Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJabez Burns Sermons: 867. Job 38:17. The Solemn Question
Subjects in this Topic:
Job_38:17. The Solemn Question
"Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?"—Job_38:17.
Our text is the address of Jehovah to Job. We do not intend to dwell on the ocsurrence which brought it forth; but the idea is that God observes all things, and that hades—the unseen world—is without a covering before him. Man—whatever be his talents, or learning, or skill—cannot penetrate the future; and without a revelation from God, all he can do is to guess and conjecture what is the condition of the eternal world. With God, the past, present, future—heaven, earth, hell, are easily explained; he observes all with perfect clearness and accuracy; and therefore he is most intimately conversant with all the events which happen to men. He not only sees the moment of our birth, but he sees the hour of our departure from this life. He witnesses our entrance into this world, and also he knows when the gates of death shall be opened to us. But that momentous crisis of our being he has wisely and in great goodness concealed from us. We know not what shall be even on the morrow; we cannot tell what a day will bring forth.
Let us consider the text then, with the light which revealed truth has shed upon it, and with a view to our individual edification.
Let us notice,
I. A few things concerning the gates of death.
Observe,
1. The gates are the boundaries of certain dominions.
Death is the boundary of life; it is placed between time and eternity to separate the living from the dead—probationers from those whose lot is irrevocably fixed. So that these gates let us out of life into the solemn and unknown region of the dead. Passing through them we cease to be creatures of this world and of time, and become the inhabitants of the eternal state.
Notice,
2. Gates are under official jurisdiction. The king, or governor, or the ruling powers, set them up. So the gates of death are under the control of God. He is the arbiter of life; he has the keys of death and hades; he fixes the boundaries of our existence, and determines the point of our earthly being, beyond which we shall not pass. Death is not an accident, but the yielding up of life to God—at his pleasure, and by his indisputable authority. Notice,
3. Through these gates all men must pass. It is appointed unto men once to die. So in all times past this has been exemplified—except in the instances of Enoch and Elijah So with reference to all living now—they know that they must die. There is no escape—no exception from the fatal stroke of mortality. However exalted by worldly glory and magnificence, however rich, however invested with power and authority, however magnanimous, however strong, however favored by God or men,—every living man must pass through the gates of death.
Life is a journey towards these gates. Some go with accelerated speed, and soon reach them. Others journey more slowly; but all are going towards that terminus of human existence on earth.
We note,
4. Through these gates none shall repass to the present world.
In some cases of miraculous interposition they have done so, both under the Old Testament dispensation and the New; but these are exceptions to the rule. Christ also did so, as "the resurrection and the life." But not so with mankind in general. Men will remain in the region beyond after death, until the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no return from that land. So David said of his child—"Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me that the child may live? But now he is dead wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."—2Sa_12:21-23. So also Job most plaintively expresses the same truth—"My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good. The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not. As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more."—Job_6:7-10.
Observe,
II. These gates have in a certain sense been opened to us.
1. Often to let through our beloved relatives and friends.
Parents, children, kindred, have been called away from us to pass through them. You watched over them. The crisis came. The last breath. The gates were silently drawn back, and your friends escaped—they passed through, and then these gates were closed again. How solemn and affecting!
In this way we seem brought near to these gates of death ourselves. We are compelled to feel how close the living are to the regions of the dead; just one step between us and death. Our friends take that step, and cross beyond the gates of mortality, while we are left on earth's side of them to feel the stroke, and to weep on account of them. The gates of death have been in a certain sense open to us.
2. When by affliction we have been brought near to them.
There can be no doubt that the tendency of disease is to wean men from life and this world; and also to give a more keen and sensible impression of death and eternity. And in this way, how very often have we imagined the gates of death to be opening for our exit through them! Life's work seemed as if finished—earthly ties seemed dissolving—the mind was being made up for the last stage of the journey—the plans of the physician seemed vain—the hopes of relations were flickering; and then God in mercy restored to us the healing influence—added to our strength—renewed our vigor—and gave us again a supply of years of probationary being. He thus put into our souls the experience of the Psalmist—"Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling that I may walk before God in the light of the living?"—Psa. lvi 12, 13. "Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling."—Psa_116:7, Psa_116:8.
They have been opened,
3. As revelation has shed light on what is beyond these gates.
Take the prospect glass of divine truth and place the eye of faith to it, and thus look through; and life and immortality are then brought to light. Beyond are two distinct worlds. The one beneath is described as an abyss of darkness—a pit of despair—a fiery lake. It is hell—where are the multitudes of the impenitent, and the wicked; for "the wicked shall be turned into hell;"—all unbelievers—all idolaters, infidels, blasphemers, drunkards—all haters of God, and rejecters of Christ—all the worldly—all mere formalists. How terrible is this world of blackness, despair, and woe!
