Greetings All,
We just had a funeral service here at my church. Therefore, these two thoughts from Spurgeon have been rolling over in my mind since I came
across them yesterday in a devotional called "Beside Still Waters - Words of Comfort for the Soul."
They were spoken in the mid-1850's and thus they reflect a slightly different view of death than we tend
to have today. Yet they align perfectly with Scripture -- especially verses like Isaiah 57:1-2: "The
righteous perish, and no one ponders in his heart; devout men are taken
away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to spare
them from
evil."
Or Psalm 139:16: "All the days ordained for me were written in Your Book before any one of them came to be."
If you keep those thoughts in mind as you read these selections, it
will help you understand death as Spurgeon does -- as one who is
ever-conscious of looking at it through the lens of a God who is
sovereign over all, knows all, and deals with His children as a loving
Father. Enjoy.
"The Lord Gives and the Lord takes away..." (Job 1:21)
"Some of us have suffered great physical pain that bites into our
spirits and causes depression. Others have suffered heavy financial
losses and been deprived even to the
point of extreme
hardship. Are you complaining against the Lord for this? I pray not.
The Lord has been pruning you, cutting off your best branches; you seem
to be continually tormented with the knife. 
Just suppose that your loving Lord has caused this; suppose that from
His own hand all your grief has come -- every cut and gash. If this is
true, put your finger to your lips and be quiet until from your heart
you are able to say, 'The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD."
Recently I sat in the garden with my friend. We were in perfect health,
rejoicing in the Lord's goodness. We were happy as we sat there
reading the Word of God and meditating. Dare we think of being so
happy? Within
five days I was stricken with disabling pain (a crippling case of
gout), and worse, far worse, he was called upon to lose his wife. 
Yet here is our comfort:
The Lord has done it. The best rose in the garden is gone. Who has
taken it? The Gardener. He planted it, and watched over it, and now He
has taken it. Does anyone weep because of that? Everyone knows it is
the best that He should come and gather from His gardens finest.
Are you troubled by the loss of your loved one? Remember, the next
time the Lord comes to your part of the garden, He will only gather His
flowers. Would your prevent Him from doing this, even if you could?"
"A time to live and a time to die." (Ecclesiastes 3:2)
"God
has fixed the time of our death (Job 7:1). It is useless to dream of
living here forever. A time of departure must come unless the Lord
returns... Here diseases wait in ambush, eager to slay. But, 'He shall
cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take
refuge... You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor the arrow
that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of
the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your
side and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near to
you' (Psalm 91:4-7).
We are immortal until our work is done. Once that has been completed,
we shall receive our summons home. Thus, if duty calls you into danger,
if you have to nurse the contagious sick, do not hold back. You will
not die by a stray arrow from death's quiver. Only God can take your
breath. Your death is not left to chance. It is determined by a
heavenly Father's gracious will. Therefore, do not be afraid. Now,
do not be reckless and rush into danger without reason, for that is
madness. Yet never fear to face death when God's voice calls you into
danger.
Here is comfort:
If the Father of our Lord Jesus arranges all, then
our friends do not die untimely deaths. Believers are not cut off
before their time. God has appointed a time to harvest His fruit. Some
are sweet even in early spring, and He gathers them. Others, like
baskets of summer fruit, are taken while the year is young. Yet some
remain until autumn mellows them. But be sure of this, each will be
gathered in its season. God has appointed the commencement, the
continuation, and the conclusion of your mortal life." 
I personally
enjoyed these thoughts. They give a refreshing perspective on the death
of God's saints. The Church is God's garden (I Cor. 3:9), and by the
grace of the Holy Spirit each believer has been planted in it (and
watered and fertilized and weeded by that same Spirit), and at a certain
day in
the history of our lives (which has already been determined by God) He
will come to glean us as flowers, picked from His garden, and to be
displayed in heaven as the purchase of redemption, and the "riches of HIS glorious inheritance in the saints" (Eph. 1:18).
"Here is our comfort: The Lord has done it. The
best rose in the garden is gone. Who has taken it? The Gardener. He
planted it and watched over it, and now He has taken it. Does anyone
weep because of that? Everyone knows it is the best that He should come
and gather from His gardens finest."
In the Bonds of Confident Gospel Hope,
Pastor Jeff
