It was the Lord's doing; for not only was his whole Christian pathway mapped out, but his soul sweetly delivered from legal entanglements, from slavish fear and anxious doubt, and brought into that liberty with which God makes His people free. He was made "wise unto salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ." Moreover, by continuance in that Word, he gave unequivocal demonstration that he was a disciple indeed; one who was a learner and follower of Jesus; and so, knowing "the truth as it is in Jesus," he rejoiced in hope of the glory of God. Nor did he have long to wait, for, sinking under the merciless hand of pale consumption, in a little more than a year he was suddenly removed to that land of peace and love where
"Jesus sheds the brightest beams
Of His o'erflowing grace."
Reader, the dream was instructive to the dear departed; but was it given for him alone? It can no longer benefit him, for with him all is reality—no shadowy emblem, but everything substantial. May not we therefore derive instruction?
Let us look at some of its prominences. Standing out with towering majesty and grandeur, like a cloud-capped mountain, appears
Divine sovereignty—the sovereign mercy of the Lord, who "hath mercy on whom He will have mercy." You will not see this through reason's misty glass (which perverts and confuses all things beheld through it), no more than the loftiest eminence is discernible in the darkness of midnight. But in the light of God's truth it is clearly visible. There are many with whom he was associated when he "sought the living among the dead"—when he was entangled in the carnal schemes of a false religion—who remain where he could not stay, and seem contented, too. There have been but comparatively very few brought to seek what he sought, and to know what he was taught. "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."
We also discover the danger of false religion. Behold that burning flame! Thus burns God's wrath against sin. No human efforts can quench it or check its progress. All creature performances, like the PROPS, will be consumed by it. The best of human works are but as stubble to the fire of wrath divine. Indeed, when God tells of that dreadful day which shall burn as an oven, the self-righteous, or proud, are put before "those that do wickedly," as objects of God's displeasure, and doomed to that dreadful burning.
Oh, could I make my words thunder and lightning, to peal and flash this solemn truth from hill to hill and from vale to vale!
All false religion begins on the outside, and attempts to alter principles by renovating practice; but all true religion commences within. The Spirit produces a change in the practice by implanting new life and holy principles. "Ye must be born again." Religion is not a new patch on an old garment, but a new fabric entirely. "If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature."
We see, likewise, the trouble and anxiety which are felt when one is soundly convinced of his sinful life and state. Salvation is then a matter of life and death. "Life, life, eternal life!" is the earnest cry. Conviction of sin, when it merely penetrates the skin, is soon soothed and forgotten; but when the arrows from the bow of God's Word pierce the heart, no hand can withdraw them but His who directed them, and no balm can heal those painful wounds but that administered by Jehovah-Jesus.
It may be seen also that, till He who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life," was proclaimed to his eager soul, he found no solid satisfaction, no stable peace.