The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-09-13
rible, doubtful or beautiful. accord


death cannot be bought of by riches.
Neither does he pass the hovel. He
is no respecter of intelligence. His
| hand is heavy and his arm is long
10 seize and 10 project into eternity
| that which is immortal in good and
evil men alike. And II simply de-
pends upon the kind of man you are
whether death will be terrible, doubt
ful or beautiful TO you.
To bad man death must be ter
rible. That is TO say, il he possesses
the least spark of moral conscious
ness or spiritual susceptibility. Aye,
| IL is terrible. And il ought 10 be. A
/ bad man ought 10 be afraid TO die. A
man whose whole life has contra
vened Gods law, whose continued
and cumulative effort has been 10 fol-
| low the lusts OF his own heart and
the dictates of his own will. who has
sought not 10 please God. but 10 find
| favor with men, who has construct
lively planned and effected overt sin,
| who has denied the call of conscience
and deified Satan daily, ought 10 be
afraid 10 die. Death ought To be ter
rible 10 him. In his last hours such
a man could best evidence that he
was a man and not beast by elevat-
ing the fear Of God 10 supreme prom
inence in his mind. A man whose
whole life as a consciously active
free moral agent has been dedicated
10 the stultification of the mandates
of the Almighty and 10 the eyalta-
tion OF sin as a method OF living
ought TO be anxious 10 reverse the
call OF death and the decision Of fate.
He ought TO want another chance in
this life 10 fit him for the next life.
1t would be strange If bad men were
not afraid TO die. IL would be curl
Gus if they could face eternity un-
abashed. For death to a sinful soul
must be terrible. To go forth into
a new life unprepared. TO enter into
| the presence of eternity at enmity
with God; what could be more aw-
full?
Death may be doubtful. Many
men there are who, obeying the die
tates of God as they hear them and
His laws as they read them, have at
tanned a moral eminence that is not
inconsiderable; but who, as they
stand in the presence of the usual
but inscrutable mystery of death.
confess that they await its power
without hope and with simply a sci
entific spirit of inquisitiveness. There
is for them no certainty of future
life. They do not protest that death
necessarily ends all. They simply ex-
press the opinion that, so far as they
are concerned, death is a locked gate,
a sealed portal, a bolted, barred, i'm
penetrable door. They declare that
while there may be a life beyond this
they have no valid ground for ex-
pressed hope therein, no reason TO
stay their souls in the expectation OF
eternal existence. They know not.
Theirs is the philosophy of agnostic-
ism. Still others deny that there is
another life in another world. Theirs
is the negative philosophy OF atheism.
And neither is scientific or satisfying
in the largest or most enduring way.
For we need and desire and demand
as rational and eXpectant human
beings something more than inde-
cision and negatiou.' TIE soul re-
quires a true soul food. II does not
thrive on agnosticism or infidelity.
Death may be beautiful. il may be
welcome, ii may be an inspiration.
IL is so to godly men. men of faith
and of vision, men who are versed
in the philosophy of heaven and who
are acquainted with the scientific for
mulae OF the discipline of the soul
1t is beautiful and gracious to those
who are Gods in Christ-supremely
so. For the Christian knows that
death is not only inevitable and ma
|. tural, but that it is simply transi-
tional, that il rs portal. The
| Christian is certain that eternal life
is. The Christian believes from a
|. | conscious experience in the fact Of
God. He hopes, not without reason
for eternal life and eternal blessed
ness within God in heaven. For has
not Christ assumed him that Gpd and
heaven are? Has He not said: Il
\ go TO prepare d place for you. And
If ! go and prepare place for you
win come again and receive you unto
Myself?" And Christ not only has
said that TO the Christian through the
) medium of the Scriptures. He has
also spoken these words of comfort
presently to the human hearts OF
Christian believers. Ard God has
ceaselessly thundered Che truth q.
Immortality through the recsssss OF
human souls. Blessed are the pure
In heart, for they shall see God eter-
Gally.
Death. for The Christian, is to be
welcomed, fwhensoever IL may come,
with holy awe, without fear For
death is sublime. IL is the cap of
the climax OF the Christian earthly
life II is our illumination, our in
spiration, our reward. II enlarges
our joys and certifies our hopes. We
should await IL in the spirit of that
man Of God whom the other day, in
the presence of a multitude Of men,
as ne stood upon the erninence OF
four score years and upon the bor-
derland OF eternity, / heard say, II
await death with JOY. To me the
thought that ] shall die is sublime.
For j know that n ! die ] shall live
again" His hearers were electrified.
His tones thrilled. His hope was con-
tagious We too, should await death
with q cheer.