THE DEAD WHO DIE IN THE LORD.[2]
"And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the
dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that
they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them"--Rev.
xiv. 13.
[2] The substance of a sermon preached in the Allen Street
Presbyterian Church, New York City, October 25, 1886, on the
occasion of the death of Elder James Knowles, who triumphantly
fell asleep in Jesus, October 23, 1886, in the seventy fifth year
of his age.
Elder James Knowles is at rest--sweet, sweet rest. It is the rest for
which he sighed and for which he prayed. His favorite hymn was:
O land of rest, for thee I sigh,
When will the moment come,
When I shall lay my armor by,
And dwell in peace at home?
To keep an eye on the home above is consummate wisdom. Hence the
injunction of the Holy Apostle, "Set your affections on things above."
This exercise of the heart can only be attained by first seeking an
interest in the atoning blood and justifying righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
"John looked, and, lo! a Lamb (the Lamb of God) stood on the mount Sion,
and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's
name (the new name) written in their foreheads, and I heard a voice
from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great
thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: and
they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four
beasts and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the four
hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the
earth." Those who had here below redemption through His blood, even the
forgiveness of their sins, according to the riches of His grace. These
are they who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus
Christ. Concerning such is this solemn affirmation made, corroborated
by the attestation of the Divine voice, that the dearly beloved John
heard, saying, "Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord."
You know that the original signification of the word "blessed" means
happy. In Christ's inimitable Sermon on the Mount He declares, "Happy
are the beggars in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." All
the uninterrupted felicities of the glory land are theirs at the hour
of dissolution. Their joy is augmented by the pure fellowship and
friendship of the Saviour and the saints before the throne of the
Eternal.
There is a broad avenue opened up to the saved of pleasing and familiar
intercourse with the general assembly, and the spirits of just men made
perfect. They share the attention and affection of the heavenly host,
and are gladdened by the presence of Him who is the King eternal,
immortal, but not now invisible, for they behold the King in his
beauty.
"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." Death to the Christian is
represented in the Scripture as a sleep. "Them that sleep in Jesus will
God bring with Him." He is redeemed from the power of death. "For
Christ came to deliver them, who, through fear of death were all their
life time subject to bondage." (Heb. ii. 15.) All believers, therefore,
need not dread death--he is a conquered enemy. And so every one of us
who are here to day in Christ can say humbly, but truly, "O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" No Christian,
however weak he may be, need fail to feel with Paul, and ask the same
question, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword?... Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord."
The last great conflict is inevitable, but the secret of a triumphant
departure from this life is found in the language of the "Faith Psalm,"
"Yea, 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." It is not really death that we have to grapple with. It is only
the shadow of death. We do not fear the shadow of a sword, or the
shadow of a serpent. The above verse of the twenty-third Psalm is very
frequently misquoted. It is called the dark valley. But you remember
that when Bunyan's pilgrim came down to the valley it was not dark, for
Jesus, the light, was with him. The sting of death is not simply
concealed; it is completely destroyed by the death of Christ. He
conquered the great enemy. "The sting of death is sin, the strength of
sin is the law; but thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Thus understood, the Christian is truly blessed in his death. He cannot
be separated from Christ, or from his symmetrically developed spiritual
character. Death is not the extinction of being. We must make a
distinction between natural and spiritual death. It is sin unforgiven
that gives death his power. It is a fearful catastrophe to those out of
Christ. Hence the holiness of others will not avail them at the hour of
dissolution. "When the soul raves round the walls of its clay tenement,
and runs to each avenue, and shrieks for help when no help can come,"
then the door of salvation is eternally shut. The last ray of hope is
then forever faded. "There are no acts of pardon past in the cold grave
to which we haste." Oh, let us not content ourselves with a mere
external profession of Christianity. True wisdom consists in having the
graces of the Holy Spirit in the heart. Walking day by day by faith in
Jesus Christ, so that when the cry is made, "Behold the Bridegroom
cometh, go ye out to meet Him," we go forth with joy and not with
grief.
Scriptural facts concerning death go to show that it is not an
unimportant event. To the soul who is found clothed not in his own
righteousness which is of the law, but with the righteousness of the
Redeemer, to die is gain, for precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints (or holy ones). It is then the refining process is
thoroughly completed. They are ready to be offered. The honor and favor
of the Father is now about to be received. The union formed on earth is
at death gloriously ratified in heaven.
