death of Christ, death is but falling asleep for the Christian. One moment closing the eyes in sleep in time, and to the things of time and sense; the next, opening them in the presence of the Lord of all. Blessed transition! Sudden death―sudden bliss! As another has remarked, “Who would fear a swarm of bees without stings; and who should fear death, who knows, through grace, that the blessed Son of God has taken the sting away?”
But, beloved reader, this is not all, ―this is not our hope. We wait for the coming of the Lord; not to go to Him by the way of death, but for Him to come and take us to Himself by the way of life. The hope of the Christian is, not to go down into death and the grave, but to go up in life into the eternal glory of God (2 Cor. 5:44For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (2 Corinthians 5:4); John 14:33And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:3)). Blessedly true is it for all believers, “Absent from the body, present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:88We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8)), and “to depart to be with Christ, which is far better” (Phil. 1:2323For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: (Philippians 1:23)). The beloved departed one, of whom we have spoken, has found it so. But there must he, with all others who have fallen asleep through Jesus, wait in the unclothed state (2 Cor. 5:44For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (2 Corinthians 5:4)), whilst we (who believe) must still with patience wait upon the earth until the Lord come (1 Thess. 1:1010And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10)).
Come He will, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:5252In 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. (1 Corinthians 15:52)). With triumphant assembling shout shall the Lord Himself descend into the air. All His own shall hear His blessed voice. Millions in a moment shall awake and arise (John 5:28, 2928Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28‑29)). Millions in a moment shall be changed (1 Cor. 15:51, 5251Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52In 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. (1 Corinthians 15:51‑52)). Millions together shall be caught up to meet Him (1 Thess. 4:16, 1716For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17)). No sign, no signal, need we await. No prophecy need we explore. His own word is enough; His own promise is eternally sure, “Surely I come quickly.” Much will take place after on the earth. But between our souls and His corning for His own is there nothing. “Let your loins he girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord” (Luke 12:35, 3635Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. (Luke 12:35‑36)). Yes, in the twinkling of an eye shall every saint of God, whose body lies in the earth or in the sea, and every living saint upon the earth, be glorified in the image of the Lord forever. Reader, how is it with you? Maybe, as you read these lines, the unrevealed moment may arrive, and the eternal counsel of God be fulfilled. Maybe, this moment, that the earth shall be bereft of every saint of God. Are you one? Are you a careless worldling, a lifeless professor, or a happy Christian? Are you ready to meet the Lord?
For twenty years and more has the servant of God, of whom we have spoken, sounded out far and wide the gospel of peace, and the glad tidings of good things. Tens of thousands have heard his voice. Many have heard the voice of the Son of God through him, in God’s unbounded grace. Have you heard that voice in your soul? “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my voice, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)). All who hear His voice now live, and will gladly hear His voice when He comes. But all who remain deaf now will surely hear His voice with terror in the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men (2 Peter 3:77But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:7)). Oh, “incline your ear, and come unto me,” saith the Lord; “hear, and your soul shall live.” Time is rapidly fleeting by. As the fowls of the air hover over the carrion, so death hovers over this corrupt world. Death, ruthless death, that spares neither pauper nor prince, is summoning its thousands away. But, alas! how true it is, as one has said, “Men think all men mortal but themselves.”
O sinner! arouse thyself, ere it be too late. Thou slumberest on the brink of hell. Thou knowest not but what a sudden summons may come for thee. Art thou ready to meet it? As surely as sudden death means sudden bliss for the believer, so surely does sudden death mean sudden woe for the unbeliever. To live carelessly, is to die in your sins, and be eternally damned. To live a lifeless profession without Christ, is to die without Him, and to be lost forever. To believe on Christ, and to live Christ, is to spend eternity with Him in glory.
“He fell headlong into the lake,” and he sank “before help could reach him.” Ah! reader, this is man’s side of the matter. The Lord allowed that fall. He was not, for so God took him, is His side of it. It was sudden death-sudden bliss!
Oh, may his departure, through the Lord’s grace, be the means of arousing many to weigh seriously the all-momentous question of their eternal salvation, and lead them to find in Christ and His finished work an unfailing and eternal refuge for their souls! And may his earnest and devoted testimony stir up the hearts of many of the Lord’s people to be increasingly consecrated to the interests of Christ! E. H. C.