The wicked is driven away in his wickedness; but the righteous hath hope in his death.
The wisdom of religion justified in the different ends of good and bad men
For the most part, the end of good men is full of peace and comfort, and good hopes of their future condition; but the end of bad men quite contrary, full of anguish and trouble, without peace or comfort, or hope of any good to befall them afterwards. If this be generally true, it is a mighty testimony on the behalf of piety and virtue. It is as good as a demonstration that the religious man is in the right.
I. This observation is generally true. It is enough to appeal to the common and daily experience of mankind (Psalms 37:37). When good men come to die, they have commonly a great calm and serenity in their minds, and are full of good hopes of God’s mercy and favour. But there are exceptions, both to the peace of the righteous and to the misery of the wicked, in death. Some good men are melancholy and dispirited. They may be naturally of a dark temper. The quiet death of a bad man may be explained by disease; or stupidity, through ignorance or gross sensuality; or the delusion of false principles.
II. Whence does this difference proceed? It is founded in the true nature and reason of the things themselves; in the nature of religion and virtue, and of impiety and vice.
1. A religious and virtuous life is a real ground of peace and serenity of mind, of comfort and joy, under all the evils and calamities of life, and especially at the hour of death.
2. Impiety and wickedness is a real foundation of guilt and fear, of horror and despair, in the day of adversity and affliction, and more especially in the approaches of death.
II. If this be true, it is a demonstration on the side of religion. Upon three accounts.
1. Because the principles of religion, and the practice of them in a virtuous life, when they come to the last and utmost trial, do hold out, and are a firm and unshaken foundation of peace and comfort to us.
2. That they minister comfort to us in the most needful and desirable time.
3. That when men are commonly more serious and sober and impartial, and when their declarations and words are thought to be of greater weight and credit, they give this testimony to religion and virtue, and against impiety and vice. (J. Tillotson, D.D.)
Neither hope nor fear in death
Mr. Robert Owen once visited a gentleman who was a believer. In walking out they came to the gentleman’s family grave. Owen, addressing him, said, “There is one advantage I have over Christians; I am not afraid to die; but if some of my business were settled, I should be perfectly willing to die at any moment.” “Well,” said his companion, “you say you have no fear of death--have you any hope in death?” After a solemn pause, he replied, “No!” “Then,” replied the gentleman, “you are on the level with that brute; he has fed till he is satisfied, and stands in the shade, whisking off the flies, and has neither fear nor hope.”
The different end of the righteous and the wicked
As to the death of a wicked man, here is--
1. The manner of his passing out of the world. He is “driven away.”
2. The state he passeth away into. He dies in a hopeless state. The righteous hath hope in his death. He has the grace of hope, and the well-founded expectation of better things than he ever had in this world.
I. How, and in what sense, are the wicked “driven away in their wickedness at death.” What is meant by their being “driven away”? Three things; they shall be taken away suddenly, violently, and irresistibly. Whence are they driven and whither? They are driven out of this world, where they have sinned, into the other world, where they must be judged. They are driven out of the society of the saints on earth, into the society of the lost in hell. They are driven out of time into eternity. They are driven out of their specious pretences to piety. They are driven away from all means of grace, quite out of all prospect of mercy. In what respects may they be said to be driven away in their wickedness? In respect of their being driven away in their sinful, unconverted state. They die sinning, acting wickedly against God, loaded with the guilt of their sins, and under the absolute power of their wickedness.
II. The hopelessness of the state of unrenewed men at their death. Consider four things.
1. Death cuts off their hopes and prospects of peace and pleasure in this life.
2. When death comes, they have no solid ground to hope for eternal happiness.
3. Death roots up their delusive hopes.
4. Death makes their state absolutely and for ever hopeless. Exhortation.
(1) Take heed that you entertain no hopes of heaven but what are built on a solid foundation. Beware of hope built upon ground that was never cleared. Beware of that hope which looks bright in the dark, but loses all its lustre when it is set in the light of God’s Word. Beware of that hope which stands without being supported by Scriptural evidences.
(2) Hasten, O sinners, out of your wickedness, lest you die in your sin.
(3) Be concerned for others, lest they be “driven away.”
III. The state of the godly in death is a hopeful state.
1. They have a trusty good Friend before them in the other world.
2. They shall have a safe passage through to the other world.
3. They shall have a joyful entrance into another world. Objection: How comes it to pass that many of the godly, when dying, are full of fears, and have little hope? Answer: The fears are usually consequences of states of bodily health; but they may be due to flagging spiritual life. Improvement: How to prepare for death, so that we may die comfortably.
(1) Let it be your constant care to keep a clean conscience.
(2) Be always watchful, waiting for your change.
(3) Employ yourselves much in weaning your hearts from the world.
(4) Be diligent in gathering and laying up evidences of your title to heaven, for your support and comfort at the hour of death.
