"For he must reign, till he hath put
all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death."
-- 1 Corinthians 15:25,
26
Subject: Our Lord Jesus
Christ in the work of redemption gloriously appears above all evil.
The apostle
in this chapter particularly opposes some among the Christian Corinthians who
denied the resurrection of the dead and infested the church with their doctrine.
There were two sorts of persons in that age who were especially great opposers
of the doctrine of the resurrection. One among the Jews were the
Sadducees, of whom we read, Acts 23:8. For the Sadducees say that there is no
resurrection, either angel or spirit. And we have the same account in other
places. Among the heathen that were the chief opposers of this doctrine
were their philosophers. The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was not
consistent with their philosophy, by the principles of which, it was impossible
that one who was deprived of the habit of life, would ever receive it again. And
therefore they ridiculed the doctrine when the apostle preached it among them at
Athens. (Acts 17) Probably the church at Corinth received this corruption from
the philosophers, and not the Sadducees. For Corinth was near to Athens, and the
place of the chief resort of the philosophers of Greece.
The apostle, in opposing
this error, first insists on Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and next on
the resurrection of all the saints at the end of the world. And in the verses
next before the text, shows how both are connected, or that one arises or
follows from the other. And then adds, “then cometh the end, when he shall
have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put
down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign till he hath put
all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
Observe,
I. Here is one thing wherein
appears the glory of that exaltation and dominion, that Christ has as our
redeemer, viz. that it issues in the subjection of all enemies under his
feet. It is not said all his enemies, possibly because those that shall
be put under his feet are not only his enemies, but also the enemies of his
Father and of his people. Their being under his feet denotes their being
perfectly subdued, and his being gloriously exalted over them. It shall be thus
with respect to God’s and his, and his people’s enemies universally, not one
excepted; which universality is signified here two ways; all enemies —
and the very last enemy: when there shall be but one enemy left, that
shall also be put under his feet.
II. We may learn what is
here meant by enemies by the particular instance here given as the last
that shall be destroyed, viz. death. Which shows that by enemies, is not
meant persons only, that set themselves in opposition to God and his
people, but evils; whatever is against God and his people, and opposes
Christ or his saints, whether they be persons or things.
SECTION I
How evil of all
kinds has prevailed and highly exalted itself in the world.
Evil, of all kinds, has
risen to an exceeding height in the world, and highly exalted itself against
God, and Christ, and the church. — This will appear by the following
particulars.
I. Satan has highly
exalted himself, and greatly prevailed. He is vastly superior in his natural
capacity and abilities to mankind. He was originally one of the highest rank of
creatures, but proudly exalted himself in rebellion against God in heaven. We
are told, that pride was the condemnation of the devil. (1 Tim.
3:6) He became proud of his own superior dignity and mighty abilities, and the
glory which his Creator had put upon him. And [he] probably thought it too much
to submit to the Son of God, and attempted to exalt his throne above him. And he
prevailed to draw away vast multitudes of the heavenly hosts into an open
rebellion against God.
And after he was cast down
from heaven, he proudly exalted himself in this world, and prevailed to do great
things. By his subtle temptations he procured the fall of our first parents, and
so brought about the ruin of their whole race. He procured their ruin in body
and soul, and the death of both, and that they should be exposed to all manner
of calamity in this world, and to eternal ruin hereafter. He so far prevailed,
that he drew men off from the service of their Maker, and set up himself to be
the god of this world. And in a little time, [he] drew the world into that
almost universal corruption, which brought on the flood of water, but which it
was destroyed. And after that, he drew on all nations, except the posterity of
Jacob, from the worship of the true God, and darkened all the world with
heathenism, and held them under this darkness for a great many ages, he himself
being worshipped as God almost all over the world. The nations of the earth
offered sacrifices to him and multitudes offered up their children. And during
that time, he often so far prevailed against the people of God, that he had
almost swallowed them up. The church was often brought to the very brink of
ruin.
And when Christ himself
appeared in the world, how did he exalt himself against him! And prevailed so
far, as to influence men to hate and despise him all the days of his life. And
at last he persuaded one of his own disciples to betray him. Accordingly, he was
delivered into the hands of men, to be mocked, buffeted, spit upon, and treated
with the greatest ignominy that unrestrained malice could devise. And at last
procured that he should be put to the most cruel and ignominious kind of death.
