This Year Thou Shalt Die
“This Year Thou Shalt Die.”—Jeremiah 28:10
“What a gloomy message to bring us,” someone exclaims, “cannot you write on a more cheerful subject than death; let us hear of life and pleasure, its pursuits and pastimes.” Nevertheless, averse as we may be to listten to such solemn words as “This year thou shalt die,” yet it is absolutely certain that some who read these lines will be numbered with the dead ere this year shall close. The hour is fixed for their departure. This year they will exchange worlds; the sands in the hour-glass of their life have nearly run out; a few more steps and the grave will close over their mortal remains. It is scarcely possible, amongst the numerous readers who scan these pages, all will be alive when another year is ushered in. To all of us
IT IS PROBABLE.
We cannot tell. It is wisely hidden in the purpose of our God. Present health cannot ensure our immunity from death. Insidious disease may be lurking in our veins, doing its fatal work, hurrying us on silently, surely to the tomb. Or swift death may overtake us in the hey-day of health and busy plans for the future. We are at the will of our Creator, who may summons us at any time to appear in His presence. This fact to some is terrible. To be ushered into eternity with the guilt of accumulated years upon the conscience, with no hope beyond the present life, no Saviour to cheer a dying hour and light up the dark valley with His presence. Well may the soul shrink and tremble with horror as it is dragged unwillingly into the presence of a Holy God. Such would fain put off the thoughts of death as a subject too painful to contemplate; but though 1 they may try to avoid the thought they cannot the fact. This year, if God so wills, they must die. To others it is a subject causing many doubts. ”They all their lifetime, through fear of death, have been in bondage.” How will it be with me then—shall I feel the bottom in the swellings of Jordan’s river and find it good? Am I one for whom Christ died, and has taken away death’s sting? Will it prove that all my hopes will vanish in that dread hour as a midnight dream? Will the Lord be there to welcome me? or shall I be left
A PREY TO SATAN,,
the companion for ever of lost souls. Such fears prove a quickened soul, an awakened conscience, a trembling hope, which death cannot drown, for it is God-given. That light which burns but dimly in the breast shall not be put out in eternal darkness.
To some the thought of death is welcome. It will free them from pain and sorrow, from lingering couches of weakness, where oft the prayer has been breathed in quiet submission, yet with fervent desire, “Lord, when wilt Thou come and take Thy longing child to Thyself?” Some afflicted saints have held such long converse with death, have dwelt so near the confines of another world, that death has lost its terror, he wears more the face of a friend, who waits to open the door and usher them into the presence of the King. It will be a welcome messenger who brings them to the beloved of their souls. Oft hath He spoken to them in sweet accents of love, and they long with intense desire to see His face, bask in the effulgence of His glory, when earth clouds have all departed, which hide Him from their eyes. ”This year thou shalt die,” will end all their conflicts, satisfy the utmost longing of their soul. The consummation of their ardent prayers, their everlasting bliss will then begin when death-shades are passed, the victory won. “Reader, is this thy hope and expectation?”
December 1894
Edwin White (1846-?) was a Strict and Particular Baptist preacher. His first pastorate was with the church meeting at Orphington (1877-1879). After two years, the communion question cropped up, the majority of members deciding to throw the Table open. He forthwith resigned his office. His second pastorate was with the church meeting at Clare, Suffolk (1881-1887). After six years of blessed ministry, he resigned the office due to health reasons. His third pastorate was with the church meeting at Woolwich, Enon Chapel (1891-1919). In 1911 was elected president of the Metropolitan Association of Strict Baptist Churches.