The obedience of Christ's death is fully realized to be laid to their
account. The life and immortality brought to light by the Gospel is
then permanently enjoyed. The clouds and mysteries that cluster around
this earthly life are then dissipated. The full communion of the
populace of glory is wonderfully experienced without interruption or
restraint. The "conflict is over, and the prize is won." "Let me die
the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." It is
then we view the Divine glory, for this was a part of Christ's prayer:
"Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory."
You see, then, how the believer is ushered into the beauties and
blessedness of the beatic state. There is, therefore, nothing to be
dreaded by the approach of the last enemy. For, says the prophet, He
"will swallow up death in victory: and the Lord God will wipe away
tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of the people shall he take
away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it." It is by a
realization of his security in death that the believer in Jesus can
calmly meditate on the hour of dissolution--that he is blest with
longings for home; that he is soon to be delivered from the present
evil world; in short, that he is completely constituted an actuality in
the Church triumphant. He is at last brought into intimate alliance
with Christ, not now by faith but by sight, not by prayer, but by
praise; not by earthly circumscribed anticipation, but by the power of
unfathomable and constraining grace, and a deep sensibility of soul
which springs from the knowledge that he is forever with the Lord; now
the strugglings of faith are ended.
When Peter, James, and John beheld Christ transfigured on the summit of
the mount, and as they gazed upon the glory of the scene, they said,
"It is good to be here." It was a sight of Moses and Elias that
enraptured their soul. That was only a transitory sight. But at death
the Christian is admitted into endless glory. It is day without a
night. It is to be admitted into the House of the Lord. "The house not
made by hands, eternal in the heavens." Through much tribulation they
enter into the kingdom. Soon shall close their earthly mission; soon
shall end their pilgrim days; hope shall change to glad fruition. God
is continually guiding our feet to those mansions above, where flowers
that never fade do deck the heavenly plains. Where our loved ones gone
before shall meet us and greet us on the golden strand. Many are the
voices so sweet and tender, and true, who are calling us away to join
the holy ones, that no man can number, who stand around the throne
clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. The angels beckon
us away to join their ranks. Truly blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord.
In the Treasury Hymnal there is a Pilgrim Song by Dr. Horatius Bonar,
and the music is from Beethoven; it is very sweet and cheering in this
connection:
A few more years shall roll, a few more seasons come,
And we shall be with those that rest asleep within the tomb.
Then, oh, my Lord, prepare my soul for that great day,
Oh, wash me in my Saviour's blood, and take my sins away.
We truly spend our years as a tale that is told. But in heavenly love
abiding, no change my heart shall fear. How precious is this thought;
though friend after friend depart, "For who has not lost a friend?"
What though the storm of bereavement and affliction howl without?
Still, amid it all, the unbounded, uncomprehended love of God changeth
never.
Though our days are determined, and the number of our months are with
God; "though He hath appointed the bounds that He cannot pass, yet He
will hide us in the grave; He will keep us secret until His wrath upon
the ungodly is past." We read, however, His power to redeem and deliver
His elect, even amid the wreck and ruin of years and the gloom of the
grave, for Christ is the resurrection and the life.
There is rest, yonder; only just across the river. It is only a narrow
stream. "This is not my place of resting; mine's a city yet to come;
onward to it I am hastening; on to my eternal home." "I go to prepare a
place for you," said Jesus. No threatening danger or death there. It is
no desert dreary. It is freedom from pain and weariness, from sin and
sadness, in the dominions of the Bridegroom. For He says, "I have
betrothed thee unto me forever; I have betrothed thee in righteousness,
in the judgment, in loving kindness, and in mercy, and in
faithfulness."
"_In the Lord._" How significant the words. It is to have the infinite
arms of love and power encircling us. It is not to receive the spirit of
bondage again to fear. It is to rise above the uncertainties of this
life to the realities of that land where congregations ne'er break up,
and Sabbaths have no end. Linked to the eternal, never broken chain of
God's goodness, what can affright? Can the consolation of God be small
with those who are His, when we are informed that He will ransom His
people from the power of the grave? Shortly it will be all over with you
in your pilgrimage journey. Watch and wait, therefore, for the coming of
the King.
On earth, here and now, those who die in the Lord have attentively
listened to His kind remonstrances, concerning reconciliation and
entire renunciation of every false hope of heaven only through faith in
the name of Jesus. They realize that God's methods of mercy are
peculiarly calculated to impart peace in the hour of sickness and
death. They see the city which hath foundations whose builder and maker
is God, where the inhabitants say, "I am sick, I am weary no more."
