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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
to
God,
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
by
his 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
from
death,
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