304 THE CONQUEST OVER DEATH.: CDrsc, r. them, for they are ordained by the wisdom and grace of Christ to promote their best interest. Death, in its original design, was the under-servant of God's avenging justice ; it was the jailor to bring the soul out of the body before the divine tribunal, there to receive its condemnation to hell. It was the executioner both to torment and to destroy the flesh,' and send the spirit into everlasting misery. But Christ having an- swered all the demands of this avenging justice, has also purchased the sovereignty over death ; and though some- times when it seizes a saint, it may for the present sig- nify his displeasure, as in 1 Cor. xi. 30, yet it always fulfils the designs of his love, and conveys them into his own delightful presence ; therefore as soon as we are absentfrom the body, we are said to bepresent with the .Lord ; 2 Cor. v. 8. and when we depart from the flesh, it is " to be with Christ ;" Phil. i. 23. Death was or- dained at first to be a slave to Satan, by the righteous appointment of God, both death and the devil are exe- cutioners of his wrath ; and Satan is said to have some power over death; Heb. ii. 14. But Christ, by dying, has subdued Satan, spoiled him of his destroying wea- pons, has made void his authority, especially with regard to believers; he has taken death out of his power, and manages it himself; and thus " he delivers them who through fear of death were held in a long and painful bondage ;" ver. 15. It is in such views as these that the apostle says to the Corinthian believers, " all things are yours, things pre- sent, and things to come, this world in the joys or sor- rows of it, life and death, all are yours, and ye are Christ's ;" 1 Cor. iii. 22. 23. You have an interest and a share in the possessions and the power of Christ over all things so far as may promote your happiness : Christ makes " all things, even death itself, work together for the good of his people ;" Rom, viii. 28. By death he puts an end to the body of sin, and frees the soul from all those ruffling passions, those inquietudes of the blood, and disorders of nature ; those strong and perverse ap- petites that cost the christian so much toil to subdue, and brought him so often under guilt, darkness, and sorrow. By death he delivers the believer from the pains and infirmities of the body. the perpetual languishings of a
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=