360 THE C0,14011E5? OVER DEATH. 1719C. t, the words of my text are written by St. Panl ; l Cor. .xv. 24. 25. Then cometh the end, when he shall have de- livered up;the kingdom to God, even the Father ; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and all power ; for he must reign till he hathput all enemies under.hisfeet. 1he last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death. With regard to each particular christian, all other enemies are destroyed when he dies, for whither he goes, they cannot come ; he puts off the body of flesh and of in together he leaves every corruption behind him, when he ascends to the company of the spirits of the just made perfect.. The smiles and the frowns of this vain and vexing world, are too far off/ to influence the inha- bitants of heaven ; and Satan, the tempter and accuser, is for ever forbid entrance at the gates of that holy city. But death holds one part of the saint in his prison, the grave : And though the departed soul has overcome the terrors of this enemy, and triumphs in this expression, O death, where is thy sting? yet the body is confined as a prisoner under his power : But the hour is coming, when those that are dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and live. All the prisons of the saints shall be broke to pieces, and burnt up, and the keeper destroyed for ever. Let us make these two reflections on the second general bead of this discourse : Reflection I. What abundant encouragement may we derive from hence, to engage us betimes in a war with all the other enemies of our salvation, that having overcome them, we may be assured that death is the last enemy we shall meet with: And then also we may face death with a braver courage, may conflict with it with better success, way vanquish it by a lively faith, and re- joice in the prospect of its final destruction. The same armour of God, the same divine weapons, and the same almighty assistances by which we have subdued our for- mer adversaries, sin, Satan, and the world, shall be suf- ficient to gain this conquest too. We cannot begin the holy warfare too soon ; none of us are too young to be assaulted by death ; but let it come ever so early in the scorning of our days, it is the last enemy that we can fear, ifwe are listed in the army of Christ, and have begun the glorious-warm
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