They know that their Redeemer liveth, and though worms may destroy the
body, yet in their flesh they shall see God. They know there are realms
where
The voices of song never cease 'neath a burden of tears,
And the music falls sweet from those radiant spheres.
God's children on earth are remarkable for their love to Christ and His
Church, and delight to meditate on the glories of heaven. Hence when
death comes they are prepared to enter upon their purchased
possessions, for which they habitually awaited with bright
anticipations, knowing full well that He that had promised is able also
to perform.
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven, but He that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven." "For to be carnally minded is death (death eternal), but to be
spiritually minded is life and peace."
Henry says, "The _Providence_ that removes God's saints has a loved
voice which crieth in the city to the survivors. The death of the saints
speaketh the evil of sin." It is owing to that they die, for "the body
is dead because of sin." It speaks the vanities of life, and of all its
delights and enjoyments; for if the favorites of heaven are dying daily,
and going out of this world it is a sign that the things of this world
are not the best things, else those whom God loves best would not be
taken soonest from them. It speaks that all things come alike to all,
and that one event happeneth to the righteous and to the wicked, "so
that none knows love or hatred by all that is before him in this world."
But he that would know it must look before him into the invisible world.
Lay your ears this day to the coffins and graves of departed saints, who
though they do not pray for us, yet preach to us in the words of Christ,
"Be ye also ready." (Matt. xxiv. 44.) They are gone, and we are going;
their glass is run out, and ours is running; and therefore it concerns
us to daily die unto sin, and be alive to holiness, standing on the
watchtower, like the sentinel, with "loins girt," and "lamps burning,"
knowing that it is not the stroke, but the sting of death from which the
imputed righteousness of the Redeemer delivers.
God's saints are like a green olive-tree, in the house of God, because
they trust in His manifold mercy. They are like trees planted by the
rivers of water, and whose leaf shall never fade. While death can lay
his cold and icy hand upon the Christian's body, yet his soul he can
never touch. While God destroys the wicked at death, and plucks him out
of his dwelling-place, and roots him out of the land of the living, yet
to die in the Lord is to sing with the Psalmist, "I will not be
afraid," "I will render praises unto thee, for thou hast delivered my
soul from death," "and thou shalt bring me up again from the depths of
the earth."
Heaven is propitious. Streaming love flows from the fountain of Divine
compassion. "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son,
that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life." Oh, this constant untiring love of our kind heavenly father.
"Scarcely," says Paul, "for a righteous man will one die: yet,
peradventure, for a good man some would even dare to die; but God
commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ
died for us." If we would _die in the Lord_, we must get a sight of
Calvary. He has died that we might live. We must behold His pierced
hands and feet and side. It is this sight that saves.
Not all the blood of goats and bulls,
On Jewish altars slain,
Can give the guilty conscience peace,
Or wash away the stain.
But Christ, the heavenly Lamb,
Takes _all_ our guilt away.
It is the free gift of grace that, through saving faith, that will hold
us until this short life is past, and then when we come to the river of
death, like our dear Elder, we will reach our home safely. "Where sin
abounded, grace did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto _eternal
life_ by Jesus Christ our Lord."
Are we all who are here to-day to this funeral _in the Lord_--"I in them
and thou in me?" Perhaps, some have been living at a distance from Him.
Others may have been grieving the Holy Spirit. The Master has come (by
this death) and calls for thee. He is standing to-day at the door of thy
heart knocking and saying, "If any man hear my voice, and open the door,
I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." No friend
so forgiving, so gentle as he. Oh, wilt thou let Him depart? Patiently
waiting, earnestly pleading, Jesus thy Saviour knocks at thine heart. Is
there some idol that you are cherishing? Is there some secret, darling
sin to which you are clinging? Oh, what wilt thou do in the swellings of
Jordan without an interest in the atoning work of Jesus? Are you still
slighting the Saviour? He waits for thee. How tender the look. He says
unto you as he said to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "How often would I
have gathered thy children together as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, but ye would not."
