The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-07-10
DEATH A SLEEP.

Q1-l6) When JESUS had declared that as
long as the day of his duty lasted he walked
in perfect security, he said to his disciples,
"Our friend has fallen asleep; l go to wake
him." But the disciples considered this fact
as only emphasizing the reason why he should
not expose himself to dangers for, if he had
fallen asleep, he was doing we'll; he had
passed the crisis of the disease and would
recover. Perceiving their misapprehension
of his language, he told them plainly that
Lazarus was dead, and furthermore, that he
was glad, on account of the opportunity af-
forded to confirm their faith in him by dis
play of his GoD-given power over DEATH
Thomas, the doubter, made characteristic
reply: "Let us also go, that we may die with
him.
Death is frequently represented, in the
Scriptures and by JESUS, as sleep: $50 He
giveth His beloved sleeps" "They are as
asleep" psalm cxxvii. 2; xc. 81. Said JESUS,
concerning the death of Jarius' daughter,
"The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth 4"
MARK v. 39). "He fell asleep is the record
of the death of Stephen, the first Christian
martyr (Acts vii. COZ. Paul writes, "We
would not have you ignorant, brethren, con-
corning them that fell asleep, that you sor-
row not even as the rest that have no hope,
for if we believe that JESUS died and rose
again, SO also 1--WE believed Con, through JE-
sUs, will bring with him those who have fallen
asleep Il Thessalonians iv. ID, 14). Sleep,
as an appropriate representation of death,
seems not to be confined to the Scriptures, or
to the Hebrew people. Homer calls sleep
and death twin brothers. The Greek word
from which our cemetery" is derived means
a sleeping-place The early Christians looked
upon death as sleep from which they should
awake to inherit eternal glory, as witnessed
by the inscriptions found in the catacombs
and elsewhere. Certainly the idea is pleas
ing one, and is justified by our Christian
faith.
ALI who are walking in WEAKNESS, oppress-
ed with the burden of their sorrows or faint
ing with excess of toll, or discouraged by the
long fight with temptation, this metaphor
which makes of death sleep, and of the
grave bed of rest, is one full of sweet and
welcome associations. And so the Holy
Spirit, which is the Comforter, has chosen
this beautiful figure wherewith to clothe the
idea of death, that it may suggest cheerful
and pleasant thoughts to the weary and tired
children of earth; that it may help them to
walk forward with serene trust to the place
of their rest, assured that when the morning
comes, they will awake refreshed, quickened
with new life and energy, the Children of
GOD, being children of the Resurrection" -
T. B. ThGyer, d. d., "Over the River"
Sleep implies an awakening. Life is not
extinguished by the sleep of death, but is re-
newed. We ought to accustom ourselves to
think of death but as the end of our mortal
existence. when we lie down to sleep at the
close of the day of our earthly opportunity,
from which we shall awake to a new and
brighter day of endless progress and oppor-
tunity for spiritual growth and culture in ga
land that is fairer than day." With such a
thought of death it is robbed of its terrors.
"The sting of death is SIM" But JESUS saves
from sin, and "hath brought life and immor-
tally TO light through the Gospel" Even
young people and children may, through