(5) Despatch the work of your day and generation with speed and diligence. (T. Boston, D.D.)
Hope in death
I. The character of the righteous. The peculiar distinction between the righteous and the wicked lies in the heart, not in the understanding.
II. The truth asserted in the text. The assertion is true, though there may be some apparent exceptions There is nothing preceding, attending, or following death, which can destroy the foundation of the hope of the righteous.
1. A clear and just sense of their guilt and ill desert in the sight of God cannot destroy their hope in Christ.
2. There is nothing in the thoughts of leaving this world which can destroy their hope.
3. There is nothing in the prospect of having a more constant and realising sense of the Divine presence which can destroy their hope.
4. The prospect of being for ever united with perfectly holy creatures cannot destroy their hope.
5. Nor in the prospect of the holy employment of heaven.
6. Nor in seeing the displays of Divine justice upon the vessels of wrath after death.
7. Nor in seeing all the Divine purposes completely accomplished and unfolded.
8. Nor the prospect of existing for ever. Improvement of the subject:
(1) If the righteous have hope in their death, then they are essentially different from the wicked.
(2) If only the righteous have hope, then multitudes will be fatally disappointed in their dying hour.
(3) The death of the righteous may be peculiarly instructive and beneficial to the living. (N. Emmons.)
The hope of the righteous
The Old Testament deals much with the present life; the New Testament much with the future. But the one does not teach a different thing from the other. Hope is the grand element in the religion of the righteous. A righteous man is a hopeful man.
1. There is the hope of Divine support in death itself.
2. There is the hope of complete deliverance from the evils incident to a physical existence.
3. There is the hope of introduction to unmingled and permanent good. (James Foster, M.A.)
Hope in death
1. An enemy all must meet. Death.
2. A privilege all must envy. Hope in death.
3. A dispensation all must approve of. The righteous hath hope in his death. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
The death of the wicked
1. What he is driven from. A large measure of happiness, and from all sources of moral improvement.
2. Where he is driven to. Out of time into eternity, and from the presence of God.
3. What he carries with him. His wickedness; the accumulated sins of a whole life, and a fixed character of evil. Learn--
(1) What “a dreadful view of life and death for the wicked.
(2) The greatness of Christ’s salvation from the greatness of the ruin from which it saves.
(3) The value of the gospel hope from the happiness it secures in life and death. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
A great contrast
I. In life.
1. The difference is real, not imaginary. It is in the inward disposition, as well as in the outward conduct.
2. The difference is manifest. The ruling disposition, which is the life of character, and which is essentially different in both, makes itself known by its fruit.
3. The difference is increasing. These two characters continue to show forth their difference, and to go further from each other for ever.
II. In death. “The wicked is driven away in his wickedness”--
1. As by a storm. He has no foundation to stand upon. He has no hold upon anything real, lasting.
2. As a culprit is led away to his execution. There is no resignation on his part to a superior will than his own. He views the past with remorse, and anticipates the unknown future with gloom and fear. “But the righteous hath hope in his death.” This is an indication of strength, not weakness. He hath hope, even in death, when all things that are seen vanish away.
Some reasons for his hope:
1. The Bible, as he reads it and believes it; the light which came from heaven drives away the gloom of the dark valley, and reveals the land beyond.
2. He is at peace with God. God is known by him as his Father, Friend, and Saviour. Love to God, in his heart, has put away fear.
3. He is confident that his Redeemer has absolute control over all things; that He is Lord of the future. His hope, therefore, is such that, like Fuller, he is not afraid to plunge into eternity. The text is a proof of a belief in a future state of rewards and punishments in the time of Solomon. (Homiletic Monthly.)
The wise man’s verdict
I. The punishment to be inflicted upon a certain man.
1. The name of the offender. Wicked.
2. The nature of the offence. Malice.
3. The punishment; in three degrees. As begun in this life. Increased at the time of death. Perfected at the day of judgment.
II. The conclusion of the righteous.
1. What is a righteous man?
2. What is it to have hope in death? (S. Hieron.)
Hopeless and hopeful dying
I. The hopeless. Whose? “The wicked”--the unconverted. What?
1. The condition in which he dies. “In his wickedness.” He lived careless and indifferent, encased in false hope; or hardened and scoffing, fighting against God. So he dies. Driven away not from, but in his wickedness. Death makes no change of character. “Unjust still.”
2. The compulsion under which he dies. “Driven away.” Ejected from this life’s engagements, enjoyments, and means of improvement. Torn away from possessions, pursuits, pleasures, and prospects here. “This night--thy soul--then whose,” etc.? Death takes no bribes. Wishes and protests unheeded. “Driven. .. chased out,” etc. (Job 18:18).
