Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1875-05-01
Sermon,

D
By Rer. J. H. BrOlra.
ron March Sd. Mrs. Clark attempted TO
take the life OF her youngest child, and
then cut her own threat insanity the
cause
Scripture lessons read: Psalm loS, /
1872. and ! Cor. 10, 49-jS, Hymns,
Methodist Hymn Book-lOG0 aud 1894.
Text, Rev. NV, 10.
And heard a voice from heaven saying unto |
me. write blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord frun hencefurth; yea, saith the spirit, that
they may resi- from iheir lstVrsi aud their WORKS
do follow them"
The Holy Spirit made this announce
ment from heaven, TO John, on the Isle Of
Patmos, and commanded him to 1rrite it,
to be sent down through the ages to en-
courage the Christian, and cheer the dy-
Ing and bereft in all time. Death was de-
clared to be not an unmitigated evil, but
a blessing to those who "die in the Lord.
TO be sin the Lord is to be justified and
and renewed through faith in Jesus Christ.
The righteous only are alluded to in this
text. For them, "to die IS gain"
precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints" The righteous hath
hope in his DEATH" The time when the
righteous dead are blessed, is determined
in the text by the words "from hence
forth Some eXpositors suppose they
refer to the times contemplated in these
visions-Blessed shall be they who die in
those future times of persecution of which
John had been foretold. Others connect
them with the word "dic" and make the
sense this, Blessed are those who die
hereafter.
The objection to the first rendering is
that the Scriptures were written, not for
one age of the world alone but for all men
in all time. This is general statement
and not special one. An objection to
the second Interpretation is that it implies
that all the righteous who had died prior
to that time were not blessed, which is
not supposable. The reasonable and
probable meaning, which is conceded by
the WiSeSt and the most commentators is,
Blessed are the dead from the time they
die, onward. The blessing begins at
death and continues throughout eternity.
The text establishes the doctrine of the
conscious, blessed state of the righteous
dead. The Scriptures abound with con-
frmations Of this doctrine, among which
are the following passages II Cor. 8, l-9.
"FOr we know that if our earthly house Of this
tabernacle were dissolved, we have building of
God, house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens. For IN this we groan, earnestly deSir-
ing to be clothed upon with our house which is
from heaven: If SO be that being clothed we
shall not be found naked. For we that are in this
tabernacle do groan, being Durdened not for that
we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that
mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now
he that hath wrought us for the self.same thing is
God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of
the spirit. Therefore we are always confident,
knowing that whilst we are at home in the body,
we are absent from the Lord. We are confident,
| say, and willing rather to be absent from the
body, and to be present with the Lord. Where.
fore we labor, that, whether present or absent
we may be accepted of him."
The righteous will therefore be con-
SciouS and happy from the time they die,
throughout the endless cycles of eternity
If conscious they will be active, and as
action develops their capacity and powers
their happiness will perpetually increase.
And, when "death shall be swallowed up
in victory" at the resurrection with tho
soul, their susccptibilities of enjoyment
will be infinitely augmented. eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have en-
tered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that
J love him, Il Cor. %.
The cause of their happiness will be
tWo-fold. First, they will crest from
, their labors." That is, they will be freet
from the wearisomc tolls, trials, and suf
ferings of this life. The disciplinary
, means of grace which make the soul ''per
feet through suffering, will be no longer
necessary, and ''the captain of our saliva.
tion," in his infinite love, will take thu
} discharged veteran soldier, the tempes
: tossed mariner, and weary pilgrim, to thu
; land where "the wicked cease from
troublSing and the weary are at rest.
Second, ''their works do follow them
The consequences of their action-thei
rewards and characters being meant b,
:, this language. We brought nothing int
5 this world except possibilities, and it i
+ certain we can carry nothing out excep
q character.
+ Character and reputation are different
@ Character is what we are. Reputation i
, what people take US to be. Every ma
y makes his own character by his voluntar
action. Every days experience leaves it
a chsel marks on the statue of the sou
They will mar or adorn it forever, accort
ing to the motive and Christian faith c
l. the actor. The glorious alchemy {
a Divine grace in the heart, can change a
N of LIES experiences into means of grac
., so that ''al things work together &c
te good to them that love God"
This life is our sowing time. Eternit
u, will be our reaping time. "Whateycr
to man soweth, that also shall he reap" 4
IL effect follows cause. No well intende
'r' Christian life can be in vain. F
" its influence on others ever so small,
he it FORCES on the anvil of experience an i,
rt diyidual character that is more Valuab
sh than gold that perisheth. The true stant
ard of success is in what we become an
not in what we acquire. He who mature
as for heaven amid the turmoil of cart
as though he die like Lazarus, makes