Thoughts on Religious
Experience
Archibald Alexander, 1844
Preparation for death—The state of the soul
after death
Since all men are appointed to die, there is no subject
in the world which ought to be more interesting to all men. Whatever other
evils we may escape, "in this war there is no discharge". Death is a scene
of which we can have no previous experience, and therefore, it is prudent to
learn what we can from the experience of those who have gone before us.
Death is an important and an solemn scene, and should
therefore occupy many of our thoughts. If due preparation has been neglected
in life and health—there is small probability that it will be made on a
dying bed. If I had set down all that I have witnessed and read of the dying
exercises of unconverted sinners, it would have presented an appalling
object for our contemplation. Such scenes have often been exhibited in
print, and are not without their use—but such narratives did not fall in
with the scope of these essays. But however insipid, or even disgusting
these accounts of the dying exercises of believers may be to some readers,
there is a class, and a large one too, who will take a deep interest in
these things, because they are now waiting until their change comes, and are
looking forward with intense interest to that inevitable event of which we
have been writing so much. These are the people whom the author has had
principally in view, in selecting these experiences of departing saints; and
as the hopes and comforts of the children of God in life are very various,
so he has endeavored to show that a like variety is found in their views and
exercises at the time of their departure out of the world.
The writer confesses also that, in dwelling so long on
this subject, he had some regard to his own edification and preparation for
death. As he knows from infallible evidence that he will soon be required to
put off this tabernacle, and to emigrate from this lower world, he was
solicitous to acquire as much information as he was able from those who have
gone before, what were the difficulties, sufferings, and encouragements of
pilgrims in this last stage of their journey. And, however it may be with
others, he has derived instruction and encouragement from the contemplation
of such scenes as are here described. It appears to him supremely
reasonable, that during the short time which remains of his life, he should
be chiefly concerned in the meditation of the things of another world, and
in making actual preparation for his own departure. He once supposed that
the near approach of death would of itself be sufficient to arouse the mind,
and impress upon it the reality and solemn importance of eternal things; but
he finds by sad experience, that however his judgment is convinced of the
certainty of death and its consequences, nothing will bring these things to
bear on the heart but the illumination of the Holy Spirit. He wishes,
therefore, to engage in such reading, meditation, and writing, as may have a
tendency to fix his thoughts on the solemn scene before him, when he must
close his eyes on the light of this world, and bid adieu to all his friends
and objects with which he has been conversant here.
He is not of opinion, however, that the best way to make
preparation for death is to sit down and pore over the condition of our own
souls, or to confine our exertions to those things which are directly
connected with our own salvation. We are kept here to do our Master's work,
and that relates to others as well as ourselves. We have a stewardship of
which we must give an account; and the faithful and wise steward is careful
and diligent in dispensing to others the blessings committed to him. This is
especially the case in regard to ministers of the Gospel. We have a
responsible office, and our account before the tribunal of Jesus Christ must
be solemn and sincere; and it will not do to relinquish the proper work of
our calling, upon the pretext of seeking our own salvation. Our own seeking
will be entirely unavailing without the aid and blessing of God, and this we
may expect most confidently when we are diligently engaged in doing His
work, which is always the duties of our station and calling. Active duty
must be performed as long as we have strength for the work; and like the
Levites, we must attend around the tabernacle and altar, when we are too old
for more laborious services. Many of the faithful servants of God have
expressed a strong desire not to outlive their usefulness; and some have
wished that their departure might occur in the very act of preaching. These
things we may better leave to the wisdom of God, who directs all the
circumstances of the death of His people, as well as of their lives. Even
when, by reason of bodily infirmities, the servants of God are obliged to
desist from public labors, they do not cease from serving their Master;
their lives are not useless. God is as much honored by patient submission
and cheerful resignation—as by zealous public exertion; and the greatest
and most effectual work which can be performed by any on earth, they can
perform—I mean the offering of prayers and intercessions, day and night, at
the throne of grace.
Let not the infirm and aged say that they can now do
nothing for God. They can do much; and for anything they can tell, more than
they ever did in the days of their vigor. It is a beautiful sight to see men
laden with gospel fruit, even in old age. Such fruits are generally more
mature than those of earlier days; and the aged saint often enjoys a
tranquility and repose of spirit, which is almost peculiar to that age.
David, or whoever is the author of Psalm 71, prays most earnestly a prayer
which should be daily on the lips of the aged: "Cast me not off in the time
of old age; forsake me not when my strength fails." (Psalm 71:9) And again:
"Now also when I am old and grey-headed, forsake me not, until I have showed
your strength to this generation, and your power to all that are to come."
