Sea. bEATH A BLESSING TO 'ttE salmi. world, they bring our hearts near to God, they make tts partakers of his holiness. So death, which is the greatest affliction to nature, and has such a formidable aspect to a sen- sual man, is made subservient to the eternal welfare of achris- tian. 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 upondeath as a lion ? Our Redeemerhas slain it, and the covenant of grace has furnished the carcase of it with honey, and stored it with delicious food for the entertainmentof aChristian ; thus, Out of theeater cometh forth meat, and out of of strong cometh forth sweetness; Judgesxiv. 14. The riddle of Samson, when applied in this manner, carries a diviner beauty in it, and more exquisite delight. And as that Jewish cham- pion 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 van- quished enemy. O how unspeakable is the privilege of those that belong 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 sott but as the first overcomer: Ye all are sons Of God byfaith 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 come, all are yours, for ye are Christ's. I proceed tothe practicaluses. I. If death in every sense, may be turned to the advantage of the saints, as I have proved in the former discourse, let us see then, that, in all its appearances, we gain some advantage by it. Let us not act like fools, who have a prize put into their hands, and know not how to use it. If our fellow-creatures die and go down to the dust, and the nationsof mankind perish from the earth, let us learn there- by the frailty of our natures ; let us learn so to number our days as to applyour hearts to wisdom; Ps. xc. 12. and be awakened to an active and immediate preparation for the day of our own death. If we see impenitent sinners dying under the anguish of a guilty conscience, let us gain a sensible lesson of the dreadful evil of sin ; let it raise such a religious fear of the wrath of God, and such a sacred gratitude for our deliverance, from the for-' ments of hell, as may quicken every grace into its warmest ex- ercise, and its brightest evidence. If death seize upon our Lord Christ himself, his dying groans lay a foundation for our immor- tal hopes! Let us meditate on the thousand blessings we receive
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