Alexander urges us to look at ourselves as we grow near the day of death.  He asks us if we are prepared to face God.  And most importantly, of all the diagnostic questions we need to ask ourselves about the quality of our lives, is this: Are we trusting in the grace of God through Jesus Christ? 

In high school I remember thinking about how old I would be at the turn of the century.  In 1979, it seemed like an eternity would have to pass before that day came.  But it did come, and it came a lot faster than I expected.  The older you get; time seems to move quickly—too quickly.  You cannot stop time as much as you would like to.  All of life, and all of history, is going to its appointed end.

As we age, we cannot escape realizing our own mortality.  We are like a clock that is running down.  Whether we like it or not, the day of our death will arrive.  We may look forward to birthdays and marriages and anniversaries. But I know of no one who looks forward to their death day.  We try to keep from thinking about it even though it stubbornly creeps into our mind.   We don’t want to face the inevitable.  So, the question then is, how do we prepare for the inevitable?  Once again, Archibald Alexander his Letters to Those in the Autumn of Life gives sound advice (you can download these pamphlets here and here).

Most of us do some planning for old age.  We want to make sure we have enough in retirement, or that we work until they meet the requirements to get their maximum social security benefits.  The older we get, we may make plans for taking a trip to Europe that we always wanted to, but never had a chance in our younger years.  But the closest many of us ever get to contemplating the day of our death is taking care of our funeral arrangements so that we will not burden our children.  We may prepare a will to dispose of our possessions; but those plans take effect after death.  These are not preparations for the day itself.

Alexander urges us to be prepared for the day itself.  When you think about it, Alexander is right.  We prepare for other days so our departure from this world should also be prepared for because it is not just another day.  It is the day that we will leave our mortal bodies behind for a time and meet the Lord.  So, what does the Princeton divine say to help us for that day?

The first thing Alexander would tell us is to be realistic — death is unnatural.  He writes,

Death, when viewed merely by the light of nature, is truly an appalling event.  It is commonly preceded by disease, or the decrepitude of old age.  The separation between the soul and the body is usually accompanied with a convulsive struggle, and the appearance of extreme agony…It is manifestly an unnatural event.

Alexander sums up what we fear—the dissolution of body and soul which is painful and horrifying.  No one looks forward to it.

When I was in my first pastorate in Mississippi, I was called in the night to go to the hospital where an elderly woman in the congregation had been admitted.  She was dying as her organs were failing.  I remember the scene vividly because it was my first experience being around someone who had only moments to live.  As I entered the room, she was heaving, trying to keep breathing.  Her face expressed fear.  The whole event terrified me because I could empathize with what she was going through, and it also reminded me of what I may go through.  When I left the room I felt empty; I think the reason why is because this was unnatural.  Humans are made to live, not to die.  But we still die.

Not only is death an unnatural separation of body and soul, it is a feared separation from the ones we love.

Besides the pain and agonies of dissolution, there are other circumstances which render death an object abhorrent to human feelings.  It is a forcible and everlasting separation from all persons and things with which we have been conversant on earth.  In it, we take a final leave of our dearest friends and beloved relatives, dear to our hearts as our own lives.  Husbands are divorced from their wives; parents separated from their children; brothers and sisters must part, friends—who often stick closer than brothers—here have the tenderest bonds surrendered.

In the tenderest terms, Alexander describes what we fear along with bodily pain—the separation from our closest associates.  What we dread is endless loneliness or non-existence.

However, the Bible tells us that is not the future for Christians.  We have eternal life.  We will be reunited with loved one who have died in Christ. Part of the good news of the Gospel is eternal life.  But the day of death will come, and it may be traumatic as we still cling to our earthly existence.  As Christians we need to prepare, and Archibald Alexander gives us a realistic assessment of what death is.

While we need to be realistic about our fears, the most important advice he gives us is to examine our souls, and he fears that too few of us do that as death approaches.

What I would urge, therefore, on you, my aged friends, and on myself, is a more serious, impartial, and thorough examination into the foundation of our hope of heaven, than perhaps we have ever yet made.  Let us go back to the commencement of our religious course, and see whether, in our present more mature judgement, we can conclude that we were then the subjects of a saving change.  I do not ask you whether you had an increase of serious feelings, or whether your sympathies were strongly excited and experienced some change from a state of terror or distress to comfort; for all these things may be experienced, and have been experienced by unregenerate persons.  Let us carefully inquire whether the habitual tenor of our lives has been such as to satisfy us that a new nature was received.  If we have fallen into sin, have we deeply and sincerely repented of it?  Have we wept bitterly for our sins, like Peter?

Alexander is encouraging believers to look at the quality of their religious life.  Does it reflect the saving grace that we have received? It is possible that we could be fooling ourselves into thinking that we are good Christian people when in fact our entire lives have been spent far from Christ.  Mere church attendance does not prove that one is a Christian.  There must be the ongoing work of Christ in our lives.

From a pastor’s perspective, visiting a person who has weeks to live can be spiritually draining.  Depending on the church member, you may wonder about the state of their soul.   There comes a point that their cognitive processes no longer function properly.  It is then as a pastor you start to wonder if I should have inquired more into the life of their soul.  The reason for this tension is because you are unsure in the first place about the quality of their spiritual life.  But while the pastor should inquire, it is ultimately the responsibility of all of us to take time and ponder our spiritual life before it is too late.

Alexander further refines what spiritual self-examination should look like.  The following are diagnostic questions that Alexander would have us ask of ourselves as we peer into our souls preparing for that day.

1. “Do we love God as his character is exhibited in his word?”
2. “Do we hunger and thirst after holiness, or a complete conformity to the law of God?”
3. “Would we be willing that the law should be relaxed in its demands to afford us some indulgence?”
4. “Do we seek our chief happiness in the favor of God, and in communion with his word and ordinances?”
5. “Is his glory uppermost in our desires, and do we sincerely wish and determine to do all that we can to promote the kingdom of the Redeemer?”
6. “Do we sincerely love the people of God, of every sect and name, because they bear his image, and are the redeemed children of God?”
7. “[W]hat is the ground on which we expect the pardon of sin and the favor of God? Is it because we are better than many others?”

Alexander urges us to look at ourselves as we grow near the day of death.  He asks us if we are prepared to face God.  And most importantly, of all the diagnostic questions we need to ask ourselves about the quality of our lives, is this: Are we trusting in the grace of God through Jesus Christ?  Towards the end of one of his  letters on aging he declares, “The whole evidence of Christian character may be reduced to two particulars—entire trust in Christ for justification, and a sincere and universal love of holiness, with a dependence on the Holy Spirit for its existence, continuance and increase.”

As your life nears its last stadia, can you say yes to these questions and then rest in the Lord? Your death day will come; are you ready to meet the Lord?

Dr. Jerry Robbins is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is Pastor of Warrington PCA in Pensacola, Fla.