And since that, he has greatly exalted himself against the gospel and kingdom of
Christ. He has procured that the church, for the most part, has been the subject
of great persecution; has often brought it to the brink of utter destruction;
has accomplished great works in setting up those great kingdoms of antichrist
and Mahomet; and darkened great part of the world, that was once enlightened
with the gospel of Christ, with worse than heathen darkness. And he has infected
the Christian world with multitudes of heresies and false ways of worship, and
greatly promoted atheism and infidelity. Thus highly has the devil exalted
himself against God and Christ, and the elect. And so far he prevailed.
II. Guilt is another
evil which has come to a great height in the world. All guilt is an evil of a
dreadful nature. The least degree of it is enough utterly to undo any creature.
It is a thing that reaches unto heaven, and cries to God, and brings down his
wrath. The guilt of any one sin is so terrible an evil that it prevails to bind
over the guilty person to suffer everlasting burnings. And so is in some respect
infinite, in that it obliges to that punishment which has no end. And so is
infinitely terrible. But this kind of evil has risen to a most amazing height in
this world. Where not only some persons are guilty, but all, in all nations and
ages, are naturally guilty wretches. And they who live to act any time in the
world, are not only guilty of one sin, but of thousands, and thousands of
thousands. What multiplied and what aggravated sins are some men guilty of! What
guilt lies on some particular persons! How much more on some particular populous
cities! How much more still on this wicked world! How much does the guilt of the
world transcend all account, all expression, all power of numbers or measures!
And above all, how vast is the guilt of the world, in all ages, from the
beginning to the end of it! To what a pitch has guilt risen! The world being, as
it were, on every side, loaded with it, as with mountains heaped on mountains,
above the clouds and stars of heaven.
And guilt, when it was
imparted to Christ, greatly prevailed against him — though in himself
innocent, and the eternal Son of God — even so as to hold him prisoner of
justice for a while, and to open the flood-gates of God’s wrath upon him, and
bring his waves and billows over him.
III. Corruption and
wickedness of heart is another thing that has risen to an exceeding height in
the world. Sin has so far prevailed that it has become universal. All mere men
are become sinful and corrupt creatures. Let us attend to St. Paul’s
description of the world (Rom. 3:9-18), “Jews and Gentiles are all under sin.
As is written, There is none righteous, no not one; there is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good,
no not one.” And not only is every one corrupt, but they are all over corrupt,
in every power, faculty, and principle. Every part is depraved. Which is here
represented by the several parts of the body being corrupt, as the throat, the
tongue, the lips, the mouth, the feet. “Their throat is an open sepulchre,
with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison of asps is under their
lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to
shed blood.” And not only is every part corrupt, but exceeding corrupt, being
possessed with dreadful principles of corruption. horribly evil dispositions and
principles of sin, that may be represented by the poison of asps, which makes
men like vipers and devils, principles of all uncleanness, pride, deceit,
injustice, enmity, malice, blasphemy, murder. Here their throats are
compared to an open sepulcher, and their mouth is said to be full
of cursing and bitterness, and destruction and misery are said to be in
their ways.
And there are those
principles of sin not only that are very bad, but every kind. Here is no sort of
wickedness, but there is a seed of it in men. And these seeds and principles
have not only a being in men’s hearts, but are there in great strength. They
have the absolute possession and dominion over men so that they are sold
under sin. Yea, wicked principles, and those only, are in the heart. The
imagination of the thoughts of their heart is evil only. There are bad
principles only, and no good ones. “There is no fear of God before their
eyes.” Thus the hearts of all men are deceitful and desperately wicked
(Jer. 17:9).
And if we look, not only at
the natural corruption of the heart, but at the contracted habits of sin, by
wicked education and customs, how full shall we find the world of wickedness, in
this respect! How have men, by bad customs in sinning, broken down all
restraints upon natural corruption, and as it were abandoned themselves to
wickedness! So far has corruption and wickedness prevailed in the world, and so
high has it risen, that it is become a great and universal deluge, that overtops
all things, and prevails with that strength, that it is like the raging waves of
the tempestuous ocean, which are ready to bear down all before them.
