“We sorrow not as those which have no hope”

Hymn 138 was sung. Isa. xxiv:23, xxv:6-8; I Cor. xv:41-58 was read and prayer offered. Then followed the address:

BRETHREN, SISTERS AND FRIENDS: Here we have another of those solemn meetings. We are again brought face to face with death. We are made to realize that death is still abroad in our land and we do not know how soon we may become its victims, like our sister who lies here in its cold embrace. In this we have an exemplification of the words of inspiration: "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not"—Job xiv: 1, 2. If this were all hopeless indeed would be our case. If the sad picture here presented to us, that man is cut down, passes away, vanishes—if there were no hope beyond the present life and beyond the grave, sad and dark indeed would be the picture hung before us in these words. But the writer of these words had a hope beyond the present. Therefore in the agonies he was enduring at this time he exclaimed: "O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past; that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and REMEMBER ME"— Job xiv: 13. When that set time would come his hope was; "Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee; thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands"—Job xiv: 15. Therefore the glorious hope was before him and it is before us. He was inspired, therefore, to exclaim: ''For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Whom I shall see for myself; and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me"—Job xix; 25-27. Away back then in the times of Job here was the hope of a glorious resurrection from the dead.

Coming further down to the time of the prophecy of Isaiah, we have that prophet also exclaiming: "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead"—Isa. xxvi: 19. Coming further down to the prophet Daniel, we hear him say: "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt"—Dan. xii: 2. What then was the source of hope and the consolation which the prophets and patriarchs of old had in view in their realization of .the fact that they were the victims of death? for their experience was the same as ours in this respect. It was just as true in their times as it is in our times, that "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. ii: 12); no exception, in view of the fact that death passed upon all men. They realized that they were an exemplification of that fact in that death had become the law of nature, and that as soon as man begins to live he begins to die. In view of this fact, we repeat, what hope afforded them consolation? The hope in the resurrection from the dead. Their hope was that a time would come when God would send His own beloved Son, who would bruise the serpent's head. Being obedient unto death, He would go down into the depths, the darkness of hades, allow it to close and lock its doors upon Him and then break the barriers of the tomb and come forth in triumph, and thus declare to a world that was hopeless and helpless, "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live"—John xi: 25.

But when is this hope realized? When He uttered these words He was speaking of when He would come "the second time without sin unto salvation." In the mean time all the faithful ones, as the apostle declares, die in the faith, not having received the promise, " God having provided some better thing, that they without us should not be made perfect"—Heb. xi: 40. So that all that die must sleep the sleep of death until the day of perfection arrives. When Christ came the first time that day of perfection had not yet arrived for His people. He came, it is true to work out redemption. He worked it out in and through Himself. He became a manifestation of the work of redemption through conquering the power of death and the grave. We have seen the power of God manifested in His case. He was made perfect. When He comes again the day of perfection for us will have arrived. When He comes again we shall stand together before Him, and at the hands of the righteous Judge receive the blessings of the glorious promises that bubble in the stream of hope that rung through the Scriptures of Truth. Of that Divine nature to which we may attain the apostle tells us that Christ is the first-fruits—that is to say, the first-fruits of the glorious nature of immortality. When He was here upon earth He was a "man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." He had to suffer and to die, but He gained the victory because He went down into the grave as a perfectly obedient child of God, and the tomb could not hold Him, because God could not suffer ''his holy one to see corruption." He therefore became the captain of our salvation. The world was not yet ripe for the harvest of the great day of God Almighty. He had only performed that part of his mission which belonged to His first coming. It was therefore said: "Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool"—Psa. cx:1. When that time arrives "God shall send Jesus Christ," and then they that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall he changed. Then those who have died in the faith, not having received the promise, shall awake from the dust of death to receive the glorious promise God has made—to receive the, blessings which the Saviour will give when He shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Therefore the apostle says; "Every man in his own order; Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming;” Christ, after His obedience unto the death of the cross, was raised up and clothed with the Divine nature, transformed into the glorious nature of immortality, and thus exalted to the right hand of the Father, who will send Him at the time of the restitution of all things. The glorious nature that He now possesses is free from sickness, sorrow, pain and death. He never more will feel the pain of our poor, weak and sin-stricken natures, nor be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Death has no more dominion over Him. He has obtained the victory over all enemies. His nature now is deathless, glorious and capable of enjoying Heaven's blessings throughout the countless ages of eternity. Now just think that such a nature is to be bestowed upon all who are faithful in Christ Jesus! Does it not seem too good to be true? Can we be sure of it? Yes, indeed; for does it not say in the words of inspiration, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved? now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for we shall see him as he is"—I. John iii: 1, 2. Another apostle says He shall change our sin-stricken or mortal body; ''For we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself"—Phil. iii: 20, 21. Then it shall be, as Paul says, "Every man in his own order, Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming"—I Cor. xv: 23, alluding of course to His second coming; for these words were uttered after Christ ascended to heaven.

