Sermons Preached in the African Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Thomas', Philadelphia/Sermon 10
SERMON X.
the wisdom of duly considering the latter end.
"Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end."
It is a serious thought, not always easy to thrust aside, that every thing pertaining to this life must come to an end, how soon none can tell. This is a secret veiled in the bosom of the great Eternal. The solemn truth we cannot evade; the conviction is deep in our minds, that all things which now delight the eye, gratify the taste, dazzle and delude the giddy, and which excite the ambition of a vain multitude, all shall have an end. The stars themselves shall fade, the sun grow dim with age, the earth shall wax old as doth a garment, and be changed: and man, its honored inhabitant, involved in the same destiny, like the flowers of the field, shall fade, wither, and. finally die. Every thing around, about, and within us is calculated to prompt us to the important duty; "so to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." The setting sun closing his golden eye in the west—the faded leaf falling to the earth—the majestic river flowing on gradually until finally lost in the bosom of the ocean—the daily spectacle of "man going to his long home, and the mourners walking along the streets," all are so many monitors of Providence, reminding us of the solemn change we individually must shortly make. But notwithstanding the instructive lessons that pour in upon us from these and other sources, like the Israelites to whom the text primarily refers, the great majority of mankind will not be wise: more stupid than the ox, they will not understand, they will not "consider their latter end." Happy for you, my brethren, did you all form an exception—happy, were you free from the charge of a criminal, thoughtlessness upon this all important subject. But you are not so devoid of candor as to present your claim to innocence on this point. Well do you know, and often have you felt the application of the text in your own case; often have you heard the still, but powerful voice within, exclaiming,—"Oh, that you were wise, that you understood this, that you would consider your latter end!"
The two following propositions, will form the foundation of the remarks that we shall offer for your consideration.
1st. A due consideration of our latter end, is the part of true wisdom.
2d. The unwillingness of men to be wise in those things which involve their highest interest, affords matter for deep lamentation.
1. Duly to consider our end is not occasionally to bestow some thought upon the subject. This we cannot avoid if we would. Thoughts of death, will now and then, of their own accord, flit across the mind of every man. He is compelled, by the law of his nature, which, while it leads him to look forward to other future events, constrains him to give some thoughts to the subject of his mortality. But such a consideration as this, does not constitute true wisdom. A due consideration of any subject, is to give it that practical attention which its importance demands. If our end consisted in the total annihilation of both soul and body; were we destined to be remanded back to nothing; then, the proper consideration of our end would lead us to confine our thoughts chiefly to this world. The dictates of wisdom would be for us to make the best we could of our ephemeral existence—"to eat, drink, and be merry." But annihilation is not our destiny.
"A voice within us speaks the startling word,
Man, thou shalt never die. Celestial voices
Hymn it around our souls."
There will only be a temporary separation of parts—the spiritual from the material. The body will moulder away to its original elements and remain in that condition until animated and reconstructed again by the voice of the Arch-Angel and the trump of God. The soul, not subject to dissolution and decay, will be conveyed to the Paradise of God, there to await in joyful anticipation, the consummation of its bliss, reunited to the body, in God's eternal and everlasting kingdom: or else be "driven away in its wickedness," to participate in the horrors of those condemned spirits that are "reserved in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great day:" depending upon the character formed in this probationary state. It is unnecessary to cite the Scripture passages that contain the truths here advanced. Your perfect familiarity with them, we take for granted. Seeing then, that in the "latter end" of man, his happiness or misery will be unalterably fixed forever, a due consideration of it, would unquestionably lead him to prepare to avoid the one and enjoy the other. And here the great question arises, how can sinful man be thus prepared? How can he who has transgressed the laws of his Maker, and rendered himself obnoxious to his sore displeasure, become reconciled to him, restored to his favor and image here, and be advanced to honor, dignity, glory, and endless happiness hereafter? There is a way, and but one way; viz., "the new and living way opened up for us by the blood of Jesus." Reason debased, for centuries tried, but in vain, to find, the sure, the narrow way, that leads to glory and immortality. But it pleased God in infinite benevolence, to devise the plan by which "He can be just and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus, with a heart unto righteousness." "God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."[1] We may clothe ourselves in the garment of self-righteousness, we may felicitate ourselves on the ground of our own goodness, and be esteemed by a short-sighted world as the best of citizens, but this will be found at last to be a poor preparation for an exit from time to eternity. With no other preparation than our own righteousness, we shall be like the man, spoken of in the Gospel, who built his house upon the sand, "When the rains descended and the Hood came and beat upon his house, it fell and great was the fall."
