THE CHRISTIAN HONORING GOD BY HIS DYING BEHAVIOR.
1. Reflections on the sincerity with which the preceding counsel has been given.--2, 3. The author is desirous that (if Providence permit) he may assist the Christian to die honorably and comfortably.--4. With this view, it is advised--to rid the mind of all earthly cares.--5. To renew the humiliation of the soul before God, and its application to the blood of Christ.--6. To exercise patience under bodily pains and sorrows.--7. At leaving the world, to bear an honorable testimony to religion.--8 To give a solemn charge to surviving friends.--9. especially recommending faith in Christ.--10, 11. To keep the promises of God in view.--12. And to commit the departing spirit to God, in the genuine exercises of gratitude and repentance, faith and charity, which are exemplified in the concluding meditation and prayer.
1. THUS, my dear reader, I have endeavored to lead you through a variety of
circumstances, and those not fancied or imaginary, but such as do indeed occur
in the human and Christian life. And I can truly and cheerfully say, that I
have marked out to you the path which I myself have trod, and in which it is my
desire still to go on. I have ventured my own everlasting interests on that
foundation on which I have directed you to adventure yours. What I have
recommended as the grand business of your life, I desire to make the business
or my own; and the most considerable enjoyments which I expect or desire in the
remaining days of my pilgrimage on earth, are such as I have directed you to
seek and endeavored to assist you in attaining. Such love to God, such constant
activity in his service, such pleasurable views of what lies beyond the grave,
appear to me (God is my witness) a felicity incomparably beyond anything else
which can offer itself to our affection and pursuit; and I would not for ten
thousand worlds resign my share in them, or consent even to the suspension of
the delights which they afford, during the remainder of my abode here.
2. I would humbly hope, through the divine
blessing, that the hours you have spent in the review of these plain things,
may have turned to some profitable account; and that, in consequence of what
you have read, you have been either brought into the way or life and peace, or
been induced to quicken your pace in it. Most heartily should I rejoice in
being further useful to you, and that even to the last. Now there is one scene
remaining, a scene through which you must infallibly pass, which has something
in it so awful, that I cannot but attempt doing a little to assist you in it: I
mean the dark Valley of the Shadow of Death. I could earnestly wish, that, for
the credit of your profession, the comfort of your own soul, and the joy and
edification of your surviving friends, you might die, not only safely, but
honorably too; and therefore I would offer you some parting advice. I am
sensible, indeed, that Providence may determine the circumstances of your death
in such a manner, as that you may have no opportunity of acting upon the hints
I now give you. Some unexpected accident from without, or from within, may, as
it were, whirl you to heaven before you are aware; and you may find yourself so
suddenly there, that it may seem a translation rather than a death. Or it is
possible the force of a distemper may affect your understanding in such a
manner, that you may be quite insensible of the circumstances in which you are;
and so your dissolution (though others may see it visibly and certainly
approaching) may be as great a surprise to you as if you had died in full
health.
3. But as it is, on the whole, probable you may
have a more sensible passage out of time into eternity, and as much may, in
various respects, depend on your dying behavior, give me leave to propose some
plain directions with relation to it, to be practiced, if God give you
opportunity, and remind you of them. It may not be improper to look over the
29th chapter again, when you find the symptoms of any threatening disorder. And
I the rather hope that what I say may be useful to you, as methinks I find
myself disposed to address you with something of that peculiar tenderness which
we feel for a dying friend; to whom, as we expect that we shall speak to him no
more, we send out, as it were, all our hearts in every word.
4. I would advise, then, in the first place,
"that as soon as possible, you would endeavor to get rid of all further care
with regard to your temporal concerns, by settling them in time, in as
reasonable and Christian a manner as you can." I could wish there may be
nothing of that kind to hurry your mind when you are least able to bear it, or
to distress or divide those who come after you. Do that which in the presence
of God you judge most equitable. and which you verily believe will be most
pleasing to him. Do it in as prudent and effectual a manner as you can; and
then consider the world as a place you have quite done with, and its affairs as
nothing further to you, more than to one actually dead, unless as you may do
any good to its inhabitants while yet you continue among them, and may by any
circumstance in your last actions or words in life, leave a blessing behind you
to those who have been your friends and fellow-travelers, while you have been
despatching that journey through it which you are now finishing.
5. That you may be the more at leisure, and the
better prepared for this, "enter into some sermons review of your own state,
and endeavor to put your soul into as fit a posture as possible for your solemn
appearance before God." For a solemn thing indeed it is, to go into his
immediate presence; to stand before him, not as a supplicant at the throne of
his grace, but at his bar as a separate spirit, whose time of probation is
over, and whose eternal state is to be immediately determined. Renew your
humiliation before God for the imperfections of your life, though it has, in
the main, been devoted to his service. Renew your application to the mercies of
God as promised in the covenant of grace, and to the blood of Christ as the
blessed channel in which they flow. Resign yourself entirely to the divine
disposal and conduct, as willing to serve God, either in this world or the
other, as he shall see fit. And sensible of your sinfulness on the one hand,
and of the divine wisdom and goodness on the other, summon up all the fortitude
of your soul to bear, as well as you can, whatever his afflicting hand may
further lay upon you, and to receive the last stroke of it, as one who would
maintain the most entire subjection to the great and good Father of spirits.