IV. Many of the devil’s
instruments have greatly prevailed and have been exalted to an exceeding
height in the world. It has been so in almost all ages of the world. Many of the
devil’s instruments have prospered and prevailed till they have got to the
head of great kingdoms and empires, with vast riches and mighty power. Those
four great heathen monarchies that rose in the world before Christ are spoken of
in Scripture as kingdoms set up in opposition to the kingdom of Christ. So they
are represented in the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. 2:35,
36). These monarchies were exceeding powerful. The two last ruled over the
greater part of the then known world. And the last especially, viz. the
Roman empire, was exceeding mighty. So that it is said to be diverse from all
kingdoms, and that it would devour the whole earth, and tread it down, and break
it in pieces (Dan. 7:23). It is represented by the fourth beast, which was
dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and had great iron teeth, that
devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet (Dan. 7:7).
These four kingdoms all persecuted the church of God in their turns, especially
the last. One of the governors of this monarchy put Christ to death. And
afterwards one emperor after another made dreadful havoc of the church, making a
business of it, with the force of all the empire, to torment and destroy the
Christians, endeavoring, if possible, to root out the Christian name from under
heaven.
And in those latter ages,
how have those two great instruments of the devil, viz. antichrist and
Mahomet, prevailed, and to what a pitch of advancement have they arrived, ruling
over vast empires, with mighty wealth, pride and power, so that the earth has
been, as it were, subdued by them. Antichrist has set up himself as the vicar of
Christ, and has for many ages usurped the power of God, “sitting in the temple
of God, and showing himself that he is God; and exalting himself above all that
is called God, or that is worshipped.” And how dreadfully has he ravaged the
church of God, being drunk with the blood of the saints, and the martyrs of
Jesus. And has often, as it were, deluged the world in Christina blood, she with
the utmost cruelty that human wit and malice could invent. — And at this day,
many other instruments of the devil, many heretics, atheists, and other
infidels, are exerting themselves against Christ and his church, with great
pride and contempt.
V. Affliction and
misery have also prevailed and risen to an unspeakable height in the world. The
spiritual misery which the elect are naturally in is great. They are miserable
captives of sin and Satan, and under obligations to suffer eternal burnings.
This misery all mankind are naturally in. And spiritual troubles and sorrows
have often risen to a great height in the elect. The troubles of a wounded
spirit and guilty conscience, have been felt with intolerable and insupportable
weight. “A wounded spirit who can bear?” (Pro. 18:14). And the darkness that
has risen to God’s people after conversion, through the temptations and
buffetings of the devil, and the hidings of God’s face, and manifestations of
his anger, have been very terrible. And temporal afflictions have often risen
exceeding high. The church of God has, for the most part, all along, been a seat
of great affliction and tribulation.
But the height to which the
evil of affliction has risen, nowhere appears so much as in the afflictions that
Christ suffered. The evil of affliction and sorrow exalted itself so high, as to
seize the Son of God himself, and to cause him to be all in a bloody sweat, and
to make his soul exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. It caused him to cry out,
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Affliction never prevailed to
such a degree in this world, as in Christ, whose soul was, as it were,
overwhelmed in an ocean of it.
VI. Death is an evil
which has greatly prevailed and made dreadful havoc in this world. How does it
waste and devour mankind, one age after another, sparing none, high or low, rich
or poor, good or bad! Wild beasts have destroyed many. Many cruel princes have
taken away the lives of thousands, and laid waste whole countries. But death
devours all. None are suffered to escape. And the bodies of the saints as well
as other, fall a prey to this great devourer. Yea, so high did this enemy rise,
that he took hold on Christ himself, and swallowed him among the rest. He became
the prey of this great, insatiable monster. By his means, was his bodily frame
destroyed, and laid dead in the dark and silent grave. And death still goes on
destroying thousands every day. And therefore the grave is one of those things
which Agur says, never has enough (Pro. 30:16). — So have evils of every kind
prevailed, and to such a degree have they exalted themselves in the world.
SECTION II
How Jesus Christ, in
the work of redemption, appears gloriously above all these evils.
