II. The Spirit in which the Believer may die.
This is described in the words of Simeon, “Let thy servant depart in peace.” Simeon could look forward to his dying hour in a tranquil spirit of calm, resting peace. How often is there care on the heart of the dying believer. A father may be leaving his wife and family, who have been dependent on him for support; or a mother her children, with the strong conviction that there is no substitute for a mother’s love. Let no one suppose that there is no trial of faith in such a separation, and that it is not, in many cases, very hard to trust. But in Christ Jesus there may be peace even in such a parting, and the dying mother, if she knows her Saviour, may trust her all into His loving hands, and say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him.” [30b] She has committed her children into His care. They are her deposit with God, and she may be at perfect peace in the assurance that, though she is departing, He is remaining, and will remain a faithful Saviour till every one of those dear children is presented safe before His throne.
Let no one suppose that it is not a very solemn thing to die, to be suddenly cut off from everything of which we have ever had any experience, and to launch out alone into an invisible world. It cannot, therefore, be an easy thing to die in peace. But, thanks be to God, we believe that the departing spirit passes at once into the loving presence of our Redeemer, and why should there not be peace? I believe it is the forgetfulness of this personal entrance into the personal presence of a personal Saviour that sometimes seems to darken the dying hour. People forget those few words, “Thou art with me,” [31a] and then they are afraid. But when we rest on those words, and combine them with our assured hope, knowing that He is now with us invisibly, and that we are going to be with Him visibly, then we shall be able to say, as Simeon did, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.”