II. The hopeful. Whose, “the righteous” in moral position, principle, practice. What?--Hopeful of--
1. The Divine support in it.
(1) Needed, because of body’s pains, affections’ ties, conscience failures.
(2) Promised. “As day. .. strength.” “When thou passest,” etc.
(3) Realised. “Yea, though I walk,” etc.
2. Decisive victory over it. Prospective--Grave robbed. “Resurrection of life.”
3. Heavenly glory after it.
(1) Angelic convoy. “Lazarus carried by angels.”
(2) Immediate entrance. “Absent from body. .. at home,” etc.
(3) Then reunion of soul and body in heavenly glory. All must die. Which--yours? A sheriff’s arrest, or a Saviour’s arrival? (John 14:3). (Homiletic Review.)
The objects, grounds, and evidences of the hope of the righteous
Men will leave the world according to their conduct in it.
I. The objects.
1. His hope of support in death; of the immortality of the soul; of the resurrection of the body; and of perfect happiness in heaven.
II. The grounds and evidences. The foundation of the hope is the free mercy of God, which can be communicated only through Jesus Christ. Evidence of this hope is that the righteous man finds, upon a thorough trial, that the characters which God has declared essentially necessary to salvation do belong to him.
III. The various limitations and degrees of a good hope in death. A good hope is always supported by evidence, and according to the degree of evidence is the degree of hope. Different believers, at different times, have different degrees of evidence. Much depends on weakness of body, mind, or heart. But every righteous man has a substantial reason to hope, whether he clearly sees it or not. Good men do, in fact, usually enjoy a comfortable hope. (S. Davies, A.M.)
The two departures
I. The doom of the wicked. As smoke is driven by the wind, so will the wicked perish in the day of wrath. We are not able to form a right conception of what it is to be and abide in wickedness. Because it is so near us, we do not know it.
II. The hope of the just. Hope, always lovely, is then sweetest when it beams from heaven through the gloom that gathers round the grave. (W. Arnot.)
Hope beyond the grave
I. The character of the righteous.
1. He is one who has been convinced of his unrighteousness.
2. One who is made the partaker of righteous principles.
3. One who is righteous and holy in his life.
II. The hope of the righteous. This hope has for its object future spiritual and eternal blessings. It is called a “good hope through grace,” because we are indebted for it to the grace and favour of God; and because it is wrought in us by the gracious influences of the Divine Spirit. Eternal life includes the immortality of the soul--the everlasting, conscious existence of the rational mind; the resurrection of the body; and the enjoyment of eternal happiness. (J. Entwistle.)
An awful death
Three things implied in the death of the wicked are here set forth.
I. A very solemn change. He is “driven away.”
1. Whence?
(1) From all existing enjoyments; the beauties of nature, the circles of friendship, the pleasures of literature, etc.
(2) From all secular engagements. The farmer, lawyer, statesman, etc.
(3) From all means of moral improvement: churches, Bibles, teachers.
2. Whither? To the grave as to his body, to eternal retribution as to his soul. The death of the wicked implies--
II. A great personal reluctance. He does not go away, he is not drawn away; he is “driven away.”
1. All the sympathies of his nature are centred in this life. They are all twined around earthly objects, as the ivy around the old castle. They are all more deeply rooted in the earth than the oak of centuries. He is in the world, and the world is everything to him.
2. The future world is terribly repulsive to him. Not a ray of hope breaks through his tremendous gloom; it is one dense mass of starless thunder-cloud. This being the case, with what tenacity he clings to life! He will not go, he cannot go, he must be “driven.” His death is not like the gentle fall of the ripened fruit from its old branch in autumn, but like the oak, uprooted, and dashed into the air, by a mighty whirlwind. It is not like a vessel gliding to its chosen haven, but like a bark driven by a furious wind to a shore it shrinks from with horror. “Driven away!” The death of the wicked, as here indicated, implies--
III. A terrible retention of character. He is “driven away” in his wickedness. He carries his wickedness with him. This is the worst part of the whole. He carries his vile thoughts, his corrupt passions, his sinful purposes, his depraved habits, his accumulated guilt, with him. He will leave everything else behind but this--this adheres to him. He can no more flee from it than from himself. This wickedness will be the millstone to press him downward into deeper, darker depths for ever; the poison that will rankle in the veins for ever; the fuel that will feed the flames for ever. O sinner, lay down this wickedness at the foot of the atoning and soul-renovating Cross! (Homilist.)
The righteous and wicked in their death
The text--
I. Describes the dreadful termination of a course of irreligion and of sin.
1. Who are the wicked? The term is generally restricted to “sinners of the baser sort”--those whose lives are grossly sensual. But Scripture regards it as the appropriate designation of all who are in an unregenerate state; all who are destitute of the fear and love of God, who habitually transgress His law, and practically disregard His gospel.