6. Whatever you suffer, endeavor to show
"yourself an example of patience." Let that amiable grace "have its perfect
work;" (Jam. 1:4) and since it has so little more to do, let it close the scene
nobly. Let there not be a murmuring word; and that there may not, watch against
every repining thought. And when you feel any thing of that kind arising, look
by faith upon a dying Savior, and ask your own heart, "Was not his cross much
more painful than the bed on which I lie? Was not his situation, among
blood-thirsty enemies, infinitely more terrible than mine amidst the tenderness
and care of so many affectionate friends? Did not the heavy load of my sins
press him in a much more overwhelming manner than I am pressed by the load of
these afflictions ? And yet he bore all, `as a lamb that is brought to the
slaughter.'" (Isa. 53:7) Let the remembrance of his sufferings be a means to
sweeten yours; yea, let it cause you to rejoice, when you are called to bear
the cross for a little while, before you wear the crown. Count it all joy, that
you have an opportunity yet once more of honoring God by your patience, which
is now acting its last part, and will, in a few days, and perhaps in a few
hours, he superseded by complete, everlasting blessedness. And I am willing to
hope, that in these views you will not only suppress all passionate complaints,
but that your mouth will be filled with the praises of God; and that you will
be speaking to those who are about you, not only of his justice, but of his
goodness too. So that you will be enabled to communicate your inward joys in
such a manner as may be a lively and edifying comment upon those words of the
Apostle, "Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and
experience, hope; even a hope which maketh not ashamed, while the love of God
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us," (Rom.
5: 3-5)
7. And now, my dear friend, "now is the time,
when it is especially expected from you, that you bear an honorable testimony
to religion." Tell those that are about you, as well as you can, (for you will
never be able fully to express it) what comfort and support you have found in
it. Tell them how it has brightened the darkest circumstances of your life:
tell them how it now reconciles you to the near views of death. Your words will
carry with them a peculiar weight at such a season: there will be a kind of
eloquence, even in the infirmities with which you are struggling, while you
give them utterance; and you will be heard with attention, with tenderness,
with credit. And therefore, when the time of your departure is at hand, with
unaffected freedom breathe out your joy, if you then feel (as I hope you will)
a holy joy and delight in God. Breathe out, however, your inward peace and
serenity of mind, if you be then peaceful and serene:others will mark it, and
be encouraged to tread the steps which lead to so happy an end. Tell them what
you feel of the vanity of the world, and they may learn to regard it less. Tell
them what you feel of the substantial supports of the Gospel, and they may
learn to value it more; for they cannot but know that they must he down on a
dying bed too, and must then need all the relief which the Gospel itself can
give them.
8. And to enforce the conviction the more, "give
a solemn charge to those that are about you, that they spend their lives in the
service of God, and govern themselves by the principles of real religion." You
may remember that Joshua and David, and other good men did so, when they
perceived that the days drew near in which they should die. And you know not
how the admonitions of a dying friend, or (as it may be with respect to some)
of a dying parent, may impress those who may have disregarded what you and
others may have said to them before. At least, make the trial, and die,
laboring to glorify God, to save souls, and generously to sow the seeds of
goodness and happiness in a world where you have no more harvest to reap.
Perhaps they may spring up in a plentiful crop, when the clods of the valley
are covering your body: but if not, God will approve it; and the angels that
wait around your bed to receive your departing soul will look upon each other
with marks of approbation in their countenance, and own that this is to expire
like a Christian, and to make a glorious improvement of mortality.
9. And in this last address to your
fellow-mortals, whoever they are that Providence brings near you, "be sure that
you tell them how entirely and how cheerfully your hopes and dependence in this
season of the last extremity are fixed, not upon your own merits and obedience,
but on what the great Redeemer has done and has suffered for sinners." Let them
see that you die, as it were, at the foot of the cross: nothing will be so
comfortable to yourself, nothing so edifying to them. Let the name of Jesus,
therefore, be in your mouth while you are able to speak, and when you can speak
no longer, let it be in your heart; and endeavor that the last act of your
soul, while it continues in the body, may be an act of bumble faith in Christ.
Come unto God by him: enter into that which is within the veil, as with the
blood of sprinkling fresh upon you. It is an awful thing for such a sinner (as
you, my Christian friend, with all the virtues the world may have admired, know
yourself to be) to stand before that infinitely pure and holy Being who has
seen all your ways, and all your heart, and has a perfect knowledge of every
mixture of imperfection which has attended the best of your duties: but venture
in that way, and you will find it both safe and pleasant.
