Locating the Sting of ·De.Ath , '
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Historic Brief of Pentec05talism-p. 4 Sunday School Contest Results-p. 6 The Operations of ,Divine Grace-p. 7 Further Tributes to Dr. Siade-p. 11 Turbulence and Truth-p. 13 It . Vol. 53, No.8 13'0 Gerrard $t. E., July11, 1974 Whole Number 2387'" Locating the Sting of ·De.ath , '. A Sermon preached in Ja~is Street Baptist Church, Toronto by DR. IAN K. PAISLEY, N. Irel~d, Sunday Evening, May 19, '1974, the evening aftet: the Memorial Service for Dr. H. C.Slade. I am going to ask you to' 'stand for prayer, please. II CORINTHIANS 15:55: Gracious Heavenly. Father, we thank Thee. from the "0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where, is thy depth of our hearts that the Lord Jesus Chr~st is the victory?" sole Head of His Church, that He doeth all thmgs well. IF I WERE asked for a subject for my message this We cannot understand with our finite minds. and our .' limitations why 'He calls' one home so unexpectedly; but, evening, I would caN it, "Locating the Sting ·of Death." Lord, we bless Thee that it is' the Lord's hand that has The question is, Where is death's sting? ' done it,. and we can see His hand, and we can trust when !I. we cannot .see. One day we know we will bless the hand I FIND STING OF' DEATH FIRSt OF ALL, that guided and we will bless the heart that planned. TIm We thank Thee that we can say tonight, Is there anyone iN THE DEATH OF EVERY UNGO:[~LY, UNRE 'can help us, one who understands our need when the GENERATE MAN AND WOMAN. Could we stand for a moment in the dark shadows of the ungodly death thorns of life have pierced us till we bleed; one who chamber? Could we see the soul 'withootQhrist grappli?g sympathizes with us, who iii wondrous love imparts j~t with the great enemy 'of death as the shadows of eternity the very blessing that we need? We bless Thee th~t ·every saint" of God, no matter what the circumstances are, can gather and tJhe sands of time on a mort~'s sbul are say, Yes, there is One, only One, the blessed, blessed running out? There is n'O hope here for Chnst, the Hope JesuS, He is the One. When afflictions press the soul, when of sinners, has been rejected. There is n~ peace here the waves of trouble' roll,' And you need a friend to help. ror Christ, the Prince .of Peace, has ,been rejected. There you. He is the One. Father, draw near and give. to us . is no ·liWt here for Christ, Who i.s t~e Light o~ the :vorld, has been rejected; and the soul wlthou~ Cm:ISt, wl~hout beauty for ashes, the oil of j9Y for mo.urning, and ~e garment of' praise for the spirit of heavmess. Keep thiS peace; 'without hope, in the darkness ,IS" .. bemgushered great Church in the spirit of prayer, and. raise up men down the dark corridor of death, and the great doors of eternity are about to open, and that soul is about to and women to stand in the gap in these eVil days, so th~t Thy great Name ·shall. be honoured ..We pray tOnig.ht enter. into tJhe great untracked and unfathomable dep~ for the preaching of Thy Word. We need not the WIS of a lost eternity. What e~pressions ,of grief come from dom that man teaches; we need the power and the dem the lips of sinners in the a~y of death's path! onstration of the' Holy Ghost. Grant to us that power. I am reminded of the great Queen Eliza:beth I, wh~n: To this end I take the promised Holy Ghost, the blessed she came 'to die. The royal bed-chamber was steeped ~n power of Pentecost, to fill me to the uttermost. Thank datk' and terrible silence, and courtiers stood there m Godl He, undertakes for me. In Jesus' name, Amen and their grief, and from th.e royal !'ed t~ere ca,me a shriek, Amen. the shriek of a royal smner dymg WIthout a royal par- /' / don. I "All my possessions," she cried, "for one more moment of life!" There you have the sting pf death. Could I bring you to the death-bed of Hobbes; the great ,English infidel? Death has come to seize upon his soul, and the summons of eternity has been served in the death-ohamber, and he cries in the agony of the death time, "I am taking a leap into the dark, I am taking a DR, T, T, SHIELDS - FOUNDER AND FIRST EDITOR (1922:1955) leap into the dark:" Oh, men fast dying in the agony DR, H. C, SLADE:"'- (1955·1974, of ~at cry, a cry of darkness, a cry without hope, a cry without solace a cry without comfort! I find that the Published bi.weekly on Thursday for the propagation of the sting of death. Or shall I bring you to the end of a Evangelical principles of the Flrotastant Reform.tlon .nd In misspent life, the life of Byron, tlhe great English poet, defen'ce of the faith onc. deliv~red to the Saints. how ..he- burned himself out in folly, in lust and in sinful 54.00 Per -Ye.r. Postpaid to .ny," addre' ... 