Second Mountain Peak
"He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces: and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it." Isaiah 25:8
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST has given us complete victory over death, and now we can say, "Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?" But those who have no hope of salvation throughout their lifetime, have to spend it in tears and sorrows. They do not know what is going to happen when they die. Only those who who know the Lord by experience can say those words of challenge to death and the grace. To them death is only a temporary parting. When anyone is promoted to a high job, such as an ordinary clerk becoming the President of Hyderabad State, and he has to be transferred far from home when he gets the promotion, does he start weeping? Of course not!—on the other hand he rejoices!
Similarly only a true believer can say "Oh death, where is thy sting, where is thy victory?" With perfect peace he can face death. When our loved ones are taken away there comes the thought again and again, that we shall meet them again, never to part, in glorified immortal bodies.
The strongest man in the whole world cannot be delivered from the fear of death. The wound caused by death cannot be healed by any human words. Many may come and console and condole but nobody can heal the wound. But the believer knows by experience that this is only a temporary separation. The person who dies, can depart with perfect peace, saying: "I come to Thee". Many saints of God have said such words and departed to glory. On the faces of those who sleep in Jesus, is a peaceful expression, while on the faces of others there is nothing but fear and terror. We can tell that the former has gone to be with the Lord, and that we shall meet again. We can ascend a mountain peak and go to Him under all circumstances even in the face of death, and thus have a foretaste of heaven' upon earth. Such can say indeed: "Oh death, where is thy sting? oh grave, where is thy victory?"