(Psalm 71:18) Let the aged then tell to those that come after them, the
works of divine grace which they have witnessed or which their fathers have
told them. Let them be active as long as they can, and when bodily strength
fails, let them wield the pen; or if unable to write for the edification of
the church, let them exhibit consistent and shining example of the Christian
temper—in kindness and good will to all—in uncomplaining patience—in
contented poverty—in cheerful submission to painful providences—and in mute
resignation to the loss of their dearest friends. And when death comes, let
them not be afraid or dismayed; then will be the time to honor God by
implicitly and confidently trusting in His promises. Let them "against hope
believe in hope". (Rom 4:18) It is by faith that the last enemy must be
conquered.
He who believes shall not be confounded, in this trying
hour. The great Shepherd will not forsake His redeemed flock, for whom He
has shed His blood; and though the adversary may rage and violently assault
dying saints, he shall not overcome them. Each one of them may say with
humble confidence: "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff they
comfort me." (Psalm 23:4)
Let us not desire to make a parade and ostentatious
display on a dying bed. Death has been called the honest hour—but hypocrisy
may be practiced even on a dying bed. Although this event often reveals
secrets, and brings deceived souls to a conviction of the sandy foundation
on which they have built their hopes—yet some keep on the mask to the last
moment. More, however, suppress the expression of their fears and distress
of mind. So much is said often about the manner in which people meet death,
that some good men have wished and requested to be left very much alone:
they have feared lest they should be tempted to vainglory, even on a dying
bed; or they have feared lest their courage should fail them in the last
struggle, and they should, through pain and imbecility of mind, be left to
bring dishonor on their profession. The excellent and evangelical Simeon of
Cambridge seems to have been under the influence of a feeling of this kind.
But the best and safest way is submissively to commit all the
circumstances of our death unto God.
We have no conception of the soul—but as a thinking,
active being. The body is merely an organ, or instrument by which the soul
acts while connected with it; indeed, it cannot be demonstrated that the
soul performs all its acts here by the use of this organ. But whether or not
is of little consequence. We know that activity belongs to the soul, not to
the body; and it would be a strange conclusion, that that which is
essentially active should cease to act, because it had been deprived of one
set of organs. The only legitimate inference is that, when separated from
the body, the mode of action is different from what it was before. As we
learn the various operations of the soul only by experience, it is plain
that we cannot fully understand or explain the precise mode of its action
after it is separated from the body. Paul teaches us that the soul may exist
and have conscious exercises of a very exalted kind; for he says, speaking
of his rapture into heaven, "Whether in the body or out of the body, I
cannot tell." (2 Cor 12:2-3) Now, if the soul could not act without the
body, he could have told certainly that he was in the body, when he
witnessed in the third heaven things which it is not lawful for a man to
utter. But this truth is taught more clearly and directly by Christ Himself,
when He said to the penitent thief on the cross, "This day shall you be with
me in paradise." (Luke 23:43) This testimony is of itself abundantly
sufficient, and there is no evasion of its force—but by an interpretation so
frigid and farfetched, that it only serves to betray the weakness of the
cause which it is brought to support.
Paul in another passage, speaks clearly and explicitly on
this point: "Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we
are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We are confident, I say,
and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord." (2 Cor
5:6,8) In the previous context the apostle intimates that when the clay
tabernacle is dissolved, the soul will not be found naked—but that there
will be another house ready to receive it; so that it will not be
unclothed—but clothed. "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is
destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not
built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our
heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not
wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that
what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." (2 Cor 5:1-4)
It would seem, then, that the soul is never without a
suitable dwelling; it will not be unclothed; it only passes from one house
to another—from an earthly to a heavenly habitation. But what this celestial
clothing will be, of course, we cannot now tell. When Stephen was dying, he
cried, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." (Acts 7:59) The Lord Jesus is
everywhere near to His saints; and as He watches over His sheep during their
whole passage through the wilderness, so He is especially near to them when
they come to the "valley of the shadow of death" (Psalm 23:4), so that they
may then sing with the sweet psalmist of Israel, "Though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me." But as Jesus the Lord has His
residence in heaven, where He occupies a place on the throne of God, at the
right hand of the Father, and is surrounded by an innumerable army of angels
ready to execute all His commandments; so He commissions messengers to
attend at the dying bed of believers, and receive the spirits of the just
and conduct them to His presence.
It is evident that the departing soul will need a guide
and convoy, for utterly ignorant of the glorious world into which it has
entered, it would not know which way to direct its course, or where to find
its allotted mansion. For heaven is a wide domain. The house of the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ has many dwelling places, and every redeemed soul
has provided for it an appropriate residence, for Christ says, "I go to
prepare a place for you." (John 14:2) And that guardian angels are sent to
perform these kind offices for departed saints, we are not left to
conjecture, for we read that as soon as Lazarus died, he "was carried by the
angels into Abraham's bosom". (Luke 16:22) There is no reason for supposing
that the privilege now conferred on the beggar was peculiar to him; every
saint needs the guidance and guardianship of angels as well as Lazarus; and
we may conclude, therefore, that angels will attend on every departing
saint.
