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Vol. 3. poetry, I’d rather keep the door Os God’s dear house, and bring My dove an offering with the poor, Than reign an earthly king. I’d rather hunger deep For righteousness divine, Than feast with worldly lords and keep Their riches all as mine. I’d rather thirst for thee, My God, on burning mount, Than drink to full satiety From sweetest earthly fount. I’d choose afflictions deep, With this world’s scorning rod, That with Zion I might reap The fullness of my God. Then, hungry, thirsty, poor, And needy I’ll remain, With joy through life, to find the door Os heaven’s eternal gain. F. SERMON. By Eld. L. I. Bodenheimer, of North Carolina. ‘•The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 fbr. 15: 56,57. glorious subject of this is the redemption of the righteous, including the resurrect ion of their mortal bodies, as a part of the man unto whom the victory is given. The doctrine of the resurrection is so wonderfully interesting to the Believer, that no wonder the Apostle, in portraying grew sublimely elo- ?6f a blessed immortality Tiimself, m common with all believers; he closes the chapter by saying. “But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Je sus Christ.” I shall first speak of death and its sting; and who it stings. And then of the law in its atributes, to wit, holy, just and good. Death natural, or corporal, is a desolution of the physical anato mical economy; and which is “ap pointed unto all men.’’ But the sting of death is sin; and while death is an appointment of God; its sting is by an ac£ of man,as“by one man sin entered in to the world.” I shall show you that the Apostle by the sting of death, does not mean the physical pain and suffering in the desolu tion of soul and body, for he says in the 55 verse: “O death, where -isjhy sting'. 1 ’ From which lan guage we learn that death was then doing its appointed work of mortal desolution; for this was the victorious cry of a Saint in mortal death, and yet the Saint did not find,or feel the sting,and was only suffering the natural pain common to mortal desolution. Often I have j heard the trembling child of God say .“1 dread the sting of death,and that is all the reason I fear to die!” Oh, if you are indeed a child of God, your sins are washed away by Jesus’ blood. If so, when death comes to you, he will come with out his sting, for the sting of death is sin. So when Christ shall com mission death to call for you, he will say to death, “Go and disolve the earthly house, but 1 have wrenched thy.sting from thee, so thou shalt not sting my child.” “For precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints ” So fear not,ye saints,that you will ever feel the sting of death in dy ing for your sins are put away and thereby death has lost its sting for you, for “the sting of death is sin.” ®he pilgrim's pnmuif “THOU HAST GIVEN A BANNER TO THEM THAT FEAR THEE, THAJLIT MAY BE DISPLAYED BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH.”—Psalms 60: 4. I will now show you who death will sting in a dying day. It will be the impenitent sinner, whose God is this world with all its riches, honors, and pleasures; who would not retain God in his thoughts; but loved and worshiped the creat ure, and loved pleasure more than he loved God; profamed his name; oppressed the fatherless and the widow, defrauded the poor, lived in vice and immorality; and comes to death without hope, and with out God. Oh fearful thought! Sinner, when thou comest to a dy ing bed, or when death shall “come in at thy window” with his grim and ghastly visage and say to you “Thou fool! this night shall thy soul be required of thee, then whose shall all these things” be? Then you will look around upon your riches and say“we must now part; thou hast deceived me, thou madest me believe thou was’t happiness; I forsook all for thee, even God and his law, and now I see lam lost through the deceit fulness of riches.” Death now lays hold on thee with a thousand stings, plunging them into thy guilty soul and conscience; he ap peals to the law for mercy and help; and the answer is “nay, you trampled me under your feet, and I am just, but you are carnal, sold under sin;l am holy and good, and can show no favor to a wicked sin ner.” Then you will ask “how long are as flames, to continue?” the answer is ■"■pod %<<ut sinner, you may think that in so £bort time as a life-time, you could not commit enough sin to deserve eternal punishment; beside you sinned as a finite being; and eter nal punishment is infinite; how about this? The law replies, “the soul that sinneth it shall die.” Moreover, your soul is infinite;and the law is infinite;and the God who gave it, is infinite, as is His jus tice. Hence the pen dty of such a sin, against such a law, of such a God, must’be infinite. Also the three grand atributes of the law— just, holy and good, —make a cord of infinite strength. For “the strength of sin is the law.” So sinner, be not deceived, God is not mocked.’ ’ All of His holiness, goodness and justice, is manifested in the law; and His al mighty power is engaged to exe c.ite,and defend it. Oh how strong then, is the law? How terribly offensive is sin to God? Sin can damn forever, having th« law for its strengtlr.for “the strength of sin is the law.” Oh what a terri ble death, sinner, stung! stung to death by sin, and yet never can die! Thy heart was set upon this world, instead; and now the world, and sin stings thee; and thou now callest upon God for help. But He cannot hear thy cry! As He said “thou shalt call, but I shall not answer thee”—money was thy god, call upon him, —“go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourself.” Oh thou rich sinner! your riches laid up by oppression of the orphan and widow, by fraud, usury, lying, stealing, etc., shall be moulded into a million stings and placed in the shaft of death, and shall be driven through thy soul by the strength and power of the law, for “the strength of the law is sin.” Another grade of stings is thy lusts, for “lust is sin, and sin when finished brings forth death.” Hence, when death comes, he will DEVOTED TO THEEAUSE OF CHRIST. Valdosta, Ga., wbruary 1,1896. bring a sting ior every one of thy lusts; can you count them? No, they are without number; yet j£ar soul aud conscience will be stung with each ope; yea also, each one of thy sinful thoughts will, in thy dying hour, haunt thy soul and sting thy conscience. “The sting of death is sin.” Oh sinner, whah and where, is hope of escape? YT thou hast lived filthy, thou must die filthy, and be turned into hell with all the nations that know not God. There is no victory for such as die out of Christ. Here I leave thee to consider. * I now come to speak to thosf 5 who have hope in Christ; and a hope of the resurection of these mortal bodies of ours. I shall show you that redemption is in complete without their resurrect ion; for the Lord by Hosea says “I will ransom them from the power of the grave, 1 will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plague! O grave, I will be be thy (listruction! repentance shall be hid from my eyes.” As it is the body that dies, it is also the same body that gees to the grave; and if ransomed from the grave, it mngk be that, and that only, the grave holds. And as it is the mortal i body that is holden as the legiti-. mate poisoner of death; so it muss be of- necessity, the mortal body that Christ re" deems from death. And. as* death has been the .universal plague of Adams race,-save tyo,-k, so Christ will be alsoTTieuniversaf plague of death to all his; and hence says, “O death I will be thy plague.” And as in the resurrect ion this mortal shall put on immor tality, it can no more die; and hence, “he hath abolished death” by “swallowing up death in vic tory.” In view of this signal victory, wherein Christ has not only caused the same body that death killed, to live again; but in order to set death at defiance forever, he hath caused this mortal to put on im mortality; so that it is impossible for death ever to slay it again, or make it a prisoner of the grave; no death hath no more dominion over it. Well, may the Apostle exclaim “Thanis be to God which giveth us the victory.” In worldly conflicts prisoners are taken and retaken captives. But in this, the prisoners of the grave are redeemed, as well as taken; they are not only redeemed but al so their “mortality is swallowed up of life,” which places them forever beyond the power of death. And as the soul by redemption and the spiritual birth, is placed above the law and sin, so also is the body when resurrected. And these elements that composed the man on earth, will then re unite, and compose the man in heaven. Herein is displayed the lull, com plete and everlasting redemption and salvation of the man—the sin ner. The Apostle in a heavenly blaze of divine light, as it were, beholds the dying saint as death gently prepares him for the grave without a sting, and softly lays him sweetly to rest from his labors in the qnietude of the grave until the resurrection morn, and by faith sees the same body raised in glory, exclaims, “Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ.” For every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father; yet all though Jesus Christ; that is, for I ■ fcissake —for what he was, is, and , *hall be. wondrous thought! that you, ■'Su’d especially I, should have a ’ ifttle hope; as we call it, and yet it >3 strong enough to anchor our s»puls, while life’s temptuous bi 1 lbws roar and drive our earthen ’ from shore to shore. And, ifearful one, this little hope of thine - to that within the vail Vhither Christ, the forerunner is t>r us is entered. Hope! Oh blessed, ’ nope! Well did the Apostle exclaim 4 ln hope of eternal life, which that cannot lie, promised be 'ij/ire the world began.” Beloved, •j-'Uis little hope of thine will never, never desert thee;though it may sleem small at times, and you may try to throw it away, but it will |ever be so thrownjyou may deny ft,but it will still sink deep in thy fteart as does the anchor in the ;|orray seas, and while the surface ’raters are tempestuous, and all of /pur earthly pleasures are swept ovay, one after another, until your heart sickens and sinks with- Wyou; yet your hope is still, still •<tchored in Christ, the “Rock of O&s,” and still bears .you over the tide of human sorrows and i while a small still voice ■ Oaks within you, “Peace, be ■iWU’ Then how sweetly you sing gfejin your mothers good, glad old KWRock of ages cleft for me, i ,aHE Let me hide myself in the.” • precious ones of earth! sons of toil, trial ajjjl. disappointment! you who feel sL.all as a sparrow upon the house top, and lonely as a pellican in the wilderness, and fearful and timid as the con a; come and go with me to the banquet of mercv; and you shall then see your best, dearest friend with your name en graved upon his own bleeding heart; and in his hands, teet, and side, you shall see the prints of the nails and sword that wounded him, and opened a fountain for your sin and uncleanness. And in his right hand you shall see the keys of death and hell; and on his head a crown of twelve stars, and on his glorious banner of love unfurled and floating victoriously,you shall see written, “Lord of Lords and King of Kings,’’and the host of an gels will gather around him to hear the redeemed from sin and death grave, exclaims in heav- “Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,” a song they can never sing. Oh wonderous victory! “through our Lord Jesus Christ. Some of you are shedding tears of sorrow over your departed ones, and often go to weep over their silent graves: but when you go again,listen, you shall hear Jesns (by Hosea) say to that grave, “0 grave! I will be thy distruction.” Some of you are shedding sweet, yet sorrowful, tears of hope of again meeting the darling that death hath hidden from your sight; hear him again,“O death I will be thy plague,” For he shall reign till all enemies are put under his feet, and the last enemy to be con quored, is death. Then cease to weep for your dead in Christ, but rather rejoice, because now they have no enemy, death was the last, and that is conquered. And I do believe that all born of God shall meet, and know each other in heaven in a glorified state. Not after the flesh, for “mortality shall be swallowed up of life.” Yet there will be a spiritual recogni tion in our spiritual bodies. You and 1 shall see each in a bodily shape, and shall talk, hear, sing and praise God in a spiritual way, even as angels never can. “Thanks be to God who giveth us the vic tory” over death,and the grave, sin and mortality. I believe I shall see and know Moses, and hear him tell of that wonderful bush that burned and was not consumed; and all those others in like manner. Yes, all shall know each other,and all shall know Christ, even as we are known of him. Then Christ hath “abolished death and brought life and immor tality to light through the gospel.” He hath suffered the wages of sin, which is death; he hath magnified and honored the law—the strength of sin—and thereby destroyed the sting of death—which is sin—and thus conquored death and the grave, to all his people. And by his resurrection from the dead hath justified them to eternal life, and made them more than con quorers over every ill and evil. “Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” “O death where is thy sting.” Cox, Ga., January 13th, 1896. Dear brother:—l have been re flecting upon a certian passage of scripture, and desire to pen a few thoughts concerning it, for the Banner. “ForThis purj)ObebT tEe S6n of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John, 3: 8. In order that our minds the better comprehend this subject, let us consider,first,the magnitude,and horrible consequence of the “works of the devil.” And second, the glorioui things accomplished in the destruction of these works. The first work of this enemy we see manifested was the beguiling