Nothing can be more absurd than the idea of man attempting to recommend himself to the favor of God by his own fancied goodness. He has often violated the law of God which denounces death upon the transgressor; yet, he attempts to gain the favor of God by his outward observance of it, seeking to be justified by the law, that condemns him as a transgressor, and continually cries:—"Pay that thou owest"—settle up for your past follies. Let us suppose that you are now blameless so far as may relate to your outward deportment. What is to be done with the follies and vanities of youth? What amends can you make for your past thoughtless indifference, and criminal negligence of God and of his claims upon your undivided service? You must remember, that his law requires a line of perfect, unfaltering obedience from the time of our accountability to the end of life. Its terms are rigid. Its language is:—"Do this and live." "The soul that sinneth it shall die," Ah, self-righteous man, you are in a dilemma. You must either enter and make good your plea at the bar of your judge, of perfect obedience on your part, or humbly fall at the footstool of mercy, sue for pardon, and plead the perfect obedience, and vicarious death of another, viz., the Lord Jesus Christ. To perfect obedience to the law, you can lay no claim. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." None can "tell how oft he offendeth." To be justified by the deeds of the law, therefore, is impossible. The great provision made in the gospel, is the only hope of sinful man. If then we would be prepared to meet death in perfect peace, we must be "found in Christ, not having our own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." The promise of eternal blessedness is to those only, who are thus united to Christ, by that faith "which works by love, purifies the heart and overcomes the world;" who have been raised from a death of sin, unto a new birth unto righteousness, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and are walking as those who are alive from the dead. The persons who answer this description have been graciously brought to understand, and duly consider their latter end. They have availed themselves of God's plan of reconciliation. Hence, they are truly wise. That man would be considered wise, who in having to travel over a trackless desert infested by ravenous beasts, first provided himself with proper guards, and other necessaries proper to render his journey both safe and comfortable. In our pilgrimage through mortality, many dangers beset our path, from the world, the flesh and Satan. Is he not eminently wise, who has chosen the Lord for his portion, his strong tower and defence? Such an one need not fear any evil tidings, his heart may be fixed, trusting in the arm of the Lord. That man, who, before rearing his superstructure, first secures a foundation of sufficient strength to bear its weight, may be considered wise; but how much more so should he be considered, who rears his hopes of heaven and eternal happiness upon the Rock of Ages, the sure and immutable foundation which God himself has laid in Zion. He who provides in spring and summer against the cold and chilling winds of winter is wise: but how much more so is the man who provides for his solid comfort against the cold blasts of death by securing a shelter under the everlasting arm? Such an one judges rightly in that which should concern him most; in that which involves his highest and best interests; hence he is pre-eminently wise. He regards himself only as a pilgrim, a sojourner here. He sets his affections, not on things below, but on things above. His conversation is in Heaven. He puts a proper estimate upon the things of this life. He uses tb world, as not abusing it. He passes through things temporal so as not to lose those things that are eternal. He reasons thus.—The things that are seen, are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal. What then would it profit me were I to gain the whole world and finally lose my soul? Were all its wealth and honor and glory mine, I could keep them only a few days. But if I lose my soul, it is not lost for a limited time, but lost forever. Seeing that his immortal spirit outweighs the world with all its magnificence and all its glory, he wisely "counts all things but dung and loss, that he might win Christ, and be found of him in peace." But how little of this heavenly wisdom is to be found in the world? If we contemplate man as an inhabitant of this earth, without reference to eternity, and consider his great and wonderful achievements in the arts and sciences, we are forced to acknowledge his eminent wisdom. But when we regard him as a candidate for eternity, what a falling off is here. How blind, how grossly ignorant is he in his spiritual and eternal concerns! And it is not because of the impossibility of his displaying the same wisdom in this direction as in the other, but solely because he will not—he will not be wise. The Scriptures represent man's unwillingness to accept the offers of mercy as made to him in the gospel, as the chief cause of his final ruin. "Ye will not come to me" says Jesus, "that ye might have life."[2] "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."[3]
"Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded: But ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity: I will mock when your fear cometh: when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer, they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof Therefore, shall they eat of the fruit of their own tvay, and he filled with their own devices."[4]
We pass on to consider.
