Genesis 5:27

And all the days of Methuselah

The longest life and its lessons

In dwelling upon this text I shall--

I. Take a simple survey of the age and manners of the antediluvian world. The youth of the world was the season of man’s greatest age; perhaps, also, of man’s greatest wickedness.

II. Draw some important lessons from this survey--

1. The agglomerative tendencies of human depravity.

2. The vanity of earthly things.

3. The power of an endless life.

4. The great natural wickedness of the heart.

5. That mere duration of years does not constitute a long life, but the fulfilment of life’s ends.

6. The danger of religious procrastination. (Dr. Cheever.)

The close of life

I. THE CLOSE OF LIFE IS ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN.

II. LIFE HAS COME TO A CLOSE WITH MEN THROUGH ALL GENERATIONS FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES.

III. LIFE COMES TO A CLOSE IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD. Some places are more salubrious than others.

IV. LIFE COMES TO A CLOSE AT ALL SEASONS OF THE YEAR.

V. LIFE CLOSES AT ALL PERIODS. Death is not peculiar to any age.

VI. LIFE CLOSES IN A VARIETY OF WAYS. How many perish in the battlefield, amid all the dreadful realities of war! Many are lost by shipwreck at sea. Many lose their lives by accident on land. Far from the land of his birth and friends, pursuing his philanthropic career, John Howard finished his labours and his life. Sublimely grand must have been the exit of Thomas Chalmers; but, like that of John Foster, no human eye was permitted to see it. It was a Sabbath evening when he retired to rest, “in his most happy mood.” In the morning he was found on his bedside in an attitude of repose. A peaceful smile, like a beam from the Sun of Righteousness, lingered about his face. His immortal part had soared upwards, escorted by a convoy of angels, to the better land. Thus widely diversified are the circumstances and modes of our departure. VII. THE CLOSE OF LIFE NEVER HAPPENS BY CHANCE. It is an event of Divine appointment.

VIII. THE CLOSE OF LIFE MAKES ALL THE ARTIFICIAL DISTINCTIONS OF LIFE VOID. “Death,” says Dr. Donne, “comes equally to us all, and makes us all equal when it comes. The ashes of an oak in a chimney are no epitaph of that to tell me how high, or how large it was; it tells me not what flocks it sheltered whilst it stood, nor what men it hurt when it fell. The dust of great men’s graves is speechless too; it says nothing, it distinguishes nothing. As soon the dust of a wretch whom thou wouldst not, as of a prince whom thou couldst not look upon, will trouble thine eyes if the wind blow it thither; and when a whirlwind hath blown the dust of the churchyard into the church, and the man sweeps out the dust of the church into the churchyard, who will undertake to sift those dusts again, and to pronounce: ‘This is the patrician--this is the noble flour; and this the yeoman--this the plebeian bran!’”

IX. THE CLOSE OF LIFE IS OF INCONCEIVABLE IMPORTANCE. Our chances of preparation last while life lasts. Iris said that when Alexander encamped before a city, he used to set up a light, to give notice to those within that if they came forth to him while that light lasted, they should have quarter; but if they came not out within the given time they were to expect no mercy. Our light is burning now. It goes out when life departs. Death fixes all forever. It is this solemn fact--that death in shutting the gates of life upon us here, ushers us into the unchangeable hereafter--that accounts for the opposite experiences of men when they come to die. Voltaire said to his doctor--“I am abandoned by God and man. I will give you half of what I am worth, if you will give me six months’ life.” “Sir,” replied the doctor, “you cannot live six weeks.” “Then,” said the dying man, “I shall go to hell”; and soon after expired. “I shall be glad to find a hole,” said Hobbes, “to creep out of the world at.” How different the anticipations of good men! “O Father of Thy beloved Son Jesus Christ!” exclaimed the martyr Polycarp; “I bless Thee that Thou hast counted me worthy to receive my portion in the number of martyrs.” “I have pain,” said Richard Baxter, “(there is no arguing against sense); but I have peace.” “Is this dying?” said Dr. Goodwin. “How have I dreaded as an enemy this smiling friend.” “The best of all is, God is with us,” was John Wesley’s shout of victory in the last hour. “The victory’s won forever,” exclaimed Dr. Payson; “I am going to bathe in an ocean of purity and benevolence and happiness to all eternity.”

X. I HAVE NOW TO OBSERVE, THAT THE CLOSE OF LIFE MAY BE NEAR AT HAND. We know not the day nor the hour of the messenger’s arrival.

XI. MY LAST REMARK IS THAT THE CLOSE OF LIFE DEMANDS INSTANT PREPARATION. Mark what that preparation is. What you require to fit you for death is all the same as that which you require to fit you for life. (W. Walters.)