[#] 1 Cor. xv. 31.
For, after all, what think you was life given to us for? Was it to amuse ourselves, or to enjoy ourselves in? Was it not rather to do good to others, and to work for Jesus Christ? Surely the best lives, and the noblest lives, and the happiest lives are those spent in the service of others. And the Master has told us that He will reward such: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me[#]." And who are Christ's brethren? In every cottage home, in the lonely hut, wherever man is found, whether he be rich or poor, king or beggar, nay the worst specimens of humanity, the murderer and the drunkard, these all are the brethren of Jesus. It is for these He has bid us work, and toil, and pray. It is for these He has commanded us to live and, if need be, to die.
[#] S. Matt xxv. 40.
And no life is too short for this kind of work. The youngest child can do something in the Master's vineyard. It may be only given us to speak a kind word to a companion. But very often a kind word, spoken in the nick of time, has saved a soul from condemnation. Live your life here, then, as Jesus lived His, Who went about doing good; Who sat at meat with the Pharisee and the sinner alike; and Who even allowed a sinful woman to approach Him, and did not turn her away.
THE DEATH OF FRIENDS.
"Whene'er the Christian's eyelid droops and closes
In nature's parting strife,
A friendly angel stands where he reposes,
To wake him up to life.
The mourners throng the way, and from the steeple
The funeral bell tolls slow;
But in the golden streets the holy people
Are passing to and fro;
And saying as they meet, 'Rejoice! another,
Long waited for, is come;'
The Saviour's heart is glad, a younger brother
Hath reached the Father's home!"
J. D. Burns.
There is nothing so sad as parting. There comes over the heart such a feeling of utter loneliness that we know not where to turn for relief. It may be the mother who has lost her darling child, and sits counting the weary hours, and missing its baby prattle. It may be the wife of the sailor who sits alone in her cottage with the cruel letter in her lap, which tells of how her husband sank, and died. Or it may be the severing of heart and heart; the parting of two friends who have lived together, and loved each other with a friendship stronger than death. But in whatever way it comes, it is ever the same; the same bitter feeling of loneliness, casting its shadow over the life.
And there is but one way that I know of in which we can get rid of this feeling of loneliness; only one Person to Whom we can apply for relief with any certainty of success. The Man of sorrows, Who could weep tears of human sorrow at the grave of Lazarus, and speak words of sympathy to that troubled multitude who stood around his grave; He alone can sympathise with us in our bereavement, and comfort us in the death of our friends.
The Bible is full of beautiful passages on this important subject. Who, for instance, can read those beautiful words in the seventh chapter of the Revelation, and not receive comfort? "I beheld, and lo! a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
Reader, if any of your relations or friends have gone before you to Paradise, if they have died in God's holy faith and fear, and if, after reading such beautiful words concerning their heavenly state as those above quoted, you still wish them back on earth, then your heart must indeed be of the earth, earthy. Oh, think for one moment of the troubles and trials of this present life, and then turn your thoughts to the state of the blessed dead. No more sickness or sorrow for them; no more care, no more trial; no more sleepless nights or anxious days, for they are as the angels of God. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours[#]."