LECTURE 27
OF HOW THAT DEATH HANDLES NOT ALL MEN ALIKE.
Death indeed handles not all men alike. It appears good to the good and evil to the evil. It appears rough to the wicked but gentle to the righteous. It only seems to troubles carnal people. The true sons and daughters of the kingdom have death as their servant whilst the children of the world have it as their master.
Death undoubtedly has a personality: It sees, It knows, it wills and above all, it has its own fears too. When he sets out to accompany a dying saint home, he does so in all humility. He only moves to stand beside his bed and then politely say, “My Prince, Your Father calls for you.” And then gently lead him into that bosom of Abraham and innumerable company of Angels.
But I can’t say so for the children of the world. I am sure he appears before them like a sleuth agent and then forcefully drag them with him to the central command. I am also sure he does scold them along the way. He probably scolds them like a father does to a naughty child after pulling him away from the midst of those bad friends he was warned not to go out with. Yes, I am sure.
Recall that before the noble saint of God, St Teresa of Avila, breathed her last, her final words were, “O my Lord and my Spouse, the hour that I have longed for has come. It is time for us to meet one another”, and by that did retire her soul into the hands of ‘HER SPOUSE, The Almighty’. Whereas of the famous atheist, Sir Thomas Scott, these final words were penned down and recorded - “Until this moment I thought that there is neither a God nor a hell. Now I know and feel that there are both, and I am doomed to perdition by the just judgment of the almighty”
Brooding over these two proclammation, we can clearly conclude that the blessed lady St. Teresa was very happy dying whilst Sir Thomas wasn’t. He wasn’t ready to die at all. The former was fully prepared and happy to die whilst the latter seemed troubled and unprepared.
In fact, we also have it there in popular literatures that before Caesar Borgia died, his final words were “When I lived, I provided for everything but death; now I must die and I am unprepared to die”, eloquently confessing his unpreparedness to die and anguishly giving up the Ghost.
Well, this wasn’t the case of the men that clung to the cross. Almost all our church fathers and mothers died a happy death; they just knew how to die. They mastered the art of dying. They embraced death so tightly and happily as though it were a close friend that has suddenly returned from a trip abroad.
Death, I must say, is not entirely monstrous as some think. Perhaps it may be so to the children of the world but definitely not to the sons and daughters of the new creation. To us, “it is gain” as St. Paul puts it. A great gain for that matter because it takes us home to our Father. Death, I say, has its own fears too.
You may look on the following last words of some of the Church’s Saints;
“After all, I die as a child of the church. My Lord it is time to move on. Well then, may Your will be done. O my Lord and my spouse, the hour that I have longed for has come.
It is time to meet one another.”
St. Teresa of Avila
“Blood! Blood! Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.”
St. Catherine of Siena
“Be assured that he who shall always walk faithfully in God’s presence, always ready to give Him an account of all his actions, shall never be separated from Him by consenting to sin”
St. Thomas Acquinas
“Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you”
St. Teresa of Calcutta
“I have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to me. My God, I love You”
St. Therese of Lisieux
“I die the King’s good servant”
St. Thomas Moore
“I die with joy for I desire to be united to my God. Live so as not to fear death. For those who live well in the world, death is not frightening, but sweet and precious”
St. Rose of Viterbo
“Lord my Creator, You have always protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Receive my soul”
St. Agatha of Sicily
“In all things, I adore the will of God in my regard”
St. Jean Baptiste de la Saile
“Glory to God for all things”
St. John Chrysostom
“Let me go to the house of the father”
St. John Paul the Great
“I wish I had the power of writing; I would describe how pleasant it is to die”
Dr. Cullen
“Can this be death? Why? It is better than living! Tell them I die happy in Jesus”
John Arthur Lyth
You may also look on the following last words by some unbelievers;
“I die before my time, and my body will be given back to the earth. Such is the fate of him who has been called the great Napoleon. What an abyss between my deep and the eternal kingdom of Christ”
Napoleaon Bonaparte, the French emperor
“While I lived, I provided for everything but death; now I must die and I am unprepared to die”
Caesar Borgia
“If I had the whole world at my disposal, I would give it to live one day. I am about to take a leap into the dark”
Thomas Hobbs, philosopher
“I am in flames”
David Hume, atheist & philosopher
“Untill this moment, I thought there was neither a God or Hell. Now I know and feel that there are both, and I am doomed to perdition by the just judgement of the Almighty”
Sir Thomas Scott, of England
“Asleep or awake, I see the mangled forms of the Hugenots passing before me. They drop with blood. They point at their open wounds. Oh! That I had spared at least the little infants at the bossom! What blood! I know not where I am, How will all this end? What shall I do? I am lost forever! I know it. Oh, I have done wrong”
Charles IX
“I am abandoned by God and man; I will give you half of what I am worth if you if you will give me six months’ life.” When He was told that it couldn’t be done, He said, “Then I will die and go to Hell”
Voltaire, atheist
A BELIEVER’S DYING TESTAMENT
By B. Schmolk
Weary, waiting to depart,
My spirit longs for flight;
Still I gaze with throbbing heart
To Zion's fields of light.
When His summons shall be sent,
No dweller here may know--
To my dying testament,
Friends, hearken, ere I go!
God, my Father, to Thy hand
This spirit I bequeath;
Guide it through this desert land,
And through the gates of death.
By Thy gift this soul was mine--
Take it to Thyself again,
So shall it for ever Thine
In life and death remain.
What, O Jesus, shall I make
An offering to Thee?
Ah! these sins, these sorrows take,
So grievous, Lord, to me,
In the crimson stream that flows,
My Saviour, from Thy side,
Thus my faith each burden throws,
Hide them, for ever, hide!
O thou Spirit of all might!
I yield Thee my last sigh,
And to Thee, in death's dread fight,
I send my latest cry!
As life's pulses steal away,
Oh! speak peace to me!
And let my fainting soul that day
Nothing save Jesus see.
Angels, take these flowing tears
From my pale cheeks away!
Ye can pity earth-born fears,
And gladly will obey.
Bear me to my Saviour's care,
In these kind arms of love,
And let me for ever share
Your tearless bliss above.
Ye beloved ones, and true,
Who weeping round me bend,
Though I go, I leave with you
Your everlasting Friend.
Take my parting blessing, then,
And weep for me no more--
Surely we shall meet again
On the eternal shore!
Earth, poor earth, I've spent on thee
A long and clouded day:
Take as my last legacy,
This dwelling-house of clay;
In thy keeping it must fall
To humble dust once more,
But, ere long, thy graves shall all
In living truth restore!
This is my last testament--
God! fix Thy seal thereto!
Now I wait in calm content,
With heaven full in view.
Resting on my Lord in faith,
Weary, waiting to depart
I pass securely on,
Knowing when I conquer death
My heritage is won!