It was not the will of the
infinitely wise and holy Governor of the world that things should remain in this
confusion, this reign of evil, which had prevailed and exalted itself to such a
height. But he had a design of subduing it, and delivering an elect part of the
world from it, and exalting them to the possession of the greatest good, and to
reign in the highest glory, out of a state of subjection to all these evils. And
he chose his Son as the person most fit for an undertaking that was infinitely
too great for any mere creature. And he has undertaken the work of our
redemption. And though these evils are so many and so great, and have prevailed
to such a degree, and have risen to such a height, and have been, as it were,
all combined together; yet wherein they have exalted themselves, Christ, in the
work of redemption, appears above them. He has gloriously prevailed against them
all, and brings them under his feet, and rides forth, in the chariots of
salvation, over their heads, or leading them in triumph at his chariot wheels.
He appears in this work infinitely higher and mightier than they, and sufficient
to carry his people above them, and utterly to destroy them all.
I. Christ appears gloriously
above all evil in what he did to procure redemption for us in his state of humiliation,
by the righteousness he wrought out, and the atonement he made for sin. The
evils mentioned, never seemed so much to prevail against him as in his
sufferings. But in them, the foundation was laid for their overthrow. In them he
appeared above Satan. Though Satan never exalted himself so high, as he
did in procuring these sufferings of Christ; yet, then, Christ laid the
foundation for the utter overthrow of his kingdom. He slew Satan, as it were,
with his own weapon, the spiritual David cut off this Goliath’s head with his
own sword, and he triumphed over him in his cross. “Having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them
in it,” (Col. 2:15) i.e. in his cross, mentioned in the
preceding words. Then the wisdom of Christ appeared gloriously above the
subtlety of Satan. Satan, that old serpent, used a great deal of subtlety to
procure Christ’s death. And doubtless, when he had accomplished it, thought he
had obtained a complete victory, being then ignorant of the contrivance of our
redemption. But so did the wisdom of Christ order things that Satan’s subtlety
and malice should be made the very means of undermining the foundations of his
kingdom. And so he wisely led him into the pit that he had dug.
In this also Christ appeared
gloriously above the guilt of men. For he offered a sacrifice that was
sufficient to do away all the guilt of the whole world. Though the guilt of man
was like the great mountains, whose heads are lifted up to the heavens; yet his
dying love, and his merits, appeared as a mighty deluge that overflowed the
highest mountains, or like a boundless ocean that swallows them up, or like an
immense fountain of light that with the fullness and redundancy of its
brightness, swallows up men’s greatest sins, as little motes are swallowed up
and hidden in the disk of the sun.
In this Christ appeared
above all the corruption of man, in that hereby he purchased holiness for
the chief of sinners. And Christ in undergoing such extreme affliction, got the
victory over all misery; and laid a foundation for its being utterly
abolished, with respect to his elect. In dying he became the plague and
destruction of death. When death slew him, it slew itself. For Christ, through
death, destroyed him that had the power of death, even the devil (Heb. 2:14). By
this he laid the foundation of the glorious resurrection of all his people to an
immortal life.
II. Christ appears
gloriously exalted above all evil, in his resurrection and ascension
into heaven. When Christ rose from the dead, then it appeared that he was above
death, which, though it had taken him captive, could not hold him.
Then he appeared above the
devil. Then this Leviathan that had swallowed him was forced to vomit him up
again, as the Philistines that had taken captive the ark were forced to return
it, Dagon being fallen before it, with his head and hands broken off, and only
the stumps left. — Then he appeared above our guilt. For he was justified in
his resurrection (Rom. 4:4, 25; 1 Tim. 3:16). In his resurrection he appeared
above all affliction. For though he had been subject to much affliction and
overwhelmed in it, he then emerged out of it, as having gotten the victory,
never to conflict with any more sorrow.
When he ascended up into
heaven, he rose far above the reach of the devil and all his instruments, who
had before had him in their hands. And now has he sat down at the right hand of
God, as being made head over all things to the church, in order to a complete
and perfect victory over sin, Satan, death, and all his enemies. It was then
said to him, “Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy
footstool,” (Psa. 110:1). He entered into a state of glory, wherein he is
exalted far above all these evils, as the forerunner of his people, and to make
intercession for them, till they also are brought to be with him, in like manner
exalted above all evil.
III. Christ appears
gloriously above all evil, in his work in the hearts of the elect, in
their conversion and sanctification. This is what the application of redemption,
so far as it is applied in this world, consists in, which is done by the Holy
Ghost as the Spirit of Christ. In this work of Christ in the hearts of his
elect, he appears glorious above Satan. For the strong man armed is overcome,
and all his armor, wherein he trusted, is taken from him, and his spoil divided.
