The Objects, Grounds, and Evidences

Next Part The Objects, Grounds, and Evidences 2

The Objects, Grounds, and Evidences of the HOPE of the Righteous

"The wicked is driven away in his wickedness; but the righteous has hope in his death." Proverbs 14:32

To creatures that are placed here on earth for a few years upon trial for an everlasting state—it is of the greatest importance how they make their departure hence. The gloomy hour of nature's last extremity stands in need of some effectual support; and that support can proceed from nothing then present—but only from past reviews and future prospects; from the review of past life so spent as to answer the end of life; and from the prospect of a happy immortality to follow upon this last struggle.

Now, men will leave the world according to their conduct in it; and be happy or miserable hereafter, according to their improvement of the present state of trial, "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness," says the wisest of men; "but the righteous has hope in his death."

"The wicked is driven away in his wickedness." That is, he dies—as he lived. He lived in wickedness—and in wickedness hedies.

His wickedness sticks fast upon him—when his earthly enjoyments, his friends, and all created comforts leave him forever. Theguilt of his wickedness lies heavy upon him—like a mountain of lead, ready to sink him into the depth of eternal misery! And theprinciples of wickedness, which he indulged all his life, still live within him, even in the agonies of death; nay, they now arrive at a dreadful immortality, and produce an eternal hell in his heart!

He leaves behind him not only all his earthly comforts—but all the little remains of goodness he seemed to have, while under the restraints of divine grace: and he carries nothing but his wickedness along with him into eternity. With this dreadful attendant—his wickedness—he must pass to the tribunal of his Judge! To leave his earthly all behind him, and die in the agonies of dissolving nature—this is terrible. But to die in his wickedness—this is infinitely the most terrible of all!

He once flattered himself that though he lived in wickedness—that he would not die in it. He adopted many resolutions to amend, and forsake his wickedness, toward the close of life, or upon a death-bed. But how is he disappointed! After all his promisingpurposes and hopes—he died as he lived—in wickedness!

This is generally the fate of veterans in sin. They are resolving and re-resolving to reform all their lives; but after all—they die the same as they lived. They intend to prepare for death and eternity—but just not today. They have always something else to do today; and therefore they put off this work until tomorrow. Tomorrow comes, and instead of reforming, they die in their wickedness. Tomorrow comes—and they are in hell!

Oh! that the loiterers of this generation would take warning from the ruin of thousands of their unhappy ancestors, who have perished by the dread experiment! Friends! are not some of you in danger of splitting upon the same rock? Are not some of you conscious, that if you should die this moment—that you would die in your wickedness? And yet you have but very little fear of dying in this manner! No—you purpose yet to become mighty religious and prepare for death, before you die. Just so have thousands purposed as strongly as you—who are now in hell! The time for repentance was still a 'later' to them—until it wasirrecoverably past. They were snatched away unexpectedly, by the sudden hand of death, and knew not where they were—until they found themselves in eternity! And thus they had no time for this work of repentance; or their thoughts were so much engrossed with their pains—that they had no composure for it; or, they found their sins, by long indulgence, were becomeinvincibly strong, their hearts judicially hardened, and all the influences of divine grace withdrawn! So that the work of repentance became impossible. And thus, they died in their sins. And if any of you are so foolhardy as to imitate them in their delays—you may expect to die in your wickedness—just as they did.

"The wicked is driven away in his wickedness." He is driven away—in spite of all his reluctance. Let him cling to life ever so strongly—yet he must go! All his struggles are vain, and cannot add one moment to his days.

Indeed, the wicked have so little taste for heaven, and are so much in love with this world, that if they leave it at all—they must be driven out of it—driven out of it, whether they want or not!

When they hope for heaven, they do in reality consider it but a shift, or a refuge, when they can no longer live in this, their favourite world. They do not at all desire heaven—in comparison with this world. They would live forever in this present world—if they could have their choice. But let them grasp ever so hard—they must let go their hold. They must be driven away, like chaff before a whirlwind —driven away into the regions of misery—into the regions of misery, I say; for certainly the happiness of heaven was never intended for such as are so averse to it; and who prefer this wretched world, with all its cares and sorrows—before heaven itself!

This is the certain doom of the wicked!

But WHO are the wicked? Though the character is so common among us—yet there are few who will own it. It is an odiouscharacter—and therefore few will take it to themselves. But there is no room for flattery in the case: and therefore we must inquire, WHO are the wicked? I answer:

all who habitually indulge themselves in the practice of any known wickedness;

all who neglect the God who made them, and the adorable Redeemer;

all who live in the wilful omission of the known duties of piety and morality;

all who have never known by experience what it is to sincerely repent and believe;

in a word, all who are in their natural state, and have never felt a change of spirit and practice, so great and important, that it may be called, with propriety, a new birth, or a new creation.

All such, without exception, are wicked!

They are wicked in reality—and in the sight of God; however righteous they may be in their own eyes; or however unblamably some of them may conduct themselves before others.

