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Approaching Mortality!

William Nicholson, 1862

"Only a few years will pass, before I go on the journey of no

return." Job 16:22

The sun rises daily, and we think little of it.

Just so, the frequency and commonness of death, causes it

to be little thought of. Every day, men go to their long
home, and the mourners go about the street; that is an
occurrence little thought of.

Yet it is a matter of great concern to every human being.

And though the solemn subject may not be pleasant — yet it
is the highest wisdom to be prepared for the event, by that
method which is prescribed by the Gospel of Christ. While
death is gloomy and melancholy to the man of pleasure, to
the man overwhelmed with business, and to the devotee of
mammon — it is nevertheless sometimes regarded as
a welcome messenger by the afflicted, and those who
possess a good hope through grace, Job 19:25.

I. The Important Truth Asserted by Job.

He refers to his own death, which, by a figure, he represents

as a journey; "Only a few years will pass, before I go on
the journey of no return." The body must journey to the
grave — the spirit to God the Judge of all. "The dust returns
to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God
who gave it." Ecclesiastes 12:7

Job expected that his death would be immediate, therefore

the words translated "a few years," are improper; and that
by Mr. Good is preferable, "But the years numbered to me
have come, and I must go the way whence I shall not
return."

According to the context, Job was expecting death every

hour; and the text should be read in connection with verse 1
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of the following chapter, "My spirit is crushed, and my life is

nearly snuffed out. The grave is ready to receive me!" Job
17:1. He felt himself in the arms of death; he saw the grave
already made for him; he believed the time of his departure
was at hand.

Observe:

1. Death is full of solemn import. What is death? It is

forever leaving the present scene of existence — it is the
cessation of existence here on earth.

The lungs no longer heave;

the heart stops beating;
the blood ceases to flow and congeals;
the tongue is silent;
the hand forgets its skill;
the whole body becomes motionless, pale, and ghastly.

OBSERVE:

(1.) Death is the separation of body and soul.

(2.) Death is the dissolution of every relative and social tie,

however tender and endeared.

(3.) Death is the cessation of all human pursuits and the

relinquishment of all human possessions.

(4.) Death is a journey that must be performed alone.

2. Death is a journey that must be taken by all. "Death

has passed upon all men, for all have sinned." Romans
5:12. It is in the grave, where the rich and the poor meet
together; kings as well as subjects, philosophers as well as
fools. A century removes all the inhabitants of the globe to
the silent grave. All who now live, in one hundred years to
come, will be no more.

Death is unavoidable!
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3. Death is an established fact.

(1.) By God's inviolable decree, "Dust you are, and to dust

you shall return!" "It is appointed unto men once to die —
and after that the judgment!"

(2.) From the rapid advance of life.

(3.) By symptoms of human frailty and tendency to decay,

already apparent.

(4.) By the apparent ease with which the course of human

existence may be ceased.

Great God! Amid what a mass of perils do we live! A grain

may suffocate — a crumb may stop the springs of life! A
breath, a cough, a sigh — may prostrate all our vital
powers, and fit us for the worms! So various, too, the
texture of our bodies, so fine the mechanism, so complex
the structure — that every motion has its risk! And all our
hours — our very moments, are beset with hazards, perils,
fears, and ambushed ills!

What then is life? A bubble that is blown for death to

burst!!!

4. Death is a fact characterized by the

greatest uncertainty. "Man knows not his time when his
hour may come" etc., Ecclesiastes 9:12. "Why, you do not
even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life?
You are a mist that appears for a little while and then
vanishes!" James 4:14.

Death may invade us . . .

at a period apparently the most unlikely,
when our thoughts are least turned towards it,
when our circumstances may render it most inconvenient,
when we are not at all prepared for it.

It may come in the spring of life — and mar its strength and
vigor and beauty, etc. "One man dies in full vigor,
completely secure and at ease, his body well nourished, his
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bones rich with marrow. Another man dies in bitterness of

soul, never having enjoyed anything good. Side by side they
lie in the dust, and worms cover them both!" Job 21:23-26

Death may come . . .

to the place of business,
to the hall of pleasure,
to the couch of sensual indulgence, etc., etc.

It may come suddenly, in a moment — or it may come by

protracted disease.

"And I'll say to myself: 'You have plenty of good things laid
up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry!'
But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will
be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have
prepared for yourself?'" Luke 12:19-20

"Be ready!"

5. Death is an event followed by vastly solemn

results. To the individual himself, death . . .
ends his probation,
is the departure of his soul into eternity,
is the apprehension of it either by demons or angels,
is the transmission of it to Heaven or to perdition.

See the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. "The time
came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to
Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In
Hell, where he was in torment . . ." Luke 16:22-23

Death ends all the conflicts and trials and sorrows of

the righteous.
Death is the commencement of all the woes of the wicked.

6. Lastly, Death is a journey from which there will be

no return. "But now he is dead; can I bring him back
again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." 2
Samuel 12:23. In vain we linger by the corpse — the
countenance will no more smile upon us. In vain we go to
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the grave — it is deaf to our cries, it will not give back its
trust.

"At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will

sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Its roots may
grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, yet at
the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a
plant.

But man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no
more. As water disappears from the sea or a riverbed
becomes parched and dry — so man lies down and does not
rise. Until the heavens are no more, men will not awake or
be roused from their sleep!" Job 14:7-12

II. The Influence Which this Subject Should Produce.

1. It should awaken the soul to reflection. In the midst

of danger, we have been sleeping. While the darts of
mortality are flying around us, we are calculating on future
pleasures, pursuits, plans, life, etc. "It is high time to awake
out of sleep!"

2. It should rouse us to action. It is a great journey — it

is the last journey we ever shall take! Naturally we are not
prepared for it. We need a fitting disposition for it, a
passport, suitable attire and provision. In fact, we need a
saving interest in the atoning blood of Christ, to make us fit
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

3. It should induce habitual watchfulness. Death may

come as a thief in the night! Do not be taken by surprise
when the bridegroom comes. When the chariots of God
come down, and Christ says, by death, "Come up hither!" —
be ready!

4. It should produce humility, and check vanity and

pride. What has a frail dying man to boast of?

5. It should alarm the unrepentant sinner.

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6. It should animate the saint. "Now is our salvation

nearer than when we believed." He shall soon be free from
sin and suffering — soon see God and Heaven, and realize
the glorious raptures of eternity!

7. Lastly. It teaches the value of the Gospel, which

is the sovereign remedy for death, "Our Savior, Christ Jesus,
who has destroyed death and has brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel!" 2 Timothy 1:10