In this work, the lamb is, by the spiritual David taken out of the mouth of the
lion and bear. The poor captive is delivered from his mighty and cruel enemies.
In this Christ appears
gloriously above the corruption and wickedness of the heart, above its
natural darkness in dispelling it, and letting in light, and above its enmity
and opposition, by prevailing over it, drawing it powerfully and irresistibly to
himself, and turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh, above the obstinacy
and perverseness of the will, by making them willing in the day of his power. In
this he appears above all their lusts. For all sin is mortified in this work,
and the soul is delivered from the power and dominion of it. — In this work
the grace of Christ gloriously triumphs over men’s guilt. He comes over
the mountains of their sins, and visits them with his salvation.
And God is wont often in
their work, either in the beginning or progress of it, to give his people those
spiritual comforts, in which he gloriously appears to be above all affliction
and sorrow. And often gives them to triumph over the devil, and his powerful and
cruel instruments. Many saints, by the influences of Christ’s Spirit on their
hearts, have rejoiced and triumphed, when suffering the greatest torments and
cruelties of their persecutors. And in this work Christ sometimes gloriously
appears above death, in carrying his people far above the fears of it, and
making them to say, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory?”
IV. Christ gloriously
appears above all these aforementioned evils, in his glorifying the souls
of departed saints in heaven. In this he gives a glorious victory over death.
Death by it is turned from an enemy into a servant. And their death, by the
glorious change that passes in the state of their souls, is become a
resurrection, rather than a death. Now Christ exalts the soul to a state of
glory, wherein it is perfectly delivered from Satan and all his temptations, and
all his instrument, and from all remains of sin and corruption, and from all
affliction. “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat — and God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes,” (Rev. 7:16, 17).
V. Christ appears gloriously
above these evils, in what he does in his providence in the world, as
head and redeemer of his church. He appears gloriously above Satan and all his
instruments in upholding his church, even from its first establishment, through
all the powerful attempts that have been made against it by earth and hell.
Hereby fulfilling his promise, “That the gates of hell should never prevail
against it,” (Mat. 16:18).
Christ gloriously triumphed
over these his enemies, in a remarkable success of his gospel, soon after his
ascension, when many thousands in Jerusalem, and all parts of the world, were so
soon turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God, and
in causing his word to go on and prosper, and his church to increase and prevail
against all the opposition of the heathen world, when they united all their
power to put a stop to it, and root it out. So that, in spite of all that the
philosophers, and wise men, and emperors and princes could do, the gospel in a
little time overthrew Satan’s old heathenish kingdom in the whole Roman
empire, which was then the main part of the world. And so brought about the
greatest and most glorious revolution. Instead of one single nation, now the
greater part of the nations of the known world were become God’s people.
And Christ’s exaltation
above all evil in his government of the world, in his providence, as the
Redeemer of his people, has since gloriously appeared in reviving his church by
the reformation from popery, after it had for many ages lain in a great measure
hid, and dwelt in a wilderness, under antichristian persecution.
And he will yet far more
gloriously triumph over Satan and all his instruments, in all the mighty
kingdoms that have been set up in opposition to the kingdom of Christ, at the
time of the fall of antichrist, and the beginning of those glorious times so
much spoken of in Scripture prophecy. “Then shall the stone that has been cut
out without hands smite all these kingdoms, and break them to pieces; and they
shall become like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors, and the wind shall
carry them away, that no place should be found for them: and the stone which
smote them shall become a great mountain, and fill the whole earth,” (Dan.
2:34, 35). “Then shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never
be destroyed; and it shall break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and
it shall stand forever,” (Dan. 2:44). “And then the kingdoms of this world
shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for
ever and ever,” (Rev. 11:15). Though great and might empires have been set up
one after another in the world, in opposition to the kingdom of Christ, during
the succession of so many ages; yet, Christ’s kingdom shall be the last and
the universal kingdom, which he has given him, as the heir of the world.
Whatever great works Satan has wrought, the final issue and event of all, in the
winding up of things in the last ages of the world, shall be the glorious
kingdom of Christ through the world; a kingdom of righteousness and holiness, of
love and peace, established everywhere. Agreeable to the ancient prediction,
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man, came with
the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near
before him. And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be
destroyed. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under
the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High,
whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey
him,” (Dan. 7:13, 14, 27).
