Mortal enemy

“ The last enemy, moreover, who is called death, is said on this account to be destroyed, that there may not be anything left of a mournful kind when death does not exist, nor anything that is adverse when there is no enemy. ”

“ But thou shalt not alway mock the invincible gods, nor shall their enemies rejoice for long, nor shall these knavish sorceries prevail. For except thou become obedient unto me, and right-minded toward the gods, I will first deliver time to sundry tortures, and then put thee to the cruellest death, dealing with thee not as with a son, but as with an enemy and rebel. ”

“ Here and there they even stumbled on a distorted, half-consumed body--a hideous reminder of the vanquished enemy--the half-man that had tried to pit itself against the whole-man, with inevitable annihilation as the only possible result. ”

“ And an apostle asks the triumphant question, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, (hades or hell) where is thy victory?” 5. Death is also an enemy, and it is to be destroyed. We read, “He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe tears from all faces.” “There shall be no more death;” and the text asserts that, “The last enemy, death, shall be destroyed.” But how can death be destroyed if millions of mankind are to be eternally the victims of death? In the language of Dr. Adam Clarke, “Death is conquered, hell disappointed, the devil confounded, and sin totally destroyed. ”

“ Who is it that, having power to kill his enemy, killeth him not? And yet Thou wilt die that he may not die. Pardon, O Lord, my inhuman unthankfulness, and aid me with Thy abundant grace, that I may no more return to fall into so horrible a misery! ”

“ In case of attack, we would have to drop the monster in its spring—and only a lucky shot could do that—or the result would be a most disastrous one. For we could not meet an attack there; to step aside or to meet the demon in a struggle would mean a plunge over the edge.
It was indeed a critical, appalling scene, one in which I have no desire to see even my worst enemy placed. Our fate, I thought, was in the hands of that white-robed, white-faced being whom we knew as the angel. ”

“ The glance of its eye sufficeth to turn to stone any living thing that standeth before it. Were I but for one instant to loose my spells whereby I hold it in subjection, in that moment would end my life days and thine. So strong in properties of ill is this serpent which the ancient Enemy that dwelleth in darkness hath placed upon this earth, to be a bane unto the children of men, but an instrument of might in the hand of enchanters and sorcerers. ”

“ Mayst thou be a stranger to all that which is punished with darkness, chastised with flames, and condemned to torments. Let the wicked enemy, with all his evil spirits, depart from thee; may he tremble at thy approach in the company of Angels, and retire into the horrid confusion of eternal night. May thy God arise, and thy enemies be put to flight. ”

“ There is a greater arm than ever drew mortal sword to defend us! Even were we in the gates of death itself, I would bid thee fear not; for God has broken the bonds of the grave asunder, and provided a ransom to deliver us from hell itself! ”

“ We want to keep in mind clearly the Enemy, the battle-ground, and the battle; we can never match swords with him; to ignore him—big, cunning, supernatural, eternally at it—will be the most dangerous folly. ”

“ To Strike Fear and Terror into the Heart of an Enemy.—Pythagoras says: “That if a flame be put into the skull of a murderer, and the flame of your enemy written therein, it will strike the person whose name is so written with fear and trembling, and he will speedily seek your forgiveness and become a steadfast friend.” ”

“ But man, through disobedience, opened the gates to the enemy; death enters the armed with horrible vengeance, and with a ghastly smile seats himself upon the throne of the new world, and clad with frightful majesty proclaims himself “The Kin of Terrors.” ”

“ Destruction clamors at your palace gates, and the enemy that cometh upon you unaware is an enemy that none shall vanquish or subdue, not even they who are the mightiest among the mighty. Blood stains the earth and the sky. ”

“ If we are never to overcome death, why does the Scripture say, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death”? The entire tenor of the Word shows that, in proportion as we overcome sin, shall we obtain the victory over death. ”

“ He defended himself with a most unfortunate weapon—a weapon which exploded in his hands and injured him more than the enemy, for he argued against the idea of compacts with Satan, and showed that much which is ascribed to demons results from natural means. ”

“ Earth could not hold us both, nor can one Heaven
Contain my deadliest enemy and me! ”

“ And the soul will see, and will depart to that incorporeal country, and it will make the mind to hold in contempt the things which are wrought by the devils, and will compel it to trample under foot serpents and scorpions, and all the power of the Enemy. ”

“ Give no truce nor sign of respite at the binding of the Beast.
He is cunning, he is strong, and the war shall yet be long,
Where the seven thunders wake and the walls of heaven shake.
He is cruel, blind and ruthless; he is boastful, sly and truthless;
By his will the Powers of Darkness are increast;
But the shackle and the chain shall avenge the hurt and slain,
Who have broken bread with heroes at the binding of the Beast. ”

“ And when we turn to ourselves and think what we may learn from this transaction, we see a valuable application of his method to the spiritual warfare. God has enemies still, within and without, with whom we are called to contend. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." When we are fighting with the enemy within our own hearts leniency is our great temptation, but at the same time our greatest snare. ”

“ No, no; have I not told you that this man is a devil? No one in these parts would dare to cross him. He can shoot as no mortal man should shoot, and they say that the best French swordsmen could not touch him. It is death. ”

“ As if the hermit were more immune from death than the hunter! Overhead hover fearful fire-breathing demons bearing beautiful women head downwards to their doom. Towards the centre of the entire picture, of which this forms but a half, sweeps Death, a sombre flying figure with a great scythe, whom cripples and the sorrowful invoke in vain; underneath are his slain, upon whose bodies swoop demons with long pitchforks and angels with long crosses, fighting furiously for the spoil, in a game of pull devil, pull angel. ”

“ As if a man would turn from his course for them! Spiders o' hell! I'll strike my topmast to Death himself first—so the devil go with them! The blind gods may crush—they shall not conquer! They may kill—but I snap my fingers in their faces to the death! ”

