assistances by which we have subdued our former adversaries, sin, Satan, and the world, shall be sufficient to gain this conquest too. We cannot begin the holy warfare too soon; none of us are too young to be assaulted by death; but let it come never so early in the morning of our days, it is the Just enemy that we can fear, if we are listed in the army of Christ, and have begun the glorious war.

I would address myself to the younger branches of the mourning house, and say, Have ye had such a noble example of victory over sin and death in vain? Will ye basely submit to the slavery of the flesh, and yield tamely to the oppositions of this world, which were so bravely resisted by her that is gone before you? Will ye love this world, that is at enmity with God, and has ever been at enmity with all the saints? Are ye content to have your names for ever excluded from that honourable list of conquerors, where the names of your ancestors shine before the throne of God, and are recorded with honour in the memory of his churches? Think how dreadful a moment that will be, when you shall look death in the face, if ye have not begun to wage war with sin and Satan before! How dreadful to have many enemies at once assaulting you! the lusts of your own heart, raging desires after the enjoyments of this world, the horrors of conscience, the buffetings of the devil, and the pangs of death. What will ye do in the day of such a visitation ? And remember, that though death be the last enemy of the saints, it is not thus with sinners; it does but transmit them into the world of damned spirits, where enemies multiply upon them, and grow more outrageous, Besides the bitter anguish of their own conscience, they have the wrath of a God whom they have long provoked, and the malice of evil angels their tormentors, to conflict with to all eternity. But we

hope better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak; Heb. vi. 9.

REFLECTION 2. What divine comfort is there in my text for aged Christians and dying saints, who have been watchful and vigorous in their war with sin, and gained many victories over this world and Satan, who is called the god of it? What a delightful view such persons have, when upon the borders of life! Bear up with divine boldness, ye heirs of glory, for you have but one adversary more to fight with; let your faith, and patience, and holy courage, hold out a little longer, and victory and triumph are yours for ever. There is no enemy lies in ambush behind the tomb; when you have passed the bars of death, you are out of the reach of alladversaries. Beyond the grave, the coast is all clear for ever; the country flows with rich and untasted pleasures; every inhabitant is an inward friend, and peace and joy and love smile in every countenance.

Will an old saint complain that he finds many infirmities attend his age, that his senses are feeble, that his eyes are dim, that Satan now and then arises from hell, and casts a gloom and darkness around his soul, and buffets him sorely in that darkness? Will he complain that his natural spirits are heavy, that the world is troublesome to him, and every thing in life painful? Methinks it is a consolation equal to all these sorrows, that he is just entering into the last field of battle; the last hour of controversy is begun; a few strokes more will decide the strife, and make him an eternal conqueror. "Behold I come quickly," saith our Lord, "hold fast that which thou hast gained, that no man take thy crown; Rev. iii. 11.

SECTION III.

The destruction of death.

THE third thing we are to inquire, is, How death is destroyed, and what are the steps, or gradual efforts towards its destruction.

The person that has this honour put upon him, to subdue this universal tyrant, is our Lord Jesus Christ; so the words inform us all round my text. Though his mediation for sinners was sufficient to have prevailed with God to destroy death at once, yet it was agreed upon in the eternal counsels, that for wise ends and purposes it should be done by degrees. His blood was of sufficient value to have procured for his elect a deliverance from every enemy at once, and a translation to heaven as soon as they were born; but it was wisely concerted betwixt the Father and the Son, that we should pass through temptations, difficulties, and death itself; that by feeling the sharp assaults of our enemies, we might be better acquainted with the greatness of our salvation, and pay a larger tribute of thanks and honours to our deliverer.

The steps whereby death is destroyed, are these.

1. It is subdued by the death of Christ; its sting was then taken away, that is, the guilt of sin, 1 Cor. xv. 55, 56, 57. "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Which verses may be thus explained: Death was the punishment threatened by the law for sin, but Christ, as our surety, having sustained the execution of that threatening, and answered the law by a satisfaction equal to the offence, death has no more power over him. "God has raised him up,

having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it ;" Acts ii. 24. And as Christ by his dying is said to finish transgression, and make an end of sin, because he has taken away its power to condemn believers, though he has not yet utterly destroyed its being; so he is said to have abolished death, 2 Tim. i. 10. because he has so far diminished and made void its power, that it shall not do any final mischief to the saints. It is like a serpent whose sting is taken away, and whose teeth are broken out; it may fright us, and do us some injury, but it cannot inflict a venomous or fatal wound. Now the believer, by a lively faith, shares in this victory of Christ over death, and gives thanks to God for it. He knows that though it may hurt his body, and bring it down to the grave for a season, yet it cannot send the soul to destruction, nor confine the body to the dust any longer than Christ shall permit,

2. Death is taken captive and enslaved by Christ at his resurrection and ascension, and made to serve his holy purposes; Psal. Ixviii. 18. "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive." This is spoken of our Lord Jesus, who has taken into his own dominion death and the devil, who led the world captive. The enemy is not escaped out of the hands of this conqueror, but is put under his yoke, and constrained into his service.

Death, in its first character, was the very threatening and curse of the law of God, and includes in it all misery? but Christ having borne the curse, has redeemed his people from it; Gal. iii. 13. And now he has taken as many as he pleases of the threatenings and terrors of the law into his own new covenant, the covenant of grace; and has sanctified their nature, and made them become blessings to the saint; "He has turned the curse into a blessing" Deut, xxiii. 5. so that afflictions, and pains,

and sorrows, and death itself are no longer a curse to 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 jailer 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 answered all the demands of this avenging justice, has also purchased the sovereignty over death; and though sometimes, when it seizes a saint, it may for the present signify 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. x. 23. Death was ordained at first to be a slave to Satan; by the righteous appointment of God, both death and the devil are executioners 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 weapons, 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 present, and things to come," this world in the joys or sorrows 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