of our mother in the garden. The horrible output of that first work is, to some extent, realized when we hear the groans and cries of millions of suffering human beings. Some perishing with hunger, some suffering in nakednes and destitu tion, scorched with fever, pierced with pain, steeped in sorrow, and so on. Even the infant is subject to these awful consequences. Horrible indeed is the fruit of the “works of the devil.” And yet, we have not yet reviewed the most awful and terrible stream of this evil work, —the whole world lying in wickedness —none seeking after God; all naturally loving darkness rather than light, and running down the declivity of time, toward the great ocean of destruction, without the fear of God before their eyes. Work I Oh horrible “work of the devil!” Invite these heedless characters to come to the great marriage sup per of the Lamb ;and “they all with one consent, begin to make excus es.” Tell the moral man to sur render all earthly possessions, and take up the cross and follow the humble, meek and lowly Jesus; and he shall have treasures in heaven. And we see him “go away sorrowful.” Depravity! depravity! who can fathom its depths? “Walking according to the course of this world,” “according to the. prince of the power of the air;’’ rolling sin as a sweet morsel un der their tongues; “led captive by the devil at his will.” Call, yes, call aloud with all gravity and sincerity of heart, to check this downward tendency; but we be hold the heart “decitful above all things, and des{. How then can u> God? Salvation! tion, where dwelles* heaven’s power the Lion of th 5 tribe of Judan, come to the rescue, and “destroy the devil.” He alone is found worthy to loose the seal, of Gfir aud open the prison cells of our depravity, and set the captive free. He can shut the “gates of hell,” and none can open. He can open the doors of mercy, and none can shut. The poor, downcast, desponent leper— a filthy castaway because of the works of the devil—heard the bless ed, soul-inspiring words, “Be thou clean,” and immediately his lepro sy was cleansed, The poor blind beggar, bound in darkness, under the prevailing curse for sin, (works of Satan) could cry in helpless ness** Jesus thou son of David have mercy on me!” and his powerful words, “Receive thy sight,” with divine authority, brought light out of darkness and illuminated the poor man’s double darkness, and caused.him to sing praise and glory to God. The dying thief re joice to sea that distruction of the works of the devil, in his hour of fear and death; and listened to the sweet, unspeakably welcome words of mercy, “This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Oh what could the poor sinner have done, if Jesus had not been “manifested to destroy the works of the devil?” See_him tarry, -aa-ia the case of Lazarus, until the works of Satan (Sin) had reigned unto death ;and then, behold the power of death and the grave, honor his divine call, as he frees Lazarus from both.. Behold what manner of have loved the with an evetlastiiig love,” says Jesus to hit; people. And nothing is able to aeparittßO us from the love of God given Jesus. Truly his love is stronger than death, since he came forth to conquor as “maifested to de stroy the works of the devil,” by his own death and resurrection in behalf of his people; hence, no weopon formed against them shall prosper. When the poor, helpless, humil iated sinner realises his bondage to sin, and feels the power of Satan in his depraved nature, filling his mind with evil thoughts, and his heart with vanity; it is but the light of grace revealing his corrupt ions and weakness. His chance for heaven —he concludes —now seems less than that of any other; he hears the thunderings of Gods ho ly law saying “The soul that sins it shall die,” and feels its terrible denunciations against him; his heart involuntarily goes out to God, crying for mercy, “Lord be merciful to me, a sinner!” “Lord what will thou have me to do?” In this valley of humility, poverty and ruined helplessness, Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.” Having lost all confidence in all created resources to deliver him; and be ing converted—from depending on his own strength and works—and become as a little child, that only can cry from hunger—and crying “Lord have mercy;” it shall come to pass “that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” And thus by grace, through faith he is saved. There Jesus was “manifested to destroy the works of the devil”—to “de stroy him who held the power of death over us.” In which he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men He gives his redeemed [Continued on 4th page. J