The house in which we must all abide at last!
(Charles Simeon) LISTEN to Audio! Download Audio
“I know that you will bring me down to death, and to the house appointed for all the living!” Job 30:23
“For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others.” Psalm 49:10
“For the living know that they will die!” Ecclesiastes 9:5
“It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment!” Hebrews 9:27
Nothing can be more certain than that we shall all die. The grave is “the house appointed for all the living.” Whether we have lived in a palace or a cottage–the grave is the house in which we must all abide at last!
The certainty of death should moderate our regards to the transient things of this world.
We are not greatly elated with the comforts of an inn, where we are to stop but an hour; nor are we greatly depressed with any lack of comforts which we may find there. The thought of our stay there being so short, renders us comparatively indifferent to the present accommodations.
All is but a pageant passing by; and whether the spectacle is mournful or joyous–it is scarcely arrived, than it vanishes from before our eyes!
Our joys and our sorrows will both appear light and momentary, when viewed in reference to the transitoriness of what is visible, and the endless duration of invisible realities! “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal!” 2 Corinthians 4:18
The certainty of death should make us diligent in preparing for the eternal world.
To know that death and the grave are ready to swallow us up, and yet to trifle with the eternal interests of the soul, which, if neglected now, are gone forever–this, I say, is a madness, which credulity itself could never imagine to exist, if its existence were not daily and hourly before our eyes!
We must ever live in the light of eternal realities! Christians should look forward to their death with joy, accounting it to be their greatest gain! Philippians 1:21; and placing it among their choicest treasures! 1 Corinthians 3:22
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom!” Psalm 90:12