Although we cannot now understand how the soul will act
in the future world, when divested of the body of clay, we cannot doubt that
its consciousness of its identity will go with it. The memory of the past,
instead of being obliterated, will in all probability be much more perfect
than while the person lived upon earth. It is by no means incredible, that
memory, in the future world, will present to men everything which they have
ever known, and every transaction in which they were ever engaged. The
susceptibility of joyful emotions will also accompany the soul into the
invisible world; and one of the first feelings of the departed saint will be
a lively sense of complete deliverance from all evil, natural and moral. The
pains of death will be the last pangs ever experienced. When these are over,
the soul will enjoy the feelings of complete salvation from every distress.
What a new and delightful sensation will it be, to feel safe from every
future danger, as well as saved from all past trouble.
But the most important change experienced at this time
will be the perfect purification of the soul from sin. The soul, heretofore
struggling with inbred corruption which damped its ardor, darkened its
views, and stupefied its feelings, now can act without any moral
obstruction. Who that has often complained, like Paul, "O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom 7:24)—but will
feel this to be indeed heaven begun, when there will no more be felt any
secret working of pride, or envy, or selfishness; but when it shall be pure
and sweetly conscious of its own purity?
As perfection in holiness supposes a clear knowledge of
spiritual objects, so we know that we shall no more see the divine glory, as
it were, by reflection from a glass—but directly, or "face to face". (1 Cor
13:12) The soul of man probably greatly enlarged in its powers, may have new
faculties developed, for which there was no use here, and of which it had no
consciousness; yet the field of knowledge being boundless, and our minds
being capable of attending only to one thing at a time, our knowledge of
celestial things will be gradually acquired, and not perfected at once.
Indeed, there can be no limit set to the progression in knowledge; it will
be endless. And no doubt the unalloyed pleasures of the future state will be
intimately connected with this continual increase of divine knowledge. And
as here, knowledge is acquired by the aid of instructors, why may not the
same be the fact in heaven? What a delightful employment to the saints who
have been drinking in the knowledge of God and His works for thousands of
years to communicate instruction to the saint just arrived! How delightful
to conduct the pilgrim who has just finished his race, through the ever
blooming bowers of paradise, and to introduce him to this and the other
ancient believer, and to assist him to find out and recognize, among so
great a multitude, old friends and earthly relatives.
There need be no dispute about our knowing, in heaven,
those whom we knew and loved here; for if there should be no faculty by
which they could at once be recognized, yet by extended and familiar
fellowship with the celestial inhabitants, it cannot be otherwise but that
interesting discoveries will be made continually; and the unexpected
recognition of old friends may be one of the sources of pleasure which will
render heaven so pleasant.
But as the fleshly bond of relationship is dissolved at
death, it seems reasonable to think that the only bond of union and kindred
in heaven will be the spiritual bond, which unites all believers in one
body, and to Christ their living Head. Therefore, we may presume that there
will be felt an ardent desire to form an acquaintance with the most
remarkable personages who have lived from Adam downward. Who, if admitted
into paradise, could repress his curiosity to see, and if possible, to
converse with the progenitor of our race? Doubtless, he could tell us some
things which we do not fully understand. And who would not wish to see the
first person who ever entered those blessed abodes from our earth? Yes, and
Enoch too, who never tasted death, and who still possesses his original
body, changed and glorified, it is true—but still substantially the same. We
might expect to find him in the company of Elijah, who is similarly
circumstanced; and some think that the body of Moses, though it was dead and
buried, was raised again, as he seems to have appeared in his own proper
body on the mount of Transfiguration. And where is Abraham, that venerable
saint, who in faith and obedience exceeded all other men, and obtained from
God the honorable appellation of "the father of the faithful", (Rom 4:11)
and "the friend of God". (James 2:23) And who would be in heaven ever so
short a time, without desiring to see Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles; and
not him only—but Peter, and John, and all the college of the apostles?
But methinks we are in danger of indulging our
imaginations too far, and of transferring to a heavenly state too many of
the feelings and associations of our earthly condition. And I am reminded
also, that as the twinkling stars are lost in the blaze of the rising sun,
so there is one Person in the highest heavens, visible to all who enter that
place, whose glory irradiates all the celestial mansions; whose love and
smiles diffuse ineffable joy through all the heavenly multitudes, and in
whom every believer has an absorbing interest with which no other can be
compared. On His head He wears many crowns, and in His hand He holds a
scepter by which He governs the universe; but yet He exhibits, visibly, the
marks of the violent death which, for us, He once endured. His name is the
Word of God, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords; the Alpha and Omega; the
Almighty! And behold, all the angels of God worship Him. And the army of the
redeemed, which no man can number, sing a song of praise to the Lamb, which
no man can learn except those that are redeemed from among men; for the
theme of their song is, "To him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in
his own blood! (Rev 1:5) These are those who have washed their robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb!" (Rev 7:14) Every redeemed soul,
upon being admitted into heaven, will for a while be so completely absorbed
in the contemplation of that Divine Person, that he will be incapable of
paying much attention to any others!