“ My friend asserts, that death is NOT the last enemy, but that beyond death, and IN HELL, there are legions of enemies to be the everlasting tormentors of countless millions of mankind. If the gentleman is correct, death is not the last enemy, but rather the first real enemy, and opens the door to the fires, furies, and demons of perdition, which will burn and lash their victims world without end. ”

“ But high distinction is due to the gallant soul, that advances upon the field of {16} battle, and captures an enemy, or who first strikes, or even touches the body of a fallen enemy, in presence of the friends of the deceased, who are generally watching their opportunity to revenge his death. ”

“ I seat myself beside the men who pass along among the tombs, and in untimely season I assume the form of the dead; and if I catch any one, I at once destroy him with my sword. But if I cannot destroy him, I cause him to be possessed with a demon, and to devour his own flesh, and the hair to fall off his chin. ”

“ But the enemy of this life, who is also the last enemy of all His enemies that shall be destroyed, is death, [3] of which the soul that sinneth dies, having the opposite disposition to that which takes place in the soul that lives uprightly, and in consequence of living uprightly lives. ”

“ But though our wicked enemy should find himself foiled in his previous attacks, still he will not desist, but will endeavour to destroy the soul by the poison of envy, the sin most peculiarly his own ( for by the envy of the devil death came into the world) , and to make our neighbour’s prosperity become our cross and torment. ”

“ The destruction of the last enemy, indeed, is to be understood, not as if its substance, which was formed by God, is to perish, but because its mind and hostile will, which came not from God, but from itself, are to be destroyed. ”

“ Except in the case of a warrior chief, or a priest, or one who has met his end at the hands of an enemy, death is ordinarily attributed to the maleficence of the inimical spirits. The latter are believed to be relentless, insatiable demons "seeking whom they may devour." In some mysterious manner they are said to waylay a poor defenseless soul, and ruthlessly hold it in captivity till such time as it suits their whims, when they actually devour it. ”

“ Sinner thou may’st be, but murderer art thou none. This day will I myself cleanse the rust from thine armour, in token that the Evil One hath no power over thee; for God sends not the bondmen of Satan to rescue the servants of Heaven, as thou hast done this day. ”

“ In dreams the savage has seen his enemy, though that enemy's body was far away. Here, then, is the spirit which has left the body during sleep. In dreams also the slain enemy or the dead chief appears. The spirit, permanently divorced from the body, still walks the earth in spirit-guise.
Many occurrences would seem like the fulfilled threats of dead enemies or the fulfilled promises of dead ancestors. ”

“ And they will say, ' We have killed those who were on the earth, then come and let us kill all who are in the heavens.' And they will cast their wooden arrows towards the sky; but God will return them upon themselves dyed with blood. ”

“ Visions of eternal torment rose in her mind, a tangible searing hell alive with flame and devils, a sea of liquid fire, an ocean of boiling pitch, Satan commanding in the midst, and a myriad of fiends working his tormenting will. ”

“ The most deadly weapon of the combatant and champion is this, to enter into the heart and make war there upon Satan, and to hate himself and to deny his own soul, to be angry with it and rebuke it, and to resist the desires that dwell there, and grapple with his thoughts, and fight with himself. ”

“ In his pilgrimage through life these component parts are constantly exposed to three mortal enemies: the devils, who are ever seeking the destruction of his soul; the doctors, who are intent on ruining his constitution ”

“ Our enemies thence gather new matter of triumph: when instead of seeing the vacant places of the fallen angels filled, they behold hell continually crowded with innumerable victims: to what end, then, are they created, O Lord? Why are the souls that confess to you, delivered up a prey to beasts? ”

“ In vain—for faster than I slew
They rose more cruel than before.
I killed and killed with slaughter mad;
I killed till all my strength was gone;
And still they rose to torture me,
For Devils only die for fun. ”

“ As if they had previously suspected we were evil demons, and had at length a clear proof of it, they repeated their gesticulations of defiance with tenfold fury, and accompanied the action with demoniac looks, hideous shouts and a war-song, crouching, jumping, spitting, springing with the spear, and throwing dust at us, as they slowly retired. ”

“ God now commands the multi-colored bands Of angels to intrude and slay the beast That His good sons may have a feast of food. But as they come, Leviathan sneezes twice ... And, numb with sudden pangs, each arm hangs slack. Black terror seizes them; blood freezes into ice And every angel flees from the attack! God, with a look that spells eternal law, Compels them back. But, though they fight and smite him tail and jaw, [Pg 119] Nothing avails; upon his scales their swords Break like frayed cords or, like a blade of straw, Bend towards the hilt and wilt like faded grass. ”

“ Our enemy is not merely spiritual. ”

“ For the terrors of the foe,
And it seems to them the shadow of a pall.
A Nemesis concealed
In the shades of wold and field,
Breathes of vengeance to the foemen as they run;
[Pg 106] They are rushing in despair,
But there’s carnage everywhere,
And they know not what to welcome or to shun.
Ten thousand of their slain
Strew the plain;
The shrieks from ten thousand more arise;
And the ghosts
From their hosts
Wail despairingly and vain,
In their pain,
For a welcome to the skies.
At morning, in their pride,
Side by side,
They went forth in their might
To the fight ”

“ And if any man will hurt them, fire shall come out of their mouths and shall devour their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, in this manner must he be slain.
11:6. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: And they have power over waters, to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
11:7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the abyss shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them. ”

“ Enter MEPHISTOPHILIS, and other Devils.
Go, horse these traitors on your fiery backs,
And mount aloft with them as high as heaven:
Thence pitch them headlong to the lowest hell.
Yet, stay: the world shall see their misery,
And hell shall after plague their treachery. ”