Christ alone is our true Shechem, our City of Refuge. He is the living
well of Jacob and the rifled tomb of Joseph. Isaiah says, "A man shall
be as an hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tempest, as
rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a
weary land." What boundless resources are found in Christ. We are
guilty, but He atoned for our guilt; He paid the ransom price; He
engaged in the great work of paying the penalty due to our sin, for He
was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. "We could never have been saved without
Divine interference, save from going down to the pit, for I have found
a ransom," was the declaration of the stupendous wealth of God's free
love. For it is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, even the very chief.
The mysteries of redeeming love are solved at Golgotha.
Listen to the sweet singer of Israel as he surveys the administration
of mercy seen anticipatively at the Cross:
I love the Lord, because my voice
And prayer He did hear;
I, while I live, will call on Him
Who bowed to me His ear.
He was greatly encouraged to serve God in view of the alliance and
assistance of Jehovah towards the redemption of Israel. In the fortieth
Psalm he illustrates this thought still further:
I waited for the Lord my God,
And patiently did bear.
He took me from the fearful pit,
And from the miry clay,
And on a Rock He set my feet,
Establishing my way.
The nature of salvation is the same all the world over. The scheme is
sovereign. The objects are poor, helpless sinners. The results are ever
the same, namely, the forgiveness of sin--justification by faith alone;
and then, at last, an abundant entrance is afforded into the beautiful
mansions of light, where friendship is changeless and carkering care is
unknown, and no more pale faces with mute hearts breaking every day.
Yonder we shall be clad in the beauteous wedding garments of the King.
To die in the Lord will be an ample equivalent for all of earth's
sorrows and difficulties. In the meantime, we must continually say
concerning such providences as the present, "Draw me, we will run after
thee. Awake, O north wind and come thou, south, and blow upon my garden
that the spices thereof may flow out." This loss will work together for
our good if we hear His voice. It calls us to the necessary duty of
immediate decision. We must not halt any longer between two opinions.
If the Lord be God follow Him, but if Baal be your God follow him no
longer. But please remember that the wages of sin is death. You are
called to decide for Christ, to decide for heaven, by this sad
bereavement. He draws you with the cords of love as with the bands of a
man. Will you run after Him?
There is no one can help you in the hour of death and the judgment but
Jesus. Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. Yield, oh! yield to His
call! Say yes, "My beloved is mine and I am His; He feedeth among the
lilies until the daybreak, and the shadows flee away." Oh! turn your
eyes upwards:
Where high the heavenly temple stands,
The house of God not made with hands,
A great High Priest our nature wears,
The guardian of mankind appears.
If we would die in the Lord, we must recognize Christ, not only as
having died that we might live, but also as having triumphed over the
grave, and is now sitting at the right hand of God making continual
intercession for us. By day and by night He pleads our cause. Don't try
to get to heaven by the intercession of saints or angels. Christ alone
is the Great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Disobedience
in this direction will prove disastrous.
Say, "who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments, from Bozrah
travelling in the greatness of His strength?" I that speak in
righteousness, mighty to save. This is your Daysman, your Mediator. He
hath opened a fountain for sin and uncleanness.
Five bleeding wounds He bears,
Received on Calvary,
Now pour effectual prayers
And strongly speak for thee.
If you would die like our dear Brother Knowles, _in the Lord_, then
to-day behold His wounded hands and side. We have all sinned against God
and abused His mercy; but, oh, let us to-day consecrate ourselves to
Christ, and like the prodigal son say, "I will arise and go to my
father." Christ is our great representative before the throne. Oh, that
He would ever teach us to offer this prayer:
Lord God of Hosts, my prayer hear;
O Jacob's God, give ear!
See God, our shield, look on the face
Of thine anointed dear.
I tell you, my friends, we do not want any new school theology. The
holy religion of our fathers is good enough for me. Here it is a loving
father, a crucified and triumphant and pleading saviour for us poor,
miserable and helpless sinners, and a Home beyond the flood.
I will arise now and go about the city, in the streets, on the cars, in
the workshop, on the ship, on the sea and land where-ever God may guide
my wandering footsteps through each perplexing path of life. And I will
seek Him whom my soul loveth.
_They rest from their labors and their works do follow them._ The
Psalmist says that our strength is labor and sorrow. The more we toil
for Christ and His church the more we honor Him and become
fruit-bearers. By a constant course of activity and devotedness for the
welfare of fallen humanity, the capacities of the soul are greatly
enlarged, and we apprehend more fully the fact that God hath put the
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of
God and not of man. Sometimes, too, our good will be evil spoken of and
attributed to selfish motives. We may be traduced by tongues which
neither know our faculties nor our person. 'Tis but the rough road that
virtue must go through. We must not allow any discouragements or censure
to retard our aggressive work, remembering constantly that the Master
was accused of having a devil, and that he cast out devils by the power
of Beelzebub. Oh, what wrong ideas men have of the great work of saving
souls. What prejudices, what indifference, what neglect, what
lukewarmness have the true servants of Christ to encounter as they
earnestly toil in transplanting souls into the vineyard _of the Lord_.