II. The unwillingness of men to be wise in those things which involve their highest interest, affords matter for deep lamentation. To see a man dwelling close to a perennial spring of water, and yet with great labor and fatigue hewing out first one broken cistern, and then another, and after multiplied disappointmentsto die of thirst, could not fail to excite our pity for his consummate folly. In this, we have a faint picture of the conduct of men generally. The fountain of living waters, is within the reach of every man. He has an unconquerable thirst for happiness. But instead of seeking it where alone it can be found, he tries this, that and the other expedient, and though disappointed over and over again, he will not be wise; he dies eternally, he perishes for lack of those heavenly streams, which he might have received if he would, "without money and without price." The prodigal son, who strayed away from the paternal care of a kind parent, squandered his substance in riotous living, and reduced himself to a state of starvation and wretchedness, was truly an object to be pitied. But preeminently so are those who have strayed away from the wholesome restraints of their Heavenly Father. Unwilling to yield to the holy requisitions of his love, they follow the devices and desires of their own hearts. See the multitudinous crowd of immortal men, wending their way in the "broad" road, led on by Satan, the god of this world. A portentous storm is gathering not far in the distance. The day of God's wrath is at hand, and they are out in that dangerous and destructive path without a shelter, and in a filthy, ragged, and starving condition. Their Heavenly Father is willing to shelter them beneath his everlasting arm; to wash them in the blood of the everlasting covenant, to clothe them with the robe of righteousness; to feed them with the bread of heaven. He condescends to call after the wanderers in the language of paternal affection: "My son, give me thy heart."[5] He expostulates with them, saying,—"How long ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity, and fools hate knowledge?"[6] "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfied, not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness."[7] But all these kind calls and tender expostulations are disregarded. The deluded souls continue to wander farther and farther from God. Still he cries after them: "Turn you, turn you at my reproof" Some wander at such an awful distance, that the voice of mercy which once came home to them with power, now, dies away in whispers upon their obdurate hearts. They wander, until they "stumble" at last "upon the dark mountains," and plunge headlong, into the whirlpool of endless perdition. This is the silly part acted by that being who is so prone to pride himself on the dignity of his nature. We would not cast any reflection upon his dignity; we would rather mourn over the strong indications he gives of a moral desolation. He presents a scene truly affecting. He is like a noble mansion in ruins. The grand and lofty columns, the fine exquisite workmanship, which are still seen, are striking evidences of former greatness: but the glory has departed. It is natural for us to linger in pensive melancholy, as we behold the remaining traces of departed grandeur. There is something enchanting in the sight, that keeps us fast bound to the spot. Our eyes are fixed upon the spectacle. We compare the past with the present, and the sad contrast affects the heart, and awakens the tenderest emotions. The unconscious tear stands trembling in the eye, as we behold the melancholy scene. But there is nothing so affecting, so much to be lamented, as the perverse obstinacy, and rebellious course of impenitent sinners. It was in view of this, that the Psalmist exclaimed: "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law."[8] It was in view of this, that the blessed Jesus lingered about Jerusalem, and "wept over it," saying, "If thou hadst known, even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes."[9] It was in view of this, that the great Jehovah himself, is represented as lamenting, in the terms expressed in our text,—"O, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!"
Permit me now, my brethren, to urge you forward in the glorious pursuit of true wisdom. Of all other inquiries, let this be the all-absorbing one—What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? How may I ensure a blissful immortality when my flesh and my heart shall fail? Get wisdom, but with all your getting, get understanding. See to it, that you lay up a good foundation against the time to come. Ignorance here, is fatal. Better be a way-faring man and a fool in other matters, so that you be wise unto salvation, than to stand upon the loftiest pinnacle of earthly wisdom, and be ignorant in heavenly things. The advantages of earthly wisdom are confined to this world; but the wisdom which is from above, leads us besides "the still waters" of comfort in this world, and introduces into that glorious region above, where is fulness of joy and pleasures forevermore. I entreat you then, above all things, to get this wisdom—the wisdom that includes a preparation against that hour, when the earth shall recede and disappear, and eternity with all her awful realities, shall break in upon your astonished sight. Prepare, by breaking off your sins, by righteousness and turning to the Lord, in full purpose of heart. Prepare, by obtaining an interest in the merits of Christ, who died for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. He is your only hope. He is the only rod and staff that can comfort you when called to pass the valley and shadow of death. He is the "bright and morning star" that can light up your pathway from earth to heaven. Then be wise. Choose him for your portion. Take him for your "all in all." Pass through things temporal, so as not to lose those things that are eternal; counting all things but loss, so that you may win Christ, and be found of him in peace.