The age-herald., 1900-12-03


 these words What words be they? xnowl
 and let peace take possession of thy soul,
 "I would not have you to be ignorant,
 brethren, concerning them which are asleep,
 that ye sorrow not, even as others which
 have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
 died and rose again, even so them also
 which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
 Him. For this we say unto you by the
 word of the Lord, that we which are alive
 and remain unto the coming of the Lord
 shall not prevent them which are asleep.
 For the Lord Himself shall descend from
 Heaven with shout, with the voice of the
 archangel, and with the trump of God: and
 the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught
 up together with them In the clouds, to
 meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort
 one another with these words.
 T am aware that my message this morn-
 ing can bring comfort only to those who not only believe the Word of God but also be-
 lieve that what l have just quoted is His l Word. There are times when, even from the pulpit, can be spoken word of encourage
 ment and cheer to the man who denies God, but such word must always be in connec- tion with things pertaining to this life and l tme It can never be spoken in connection | with death and eternity. You have heard | said that the worlds saddest experience Is | to witness the accident of death There are | men in this world who can tell you different | from that In the first place, there is no | such thing as the accident of death. Death | is but an incident of life And, in the sec | ond place, there is in the world sadder | experience than to witness death, even were l il the accident some would make it. The | saddest experience of man Is not alone to | witness death It is to live in the world i barren of belief that there Is life after that | death when the monster has seized upon | the Night of his home and the treasure of | h.s heart and borne that light and that treasure away into the eternal oblivion of | what he considers utter annihilation. And | for such sorrow I realize 1 have no word | Of comfort today. How gladly would speak it if I had it. How often have l | desired to possess it, in trying times, in the presence of unbelief seeking comfort and | thrown back upon the utter hopelessness | of its own despair but for it I have always sought in vain. The writings of men, in | all their wisdom, do not contain it. Were l it in the Book of God, the stricken one | would not receive it. And yet l am not utterly without word for the encouragement | even of unbeef, if that unbelief will lose | itself In the effort of faith. My Master hath | delivered to His ministers a message to | communicate to unbelief, and if received by any man in the spirit of its communication l 1t will accomplish for him the purpose of l it's delivery to him. The message, 1 say, | is Divine. It was uttered by the Master | Himself in order that the darkness of doubt might be banished by the light of confident assurance. If any man will do His will, l he shall know of the doctrine, whether it | be of God
 And now let us notice that most appro- priately can we take the place of the Thes- l salonians in one respect, at least. While, | in our extenuation, we cannot plead ignor- | ance of the true teaching of the resurrec- ton of the dead, we can plead-and oh, | how we'll the Father knows tive can | plead need of comfort universal need. | Vacant chairs, vanished forms, folded
 hands, lustreless eyes and silent lips, only
 the more powerful because motionless and
 speeches. in their pleadings. join in the 1 petition which our breaking hearts are
 ever offering for comfort. Universal, I say, l l supply! Let us comfort one another with | His worlds They are ours this morning not the message to the Thessalonians.
 "In them the keynote of comfort is struck by the apostle in the very beginning. He | would not have us to be ignorant concern ing them which are asleep. Remember, he | is addressing us for our comfort. And if | he would not have us ignorant concerning l Ina of ho | that condition must be such that knowl- | edge of it will add to our comfort. And the
 whole pronouncement thrills with the har- | mony of the vibration of the chord struck
 here. Note that our loved ones are asleep. | The terror of death to us consists chiefly | in what 1t is supposed to destroy. But | sleep destroys nothing. It is natures su- I preme medium of restoration. Going into | the home of the maiden who had been pro-
 nounced dead by man, the Savious declar- | ed, The maid is not dead, but sleepeth, | and He took her by the hand and she walked l from her sleep, restored and strong. Never forget that nowhere in scripture is the 1 final rest designated as a death that knows restoration to life. It is every where proclaimed of the dead that they are not in a state of dissolution, but | condition of restoration.
 ITO His servant David, by the mouth of | His prophet Nathan, did God speak and
 say, When thy days be fulfilled, and thou
 shalt sleep with thy fathers, will set up | thy seed after thee.'
 ''To all generations that should follow | after, spake this same God by the mouth | of His prophet Daniel. They that sleep | in the dust of the earth shall awake | sOur friend Lazarus sleepeth' saith the | Lord unto His disciples; and Lazarns, come | forth to him who had for four days beea | cold in the embrace of death. And he came Continued on Sth Page.)