Now it is a source of comfort to think at this time that she who lies before us cold in death has gone to sleep in this glorious hope. She had come to a belief of the glorious gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. She was one of those who had by a patient continuance in well-doing sought for glory, honor and immortality, and therefore the reward awaiting her is eternal life at the hands of Christ when He comes. She was not of those who make the Word of God of none effect by believing we are immortal. She was of those who believe the Scripture, that man in his present condition is mortal, destitute of immortality, and that God will bestow it upon men and women worthy of it. He has not given His immortal, glorious nature to wicked men, as is generally taught at the present time. While man at the present time is dying and returning to the dust, those who are led of God and walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called will realize a change of nature, to be free from sickness, sorrow, pain and death.

We have reasons to believe that our sister was faithful to her calling, and that the time cannot be far distant when he who is the resurrection and the life will come. The question for us to ask ourselves is, What will be our lot at that time? Here we have a warning. Here we are reminded that death is a fact. We know not which of us will become a victim next. ''It is appointed unto men once to die"—Heb. xi: 27. We know not the day nor the hour that our time may come, and it therefore behooves us to be ready. We realize that life is the time to serve the Lord. If we so conduct ourselves that, come what may, be it death and unconsciousness until the day of resurrection, or be it the call to meet the Lord our Judge, let us see to it that we watch every moment of our life, so that it overtakes us not unaware. “Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh"—Matt. xxiv: 44. Should ours be the lot of our dear sister, to fall asleep in the embrace of death until the resurrection, be it one day or a thousand years, it will be but a moment to us. The righteous Judge will judge every man according as his work shall be; so that whether it be death or the calling to the judgment-seat it matters not. The fact that death is here at the present time, the lesson for us to learn is, that we must look out for ourselves that we lose not those things which we have gained, that we receive a full reward." Believing the true gospel, obeying His commandments and precepts and patiently continuing in well doing until the end of our probation, then whether we sleep or are awake when He comes all will be well. "Behold," He says, "I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be"—Rev. xxii: 12

To those who have come to the knowledge of the Truth; have been associated with each other in the bonds of love which the Truth alone can enkindle; have learned to love each other and esteem each other in a way that tongue cannot express, there is a time coming when we shall stand together before the judgment-seat of Christ, either to remain together as a happy company or to be severed; yes, severed for ever. It is for us to decide now what our fate will be at that time. There is a sweet consolation in the thought that we have to deal with Him who is just and righteous, just in all His ways, and more than that; for if He were just only we could never expect to meet His demands. But God has provided not only a just Judge but a merciful one. While He will deal with us justly, He will administer justice in such a manner as to allow for our infirmities and weaknesses. We may console ourselves therefore that we have a "merciful and faithful high-priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of his people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted"—Heb. ii; 17-18. "For we have not an high-priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin"—Heb. iv: 15. We have a High-priest who will sympathize with us, who has given His life on our behalf, who will sympathize with our imperfections if we shall have done what we could.

Our pilgrimage may seem hard, yet His yoke is easy and His burden is light, if we look at it rightly. There is nothing in this world worth having. Life is not worth living so far as life itself is concerned. In fact it is a failure if there is nothing beyond; but if the present life is utilized as a stepping-stone into the glorious life that is to come, it is used for the purpose God has given it. Use it, then, and do not abuse it,

To intermingle in the frivolities that are characteristic of this world will be to fail at last in the glorious age to come; but if we crucify the flesh and everything that opposes God and His, precepts, then we have nothing to fear. The glorious reward will be ours. May the time soon come shall be our humble prayer.

We will now leave this our dear sister in the embrace of death, but only for a short time, as we have reason to believe, knowing that Christ will surely come; He will not disappoint us. He said when here: "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also"—John xix: 3. We have an assurance that He will perform His promise. And when He does come we shall again see the light of life shining in the countenance of her who now lies before us cold in the grasp of death. "He will beautify the meek with salvation, causing their countenance to shine out with Divine glory. The electric flash of heaven's blessings will cause the "wise to shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever"—Dan. xii; 3.

I do not suppose there are any strangers here—only those who were acquainted with our sister. I would say, however, in case there are those who may not be familiar with the thoughts that have been presented and the faith she has died in, that she belonged to those people who are known as Christadelphians. Christadelphian means brethren of Christ, of whom our Saviour said; ''Whosoever shall do the will of my Father, the same is my brother, and my sister and mother"—Mark iii: 35; Matt. xii: 48; "He is not ashamed to call them brethren"—Heb. ii: 2. All who do His Father's will are His brethren, because "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise"—Gal. iii: 27-29. For a number of years—I do not know how many, but many years—our sister has been a faithful member of that body, and has tried to work out her salvation and has died in the one hope. Our temporal surroundings sink into insignificance in comparison with the faith we die in and the hope we have. Matters of a temporal character we therefore leave out. However, we may say that as she has been a faithful follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, her character in the eyes of the world has been consistent.

Hymn 142, page 166, was sung, and prayer offered, when we proceeded to the cemetery to bury our dead, in the hope of life.

The Christadelphian Advocate. April 1894, pgs 73-78.