The life of Christ on earth was a life of generous labor; and when He
called His disciples, He said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers
of men." Kempis, in his "Imitation of Christ," says, "by the words of
Christ we are taught to imitate His life and manner, if we would be
truly enlightened and be delivered from all blindness of heart." "Learn
of me," said Jesus, as well as "Come unto me. I have set the Lord
always before me, said David. What a glorious thing it is for the
servant of Christ to know that he is earnestly engaged in the work of
His Master. It is our labors of love that alone meets with the smile
and approbation of God, for He is cognizant of everything we try to
accomplish for His cause on earth. Oh, that we may say from the heart,
I must work the works of Him that sent me; the night cometh when no man
can work."
The trees of the Lord are full of sap, they are fat and flourishing. We
are all familiar with the work of blessed beneficence of Howard, the
great philanthropist, and Henry Martyn, the self-denying missionary. To
be a true Christian, then, requires a life of toil. "For man goeth
forth unto the work and to his labor until the evening." How sweet,
then, is rest to the laboring man. When the harvest is gathered in. A
harvest of souls for Christ. Here am I, Lord, and the children which
thou hast given me. Paul said that I may so preach and labor that I may
present every one of you perfect before God. This is no mean toil. What
prayers. What watching. What toil. What tears. Ah! but at eventide it
shall be light. Strange language.
What a beautiful and touching description does Burns give, in his
"Cottar's Saturday Night," of the sweet rest and joy that springs into
the soul when the weary work is over. He says:
The toil-worn cottar frae his labor goes,
This night his weekly moil is at an end,
Collects his spades, his mattocks and his hoes,
Hoping the morn in ease and rest to spend,
And weary o'er the moor his course does hameward bend.
The next stanza can be truly applied to our Elder in his Christian
experience:
The parent pair their secret homage pay,
And proffer up to heaven the warm request,
That He who stills the raven's clamorous nest,
And decks the lily fair in flowery pride,
Would in His way His Wisdom see the best,
For them and for their little ones provide,
But chiefly in their hearts with _grace Divine_ reside.
I think this is the most descriptive, and true, and touching scene of a
Christian man's experience that can be found in any language. Burns
knew how to touch the tender chord of a human heart. "An honest man's
the noblest work of God." "They rest from their labor and their works
do follow them."
Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, says, "Beloved, we are persuaded
better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we
thus speak: For God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the
love which He showed unto His name."
Listen, then, to this sweet, silent voice calling us to go and do
likewise.
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? It is to a life of toil, not of
indolence, we are called. The fields are white already, unto harvest.
Who will bear the sheaves away? Who among our young men in this
congregation will take the place of Elder Knowles? Can you be engaged
in a grander or nobler work? He that winneth souls is wise. Is there
any purer pleasure in this world than the joy that is experienced in
the heart when souls are converted to God? Oh, young men, deeply
meditate on that precious passage. He that converteth a sinner from the
error of his ways, doth save a soul from death, and doth hide a
multitude of sins. Are not the opportunities great in this city for
doing good? Is not the wickedness great? Are not souls perishing around
you for lack of knowledge? Resolve, from this day, that, God helping
you, you will dedicate all your powers of heart, soul, and strength to
the blessed service of Christ. You are not your own. You have been
saved, that you may save others by pulling them out of the fire. Haste
then, haste to the rescue. Souls may perish, and go down to hell, while
you are deliberating.
I remember, years ago, while coming into New York Harbor, we lost a
very promising young man overboard. The life-boat was launched, and the
life-buoy was cut adrift. But through some delay, the young man
perished. What a tremendous disappointment those parents experienced as
they stepped on board the frigate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and
learned that their darling boy had found a watery grave.
I never think of the above sad occurrence but I am forcibly reminded
that through the delays and sad neglect of Christian parents and
Sabbath-school teachers, many young persons perish, and I inquire, Who
is responsible for their destruction? Many ask the question that Cain
impudently put to the Lord, "Am I my brother's keeper?" We can be
guilty of other men's sins. This is a mysterious fact, but it is
nevertheless true. If you are an idler in the Master's vineyard, you
are, to a certain extent, responsible. Oh, that the Holy Spirit would
show us our duty to our fellow-men.
