Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1875-08-26
(Original !
DEATH.


but pleasant or unpleasant, the subject is
forced upon us. In its sway over the hu-
man family, death reigns with marked impair
tality. There is no discharge in that war.
No favors are shown the rich, and no pity is
extended to the poor. The rich and the poor
the old and the young, the strong and the
weak, the honored, and the dishonored, are
moved down alike, as if no differences ex-
listed amongst the human family.
1t is customary to call death monster.
And so it is. 1t is the 6rstborn of sin; but
there are greater monsters in the world than
death. An interest in the Lord Jesus Christ
deprives death of its sting and the grave of
its victory. To those of the human family
who have no interest in the Lord Jesus Christ
death is monster, aud the grave is an awful
place. 1t separates the nearest friends, and
sewers forever the tenderest ties. To such
death is, in reality, parting without any re-
union. When the wicked man dies, his soul
is driven to that place where God has forgot
ten to be gracious, and his body is laid away
in the grave, as in a prison, there to be kept
until Jesus shall come to judge the world in
righteousness. Then it will be raised up, and
soul and body will be united and driven away
into uuquenchable fire. This makes death to
the wicked man a terrible thing. Not that
he breads it, for many ungodly men do not
fear death; but it really is a fearful thing.
To the believer in Christ it is made real bless.
ing. Were there no such thing as death,
and other things continued as they are at
present, this world would not be inhabitable.
The world would literally be full of old, worn
out, emaciated men and women, who would
cast gloom over the Whole globe. Every
house would be crammed to its utmost capac-
ity with the living skeletons Of human beings,
the powers Of whose senses had departed.
Our cities and large towns, and even country
places, would be filled with multitudes of old
persons whose very existence would be a
source of misery to themselves, and of gloom
and sadness to the young.
1t is sad that children are called upon to
lay the bodies of their aged parents away in
the grave there to lnoulder into dust but it
would be more sad, were they to continue in
this world for countless generations afflicted
with the wasting infirmities of old age. Death
is kind of scavenger that carries away the
refuse matter and worn out members Of the
human family. 1t a penalty-the wages of
sin-but kind and merciful God in it as in
many other things, brings light out of dark
ness, and order out of confusion. In one word,
He brings good out of evil. The old wear
out and they must all die. 1t is blessed
thing that such is the case. Were all the hu-
man family since the days of Adam, up to the
present moment, still living upon this earth,
this world would present a haggard sight
which no language can describe. Egypt, COW
cred with frogs, would be lovely place in
comparison with the world we inhabit were
such the case
Notwithstanding all this, there is something
very solemn connected with death. In the
order of nature it stands in close connection
with the resurrection and final Judgment. The
order that God has fixed, is life and death,
resurrection and judgment. Life, be it long
or short, is the only period that is afforded us
to prepare for eternity. When death lays his
icy hand upon US, it changes our countenance
and sends US away from this world of gracious
opportunities. tits then eternally too late to
repent. At that juncture of affairs God ccas'
es to offer pardon The Lamb of God be-
comes the lion Of the tribe of Judah. 10 the
righteous, hope becomes reality and faith a
fruition. To the ungodly offers Of mercy cease
to be made, hope dies and their sin-cursed
souls are met by the frowns of a righteous
God. Then commences the ineftable bliss of
the believer, and the weeping and gnashing of
teeth of the gospel-despiser. That was wise
prayer which the ancient poet and patriarch
offered up when he besought God that he
might be enabled so to number his days that
he might be enabled to apply his heart to wis
dom. Not what the world calls wisdom but
the true wisdom, the salvation of the immortal
soul through the peace-speaking blood of Je.
sus Christ.
TO die with an interest in Christ Jesus is
great gain but to die in our sins is to lose all.
When we take proper view of death and
the connection in which it stands with the
resurrection and the final judgment, it is sub
iect about which we should often think. We
should reflect that when we stand over fresh
dug grave which is soon to receive lifeless
CORPS that this fact announces to US another
fact of awful solemnity. 1t tells us that
another immortal soul has gone to heaven or
to hell, and that another frail body is soon to
be laid in the grave, there to remain until the
resurrection, when soul and body will he again
united and share similar joys, or suffer simi-
lar woes. To die is a solemn thing but to
die and 90 to hell and live with spirits lost in
a pit of endless woe, if thought of Alright, must
fill the soul with horror.