Then—above. Beyond the gates of death, there is a world of light, and peace, and glory. It is heaven. There is the radiant throne of God, the effulgent lustre of which is so overwhelming that the seraphim and cherubim cover their faces before it. There are angels and archangels, the holy patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and all the good and holy men of every age and nation. Many of our friends, we trust, are mingling with that throng.
Such are the worlds beyond the gates of death. Paradise and perdition. The abode of the glorified and the happy, and the prison of the condemned and the lost. And to one of these worlds all men are hastening. This is the sphere of probation; and as we journey towards eternity we are daily becoming meet for the inheritance above the skies, or for the dark regions of misery and despair. Christ our blessed Saviour, constantly kept these worlds before those whom he addressed; and he describes in the most graphic manner, the last separation between the righteous and the wicked. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."—Mat_25:31-34. "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Mat_25:41. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." Mat_25:46.
Observe,
4. The gospel provides a safe passport through the gates of death.
This passport is acceptance with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. By this we pass from death unto life; and the
Spirit of God is given to us, as the earnest of eternal glory. The possession of this delivers us from fear and torment now; it saves from despair in the dying hour; and it insures our everlasting salvation from hell, and a glorious entrance into Christ's heavenly kingdom. These gates of death shall thus become the gates of paradise. To die will be great and eternal gain. Such die in triumph, exclaiming—"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."—1Co_15:55-57.
Application
(1.) How solemn is the subject! How it deserves serious consideration! How it should be pondered, and form matter for daily reflection!
(2.) It is personal, as well as solemn. We must all have to do with these gates of death. We are born to die, and every hour of life is a nearer approach to that solemn event. To attempt to shut out the subject is worse than vain; it is madlike and wicked. It is our duty to "die daily;" and thus to be ready to pass through, whenever the gates of mortality shall be opened to us.
(3.) We cannot tell how soon we shall have to realize the meaning of the text. However relatively distant, it must in truth be really near; for a long life is just spent "as a tale that is told." We urge upon all to be evangelically ready for it—savingly in Christ. Then death is ours—not our enemy, but a friend; not a destroyer, but a servant of God, to tell us that he comes to bid us welcome to our Father's house; our everlasting and joyous home, where we shall be forever with the Lord.
Let the Christian contemplate with joy and hope the blessed results which will follow the passing through the gates of death. Beyond these gates will be the unending day of glory—immortality—eternal life! There is the better land—the land afar off—the inheritance of the saints—and the home of all the children of God.
The love of life is natural—one of the strongest innate feelings of the soul; but true religion sanctifies this feeling, and raises the mind to that which is beyond, even the higher life, for which this state of being is designed only to be preparatory. The Christian need not repine, or be cast down, that there are gates which let him out of a world of suffering and sin, and through which we shall pass to a world of perfect felicity and purity. To depart, and pass beyond this life, is far better; just as it is better for the traveller to be at home, and at rest within the holy city of habitation. And how delightful when the mind can so realize this by faith, without anxiety or dread; when the title to the better land is clear, and the meetness complete! The passage to the dying Christian between these gates and those of the celestial city, shall be inconceivably short; in a moment shall the transition be effected. So that the apostle speaks of being "absent from the body," and "present with the Lord." The one following the other immediately; and so the poet has caught the idea, when he says—
"In vain our fancy strives to paint
The moment after death;
The glories that surround the saints
When they resign their breath.
One gentle sigh their fetters breaks:
We scarce can say 'they're gone,'
Before the willing spirit takes
Her presence near the throne."
Now this glad thought has often sustained the dying Christian in the severest agonies of dying; and from the most excruciating pangs connected with dying, they have given one shout of victory—put their foot on the head of their last enemy—and soared at once into the high and transporting regions of the celestial world. The very hope of this should fill the mind with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Then embody in your experience the thoughts of the holy Wesley—
"Be this my one great business here,
With holy trembling, holy fear,—
To make my calling sure!
Thine utmost counsel to fulfil,
And suffer all thy righteous will,
And to the end endure!
Then, Saviour, then, my soul receive,
Transported from this vale, to live,
And reign with thee above;
Where faith is sweetly lost in sight,
And hope in full, supreme delight,
And everlasting love."