Our departed brother realized this truth. Just look at a man
seventy-five years old, occupied every Lord's Day teaching a large
class of youth in the Sabbath-school. But you must remember that for
six days in the week he nobly toiled as a printer, from eight in the
morning until six at night. And he seldom missed the prayer-meeting, or
other gatherings of the Church. He was, indeed, a worker that needeth
not to be ashamed.
In the absence of the pastor he frequently led the prayer-meeting, and
his expositions of the chapter read as the lesson of the night were
very scriptural, cheering, and full of encouragement.
He was familiarly acquainted with the Word of God, and his prayers were
earnest, solemn, and to the point, because his soul was surcharged with
Divine truth.
It is no wonder, then, that everybody loved him--his young men in the
various Bible-classes especially. Eternity alone will reveal the amount
of good he accomplished by his kind, gentle, meek, cheerful, and quiet
spirit.
Servant of Christ, well done; you rest from your labor, and your works
do follow you.
Let us look at his work as a ruling Elder of the Church of Christ.
Paul, in writing to Timothy, says: "Let the elders that rule well, be
counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word
and doctrine" (1 Timothy v. 17). An elder is one who rules the house of
God. They are, therefore, the magistrates of the Church. They are to
administer the laws of His holy sanctuary. How great and important this
work. Who is sufficient for these things? The pastor, in apostolic
times, was called an elder. But as an under-shepherd his labors are
greatly assisted and augmented by the hearty co-operation of a
judicious selection of men filled with the spirit of God, and duly
ordained for their work. Men who recognize among their fellows no moral
superiority, but that spiritually-mindedness that flows from prayer and
the study of God's Word. Their work is immortal. Their duties are
great. But their peculiar privileges are greater--to rule well the
House of God.
It is, certainly, a sad sight to see men filling this sacred office
without the requisite qualifications. The negotiations between man and
man are so stupendous, that it is not every member of the Church who is
fitted for this responsible work. We ought to study adaptation in the
selection and ordination of ruling them.
Every time I looked in the face of Elder Knowles, I was deeply
impressed with the thought that no blunder had been committed when he
was chosen and set apart in this line of Apostolic toil. For he was a
good soldier of Jesus Christ.
He knew full well how to rule his own spirit, and he that can do that
is more mighty than he who taketh a city. Self must be slain by the
sword of the spirit, if we would lead the army of the Lord on to
victory. Hence the solemn injunction of Paul: "I charge thee before
God, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without
preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.... Lay
hands suddenly on no man" (1 Timothy, v. 21-22).
We commend, for attentive perusal and prayerful reflection, the
qualification of an elder, as laid down by Paul, and elaborated by the
holy McCheyne, strictly germane to the life of Elder James Knowles.
They are fundamental requisites. The good McCheyne, of St. Peter's,
Dundee, says: "I feel, brethren, that a minister alone is incapable of
ruling the House of God well. If a minister is to thrive in his own
soul, _he must be half of his time on his knees_; and therefore, if
Christ's house is to be ruled well, there must not only be pastors, but
there must be ruling elders."
"The first qualification is grace. Grace in the heart. If it be a
qualification in a church member that he should have grace, then much
more ought it to be a qualification in one who rules the Church of God.
How is it possible for him to admit any to the Lord's table, when he is
but a judge himself?" How is it possible to excommunicate, when he
ought to be excommunicated himself? So, brethren, a graceless elder is
a curse instead of a blessing.
We can safely say our dear departed elder had grace. This was
remarkably developed in his Christian character. Patience found a
permanent home in his heart. It occupied a significantly prominent
place there, and was strenuously cultivated. It was copied and
commented upon by all who knew him, and uniformly evoked universal
favor and approval by the various ministers and sessions of the
different Presbyterian churches in this city, in which he was an elder.
He had many trials, and we think he could say with Paul, in his letter
to the Church at Rome: "We glory in tribulation, also knowing that
tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience."
It seems they had some little misunderstanding in the session of one of
the churches to which he (our elder) formerly belonged. And some remark
made by the elder to the pastor was so cutting, that the minister said
unless the elder would take back what he said, that next Sabbath he
would tender his resignation to the congregation.
