HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,” Luke 2:29-30
I cannot depart in peace until my eyes have seen the salvation of the Lord.
My conscience shrinks from the thought of death. It holds up before me the pattern to which I ought to have conformed and shows me how I have come short and sinned. It speaks of a future judgment, in which I shall stand abashed before the splendour and whiteness of the throne. But I see the salvation of my Lord, and it means forgiveness and pardon, and the alarms of my conscience are stilled, and I can depart in peace.
My imagination turns away perturbed by the thought of death. In this sleep what dreams may come! Nay, what stern realities there are in this awakening! Tribulation and anguish, indignation and wrath — it is a prospect that dismays me! But I see the salvation of my Lord, and it means the reversal of the doom, and what my imagination portrays now is my King in His city of gold — and I can depart in peace.
My heart shudders at the thought of death. Death is the snapping of my friendships. It is orphanhood, famine, or banishment. It is, worst of all, the separation of my soul from God, in whom I live and move and have my being. But I see the salvation of my Lord, and it means an eternity in fellowship with Him and with the glorious citizens of His court, and my heart asks for nothing more, and I can depart in peace.
Is not the Christian happy in dying as well as in living?
THE MYSTICAL COURT 