BEAUTY OF THE ASHES
BISHOP DR. CLARENCE W. MCCLAIN
7/20/25
LCFM
ACKOWLEDGEMENT
Job 14:1-7
Man that is born of a woman is of few days.
The brevity and burden of life
Man, that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. (2) He cometh forth like a flower
and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. (3) And dost thou open thine eyes
upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? (4) Who can bring a clean thing out of an
unclean? not one. (5) Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast
appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; (6) Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish,
as an hireling, his day. (7) For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and
that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
The knowledge and the conduct of mankind are frequently at variance. How general is the
conviction of the brevity of human life and of the certainty of death! How wise, virtuous, and happy
would the human species be were their conduct conformable to this conviction! But how rarely is this
the case! Do not the generality live as if their life were never to have an end?
1. Our life is of short duration . Many are snatched away by death while we are still children. A
considerable portion of mankind fall a prey to the grave in the liveliest period of their youth. Many are
taken off by sudden disease. If a man lives long, how short life appears to him on review of it.
2. Our life is full of trouble . To how many evils and dangers, how many calamities are we not subject
from our birth to our death! How often are our joys converted into sorrows! Our life is interwoven with
many perils and distresses. Let us never add to their number by a disorderly and criminal conduct. If life
then be so short and so insecure, how irrational is it to confine our hopes to these few moments, and to
seek the whole of our happiness here on earth! We impose upon ourselves in thinking to build our felicity
on the unstable possession and enjoyment of these fugacious objects. We are formed for eternity. Our
present condition is only a state of preparation and discipline; it only contains the first act of our life
which is never to terminate. The blessed, undecaying life should be the object of our affections, our
views and our exertions; it should be the principal ground of our hopes and our comfort. ( G. J. Zollikofer. )
There is a plan for us that is greater for us than what is here on earth.
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