2. What will be the issue of their career? Note the manner in which he dies. Reluctantly. Unavoidably. The condition in which he dies. In his sins, with all his guilt on his head, and all his depravity in his heart.
II. Describes the blessings of those who die in the Lord.
1. Who is righteous? Not simply believers, but regenerated and converted sinners.
2. What is the privilege of the righteous? He has hope in his death. That hope is glorious in its object. It is sure in its foundation. It is felicitating in its influence. (J. Corney.)
Driven away out of the world
He cleaves so closely to the world that he cannot find in his heart to leave it, but is driven away out of it; his soul is required, is forced from him. And sin cleaves so closely to him that it is inseparable; it goes with him into another world; he is driven away “in his wickedness,” dies in his sins, under the guilt and power of them, unjustified, unsanctified. His wickedness is the storm in which he is hurried away, as chaff before the wind, chased out of the world. (Matthew Henry.)
The hope of the righteous
I. There is the hope of divine support in death itself. “As thy day,” etc.
II. There is the hope of complete deliverance from the evils incident to a physical existence. In this life the soul is imprisoned. Its heavenly and spiritual tendency is retarded by its companion of dust. Spiritual life has its thought, feeling, and expression limited and baffled by physical boundaries. A prolonged mental exercise is followed by fatigue and reaction, so is it with spiritual exercises and pleasures. Death sets the righteous free from all these evils. It takes down the decaying, exposed, and inferior tabernacle, that the guest within may come forth to light and liberty. It introduces the soul to perfection of being, activity, and enjoyment.
III. There is the hope of introduction to unmingled and permanent good. (Jas. Foster, M.A.)
Hope in death
“My breath is short, and I have little hopes, since my late relapse, of much further usefulness. A few exertions, like the last struggles of a dying man, or glimmering flashes of a taper just burning out, is all that can be expected from me. But, blessed be God! the taper will be lighted up again in heaven.” (G. Whitefield.)
Ready for death
The Christian, at his death, should not be like the child, who is forced by the rod to quit his play, but like one who is wearied of it, and willing to go to bed. Neither ought he to be like the mariner, whose vessel is drifted by the violence of the tempest from the shore, tossed to and fro upon the ocean, and at last suffers wreck and destruction; but like one who is ready for the voyage, and, the moment the wind is favourable, cheerfully weighs anchor, and, full of hope and joy, launches forth into the deep. (R. Scriver.)
A Christian’s death
I have read of a painter who was painting “Death”; and he painted Death as we generally see Death painted--a skeleton and a scythe! That is a horrid way of painting it! A good man coming by said, “That is not the way to paint Death: you should paint him a beautiful bright angel with a golden key in his hand to open the door and let us into heaven.” That is Death to the Christian. When Bishop Beveridge was dying, the good man said, “If this be dying, I wish I could die for ever.” You remember in the “Pilgrim’s Progress,” when Christian and his friend Hopeful come to die, it is represented as if they were crossing a river. Christian gets somewhat afraid. “Cheer up, brother!” says Hopeful, “I feel the bottom, and it is quite firm and sound. Cheer up, brother!” Then after a little while Christian said, “I see Him again; and He tells me, ‘When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.’” Then he also found ground to stand upon, and the rest of the water was so shallow that he could walk in it. And after a few minutes more they both found themselves at the gate of the Celestial City! (J. Vaughan, M.A.)
The death of the wicked and of the righteous
I. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness.
1. Wicked men are taken out of the world against their will, and by a power which they cannot withstand.
2. They die with their souls unrenewed and their characters unchanged.
3. They go to receive the punish- ment of their sins.
II. The righteous hath hope in his death. Though they may not be able to express themselves in the language of assurance and exultation, yet will there be a believing dependence on the mercy and faithfulness of God. And even though all hope should seem gone, and the manifestations of the Divine presence be withdrawn, yet even then would the declaration of our text be true. For as, on the one hand, the real certainty of our salvation is not augmented or diminished by our present feelings, however the evidence of it to ourselves may be affected, so, on the other, the position--the righteous have hope in their death--is not to be limited merely to express the feelings which the righteous may experience at death, but expresses also the security of their state. The foundation, as well as the objects of hope, remain firm and immutable. It is in the weakness of nature that the supporting energy of grace is most apparent, and the power of the Saviour is most conspicuously displayed. And how often hath it happened that, in the midst of utmost exhaustion, when all further utterance had ceased, the soul has seemed to catch a glimpse of future glory, and, reanimating the almost lifeless body, hath proclaimed its assurance of the Divine love and mercy and protection, and ascended to heaven in a song of holy triumph! (Alex. Fisher.)
A tranquil hope
An assured hope is not like a mountain torrent, but like a stream flowing from a living fountain, and often so quietly that it is scarcely visible but for the verdure of its banks. (W. Spring.)