The hour is approaching when the message will come to us, as it
comes to all--"Arise, and go forth from the home in which thou hast
dwelt, from the city in which thou hast done thy business, from thy
family, from thy friends. Arise, and take thy last journey." And what
know we of the journey? And what know we of the country to which we
are bound? A little we have read thereof, and somewhat has been
revealed to us by the Spirit; but how little do we know of the realms
of the future! We know that there is a black and stormy river
called "Death." God bids us cross it, promising to be with us. And,
after death, what cometh? What wonder-world will open upon our
astonished sight? What scene of glory will be unfolded to our view?
No traveller has ever returned to tell. But we know enough of the
heavenly land to make us welcome our summons thither with joy and
gladness. The journey of death may be dark, but we may go forth on it
fearlessly, knowing that God is with us as we walk through the gloomy
valley, and therefore we need fear no evil. We shall be departing
from all we have known and loved here, but we shall be going to our
Father's house--to our Father's home, where Jesus is--to that
royal "city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
This shall be our last removal, to dwell for ever with Him we love,
in the midst of His people, in the presence of God. Christian,
meditate much on heaven, it will help thee to press on, and to forget
the toil of the way. This vale of tears is but the pathway to the
better country: this world of woe is but the stepping-stone to a
world of bliss.
"Prepare us, Lord, by grace divine,
For Thy bright courts on high;
Then bid our spirits rise, and join
The chorus of the sky."
