SEEM. XLIII,] DEATH A BLESSING TO THE SAINTS. 233 thee :" Deut. xxiii. 5. So afflictions are turned into mercies by the virtue of this covenant, theymortify our sins, they wean us from the world, they bring our hearts near toGod, they make us partakers of his holiness. So death, which is the greatest affliction to nature, and has such a formidable aspect to a sensual man, is made sub-` servient to the eternal welfare of a christian. It is this sweet covenant that has wrought the change ; Christ has conquered it, and the believer enjoys the triumph. , Does . the eye of nature behold death as a serpent ? Our Lord Jesus has broken its teeth, and taken away its sting ; for byhis sacrifice he has abolished sin, which is the sting of death. Does nature look upon death as a lion ? Our Redeemer has slain it, and the covenant of grace has furnished the carcase of it with honey, and stored it with delicious food for the entertainment of a Christian ; thus, " Out of the eater cometh forth meat, and out of the strong cometh forth sweetness ; ", Judges iv. 14. The riddle of Samson, when applied in this manner, carries a divineauty in it, and more exqui- site delight. And as that Jewish champion feasted his father and his mother, with delicacies taken out of the lion he had slain, so does our Lord feast his brethren and his friends, with sacred pleasures derived fromdeath, our vanquished enemy. O how unspeakable is the privilege of those that be- long to Christ! . If you are his, then death is yours: Christ is the only begotten Son, and he inherits all things ; not only as a son, but as the first overcomer : " Ye are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus ;" Gal. iii.. 26. ". Ye shall also be overcomers, and shall inherit all things ;" Rev. xxi. 7. " Whether life or death, things' present or things to conic, all are yours, for ye are Christ's." I proceed to the practical uses. I. If death; in every sense, may be turned to the ad- vantage of the saints, as I have proved in the former dis- course, let us see then, that, in all its appearances, we -gain some advantage by it. Let us not act like fools, who have a price put into their hands,: and know not how to use it. If our fellow-creatures die and go down to the dust, and the nations of mankind perish from the earth, let us
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