LIFE AND DEATH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 114, 16 May 1931, Page 1 (Supplement)

LIFE AND DEATH

THE APOSTOLIC OUTLOOK (H.G.G.) The fact that in the midst of life we are in death is every now and then forced upon us with a rudeness which seems well-nigh, if not altogether, ruthless. To a man of the world death is a tragedy; if not a terror. “Man’s life is a bubble clinging to a rood.” He declares with Solomon that “All is vanity.’’ Philosophy can only produce resignation and make a man say with Henley that “his head is bloody, but unbow’d. ’’ To a Christian death is but an incident in a life which it shadows for a moment, but cannot harm. It is an awesome incident certainly—there is no use minimising the awesomeness of death, but it is not to be dreaded or deplored. It is the folding up of a tent, the laying aside of the canvas, the setting forth from the encampment to the city, from the temporary shelter to the permanent home. “I know that if this earthly tent of mine is taken down. 1 get a home from God, made by no human hands, eternal in tile Heavens. ’’ Our Earthly Tent. The Apostle was a tent-maker by trade and the temporary nature of the canvas homes of shepherds and travellers always appealed to Him as well symbolising the conditions of life in the body. They were cramped for room and beset with inconveniences, .just as in the flesh we arc subject to limitations and beset by hindrances on every side. They were exposed to storms as we arc to tribulations. Huddled in nooks and crannies of the valleys they were shut in, deprived of wide outlook or far reaching view, even as we too arc circumscribed in vision and cannot behold, except by faith, the far-reaches of God’s purposes or the realities of spiritual and eternal things. Most of all, those encampments were temporary resting places merely, sufficient for the stages of a journey; but each sojourner in them looked forward to a day when he would arrive at his journey’s end and rest in the comfort and safety of the city where his home was. To strike the camp was no sorrow; to fold up the tent and lay it aside was no deprivation. It was but to exchange a frail and inconvenient shelter for a permanent habitation. So. too, we have here no abiding dwellingplace; and the folding aside of the flesh is for us no matter of regret, but merely the passing from a narrow, troubled and storm-swept camping ground..to the city which hath found foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. Compensating Eactors. As far as age goes the Apostle was in the prime of life when he used the figure of “this earthly tent’’; but his streuous missionary labours had seriously sapped his physical vitality. The outward man was decaying. This was fully realised, but not mourned, over. There were compensating factors. The inward man was being renewed day by day. The same process which broke down the body was building up the soul. His experience of life was bringing him wisdom and insight. He was rising above the power of temptation so that certain temptations at least were being left behind. His faith was growing ever more settled and steadfast, his principles were becoming more broadly established. His patience and hi s courage were alike increased. He was learning to know his Master, Christ, more intimately. Ever a more glorious vision of the purposes of God was opening up to his understanding, and ever a fuller measure of the peace of God was filling his heart and mind. Operative Faith. Most of us would have called him an afflicted man, a sorely harassed toiler, at this stage. But to him the afflic lions were light, lasting but a moment, for he always kept before his mind the difference between the things that belonged to time and those that belonged to eternity. There were many things with which he had to do, which nevertheless were passing and transitory, while there were also things with which he had to do which endured forever. He was keenly conscious of the difference between temporal and eternal. His faith in a future life was not only strong, it was operative. It controlled his whole attitude towards life. The troubles and afflictions and anxieties which were involved in his work as a missionary of the Cross, no matter how severe they might be were sure to come to an end. He could look beyond them and sustain his spirit with the prospect of the peace and joy and glory which awaited him when his earthly race was run. Ban I lived in the power of an endless life. His life was hid with Christ in God. Magnificent Assurance. know’’—he speaks a.s one who, for many years, has lived in the sure and certain hope of life eternal. He has taken God at his word. He has believed in the Lord Jesus Chrst. To him the many mansions fn the Father’s house arc a reality, more real than the houses of Ephesus and Corinth. And so most of the things which men worry about are trifles in his eyes. They are the worries of children; when seen in the light of what lies before us not worthy of a care. So, too, many of the prizes for whirl men strive are not worth an effort. They are but trifles when all iw done. And so most of life’s trials lose their bitterness and cease to have the aspect of trials at all. What can it matter when time is so short and eternity is drawing nigh? On the other hand there are things ignored by the world at large which are of the utmost value and importance. They are not fleeting and transitory but enduring things of the spirit, ways of thinking, habits of feeling, principles of conduct, peace of mind, sympathy, love, purity, truth—these are heavenlv treasures which moth ami rust cannot corrupt, which the hand of death cannot steal. All Paul s outlookon life, all his motives ami impulses, all his aims ami endeavours, were conditioned by his faith in immortality.