And are there not some such in this assembly? Is this assembly so glorious and happy a rarity, as not to have one wicked person in it? Alas! I am afraid the most generous charity cannot indulge such a delusive hope. May you make an impartial inquiry, into a matter so important! And if you find the character of the wicked is yours—then you must share in the dreadful doom of the wicked—if you continue such!

But I proceed to that part of my text, which I intend to make the principal subject of this discourse, "The righteous has hope in his death." To have hope in death is to have hope in the most desperate extremity of human nature. Then the spirits flag, and the heart sinks; and all the expectant hopes of blooming health and prosperity vanish. Then all hopes from things below—all expectations of happiness from all things under the sun—are cut off. All hopes of escaping the arrest of death are fled—when theiron grasp of its cold hand is felt.

But even in these hopeless circumstances, the righteous man has hope. The foundation of his hope must be well laid—it must be firm indeed, when it can stand such shocks as these. It is evident the objects of his hope must lie beyond the grave; for on this side of it—all is hopeless. His friends and physician despair of him; and he despairs of himself, as to all the prospects of this mortal life. But he does not despair of a happier life in another state. No! he hopes to live and be happy, when the agonies of death are over—and this hope bears him up under them.

This hope I intend to consider as to:
its objects,
its grounds and evidences,
and its various degrees and limitations.

First, I am to consider the OBJECTS of the righteous man's hope in death. And here I shall only mention:

his hope of support in death;

his hope of the immortality of the soul;

his hope of the resurrection of his body;

his hope of perfect happiness in heaven.

In the first place, the righteous man has a humble hope of SUPPORT IN DEATH. He has repeatedly entrusted himself into the faithful hands of an almighty Saviour, for life and death, for time and eternity; and he humbly hopes his Saviour will not forsake him now—now, when he most needs his assistance. This was Paul's support, under the prospect of his last hour: "I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." 2 Timothy 1:12. As if he had said, finding my own weakness, I have committed my all into another hand; and I have committed it to one, whose ability and faithfulness have been tried by thousands, as well as myself; and, therefore, I am confident, he will keep the sacred deposit, and never allow it to be injured or lost.

This was also the support of the Psalmist; "Though I walk," says he, "through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me." Psalm 23:4.

Yes, it was upon this support Paul leaned, when he braved death, in that triumphant language, "Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No! in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us: for I am persuaded," says he, "that death"; which separates our souls and bodies; which separates friend from friend; which separates us from all our earthly comforts, and breaks all our connections with this world, even death itself "shall never separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus!" Romans 8:35-39.

What a faithful friend, what a powerful guardian is this, who stands by his people, and bears them up in their last extremity, and makes them more than conquerors in the struggle with the all-conquering enemy of mankind! How peculiar a happiness is this, to be able to enjoy the comfort of hope—in the wreck of human nature! How sweet to lean a dying head—upon the kind arm of an almighty Saviour! How sweet to entrust a departing soul, as a deposit in his faithful hand!

Oh, may you and I enjoy this blessed support in a dying hour! and may we make it our great business in life to secure it! In that gloomy hour, our friends may weep, and wring their hands around our beds; but they can afford us no help—no hope! But Jesus can, as thousands have known by experience. Then he can bear home his promises upon the heart; then he can communicate hislove, which is better than life; and by his holy Spirit, bear up and encourage the sinking soul! Blessed Jesus! what friend can compare to you?

But, Secondly, the IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL is an object of the righteous man's hope. He is not like a Bolingbroke, and other infidels, who have made it their interest that there should be no future state, who consider immortality as an object of fear, and therefore try to reason themselves out of the belief of it, and choose to engulf themselves in the abyss of annihilation. That man has indeed a terrible consciousness of his demerit, who dares not trust himself forever in the hands of a just and gracious God—but wishes to escape out of his hands, though it were by resigning his being. It is not the force of argument that drives our infidels to this. Demonstration and certainty were never so much as pretended for it. And after all the preposterous pains they take to work themselves up to the gloomy hope, that when they die they shall escape punishment by the loss of all the sweets of existence. Yet, if I may venture to guess at, and divulge the secret—they are often alarmed with the dreadful perhaps of a future state. In their solemn and thoughtful moments their hope wavers, and they fear they shall not be more happy than a dog or astone, when they die. Unhappy creatures! How much are they to be pitied! And were it not for the universal benevolence of that religion which they despise, how justly would they be despised and abhorred!

They are men of pleasure now; they are merry, jovial and mirthful, and give free reign to all their licentious passions and appetites. But how short, how sordid, how brutish the pleasure! How gloomy, how low, how shocking their highest hope! Their highest hope is to be as much as nothing, in a few years or moments hence, as they were ten thousand years ago. They are men of pleasure, who would lose all their pleasures, if they were angels in heaven; but would lose none of them, if they were swine in the mire.

Blessed be God, this gloomy hope is not the hope which the religion of Jesus inspires. No, "he has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." 2 Timothy 1:10. He opens to the departing soul, the endless prospects of a future state of being—a state, where death shall no more make such havoc and desolations among the works of God: but where everything is vital and immortal.