The elder replied that he would not take it back for him. To preserve
harmony, and be a peacemaker, Elder Knowles stepped up to his brother
in the session, and asked him if he would not take it back for his
sake, and the sake of the blessed Jesus. At this, the elder said, with
tears in his eyes, "Yes, James, for your sake, I will take it back."
Perhaps the minister was partly to blame, and also the elder, but by
having the grace of patience, not only was a reconciliation brought
about, the pastor was retained, and permitted to resume his work, and
precious souls were added to the Church. Oh, how much trouble and
scandal might be averted in some of the churches if our elders and
deacons and church members would only strive to cultivate the grace of
patience.
We have great need of this grace in our hearts, as we work for the
Master. May the Holy Spirit work it in us, for, as Paul says: "Ye have
need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might
receive the promise" (Heb. x. 36).
The life of a ruling elder in the Church, and in the world, is like the
erection of a beautiful building. Great patience is requisite, in order
to bring it to a successful completion. So, as a wise master buildeth
for eternity, we most build the structure of Christian character upon
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ, Himself, being the chief
corner-stone. What a model of patience is Jesus. What difficulties He
encountered. What trials clustered around Him. What provocations he
meekly endured. All through His life, and even amid His unutterable
agonies on the Cross on Mount Calvary, when His body was shedding the
last drop of blood to seal the mysterious work of redemption, even
then, amid mockings and scoffings, and tortures, the sacred lips of the
Crucified Christ uttered this prayer for his enemies, "Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do" (Luke xxiii. 34).
The dear Master considered this prayer essential before He could
conscientiously exclaim, "Consummatum est"--It is consummated, or
finished. Our dear elder was like his Lord in this respect. He could
say, with Newton,
"Christ's way was much rougher and darker than mine,
Did Christ, my Lord, suffer, and shall I repine?"
Again, another qualification in a ruling elder is wisdom. "Be ye wise
as serpents," said Jesus, "and harmless as doves." Are all these
professing Christians wise? Are all elders wise? Are all ministers
wise? Dr. Bonar says:
Be wise and use thy wisdom well.
_Be what thou seemest._ Live thy creed;
Be what thou prayest to be made.
Lift o'er the earth the torch Divine,
Let the great Master's steps be thine.
Blessed words these. Who can read them without thanking God for such
words and such men, that our kind Father above raises up to instruct us
in these things that pertain to our everlasting well-being? For all
well-being is the result of _well-doing_ in time and in eternity.
Who is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you, let him show,
out of a good conversation, his works with meekness of wisdom. This
meekness of wisdom Elder Knowles preeminently possessed. The psalmist
says, concerning such: "The meek shall inherit the land. And shall
delight themselves in abundance of peace. Strike, said Diogenes, to his
instructor, Antichenes, the philosopher; but you will find no staff so
hard that it will drive me away from your school. I love you, and I
have made up my mind to suffer anything for the sake of learning." This
yearning desire on the part of the true elder after fitness for his
office, ought to be willing to bear reproach for the sake of Him who
died, that we might live. There is great wisdom displayed in bearing
the Cross meekly for Jesus. If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign
with Him.
It is a blessed thing to suffer in love for Christ. To bear injustice
and conquer. Herein is consummate wisdom displayed. "If ye have bitter
envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the
truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual,
devilish. For where envy and strife is, there is confusion and every
evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good
fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy" (James iii. 14-17).
But the wisdom of the elder now lying before us in the coffin was
displayed not only in his meekness, but in his _gentleness_ of
disposition.
His wife used to say, "Why, he is just like a child. So gentle and
peaceable. So easily intreated." I remember quoting that hymn at the
prayer meeting:
I want to be like Jesus,
Meek, lowly, loving, mild;
I want to be like Jesus--
The Father's holy child.
And at the close of the meeting he shook me warmly by the hand, and the
sentiment in the stanza seemed to give him unspeakable pleasure.
Once more, another qualification for the eldership that our deceased
brother possessed, was, _that he had a good report from without_. (See 1
Timothy, iii. 7.) Our dearly beloved was not only highly esteemed for
his work's sake by the members of the churches and the various pastors,
as their letters in this volume testify, but his walk and conversation
was such in the outside world, that his fellow-workmen, and those who
lived in the same house with him, and had opportunity to know him,
learned to revere and love him. You know the eyes of the world are
constantly watching the Christian. I notice on the casket to-day a
lovely bouquet of flowers, and I read on the card: "Presented to James
Knowles, by the printers where he was for years employed."
