122, THE CHRISTIAN'S TREASURE. fsER141. XXXVII. come. Thus hell itself is constrained to pay a tribute towards the salvation of the saints. And the devils themselves who dwell there, with all their fiery temptations, have been but as underworkers for our final good; they are as slaves to Christ, the great Refiner, who designed to purify your souls by those very methods of temptation, which those evil spirits made use of on purpose to destroy. you. Thus the ministers of divine wrath to sinners are become instruments of your benefit. " When Satan has desired to winnow you as wheat, Christ has prayed for you thàt your faith fail not," Luke xxii. 31, 32. and he has taken care that by this winnowing you might be purified, that nothing might fly away but the empty chaff; that you might appear in the sight of Christ as purer corn. Now if hell, and the wick- ed inhabitants of it, may be constrained to serve your interest, and to promote your happiness, surely there is nothing in all the creation, but may turn. to your advan- tage. O divine privilege, when the creatures that are under the deserved curse of God, are thus made to sub- serveyour blessedness ! S. But not only present invisibles,' buteven all future unseen things are yours too. The morningof the resur- rection is appointed for your glory; and the great trum- pet is put into the hands of the arch-angel, to awaken your sleeping dust into immortality. Jesus the Lord himselfshall descend from heaven to call you from the grave: And , " though ye were dead, ye shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live," John y. 23. The great day ofjudgment, and all the solemnities of it, are ordained for your honour, to publish your victories over sin and Satan, before the face of the whole creation, to pronounce you openly acquitted and justified before men and angels, to proclaim you the sons and daughters of the Most High God, and determine your state to ever- lasting blessedness. Are there crowns of infinite value laid up in heaven? Are the e rewards of glory there, immense rewards, and of endless duration? It is to crown your labours, your conflicts, your christian race; it is to reward your suf- ferings, your patience, and your conquest : And the day of glory is stretched out to all everlasting, that your
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=