Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1855-03-01

r Maria L. Shepard. who died in GaIIipO
E lis, February 92, 1856.
E Gen. 3. Is. '.FOr dust thou art, and onto dus
shalt thou return"
This is the sentence of God, whicl
! has gone out against the race. w
9 have all'sinned, and therefore the faires
flowers of earth must wither: the ten
derest earthly relations, and the strong
, est earthly ties must be dissolved
Death, however, is designed to exert /;
salutary influence on mankind; and il
this view, it should be regarded as al
; expression of Gods love for the world
rather than of his wrath. And l have
thought that it might alleviate the sor,
row of this stricken mother, and con
sole in some measure these bereayeC
friends, to dwell for few moments OF
the general benefits which result from
the presence of death in our world.
lst. Death is suited to impress US
with a sense of the evil of sin. We
have all transgressed a holy law; and
by transgressing, have not only offended
a holy God and lost his favor, but have
corrupted ourselves, and become dis
qualified for the service of God and the
enjoyment of his favor. We have
wronged that excellent and holy Being,
by Withholding from him the service
and the praise due to his name; and we
have wronged our fellowmen, by giving
encouragement to sin, through which
the divine favor, and all its attendant
blessings are lost. 1t is then an exceed
ingly evil thing and bitter, that we have
done in shining against God. But we
might never realize this, and indeed we
should be likely to have no proper sense
of the wrong we have done, if God
were not ever expressing his holy dis
pleasure at our sin, by commanding us
to the dust, and saying, Return We chill
dren of men," When we see that death
is abroad in the world, and that there
is ''no discharge in that war;" we are
forcibly reminded of its cause. And
this event is suited to bring US 70 re-
pentence for our sins, and to bring back
our feet to the forsaken path of obedi-
ence to our heavenly Father. In this
way have the deepest Affections been
made the means of the greatest benefit
to the soul.
2. The presence of death in the
world, does absolutely exert a restrain
ing influence on the evil disposition of
men. The world is not so bad as it
would be; its disorders are not so great,
nor its condition so wretched as it would
be, if men were allowed to remain here
forever. An experiment was made
with the old world, when human life
was protracted to ten times its present
period. And the result was that all
flesh corrupted its way before God; and
the Almighty found it necessary, for
the good of future generations, to
drown the world with flood, and di-
minish the period OF human life. The
certainty and the nearness of death, re-
strain our passions, arouse us from a
state of careless indifference, and re-
mind us of the duty of making our
peace with God. Here also, we see the
divine wisdom and goodness, in that
the young as well as the aged are called
to die, and no age or condition of human
life is exempt. The death of Charles c.
Shepard, which has fallen so heavily on
his widowed mother, and which has
made so many hearts TO bleed, is most
impressive admonition to all of you his
fellows, "Be ye also ready; for in such
an hour as We think not, the Son of man
cometh."
8. By removing our earthly treasures,
God would lead us to fix our hearts
on him, or to lay up for ourselves treas
ures that are incorruptable, undefled.
and that do not fade away. Earthly re-
lations are often dear, and the posses
sion of near kindred is sweet to the soul.
But the dearest and the best of earthly
objects cannot satisfy the wants of the
soul. They can neither fill its affec-
tions, pacify its conscience or alleviate
its sorrows. We must have something
better than these, or we cannot be hap
py. And because we are prone to set
our hearts on these things as our supreme
good, God, dealing with us as kind
parent, removes them from our view,
that we may seek him, and find in him
that which can gil all the affections of
the soul, and satisfy all its wants. He
is able to give us light in the hour of
darkness, strength in the hour of weak
ness, and comfort in the time of our sor-
row. He has balm for every wound,
and solace for every grief. He lays
his rod upon US; but he has declared
that he ''does not aflict willingly, nor
grieve the children of men," On the
contrary, he does it "for our profit that
we may be partakers of his holiness"
In the heart of God is such pity as no
earthly parent feels. "He is altogether
lovely. His favor is life and his loving
kindness better than life." Great would
be our gain, should we part with every
earthly good, to receive God and his
favor in return.
A. To those who are in Christ, death
is the gate of heaven. The christian
is blest in this world. But he cannot be
perfectly happy here. Christ has pre-
pared for us something better than can
be experienced in such a world as this:
and he comes to take us to our inheri-
Al L II