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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
absent
from
the
body, we
are
said to be
present
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