Vere. 80, 82, 83.-Three graves. Such is the story of life. The entl of it is always in some sepulchre. "They buried Joshua." "They buried the bones of Joseph.'' " They buried Eleazer.'' So the land is taken in possession. Every grave becoming a stronger link, binding the people to each othe1· and to the la.nd God gave them. Look at these graves. And observe- I. EVERY LIFE AT LAST FINDS A GRAVE. However strong the frame and Ieng the conflict, a,t 111st the priest must lay down the censer, the statesman resign command, the warrior retire from fields of strife. Immortality is not for earthly surroundings, nor for the imperfect spirit anti body _we have here. If we are to live for ever it must be somewhe1·e where chamcter 1s perfect, and a frame smtc,l for a pei·fect spirit is enjoyed. It is well that an existence so faulty is so brief. TlIE BOOK OF .tOSHUA. [en. xx1v. 29-SB,
Out of Eden it is better that we should be out of reach of nny tree of lifo that can give eart!11y ~=ortali~y .. The average life is long enough for the average power of e!'Joymg 1t. And 1t 1s well that 1t should be "rounded off by slee.v," This destiny 1s too much overlooked. It may be so contemplated as only to mjure us. When we anticipate it with dread, without the light of God's smile upon it or of His home beyond it, when it only shrivels up the warmth and energy of life, then its influence is harmful. But it need not have any such influence. If we remember that God is love e.nd death a Divine institution, we shall feel that there must be some service rendered by even death ; and this feeling destroying the dread of it, we shall then be in a condition to profit by its helpful influence. Amongst many wholesome influences these may be noted : (1) It should correct the folly that wa.stes life. Some make two mistakes. They treat time a~ if it were eternity, and eternity as if it were time. And this mistake produces e, purposeless existence that turns life to no account. The thought of death should wake those wasteful of life. It reminds us that the day of life has its task, that there is a serious e,ccount to be rendered of how we spent it. It says, "Awake thou the,t sleepest, and a1ise from the dead." It bids us live while we live, and work while it is called day. (2) It comforts the heavy-laden. Life has many burdens. Dnty is often a heavy load. Regrets, cares, sorrows make between them a burden of huge dimensions. God's saints, though they take more pee,cefully what is sent them, are not insensible to its troubles. On the contrary," many are the afflictions of the righteous." Death comes when the burden is too heavy, and whispers, "It is not for long." "The light affliction is but for a moment." The glory is eternal. " Brief life is here our portion, Brief sorrow, skortlived ea.re, The life that knows no ending, The tearless life is there." How many would have fainted utterly but for the thought•thct trials were only mortal. If to some death bad seemed a great foe, to me,ny others it has seemed the '' Kind umpire of men's miseries, Which, with sweet enlargement, does dismiss us hence.'' If it is a great consoler of the suffering, observe further (3) it gives zest to every activity of l;fe. How vapid would life become if death were not the lot of men ! How dull the activity which had eremity for its work I How poor the low delight would become if anything fixed for ever the conditions which for the moment are sufficient to produce it. But a brief life, ever changing, with no time to waste, gives keenness and zest and joy to all our existence. And lastly, it makes us look.for immorta,lity. It raises the eye above. The other_ world is lighted by those who, dying, enter it. The thought of our own impending death me,kes us desire some " everlasting habitation " when the stewardship here iR ended. So monality protects immortality, keeps it from being forgotten, undervalu~d, or endangered. And, like some schoolmaster whose harshness yet helps tb~ learnmg of some lesson, so death is the great instructor and preparer for the life beyond. Lament not J oshna, or Joseph, or Eleazer. Death is mercy to all such. It is not a calamity, it is the sleep God gives His beloved. If it is well to remember that all life comes to a grave, it is still more important to remember- !!. TH.AT NEITHER LIFE NOR USEFULNESS END THERE, (1) Life doe~ not end there. Who could imagine that that grave at Timnath-serah was the end of Joshua? When ripest and fittest for high employment, to what purpose would have been " the waste of such ointment" ? " God gathers up fragments that nothing may be lost ; " would He waste such a splendid aggrege,te of se,intly forc~s? Men could not believe it. Jacob Epoke of his approaching death e,s a bemg " gathered to his people," as if bis great ancestors were all above waitin~ to wel• come him. What nature has whispered to the hearts of all men t~e. Saviour ,ha_s revealed more clearly. He has" abolished death." And now we reJ01ce to believe life does not end, but only takes a new departure from the gre,ve. Death in the OH. XXIV. 20-88.] THE BOOI{ OF JOSHUA. ?,77
CaB~ of all God'.B saintB iB only the fulfilment of the Saviour's promise, " I will come agam and recwve you unto Myself.'' If life does not end with the grave, obBerve (2) usefuhtess does not end with it. There is something touching in these earliest graves of Israel-Machpelah, Shechem, 'r\n:inath, Monnt Ephraim. Such graves were thrones, on each of winch a great spmt eat and ruled teaching spirituality truth, courage, communion with God. The very graves con~ecrated the land. A~ of the great c11thedra.l of Florence the poet sang: "In Santa Croce'• holy precincts lie ABhes which make it holier. Duet which is Even in itself an immortality ; "