The burial took place on Thursday, April 3rd. Long before the arrival of the corpse and the procession of mourners, some hundreds had assembled in the Meeting Room in Moorgate Road, mostly saints from various places, who had long known and loved the dear departed one, and there waited in solemn silence.
After the coffin, which was borne by beloved brethren, had been quietly deposited among us, and the bereaved and their friends had taken their places, a brother prayed. Reverently approaching God, our God and Father, as a company of mourners, all feeling more or less bereaved and sensible of our loss, we could not but give thanks to Him for the grace and strength that had been given to our dear departed brother for such a long series of years in the ministry of His gospel to sinners, and His word of instruction to His saints; and also for the unshaken confidence which we have of his being now “with the Lord.” Fervent prayer was offered for the beloved widow, and for every member of the family; and also that all present might be in the position of waiting on God to learn the lessons He is now seeking to teach by the present sorrow and bereavement.
Perhaps no five words could be found within the whole compass of divine revelation which have a more searching, more personal, or more suitable application to every one present on this solemn occasion than those just read. They bring the Savior before us as He now is on the throne of God, and reveal Him as the supreme and universal Lord—“He is Lord of all.”
He was here in lowliness and grace, and full of compassion toward men, “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”; but now
“The throne is His, and His by right,
The highest place in heaven.”
No doubt, as being the eternal Son by whom the worlds were made, as One who was before all things, the Maker of all things, Upholder of all things, the One by whom all things consist, and who is Heir of all things; the One too, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; He could rightfully lay claim in virtue of His Deity to all things. But “He is Lord of all” as having justly merited it by “the death of the cross,” In that finished work, there was not only eternal redemption accomplished for us in infinite mercy, but there was what He did for God, and the eternal glory that it brought to Him. Man had sinned, disbelieved God, dishonored God, turned his back upon God, was without God, and consequently without hope in the world: but Jesus came into this sin-stricken, God-dishonoring world of which the devil is prince and god, and with everything against Him, and the opposition of Jews and Gentiles, He obeyed God, honored God, vindicated God, fulfilled His word, did His will in all things, was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. If Adam, when he sinned, deserved to be thrust out of the garden—the paradise on earth—what did the God-man Christ Jesus merit for such a glorious work as He accomplished when He had fulfilled all Scripture, and said, “It is finished,” and, in obedience to God and love to us, bowed His head in death? Surely nothing less than the glory of God. Therefore, we now see Him “crowned with glory and honor.” And that glory which has been given to Him as the glorified Man, blessed be His name, He has given to us. He said to His Father,
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was . . . Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word . . . And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given them (John 17: 4, 5, 20, 22).
By the Prince of Life going into death, the Holy One bearing the judgment due to us and rising out of it, He not only abolished death, and rendered null him that had the power of death, that is the devil, but all power in heaven and in earth was given to Him—power over all the living and all the dead. Hence we are told, “To this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Rom. 14:99For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. (Romans 14:9)). In the place then of universal authority, the Head of all principality and power, the risen, ascended, glorified Man Christ Jesus, He has absolute lordship over every human being whether living or dead. Having died for all, having sent the gospel to all, having been long-suffering to all, He is now at God’s right hand “Lord of all.” There God righteously set Him. He was obedient unto death, even the, death of the cross; wherefore [mark well this word wherefore], God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things [or beings] in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth [that is the infernal regions], and that every tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:8-118And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:8‑11)).
We know from Scripture that the created beings in heaven bow to Jesus as Lord, “angels, and authorities, and powers being made subject unto him.” But on earth, this earth on which we are to-day, who bows to Jesus? Who owns Him as his Lord? Who looks up to Him every now and then and says, My Savior, and Lord? Such only as have taken their true place before God as sinners justly exposed to His condemnation, and gladly receive the assurance of His unalterable word, that the blood of Christ, who is now Lord of all, was shed for many for the remission of sins.
Yet God will have Jesus owned as Lord, and confessed by every human being.
It is evident then from the word of God that every one here to-day will sooner or later have to do with Jesus as “Lord of all.” Those who bow to Him now as sinners to save them from the wrath to come, will find Him a present Savior; but if they refuse Him now as Savior, they must meet Him as Judge. When He comes out of heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire it will be not to save but to judge the living, and to put all enemies under His feet. But more than that, He is, as we have seen, Lord of the dead as well as of the living. We read, therefore, that “All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and 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, 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)). What an amazing contrast are these two resurrections! Blessed for evermore are those who will be in the first resurrection!
Therefore in taking the body of the dear departed one to the grave, we do so with the fullest confidence that he is now absent from the body and present with the Lord; and are assured that He who is “Lord of the dead”“will watch over that body (for the body of the believer is the purchase of the Savior’s blood as well as the soul, so that such can say He loved me and gave Himself for me), and by and by bring it forth, changed like unto His own body of glory, and take it up, re-united to the spirit, to meet Him in the air, and so be for ever with the Lord. We expect then to see our beloved brother again. On the authority of Holy Scripture we look to be caught up with him to meet our Lord in the air, but “the dead in Christ will rise first.” Happy, indeed, and safe for ever, too, are those who now look up by faith at the Lord Jesus Christ where He is, and trust Him as their own Savior; and such will not only say “My Lord, and my God,” but will rejoice in the fact that “He is Lord of all.”
After these remarks, a servant of the Lord, now on his way to New Zealand, gave thanks to God for the blessing the departed had been, under God, to so many souls, and the hundreds of times some there present had been cheered by his Christian ways and words. Earnest prayer was offered that by his many writings he though dead might yet speak. Seeing also that his removal was a loss to the world as to the ministry of the Gospel, a loss to the Church also, there was fervent supplication to God to raise up others to fill up the blank occasioned by his departure.
The following verses were then sung:
“O happy morn the Lord will come,
And take His waiting people home,
Beyond the reach of care;
Where guilt and sin are all unknown
The Lord will come and claim His own,
And place them with Him on His throne,
The glory bright to share.
“The resurrection morn will break,
And every sleeping saint awake,
Brought forth in light again;
O morn, too bright for mortal eyes!
When all the ransomed Church shall rise,
And, wing their way to yonder skies
Called up with Christ to reign.”
At the grave, where it has been said that 700 or 800 persons were assembled, the latter part of the 4th chapter of the first epistle to the Thessalonians was read.
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For 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: then 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Dr. D. prayed that we might have grace and strength supplied to serve and honor our Lord while waiting for His coming. He thanked God also for the long-continued service of our departed brother, and that his beaming face, when mentioning the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, showed how precious to His servant He was; and that with confidence and peace we placed the body in the grave until the Lord comes.
A few words of prayer were added by another for God’s blessing on His truth to those who had heard it that day, and again commending the bereaved and sorrowing at this time to the mercy of God, the meeting separated.
Before laying aside this paper, it would be well, perhaps, for both the Christian reader and writer to inquire, How much are we enjoying the Father’s perfect love, and how far are we, living and acting as those who watch and wait for the coming of our Lord?
The great snare for Christians to-day is worldly-mindedness, notwithstanding it is so plainly written that “whoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:44Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (James 4:4)). But when the Father’s love fills our hearts, we become lifted above the attractions and snares which we could not otherwise escape. “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him”; he is not enjoying this sweet relationship, he does not realize that the Father loves him as He loved His Son (1 John 2:15; 17:2615Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)).
It is also clear, that if we are truly looking for the coming of our Lord, it will separate us from what dishonors Him, for “every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:33And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:3)).
May we then enjoy our Father’s perfect love, walk in obedience to His word, be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, and waiting for His return from heaven! Such are ready when the Master calls!
H. H. S. June, I890.