2 Corinthians 5:4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed on… I. MAN SHRINKS FROM DEATH. 1. Man shows this in many ways. (1) By the pensive regret with which he views its precursors, and the eagerness with which he sometimes seeks to shut out the prospect of it. (2) By the plaintive awe with which he contemplates its prey. (3) By the unaffected sorrow with which he mourns the consequences of it. Every object that he sees which formerly was endeared by pleasant associations brings only sorrow after death has inscribed his name around it. If experience shows us exceptions to this general rule, they have some special feature which renders them intelligible. They may occur where life has become burdensome, or, oftener, where some great end is to be attained by the sacrifice of it. 2. Why, then, is this universal recoil from death? (1) Because it is unnatural. There could never be a natural revulsion from anything that was not in itself unnatural to us. (2) Because of the deep and mysterious sympathies it disturbs. (3) Because all, to unaided reason, is dark beyond it. II. MAN IS DISSATISFIED WITH LIFE. And we must here consider life as dividing itself into three departments — animal, intellectual, and moral. True wisdom lies in the right adjustment and harmony of these three different elements. The nearer they approach to harmony, the more this dissatisfaction increases, for it only shows how much yet remains to be attained. Man exhibits this dissatisfaction with life in various ways. 1. He seeks to change his position in it. 2. He shows it when he witnesses the failure of his purposes and plans. 3. Even should success attend him, that success fails to fulfil his desires. The attainment of success in this world almost invariably induces increasing ambition; it only sharpens the appetite for yet greater prosperity. Just as our view expands the higher we ascend the steep of a vast mountain, so do our wishes widen the further we advance in wealth. 4. If he cultivates his powers, his capabilities outgrow the resources of life. The keener our perceptions become, the more clearly do we perceive the inefficacy of these resources to feed our extending capacities. 5. On a retrospect of it, however extended, it appears to him as an unsubstantial dream. III. MAN PANTS FOR THE PERFECTION OF HIS BEING. Some have professed to believe that at death we sink into annihilation. But no man ever yet really wished to be nothing, and those only have pretended to desire it who have felt that they were good for nothing. No! It is an instinct of our nature to look forward to immortality. The righteous shall be satisfied, for they shall awake in the likeness of their God. (A. Mursell.) Parallel Verses KJV: For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. |
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