Hence the righteous man has hope in his death. He is not driven to seek for shelter in the gulf of annihilation; nor to combat with the blessed hopes which reason and revelation unitedly inspire, as his worst enemies. He wishes and hopes to live forever, that he may forever enjoy the generous pleasure of serving his God, and doing good to his fellow-creatures.

The belief of immortality is not, indeed, peculiar to the righteous: it is the belief of mankind in general, except a few infidels here and there, who are to be regarded as monsters in human nature. But this is not so properly the object of hope, as of fear—to multitudes. They wish it were false, though they cannot believe it is so. They have no joy and peace in believing this; but, like "devils, they believe and tremble." James 2:19. But, to the righteous man, this is properly an object of hope: the prospect is pleasing to him. If it were a dream, which, blessed be God, it is not—it is a pleasing dream. If it were a delusion—it is a harmless and profitable delusion.

It inspires him with noble pleasures, and excites him to glorious deeds, while life lasts: and if it must be entirely given up in death, he will sleep as easy as the most staunch unbeliever upon earth, who lived in the expectation of so terrible a doom. Thus we might argue—even upon the worst supposition that can be made. But we are left in no such uncertainty. This is not a pleasing error—but a pleasing truth. Such it proves to the righteous man: for oh! how pleasing to the offspring of the dust—to claimimmortality as his inalienable inheritance! How transporting to a soul, just ready to take its flight from the quivering lips of the dissolving clay—to look forward, through everlasting ages of felicity, and call them all its own! To sit, and prognosticate, and pause upon, its own futurities—to defy the stroke of death, and smile at the impotent malice of the gaping grave! Oh, what ahappiness, what a privilege, is this! And this is what the righteous man in some measure enjoys.

Thirdly, the righteous in death has the hope of the RESURRECTION of his body. This glorious hope we owe entirely to Scriptural revelation. The ancient philosophers could never discover it by their reason; and when it was discovered by a superior light, they ridiculed it as the hope of worms. But this is a reviving hope to the righteous, in the agonies of death. Those old intimate friends—the soul and body, that must now part, with so much reluctance—shall again meet, and be united in inseparable bonds. The righteous man does not deliver up his body, as the eternal prey of worms, or the irredeemable prisoner of the grave; but his hope looks forward to the glorious dreadful morning of the resurrection; and sees the bonds of death bursting; the prison of the grave flying open; the mouldering dust collected, and formed into a human body once more—a human body, most gloriously improved.

This prospect affords a very agreeable support in death, and enables the righteous to say with Job, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes! I am overwhelmed at the thought!" Job 19:25-27.

"For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 1 Corinthians 15:53-55. This is an illustrious victory indeed; a victory over the conqueror of conquerors, and of all the sons of Adam. And yet, thus victorious shall the frail dying believer be made, over that terror of human nature.

Fourthly, the perfect and EVERLASTING HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN is an object of the righteous man's hope in death. He hopes to drop all his sins, and their attendant train of sorrows, behind him; and to be perfectly holy, and consequently happy, forever. He hopes to see his God and Saviour, and to spend a happy eternity in society with him, and in his service. He hopes to join the company of angels, and of his fellow-saints of the human race. He hopes to improve in knowledge, in holiness, and in capacities for action and enjoyment, in an endless gradation. He hopes to see the face of his God in righteousness; and to be satisfied, when he awakes, with his image. Psalm 17:15.

In short, he hopes to be as happy as his nature will possibly admit through an endless duration. Oh, what a glorious hope is this! This has made many a soul welcome death with open arms. This has made them desirous to be with Christ—which is far better. Phil. 1:23. And this has sweetly swallowed up the sensations of bodily pain. Indeed, without this, immortality would be an object of terror—and not of hope: the prospect would be insupportably dreadful. For who can bear the thought of an immortal duration spent in an eternal banishment from God and all happiness, and in the sufferance of the most exquisite pain? But a happy immortality—what can charm us more!

Having thus shown you some of the principal objects of a godly man's hope in death, I now proceed.

Secondly, to show you what are the GROUNDS and EVIDENCES of such a hope.

It is evident, it is not every kind of hope, that is intended in my text; it is a hope peculiar to the righteous: and it is a hope that shall never be disappointed, or put to shame. This, alas! is not the common popular hope of the world. Job speaks of the hope of the hypocrite: Job 8:13; 27:8, and one greater than Job tells us, that many will carry their false hopes with them to the very tribunal of their Judge. When he assures them that he never knew them, they hardly think him in earnest: "Strange! do you not know us? Have we not eat and drunk in your presence, and have you not taught in our streets?" Luke 13:26. Paul also tells us, that while some are crying "peace and safety, and apprehend no danger, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape!" 1 Thess. 5:3.

This is likewise evidently confirmed by observation: for how often do we find in fact, that many not only hope for immortality—but for immortal happiness, who give no evidence at all of their title to it—but many of the contrary? Here, then, is a very proper occasion for self-examination. Since there are so many false hopes among mankind, we should solicitously inquire, whether our hope will stand the test. To assist us in this inquiry, let us consider what are the peculiar grounds and evidences of the righteous man's hope.

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