DEATH, the enemy, is to-day a victor. He may be personified as "the king of terrors," persistently carrying on his fell work, regardless of age, position, or prospects. Shall this dread enemy of humanity be stayed in his course of destruction? Shall his domain be invaded and the captives released?
The voice of inspiration has pronounced his doom. Hear the testimonies of seers and Saviour, as with united voice they promise a coming deliverance. Has the enemy snatched a loved child from our embrace? The "weeping prophet" says: "Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border." Jer. 31:16, 17.
Are we mourning the loss of kindred dear to us? The evangelist of the Old Testament heralds the tidings: "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it." Isa. 25:8.
Has death its terrors to us as we near the time of decease? Listen to another voice of the olden time: "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death; O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." Hosea 13:14.
Confirming and continuing the gospel of victory, our Saviour states: "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:28, 29. Defining his own relation to the work, he says, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forever more, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." Rev. 1:18.
Based upon such statements as the ones we have noted we found our faith in the rescue of the sainted dead. We believe that they will be placed beyond the reach of the dread foe. And with Richard Baxter we are ready to say: "Hasten, O my Saviour, the time of thy return; delay not lest the grave should boast of victory; and having learned rebellion of its guest, should plead prescription, and refuse to deliver thee up thy due. Oh, hasten that great resurrection day, when thy command shall go forth and none shall disobey; when the seed that thou sowest corruptible shall come forth incorruptible; and graves that received but rottenness and retained but dust shall return thee glorious stars and suns. Therefore, dare I lay down my carcass in the dust, intrusting it not to a grave but to thee; and therefore my flesh shall rest in hope, till thou raise it to the possession of the everlasting rest."