b it of
its destiny. Jesus knew that He was launching out into eternity; and,
plucking His spirit away from these hostile hands which were eager to
seize it, He placed it in the hands of God. There it was safe. Strong
and secure are the hands of the Eternal. They are soft and loving too.
With what a passion of tenderness must they have received the spirit of
Jesus. "I have covered thee," said God to His servant in an ancient
prophecy, "in the shadow of My hand;" and now Jesus, escaping from all
the enemies, visible and invisible, by whom He was beset, sought the
fulfilment of this prophecy.

This is the art of dying; but is it not also the art of living? The
spirit of every son of Adam is threatened by dangers at death; but it
is threatened with them also in life. As has been said, it is our
flower and our pearl; but the flower may be crushed and the pearl may
be lost long before death arrives. "The flesh lusteth against the
spirit." So does the world. Temptation assails it, sin denies it. No
better prayer, therefore, could be offered by a living man, morning by
morning, than this of the dying Saviour. Happy is he who can say, in
reference to his spirit, "I know whom I have believed, and I am
persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him
against that day."

IV.

This last word of the expiring Saviour revealed His view of death.

The word used by Jesus in commending His spirit to God implies that He
was giving it away in the hope of finding it again. He was making a
deposit in a safe place, to which, after the crisis of death was over,
He would come and recover it. Such is the force of the word, as is
easily seen in the quotation just made from St. Paul, where he says
that he knows that God will keep that which he has committed to
Him--using the same word as Jesus--"against that day." [3] Which day?
Obviously some point in the future when he could appear and claim from
God that which he had entrusted to Him. Such a date was also in
Christ's eye when He said, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my
spirit." Death is a disruption of the parts of which human nature is
composed. One part--the spirit--was going away to God; another was in
the hands of men, who were wreaking on it their wicked will; and it was
on its way to the house appointed for all living. But Jesus was
looking forward to a reunion of the separated parts, when they would
again find each other, and the integrity