10. Once more, "to give you comfort in a dying
hour, and to support your feeble steps while you are traveling through this
dark and painful way, take the word of God as a staff in your hand." Let books,
and mortal friends, now do their last office for you. Call, if you can, some
experienced Christian, who has felt the power of the word of God upon his own
heart, and let him bring the Scripture, and turn you to some of those precious
promises which have been the food and rejoicing of his own soul. It is with
this view that I may carry the good office I am now engaged in as far as
possible, that I shall here give you a collection of a few such admirable
scriptures, each of them "infinitely more valuable than thousands of gold and
silver." (Psa. 119:72) And to convince you of the degree in which I esteem
them, I will take the freedom to add, that I desire they may (if God give an
opportunity) be read over to me, as I lie on my dying bed, with short intervals
between them, that I may pause upon each, and renew something of that
delightful relish which, I bless God, I have often found in them. May your soul
and mine be then composed to a sacred silence, (whatever be the commotion of
animal nature) while the voice of God speaks to us in the language which he
spake to his servants of old, or in which he instructed them how they should
speak to him in circumstances of the greatest extremity!
11. Can any more encouragement be wanting, when
he says, "Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I
will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness?" (Isa. 41:10) And "he is not man that he should
lie, or the son of man that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do
it ? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Num. 23:19) "The Lord
is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my
life, of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psa. 27:1) "This God is our God for ever and
ever:he will be our guide even unto death." (Psa. 48:14) Therefore, "though I
walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil; for thou
art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." (Psa. 23:4) "I have waited
for thy salvation, O Lord." (Gen. 49:18) "O continue thy loving-kindness unto
them that know thee, and thy righteousness to the upright in heart! For with
thee is the fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light." (Psa. 36:9,10)
"Thou wilt show we the path of life; in thy presence is fullness of joy, at thy
right hand there are pleasures for evermore," (Psa. 16:11) "As for me, I shall
behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy
likeness." (Psa. 17:15) "For I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded
that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day." (2 Tim.
1:12) "Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall
rest in hope." (Psa. 16:9) "For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again;
those also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." (1 Thess. 4:14) "I
give unto my sheep eternal life," said Jesus, the good Shepherd, "and they
shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." (John 10:28)
"This is the will of him that sent me, that every one that believeth on me
should have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John
6:40) "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told
you: I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be
also." (John 14:1-3) "Go tell my brethren, I ascend unto my Father and your
Father, and to my God and your God." (John 20:17) "Father, I will that they
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory
which thou hast given me; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in
them, and I in them." (John 17:24,26) "He that testifieth these things saith,
"Surely I come quickly; Amen: even so come, Lord Jesus." (Rev. 22:20) "O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, who giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Cor. 15:55,57)
12. Thus may that God, who "knows the souls of
his children in alt their adversities," (Psa. 31:7) and in "whose sight the
death of his saints is precious," (Psa. 116:15) cheer and support you and me in
those last extremities of nature! May he add us to the happy number of those
who have been more than conquerors in death! And may he give us those supplies
of his Spirit which may enable us to pour out our departing souls in such
sentiments as those I would now suggest, though we should be no longer able to
utter words, or to understand them if they were read to us. Let us, at least,
review them with all proper affections now, and lay up one prayer more for that
awful moment. O that this, and all we have ever offered with regard to it, may
then "come to remembrance before God!" (Acts 10:4,31)
A Meditation, or Prayer, suited to the case of a Dying Christian.
DR. DODDRIDGE was born in London, June 26, 1709. He was of a consumptive habit from infancy, was brought up in the early knowledge of religion, and was left an orphan before he arrived at the age of 14. At 16 be made a profession of religion; at 20 commenced preaching the Gospel; and at 21 was settled over a small congregation, in an obscure village, where be devoted himself to the acquisition of useful knowledge with indefatigable zeal. At 27 he was removed to the pastoral care of the church in Northampton, where, for 22 years, amidst other diversified labors, he acted as an instructor of youth preparing for the ministry, having had under his charge, during that period, upwards of 200 young men. At the age of 37 and 38 he published two volumes of his Family Expositor; and about the age of 43 wrote "The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul." At 46 he published the third volume of the Family Expositor, and two Dissertations.--1. On Sir Isaac Newton's System of the Harmony. 2. On the Inspiration of the New Testament. In December, 1750, in the 49th year of his age, he went to St. Albans and preached the funeral sermon of his early patron and benefactor, Dr. Clark, in which journey he contracted a cold that laid the foundation for his death. In July, 1751, he addressed his flock for the last time from the pulpit; and having found all medical aid ineffectual, embarked, in October, for Lisbon, as the last resort in so threatening a disorder, at which place he died on the 26th of October, aged 49 years.
He was not handsome in person; was very thin and slender, in stature somewhat above the middle size, with a stoop in his shoulders; but when engaged in conversation, or employed in the pulpit, there was a remarkable sprightliness in his countenance and manner, which commanded general attention. This volume is stereotyped and perpetuated, through the liberality of Col. Henry Rutgers and Col. Richard Varick, of New-York; Nicholas Brown, Esq. of Providence; and Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, of Albany.