A FEW days ago we were standing around the open grave of an aged believer, who, during a calm and consistent life, had experienced much of the presence of the Lord Jesus. It is no light thing to look back twenty or thirty years over the career of a Christian, and to recall the seasons of distress and pleasure, of bereavement and of freshly made earthly ties, and to say, the power of that life was the enjoyed peace of Christ's presence! Such a testimony is in itself a demonstration of the reality of the truth of God. If there were more of living Christ among Christians, there would be less infidelity in the world.
While standing at that open grave, the present enjoyment of the spirit of the believer whose body was about to be laid in the earth, came forcibly to the heart. The scriptures teach us much concerning the resurrection of the body; no one who reads his Bible can lack direct verses and passages on this subject; and the scriptures also tell us of the state before the resurrection, in this present time, of the spirit of the believer. The body is committed to the dust, this our natural eyes behold, and tears fill them as we bury our dead out of our sight. No less does our spiritual eye perceive, and with increasing brightness, what is unseen save to faith and love, the condition of the spirit of the saint of God whose body is committed to the grave.
Let us gather a few short loving words of comfort and of joy on the state of our friends in Christ whose bodies sleep. "Willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be 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).) "Having a desire to depart, and 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).) "To-day thou shalt be with Me in paradise." (Luke 23:4343And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43).) We feel that the special emphasis of these verses lies in each case upon the word with—and in the last quoted, falling as it did from our Lord's own lips, we have the fact they all express, given to us with sweetest tenderness, "Thou shalt be with Me.”
In the ecstasy of the apostle, of which we read, in 2 Cor. 12:2, 3, 4,2I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2 Corinthians 12:2‑4) we have a kind of index to what it must he to be with the Lord in paradise. There He "heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." Whether he was in the body or out of the body at the time, he could not tell— God knew, but the joy of his spirit was being in the presence of the Lord in heaven. It is with such ecstasy that our friends now with the Lord are filled.
“To me to live is Christ," said the apostle, "to die is gain." (Phil. 1:2121For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21).) Christ with him on earth was his joy below, a joy which the evil of the world and the trials of life would sometimes interrupt. To be with Christ in heaven was uninterrupted bliss. There are moments in the Christian’s course, when the Lord manifests Himself to him— "I will love him, and will manifest My self to him" (John 14:2020At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. (John 14:20)-those moments are heaven on earth. "Thou shalt be with Me" is the saint's present portion in paradise.
Keeping before us the fruitful "with" of the verses quoted, we pass from the present portion of the departed saint to his and our eternal portion. What is the very first announcement to our hearts of what shall be ours, without a break, on the morning of the resurrection? And we say "ours" in its fullest breadth —"ours"—who are alive on this earth,'' ours, “who are in paradise. We listen attentively to the announcement," So shall we ever he with the Lord." (1 Thess. 4:1717Then 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 4:17).)
The Lord Jesus Himself, in His personal grace and glory, is thus before us, and as we meditate upon the portion thus announced, we recall His own words to His disciples respecting His thoughts concerning them and us in relation to the eternal home, "I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:3,3And 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))
With reverence we may say, "This is exactly what we should expect from the Lord, whose pleasure is in His own. His joy is having His people where He is." Ah! if this be so respecting the eternal home, it is none the less so respecting paradise and His own with Him there. We think of the truly holy and happy hours they spent below, who are now with Him above. The joy of those seasons was Himself filling their hearts, perhaps, at times with such fullness that the earth and its surroundings were verily forgotten. Whether in the body or out of the body they scarce knew; of one thing only were they aware— Christ's presence was with them. Now they are with Christ.
How time and eternity, the condition of "in the body" and "out of the body," this state of weakness and the future state of resurrection power, become, shall we say, minor considerations, in the presence of Christ Himself? True experimental Christianity is the conscious knowledge of Christ, and perhaps compared with no other teacher do we consciously learn Him in this lifetime, as at the hands of suffering and death. H. F. W.