Like that Armenian princess, of whom Xenophon gives an
account, who, after all the rest of the company had been expressing their
admiration of Cyrus, one praising one thing and one another, upon being
asked what about this royal personage she admired most, answered, that she
did not even look at them, because her whole attention had been absorbed in
admiring him (her young husband) who had offered to die for her. But the
saved sinner may say, that his attention was completely absorbed in gazing
upon Him, who not only said that He would die for him—but who actually did
die in his place, and by this sacrifice redeemed him from the curse of the
law, and from all iniquity!
The sweet and intimate fellowship which the redeemed soul
will have with his Savior cannot now be conceived. It will far transcend all
the ideas which we now can form, and will be a perfection of bliss so great
that nothing can be added to it in any other way, than by an increase of the
capacity of the soul. But still, all that is enjoyed in this intermediate
state between death and judgment is but a part of that felicity to which the
redeemed of the Lord are destined hereafter. It is only the enjoyment of a
separate soul. But "the exceeding great and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor
4:17) laid up in heaven for the children of God is for the whole man, made
up of soul and body! And as even in this world many pleasures are enjoyed by
means of bodily organs, who can tell what new and ever varying delights may
be let into the soul by means of bodies of a celestial mold, bodies
fashioned after the model of the glorious body of Jesus Christ! If our
senses now bring to our view so many glorious objects both in the heavens
and the earth, how rich and delightful will be the vision of the upper
heavens by the eyes of the resurrection body? Then shall we see Jesus with
our bodily eyes—then shall we behold what now no tongue can describe, nor
even heart conceive!
The departed saints, therefore, though blessed to the
full amount of their present capacity, yet are living in joyful expectation
of a more glorious state. We should not think that the redemption and
resurrection of the body is a small matter. The body is an essential
part of human nature, and the glorified body will add to the felicity of the
redeemed in a degree which we have no means of calculating. The inspired
writers, therefore, when they speak of the blessedness of heaven, speak
sparingly of the state of the separate soul; but when they describe the
resurrection, they seem to be enraptured. Hear Paul, drawing a comparison
between this mortal, corrupt, and earthly body, and that immortal, pure, and
spiritual body, which will be possessed by every saint. "So will it be with
the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is
raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is
sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is
raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a
spiritual body." (1 Cor 15:42-44) "Just as we are now like Adam, the man of
the earth—so we will someday be like Christ, the man from heaven." (1 Cor
15:49) "For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly
bodies that will never die!" (1 Cor 15:53)
No sooner shall these resurrected bodies open their
immortal eyes, than they shall behold the Son of Man coming in the clouds of
heaven. And no sooner is the judgment set, than all these shall be caught up
to meet the Lord in the air, and shall be so highly honored as to have a
place, as judges, on the judgment seat with Him. And when the solemn
transactions of that day are ended, the redeemed shall accompany their Lord
and Savior to heaven, where they shall be put in full and eternal possession
of that felicity and glory which Christ has purchased for them by His
precious blood. In this sublime temple, their songs shall mingle with those
of the holy angels forever and ever.
It need not be supposed that saints in heaven will be
continually employed in nothing but praise. This, indeed, will be their
noblest employment; and the anthems of praise to God and the Lamb will never
cease. But may we not reasonably suppose that the exercises and pursuits of
the saints will be various? The wonderful works of God will open to their
contemplation. They may be employed, as angels are now, as messengers to
distant worlds, either as instruments of justice or mercy: for we find that
the angels are employed in both these ways. While, then, one choir surrounds
the throne, and elevates the celestial song of praise for redemption, others
may be employed in executing the commands of their Lord; and then, in their
turn, these last ones may keep up the unceasing praise, while the first ones
go forth on errands of mercy or wrath.
Some have divided the angels into worshiping and serving:
the first are supposed to be always engaged in acts of worship, while the
last are always employed in other services. But it would be much more
reasonable to suppose that they all, in turn, take their part in both these
services. Here, however, it becomes us to pause, and in deep humility, on
account of our ignorance and unworthiness, to put our hands on our mouths,
and our mouths in the dust. We are slow to learn earthly things; how
then can we comprehend those which are heavenly? But if we are the children
of God, we shall have experience of these celestial employments and
never-ending joys! Soon, very soon, these things which are now dimly
discerned by means of faith, will be realized, when every humble saint shall
appear with Christ in glory—and shall never be exposed any more to danger of
suffering! Let us, then, now begin the song which shall never cease to Him
who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own precious blood!