Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1907-09-19

! go back into the dust and be forever
rgotten-forever I am persuaded
that we are more than the flower Of
the field or the grass thereof, which
to-day is and tomorrow is consumed
Dy the quenchable fire. For God has
written IN my heart, and I hope He
mas IN yours, promise of another
lie and OF a nobler and a fairert
world. I look for a land and a life
that is eternal, a heavenly country.
For, to me, death is portal.
It IS gate. It is boon, gift of
God, blessing. To my mind it
| writes ito be continued" afeAr the
: last word Of the last chapter of the
record Of every souls earthly life has
| been inscribed upon the pages of
| human history. For death is more 4,
beginning than an ending. It is a
door through which we enter into the
undiscovered country. 1t affords It's
! vision Of another world the view
OF which is withholden from our NOR
tai eyes. It releases us from the cir
cumscriptions of earth. It unlccks
| the mystery of eternity. It unfolds
| the future existence before us
Through it we achieve a knowledge
Of the unknown. To those of us who
have endeavored sincerely, however
| partially we have succeeded. to do
the will OF God and to submit our
selves to His divine control, death
comes as friend over whom we NAV
/ rejoice. Not that we should desire
to die. For this is a good life. Not
that we should regret that; we have
days ahead that we must Fill full of
rad r,f h01v
we should pray for death as a sur
cease from care and from pain and
from discip1ines. But we welcome
and expect death, If we be in Christ.
as friend, because it augments our
days, and expands DUR opportunities,
and clarifies our vision, and intensi-
hes our knowledge. And that is
good.
This death, which is inevitable and
natural in the career OF every man.
whether he be rich or poor, wise or
ignorant. good or bad, may be ter
rtble, doubtful or beautiful. accord.
Ing to the manner of our lives and
the quality of our characters. For
death cannot be bought off by riches.
Neither does he pass the hovel. He
is no respecter of intelligence His
hand is heavy and his arm is long
to seize and to project into eternity
that which is immortal in good and
evil men alike. And it simply de-
pends upon the kind of man you are
whether death will be terrible, doubt
full or beautiful to you.
70 bad man death must be ter
r1ble. That is to say, if he possesses
the lease spark Of moral conscious
ness or spiritual susceptibility. Aye,
1t is terrible. And it ought to be. A
ba man ought to be afraid to die. A
man whose whole life has contra
vened Gods law, whose continued |
and cumulative effort has been to fol-
low the lusts Of his own heart and |
the dictates of his own will, who has
sought not to please God, but to find |
iavor with men, who has construct |
lively planned and effected overt sin, |
who has denied the call Of conscience |
and deifed Satan daily, ought to he |
afraid to die. Death ought to be ter |
rible to him. In his last hours such |
man could best evidence that he |
was man and not a beast by elevat-
ing the fear Of God to supreme prom
1nence in his mind, man whose |
whole life as a consciously active |
Tree moral agent has been dedicated
to the qualification of the mandates
OF the Almighty and to the eyalta-
ton OF sin as a method of living
ought to be anxious to reverse the |
call OF death and the decision of fate.
He ought to want another chance in
this life to fit him for the next life.
It would be strange If bad men were
not afraid to die. It would be curl
ous II they could face eternity un-
abashed. For death to sinful soul
must be terrible To go forth into
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 moral eminence that Is not
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 sci
entif1c spirit of inquisitiveness. There j
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 locked gate,
a sealed portal, a bolted. barred, inn s
penetrab1e door. They declare that 1
while there may be life beyond this I
they have no valid ground for e1-