366 THE CONQUEST OVER DEATH. [DISC. r. of all that is included in the name of LIFE. As the angel in prophecy lifts up his hand, " and swears by him that lives for ever and ever, that time shall be no longer ;" Reza. x. 6. So Christ Jesus, the Lord of angels, shall, as it were, pronounce with a sovereign voice, that death shall be no more. He shall send the great archangel with the trumpet of God ; it ,shall sound through the deepest caverns of the grave, and shall summon death from its inmost recesses. The tyrant shall hear and obey, and restore all his captives out of prison ; " 'the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and live ;" John v. 25, 28, 29. They that have done good unto the resur- rection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. After this our Lord has no employment for death, his slave; the bodies of men shall die no more : There shall be no more any state of sepa- ration between the flesh and spirit; Rev. xx. '14. And death andhell, or Hades, 'were cast into the lakeof re ; that is, there shall be no more death, no grave, no sepa- rate state of souls, all these shall be for ever destroyed. 1st Reflection. We may infer from this third general head, the great power and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ; we may learn the honour that is due to him from mortals ; it is he that hath subdued death, and that by his Own dying. A wondrous method ofvictory ! a surprizing conquest ! and he lives for ever to destroy it in his ap- pointed time. 'How great and honourable must he be in the eyes of all mankind, who has vanquished so uni- versal a conqueror ? How desirable is his person, and how delightful the sound of his name to every believer ! for he suppresses all their enemies and shall destroy them even to the last. Howwell does he fulfil the great en- gagement ? Hosea xiii. 14. Iwill ransom themfrom the power of the grave : Iwill redeem themfrom death; O death, I will be thyplagues; O grave, Iwill be thy de- struction ; repentance shall be hidfrom mine eyes. Let us salute him the prince of life, Acts iii. 15. and adore him under that character. He dispossesses death of all its dominions. He approveshimself a complete Saviour ofall his saints, and a Redeemer of his_, captive friends. IId Reflection. We may learn also from this head of discourse,'the power and excellency of the gospel of Christ, for it discovers to us how this great enemy is van-
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=