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TOPIC: MacDuff, John - The Rainbow in the Clouds (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 13. A GRACIOUS REMOVAL
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13. A GRACIOUS REMOVAL
"The righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace! They shall rest in their beds." Isa_57:1-3
How this thought reconciles to earth's saddest separations! The early (what we are apt to think the too early) graves of our "loved and lost," have saved them from much sorrow, much suffering, much sin! Who can tell what may have been brooding in a dark horizon? The fairest vessel; the life freighted with the greatest promise; might have been made shipwreck on this world"s treacherous sea. My God knows what is best. If He plucked His lily soon, it was to save it some rough blast. If He early folded His lamb, it was to save it having its fleece soiled with earthly corruption. If the port of glory was soon entered, it was because He foresaw the threatening tempests that screened from our limited vision; "So He brought them to the haven where they would be!"
Yes! the quiet haven! The storms of life are over! That shore is undisturbed by one murmuring wave. "He shall enter into peace!" the rest which "remains!" Did the ransomed dead, at the hour of their departure, sink into blank oblivion; inherit everlasting silence, sad indeed would be the pangs of separation. But, "weep not, she is not dead, but sleeps." Yes! weep not! She is not dead but lives! At the very moment earth's tears are falling, the spirit is sunning in the realms of everlasting day, safely housed, safely home! The body "rests in its bed." The grave is its couch of repose! We bid it the long "good night" in the joyful expectancy of a glorious reunion at the waking time of immortality; the "morning without clouds," whose "sun shall no more go down."
Child of sorrow! mourning over the withdrawal of some beloved object of earthly affection. Dry your tears. An early death has been an early crown! The tie sundered here links you to the throne of God. You have a brother, sister, a child in heaven! You are the relatives of a ransomed saint! We are proud when we hear of our friends being "advanced" in this world. What are the world's noblest promotions in comparison with that of the believer at death, when he graduates from grace to glory? When he exchanges the pilgrim warfare for eternal rest?
Often, in your hours of sadness, contrast the certainty of present bliss, with the possibilities of a suffering, sorrowing, sinning future; the joys in possession, with the evils which might have been in life. You may now, like the Shunnamite of old, be gazing with tearful eye on some withered blossom, but when the question is put, "Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?" in the elevating confidence that they have "entered into peace," and are "resting in their beds," be it yours joyfully to answer, "It is well."
"The righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace! They shall rest in their beds." Isa_57:1-3
How this thought reconciles to earth's saddest separations! The early (what we are apt to think the too early) graves of our "loved and lost," have saved them from much sorrow, much suffering, much sin! Who can tell what may have been brooding in a dark horizon? The fairest vessel; the life freighted with the greatest promise; might have been made shipwreck on this world"s treacherous sea. My God knows what is best. If He plucked His lily soon, it was to save it some rough blast. If He early folded His lamb, it was to save it having its fleece soiled with earthly corruption. If the port of glory was soon entered, it was because He foresaw the threatening tempests that screened from our limited vision; "So He brought them to the haven where they would be!"
Yes! the quiet haven! The storms of life are over! That shore is undisturbed by one murmuring wave. "He shall enter into peace!" the rest which "remains!" Did the ransomed dead, at the hour of their departure, sink into blank oblivion; inherit everlasting silence, sad indeed would be the pangs of separation. But, "weep not, she is not dead, but sleeps." Yes! weep not! She is not dead but lives! At the very moment earth's tears are falling, the spirit is sunning in the realms of everlasting day, safely housed, safely home! The body "rests in its bed." The grave is its couch of repose! We bid it the long "good night" in the joyful expectancy of a glorious reunion at the waking time of immortality; the "morning without clouds," whose "sun shall no more go down."
Child of sorrow! mourning over the withdrawal of some beloved object of earthly affection. Dry your tears. An early death has been an early crown! The tie sundered here links you to the throne of God. You have a brother, sister, a child in heaven! You are the relatives of a ransomed saint! We are proud when we hear of our friends being "advanced" in this world. What are the world's noblest promotions in comparison with that of the believer at death, when he graduates from grace to glory? When he exchanges the pilgrim warfare for eternal rest?
Often, in your hours of sadness, contrast the certainty of present bliss, with the possibilities of a suffering, sorrowing, sinning future; the joys in possession, with the evils which might have been in life. You may now, like the Shunnamite of old, be gazing with tearful eye on some withered blossom, but when the question is put, "Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?" in the elevating confidence that they have "entered into peace," and are "resting in their beds," be it yours joyfully to answer, "It is well."