This is, certainly, a token of esteem to the memory of him with whom
they were long so affectionately associated.
In every professional life there are daily occurrences that try men's
tempers. But by the grace of God, our brother was enabled to adorn the
doctrine of God, our Saviour, and to live unspotted from the world. As
all elders have to mingle more with the world than a minister, how
essential it is that the outside world should see that their walk and
conversation be as becometh the Gospel of Christ.
Again: another qualification of an elder, is, that "he should be a
_prayerful man_." Our brother had all through life cultivated a spirit
of prayer. This "is the Christian's vital breath." It was his habit to
shut himself up in his room, and pour out his soul in earnest
supplication to God. He prayed in his family, as well as in the church.
He had secret prayer. "And thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy
closet?" said Jesus. Oh, the power of prayer is marvellous. He prayed
audibly. And his wife used to say of him: "He pleads with God as one
_pleading for his life_."
When he became so weak that he was unable longer to testify for Christ
on his death-bed, his loved ones bending over him, and putting their
ears down to his lips to catch his last articulations, they heard him
praying, not for himself, but for Allen Street Presbyterian Church and
its minister.
Lastly, an elder ought to cultivate the habit of _systematic beneficence_
for the support of the Gospel. This, our brother was constantly in the
habit of doing. He remembered the injunction, "It is more blessed to
give than to receive." It is worthy of observation that, during the
three years during which his son was out in the late war, he paid
monthly the pew rent for his boy during his absence, until at last his
pastor would not allow him to do it longer.
Oh, that all of our office-bearers and church members would feel it
their duty to give largely and in a worshipful spirit to the cause of
their Redeemer, as the Lord has prospered them.
Blessed are such dead who die in the Lord; they rest from their labors,
and their works do follow them.
Man cannot cover what God can _reveal_. Says the poet Campbell:
'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore,
And coming events cast their shadows before.
Their works do follow them. Where? On to the judgment. Where selfish
ambition and avarice will be exposed in its true light. Where "man's
inhumanity to man" will be thoroughly scrutinized. For the books will
be opened, and we will be judged according to our works.
In that great and awful day when the great white throne is erected, and
when the heavens shall be removed as a scroll, when it is rolled up;
and every mountain and island shall be removed out of their places. And
the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and
the rich, and the strong, shall hide themselves in the caves and in the
rocks of the mountains; and they shall say to the mountains and the
rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him who sitteth on the
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of His wrath
is come: and who is able to stand?
Oh, let us remember that now broken hearts can be healed by the power
of the Gospel of Christ. Their works do follow them. Yonder? Yes! Here?
Yes! The salutary influence for good by the consistent life of our
elder can never be lost or forgotten.
We lay our brother's body to-day in Cypress Hills Cemetery, but his
spirit hovers o'er us.
This tenement of dust is empty, but Jesus says: "I am the resurrection
and the life."
We have deep feelings to-day, for we realize that we have lost a
friend. No more. "God bless you, my brother, in your work." No more
shall we see you at the prayer-meeting. Farewell, dear elder and
co-worker. We say farewell but not forever. "We shall meet beyond the
river."
And God grant
That we may stand before the throne,
When earth and seas are fled;
And hear the Judge pronounce our name,
With blessings on our head.
God's voice, by this solemn dispensation of His providence, speaks
loudly to us all. May our faith in God be greatly strengthened. May our
love for perishing souls be made more deeper and _stronger_. May God
help us to go out into the streets and lanes of this wicked city, and
constrain them to come in, that His house may be full.
And God grant that this deep affliction which this church has sustained
may be the means, in the hands of the Spirit, of constraining us to
have more earnest and believing prayer, for the manifestation of His
power to save unto the uttermost. That Jesus may see, of the travail of
His soul, and be abundantly satisfied.
To the bereaved son and daughters, and grandchildren, who are left
behind, let me affectionately commend you to the unchanging love of Him
who sympathized with the sorrowing sisters of Bethany. Put all your
trust in His dear name. Serve Him from day to day, by reading His
blessed Bible, and holding sweet communion with Him, by prayer and
supplication, that at last when God shall call for you to leave this
stage of action, you may go to meet your dear ones in the happy home
above, and sit with them at the "marriage supper of the
Lamb."--AMEN.