Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-04-14
The Last Victory.


l,Iq The Last Victory.
=" The last enemy that shall be de-
Stroyed is death" Thank God for that
word last. Our enemies may be many,
but they are not innumerable, and there
is time coming when only one shall
stand before US, and that one will be the
last Thank God for that word destroyed
AL our enemies, down to the last, will
be not only vanquished but destroyed, so
that we shall never see them more No
more conflicts then, and no more strug-
giles, but peace foreverl Here we have
struggles with our own evil nature, and
with the evil nature of others, and with
evil spirits that come from another world
to vex us, as if there were not enough to
vex us in this, and with the ills and sor-
rows of life, and finally we shall have to
struggle with death. But we shall tri-
umph over all these, and even death
shall be destroyed and swallowed up in
victory, and we shall be brought out
more than conquerors through Him that
loved us; and crowned with never fading
laurels, we shall enter into the saints
everlasting rest; made pure ourselves,
and ushered into the presence of the
pure and holy, we shall forever be the
companions of none but gentle and
lovely, and loving spirits, and shall be
reunited with the dear ones who have
gone before us, and shall see Jesus, and
shall be in the presence of God where
there is fullness of joy, and at his right
hand where, there are pleasures forever
hot xuh hat
gloryl Our souls havenot capacity now
to take it in. But one element of the
ecstacy will be the exultation with which
we shall look back on the old battle
fields, and see that all our enemies, even
to the very last of them, are destroyed,
and now safe in heaven we shall have to
pass through the ordeal of conflict no
more.
ID is in human nature TO regard death
as an enemy. We have lifelong plans,
but death overturns them; we have cher
ished schemes but death puts an end to
them we have sweet hopes but death
blasts them; we have local attachments
bnt death sewers them, and tears us away
from the scenes we love The freside
and the garden, and the well, and all that
there is of home, associated with its ten
der endearments, and the hill side, and
the lawn, and the wood, and the spring,
associated with the sports and friend
ships of childhood, the flowers, and the
verdure, and the waving harvest, the glo-
rious sunlight, and the beam of softer
moon and stars, and all the pleasant
places and things of earth must be looked
on for the lasttime and abandoned forever
We must bid the last aeieu TO our friends
and shake hands for the last time, as we
lie on the dying bed, with those who crowd
around to witness our departure; we must
receive the last kiss from the dearest OBJ
ject our eyes ever beheld; we must leave |
our little ones for somebody else TO take |
care of--oh so hard to do-aud never
to provide them more, nor hear their mu-
sic again-their very football is music
and go where we shall never see nor hear |
from them again. And even if there
were no such ties as these TO keep us |
here, we naturally shrink from the de- |
struetion of the body II is dreadful to l
think of turning to dust after being fed f.
on by worms. Then there is the unknown
future for the soul Immortality before
us, consciousness of guilt and moral re-
sponsibility, and fearful looking for Of
Judgment are awful things to one about to !
change worlds and enter on a state where
his fate will be fixed for eternity. No
wonder is it that death by common con-
sent is called the king of terrors, ard
that every imagination paints him as
hideous grizzly monster who knows no de-
feat; before whom the great and brave
must all succumb, and whose cruel lust
devours alike the gray haired sire and
the tender babe.
Death is an enemy terrible indeed,
but 10 the saints he is disarmed, and as
to them will eventually be destroyed.
There is no one respect in which lie
brings terror in which he is more than
Christian faith is more than
a match for death. If we are taken
from pleasant pursuits we know that we
shall enter upon others far more delight
full; if from what we consider great
we know that We shall exchange
them for others far greater and more
worthy of us; if we cease to hope it is
only because hope is superseded by frp-
Of more than We ever
hoped for: if we leave n sweet home, 1t
is only perishable home, and We are
transferred to one eternal in the heavens;
the dearest scenes of Garth viii be but
xretched and miserable in comparison
with those which we shall enjoy when we !,
roam the heavenly fields and stand upon
the mount Of God; Eden's bloom is but
nothing 10 the gardens of the Lord. and
the fruits Of the earth are poor indeed 70
the fruit Of the tree of life. II we look
upon the sun for the last time, it is only
because we are going to where its glory,
# present. would be invisible in superior
light; if we part with the beautiful moon
md stars, it is only to mount above them
md enjoy sweeter radiance in our Sa-
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