Our peace, our joy, our hope, our all in life and in death, are the results of confidence in Christ. Our dear, departed sister had heard the sweet voice of Jesus saying, "I am the dark world's light; come unto me, thy morn shall rise and all thy day be bright." Her trust was not in this vain and transitory world, though smiling and fair, she trusted not His joy, for sorrow was there. Her faith had found an anchor—a sure abiding home; she had a strong consolation because she had fled for refuge and had laid hold of the hope set before her in the Gospel.
The sweet and tender and loving words of John were ever present to her ear: "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." Hence she continually enjoyed four precious elements of spiritual life and Christian experience; viz., Union with God, Communion with Christ, Pure Fellowship with the Saints, and Constant Cleansing by the peace-speaking blood of Jesus—"That blood which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel."
The application to your hearts of the blood of Jesus by the Holy Spirit is like the dew upon the new mown grass.
Amid the great rush and roar of business, where men are pressing against each other on the busy streets, in the race for gold, her mind was constantly occupied with thoughts relative to the wants and woes of the sick and the dying. While others were daily seeking their own, not the things of Christ, she was found bringing children to the Sabbath-school—reaching out to the hearts of the parents through the little ones—bringing the blessed Bible to the bosoms of the homes which had none; circulating tracts and religious literature; visiting sad scenes of distressing spiritual and domestic destitution. And whatsoever her hands found to do, she did it quietly and unostentatiously, and unreservedly, knowing full well, "That there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge in the grave whither we goeth." She sweetly rests from her labors, and her works do follow her. And as the Gospel of the grace of God was in her a well of water, out of the abundance of her heart, so kind, calm, consistent, and courageous, there constantly flowed streams of living water of earnest, loving, prayerful toil in the Master's vineyard.
She gathered daily jewels for the crown of her rejoicing. I have found in her diary, that this was the aim of her whole life.
Companionship with Christ is constantly manifested by love for the Holy Scriptures. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." The will of Jesus is made known through His word. When the blessed Master was in Capernaum, His own city, He declared that it was the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing: "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."—John vi. 63.
There is sunshine and beauty in His words. They are practical principles for the regulation of life, and a humble, holy walk and conversation is the product. It is in His word we behold the character of Jesus. In the Mirror of the glad tidings, we behold His lovely countenance and are changed into the same image, from glory to glory. It is no wonder that David exclaimed, "The entrance of Thy word giveth light." Hence the exhortation of Paul to Timothy, "Preach the Word." Oh, the intrinsic value of the Word of God. It was because of Christ's own word that the Samaritans believed on Him, notwithstanding the prejudice they entertained against the Jews and their religion.
Alas! how many professing Christians make shipwreck of faith because they neglect to read the Word. Christ is the Word. "This is that bread which came down from heaven. He that eateth my flesh shall live forever."
What Matthew Henry says of his father at his funeral, may be said with reference to the dear one who has just left us for the mansions above. Let us then, as ever we hope to meet her with joy in the other world, follow her with diligence now. Having begun "in the spirit," let us not "end in the flesh,"—having laid our hands "on the plough," let us not "look back," lest our latter end be worse than our beginning.
Being dead, she yet speaks to us to be loving and helpful to one another. Her common and undistinguished love to us all was such that it could never be said which of us she loved the best, and it speaks to us, now that she is gone, to "love one another with a pure heart fervently." We know very well that our unity was the joy of her heart while living, and many a time she hath with us blessed God for it. Let it, therefore, be to the credit and honor of her family, friends, and the Church, for I find it was her dying prayer for this church and its minister, not only that we may be built up in holiness and comfort, but that we may be continued in brotherly love, and be a bundle of arrows which cannot be broken.