The life of the departed

by I. E. Bill

The popular idea is, that when man dies, his work on earth terminates. This, in one sense, is true; but, in another, it is not true. You may cover up a man’s body in the grave; but you cannot confine his influence to these narrow limits. Man’s character is immortal. Our words and our actions reverberate through all succeeding ages; and their echoes are repeated amid the solemn scenes of eternity. Man, as he passes through the world, inscribes his name in imperishable lines upon its tablets; and these will be read and re-read by those who come after him; and every reading will make its impression, and exert its influence, for weal or for woe—for life or for death—for heaven or for hell. This is true of the wicked as well as the just. Cain speaks as well as Abel. We hear them both, and are influenced by the testimony which they give. The utterance of once is a word of awful warning; but the language of the other is full of consolation and hope. It is true of every man that has slept in death from the days of Adam, that “he being dead yet speaketh,” no matter where he lived, or when he died. He may have dwelt amid the splendours of a gorgeous palace, or have occupied a hut in the wilderness; he may have swayed the destinies of empire, or have been ruled with a rod of iron; he may have luxuriated in boundless wealth, or have felt the crushing power of pinching poverty. Still, when he departed this life, he transmitted an influence to his successors, which can never be extinguished.

There is no such thing as a perfect blank in human life. We cannot be neutral if we would. The author of our being has so linked us in association with those around us, that we must necessarily live and act in them and through them, when our bodies have returned to dust. Such is the law of our being, and from this law there is no appeal.

How awfully impressive, therefore, are the responsibilities of life—the life of a Christian—the life of a sinner. It is a solemn thing to die; but is it not equally solemn to live? Death is solemn, because it is the gateway to eternity. Life is solemn, because it is a preparation for eternity, and because it is all the time uttering words, and performing acts which are invested with the attributes of immortality.

We all know the anxiety of men to be remembered after death. Warriors, statesmen, poets, philosophers, and divines, are all the subjects of this aspiration. It seems to be an inherent element in human nature, and is cherished to a greater or less extent by all. And man will be remembered. No epitaph may mark the spot where his body lies; but he has been rearing monuments around him all through life, more enduring than marble; and though he die, and turn to dust, these monuments will live, and they will speak, too, with a power that shall mould and fashion human character, and give direction to human destiny.

It were easy to illustrate this fact, by calling up those of past generations. Abel lives in the sacrifice which he presented when he offered the firstlings of his flock, as typical of the sacrifice of the Cross. Enoch lives in the purity of a spotless life; Noah, in his marvellous preservation amid the wide waste of waters by virtue of his obedience to God. Abraham lives, in the power of a matchless faith; Joseph, in the unsullied purity which resisted temptation. Moses, in his renunciation of the honours and treasures of an Egyptian court, for the sake of a connection with the despised and persecuted people of God. Elijah, in the omnipotence of prevailing prayer. Job, in a patient submission to the will of his God, when stripped of all earthly comforts. David, in those choice utterances of his own experience, which have been the comfort of the Church in all ages. Isaiah, in the glowing strains of his evangelical prophecy. Jeremiah, in his weeping lamentations over a rebellious people. Daniel, in the undaunted courage of a religious integrity. And Habakkuk, in his importunity for the revival of God’s work.

The holy Apostles still live in their apostolic acts, in their mighty triumphs over the powers of darkness, and in their inspired utterances to the Church and to the world. The dead martyrs encompass the pathway of the living Church, by the light and glory of their self-sacrificing example in life, and by their fidelity to the truth amid the shame and torture of an ignominious death.

Martin Luther sleeps in the dust of Wittenburg, but he nevertheless lives in the spirit of the glorious Reformation kindled by his instrumentality. The voices of Calvin and Melancthon are still ringing loud and loud through all the congregations of the redeemed. Shakespeare, Milton, Young, and Kirk White, still live in “thoughts that breath and words that burn.” The eloquent and successful preachers of other days yet live in the subduing influence of the sermons which aroused multitudes from the slumber of sin, to call upon the name of the Lord.

An elegant writer has said, “The earth is a vast whispering gallery, and the centuries are but telegraphic wires, which convey the thoughts of one age to another. The nineteenth century sits at one end of the electric telegraph, and the first century at this other; and the former hears transmitted to it lessons from the latter, that mould and shape it for heaven—for happiness or woe.”

Nothing that ever man says or does is annihilated. Its duration is coeval with the immortality of the soul. Professor Babbage, an able writer says, “The air is one vast library, on whose pages are forever written all that man has ever said, or woman ever whispered.” It is an understood principle in philosophy, that the pebble thrown into the sea, will produce its undulations as long as the sea endures; and that the blow struck, will transmit its vibrations through all succeeding ages. So with the words and deeds of men. The influence they exert will live on, making their impress of the minds and characters of humanity, while time lasts, or eternity endures. The brave Havelock fought his last battle, and went to his grave, with many laurels upon his sainted brow; but his heroic acts in the war camp, and on the battle-field, and above all, his deeds of self-sacrificing piety and religious devotion, speak as with trumpet-tongues to the living, and will continue to do so, until the funeral fires of the last day shall kindle upon these lower grounds, and the earth and all things that are therein shall be burned up. How truthfully has the Apostle said, “No man liveth to himself, or dieth to himself.” In life and in death we are bound up with others, and through them transmit ourselves from age to age. Coronets, station, rank, riches, honours, are all temporary and fleeting; but character bears the impress of immortality.

How many ways there are of living after death; some of course that are much more impressive than others. Your magnificent paintings, so true to life; the monuments in your grave yards, and in your public places; and the institutions founded by the spirit of benevolence, are all invested with the mysterious power of life, and exert their influence for good or for evil. But the most effective mode is probably through the wondrous power of the press. Thousands of years have passed since the five books of Moses were written; but they still exist, to tell the wondrous story of creation’s birth, the burial and resurrection of the planet upon which we dwell, and to unfold the history of God’s dealings with a people that he had chosen for his own inheritance. The laws promulgated from Sinai’s burning mount, live in many of their essential features upon the statute books of all Christian nations. By the mighty power of the press, the thoughts that glowed in the minds of prophets, stirred the souls of the Apostles, and came fresh and pure from a Saviour’s lips, are taken up, borne on from age to age, and scattered like drops of morning drew amongst the nations of mankind. Bunyan wrote his enchanting dream in the solitude of Bedford prison; but the press seized hold of it, and has gone one repeating the dreamer’s story in all the languages of christendom, and multiplying its copies beyond the power of human calculation. Through this medium the influence of Bunyan will go on accumulating and gathering strength, so long as there is a Christian to be comforted, or a sinner to be saved.