20¢ Per Slnglll Copy pleasure? He takes up with trembling .fingers his pen, Sterling Countries £1.7 (2 y.... 3,£) pay. bill to C.n.di.n Imperl.1 and he writes: - Bank of Commerce, 2 Lombard Street, London, England "1 am not ashaqted of the gospel of Christ.. ...,....Romans 1: 16 My days are in t!he yellow leaf; The flowers and fruits of love are gone; EDITOR: Oliva' Clark, Ph.D. The wonn, th,e canker, and the grief MANAGING EDITOR: flev. W. P. Bauman, B.A., B.D. Are mine alone! - CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Rev. George B. Fletcher, D.O. Where is death's sting? I find it in the death of every Rev. J. F. Holliday, D.O. ungodly person. Registered Cable Address: Jarwltaem, Canada 130 Gerrard Street East, Toronto • Canada IT. MSA3T4 "0 ,deallh, where is thy sting?" I find no sting of death Second clan mail registration number 1465 , in the death of the believer. How differetllt is the deat!h chamber of the child' of God! How sweet' are those passages of the Word of God t!hat tell me something of elf mourning; we have all stood ana wept our bitter tears the passing of a soul redeemed by precious blood! in the day that death triumphed in our homes; and no "Mark the peI1fect man, and behold the liprilght: for t!he doubt, before the end of the jOurney, the experience will end of that man is peace." "Blessed, are the dead that be repeated time and time. again. There comes to us die in the Lord." "Precious in the sight of the Lord is this i~pired Word, this good question of the Book, "0 the death of His saints."- There is a peace, there is Ii death, where is thy sting?" Where can I locate the sting calm,' there is a heavenly atmosphere, there is somethirig of death? I locate, it amongst those that are left behind. that reminds one of Paradise regained in the death of every child of God. III. When D. L. Moody, the great evangelist, came to BUT IF I WOUlD REALLY FIND THE STING die they listened to his death whisper, and what did he OF DEATH, I, MUST PONDER THE PASSION OF say? J:fe said, "Earth is' receding, Heaven' is opening, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. If I w{)uld' really know Christ is coming, I must go." What did John Wesley say how deep that sting is,how poisonous that sting is, how when death cailled him to the upper regions to receive . terrible that sting as it inflicts its pang, I must come and his reward? He w:hispered the words of the Psalmist, "I gaze upon the' bleeding, battered, broken lxldy of God's shall be satisfied 'when I awake in His likeness." dear Son in the outworking of His, great redemptive pur- pose. \-' When I arrived in your city, thefiIst place I went was to tbe Funeral Home, ,and as I looked' upon the eart!hly . I go tonight to the shadows of Get!hsemane's Garden. remains of tJhe Pastor of this great Church and a dear I stand. amidst the Olive Groves. I see one group of brother beloved in Christ,' I could see no sting of death disciples, and they are on the fringe of the Garden. I there, and J said in my heart, "asleep in Jesus." Happy pass another gr{)UP, Peter, James and John a little . is the soul that dies a death that is stingless and that is farther in beneath the olive shades. Then yonder, a:bout a gateway to everlasting life! I find no sting of death in . a stone's throwaway, there is the Son of Man and the the death of the child of God~ , Man of Sqrrows; and in agony He prays earnestly and "0 death, where' is thy sting?" I FIND THE sweat as drops of blood are falliIlJg down to the ground. STING OF DEATH AMONGST THOSE STILL· As those purple drops _ooze out from t!he pores of God's dear Son and cover His body with the crimson of His LEFT BEHIND.