THE expectation of God’s Son from heaven is the believer’s hope. When the Lord Jesus left this world, He did not speak of death as that which we were to look forward to, but His own coming. He said, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (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).) Blessed hope! And yet it is remarkable how often Scripture is flatly contradicted, and even by those too who would not intentionally do so for the world. For instance, how common it is to hear it insisted on that “we must all die.” Whereas Scripture most plainly states the contrary. “We shall not all sleep”— that is, that when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven to receive us unto Himself, He will find some believers living on the earth, and those will never die; but be “changed in a moment,” and “caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so be forever with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4)
Again, we are sometimes met, when this glorious subject is introduced, by the reply, that Scripture says “It is appointed unto all men once to die;” but they are surprised at being informed that there is no such text in the Bible. There is something like it. It is this: “It is appointed unto men (not all men, but men) once to die, but after this the judgment;” and to this it is added, that instead of all dying, “unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9:27, 2827And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:27‑28).) The bright and blessed hope there set before the believer is not death, but the coming of the Lord from heaven, when his body will be changed, and fashioned like unto His glorious body; when mortality will be swallowed up of life, and we shall be caught up to be with Christ in glory, and like Christ forever.
Still, it is a fact that before the Lord comes believers do die, or rather fall asleep in Jesus. They do depart, Which, the apostle is directed to tell us, is to be with Christ, and that it is “far better” than to remain here; for to be “absent from the body,” is to be “present with the Lord,” Though compelled to leave the body behind, because of its unfitness for the Lord’s presence until “changed,” nevertheless they are happy “with the Lord,” their bodies are under His guardian eye, and all are waiting for the glorious moment to arrive when “the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,” and His saints be “caught up to meet the Lord in the air.”
Meanwhile, as we have said, God’s dear children are falling asleep in Jesus; and happy indeed are those who are so attracted by the Lord Himself as, like the apostle, have a desire to depart to be with Him. Surely it is the path of faith, the way of triumph and victory; for while such are assured that “the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law,” they can also exultingly add, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:56, 5756The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:56‑57).) The eye of the heart being thus fixed on the Lord Himself, a Lamb as it had been slain now in the midst of the throne, their happy spirits go upward, ascribing victory, victory to the blood of the Lamb. Because they are thus occupied with the Lord, many find their death-bed the happiest part of their earthly pilgrimage. Having done with everything else, the Lord fills the vision of their souls. They are occupied with precious thoughts of His glory, and work, and worth. Surely this is the true secret of happiness in every part of our journey, and will be the source of endless, eternal joy when in glory with Him. It is often brought out most brightly on a death-bed, because then the comparative worthlessness of everything here appears in its true character, so that the heart finds nothing to attach itself to but Christ Himself, and finds an overflowing cup of joy in Him. It has been so with many. We have often recorded such blessed instances. It has been so in various times since Christ has been known as crowned with glory and honor at the right hand of God. What was the secret of Stephen’s joy and strength when suffering martyrdom by being stoned to death? Are we not told that his whole soul was occupied, not with self, or his circumstances, or his sufferings, most painful as they were, but with Christ Himself? “Being full of the Holy Ghost, he looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” And so it has been in their measure with many others of the Lord’s servants. We have lately read an account of the last moments of an honored servant of the Lord, Augustus Toplady, who fell asleep in Jesus nearly one hundred years ago. We are told that as he approached nearer and nearer to his decease, his conversation seemed more and more happy and heavenly. He frequently called himself the happiest man in the world. ‘Oh!’ says he ‘how this soul of mine longs to be gone! Like a bird imprisoned in a cage, it longs to take its flight. Oh, that I had wings like a dove, then would I flee away to the realms of bliss, and be at rest forever! Oh, that some guardian angel might be commissioned! for I long to be absent from this body, and to be with my Lord forever.’ Being asked by a friend if he always enjoyed such manifestations, he answered, ‘I cannot say there are no intermissions; for if there were not, my consolations would be more and greater than I could possibly bear; but when they abate, they leave such an abiding sense of God’s goodness, and of the certainty of my being fixed upon the eternal rock, Christ Jesus, that my soul is still filled with peace and joy.’ At another time, and indeed for many days together, he cried out, ‘Oh, what a day of sunshine has this been to me! I have not words to express it. It is unutterable! Oh, my friends, how good is God! almost without interruption His presence has been with me.’ And then, repeating several passages of Scripture, he added, ‘What a great thing it is to rejoice in death!’ Speaking of Christ, he said, ‘His love is unutterable!’ He was happy in declaring, that the eighth chapter of the epistle to the Romans, the thirty-third and the six following verses, were the joy and comfort of his soul. Upon that portion of Scripture he often descanted with great delight, and would be frequently ejaculating, ‘Lord Jesus! why tarried thou so long?’ He sometimes said, ‘I find as the bottles of heaven empty they are filled again;’ meaning, probably, the continual comforts of grace, which he abundantly enjoyed. When he drew near his end, he said, waking from a slumber, ‘Oh, what delights! Who can fathom the joys of the third heaven?’ And a little before his departure, he was blessing and praising God for continuing to him his understanding in clearness; ‘but,’ added he in a rapture, ‘for what is most of all, His abiding presence, and the shining of His love upon my soul. The sky is clear; there is no cloud; come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!’
“Within the hour of his death he called his friends and his servant, and asked them if they could give him up? Upon their answering in the affirmative, since it pleased the Lord to be so gracious to him, he replied, ‘Oh, what a blessing it is you are made willing to give me up into the hands of my dear Redeemer, and to part with me; it will not be long before God takes me; for no mortal can live (bursting while he said it into tears of joy) after the glories which God has manifested to my soul.’ Soon after this he closed his eyes, and fell asleep.”