A Believer's Last Day, His Best (continued)
"We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:8. A believer is not at present, in his place. His soul is still working and warring, and he cannot rest until he comes to center in the bosom of Christ. This Paul well understood when he said, "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far!" Phil. 1:23. I would gladly weigh anchor, hoist sail, and cruise home. And upon this account those precious souls groaned for deliverance, "Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling!" 2 Corinthians 5:2 Why is this? "While we are in the body, we are absent from the Lord," ver. 6. We are not in our place, and therefore we groan to be at home—that is, to be in heaven, to be in the bosom of Christ, which is our proper place, our most desirable home.
2. Death is a change of COMPANY. In this world, the godliest man must live with the wicked, and converse with the wicked, etc.; and this is a part of their misery; it is their hell on this side heaven.
This stuck upon the spirit of David: Psalm 120:5, "Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!" [I have read of a godly woman, who, being near death, cried out, "O Lord, let me not go to hell where the wicked are, for you know that I never loved their company while in this life!"] And so Jer. 9:2, "Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people!" And this was that that did vex and tear Lot's