Then shall Christ appear
gloriously exalted indeed above all evil. And then shall all the saints in earth
and heaven gloriously triumph in him, and sing, “Hallelujah, salvation, and
glory, and honour, and power unto the Lord our God; for true and righteous are
his judgments; for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth
with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
Hallelujah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth,” (Rev. 19:1, 2, 6).
VI. Christ will appear
gloriously above all evil in the consummation of the redemption of his
elect church at the end of the world. Then will be completed the whole work of
redemption with respect to all that Christ died for, both in its interpretation
and application; and not till then. And then will Christ’s exaltation above
all evil be most perfectly and fully manifest. Then shall the conquest and
triumph be completed with respect to all of them. Then shall all the devils, and
all their instruments, be brought before Christ, to be judged and condemned. And
then shall be completed their destruction in their consummate and everlasting
misery; when they shall be all cast into the lake of fire, no more to range, and
usurp dominion in the world, or have liberty to make opposition against God and
Christ. They shall forever be shut up, thence forward only to suffer. Then shall
death be totally destroyed. All the saints shall be delivered everlastingly from
it. Even their bodies shall be taken from the power of death by a glorious
resurrection.
Then shall all guilt, and
all sin and corruption, and all affliction, all sighs and tears, be utterly and
eternally abolished, concerning every one of the elect, they being all brought
to one complete body, to their consummate and immutable glory. And all this as
the fruit of Christ’s blood, and as an accomplishment of his redemption.
Then all that evil, which
has so prevailed, and so exalted itself, and usurped and raged, and reigned,
shall be perfectly and forever thrust down and destroyed, with respect to all
the elect. And all will be exalted to a state wherein they will be forever
immensely above all these things. “And there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things
are passed away,” (Rev. 21:4).
SECTION III
The subject improved
and applied.
I. IN this we may see how
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ appears in the work of redemption. It was
because the Father had from eternity a design of exceedingly glorifying his Son,
that he appointed him to be the person that should thus triumph over the evil in
the world. The work of redemption is the most glorious of all God’s works that
are made known to us. The glory of God most remarkably shines forth in it. And
this is one thing wherein its glory eminently appears, that therein Christ
appears so gloriously above Satan and all his instruments, above all guilt, all
corruption, all affliction, above death, and above all evil. And more
especially, because evil has so exalted itself in the world, as we have heard,
and exalted itself against Christ in particular.
Satan has ever had a
peculiar enmity against the Son of God. Probably his first rebellion, which was
his condemnation, was his proudly taking it in disdain, when God declared the
decree in heaven, that his Son in man’s nature, should be the King of heaven,
and that all the angels should worship him. However that was, yet it is certain
that his strife has ever been especially against the Son of God. The enmity has
always been between the seed of the woman, and the serpent. And therefore that
war which the devil maintains against God is represented by the devil and his
angels fighting against Michael and his angels (Rev. 12:7). This Michael is
Christ (Dan. 10:21 and 12:1).
God had appointed his Son to
be the heir of the world. But the devil has contested this matter with him, and
has strove to set himself up as God of the world. And how exceedingly has the
devil exalted himself against Christ! How did he oppose him as he dwelt among
the Jews, in his tabernacle and temple! And how did he oppose him when on earth!
And how has he opposed him since his ascension! What great and mighty works has
Satan brought to pass in the world! How many Babels has he built up to heaven,
in his opposition to the Son of God! How exceeding proud and haughty has he
appeared in his opposition! How have he and his instruments, and sin,
affliction, and death, of which he is the father, raged against Christ? But yet
Christ, in the work of redemption, appears infinitely above them all. In this
work he triumphs over them, however they have dealt proudly, and they all appear
under his feet. In this the glory of the Son of God, in the work of redemption,
remarkably appears.
The beauty of good appears
with the greatest advantage, when compared with its contrary, and appears vastly
above it, in its greatest height. The glory of Christ, in this glorious
exaltation over so great evil, that so exalted itself against him, the more
remarkable appears, in that he is thus exalted out of so low a state. Though he
appeared in the world as a little child; yet how does he triumph over the most
gigantic enemies of God and men! He who was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief,” is a man of war, and triumphed over his enemies in all their
power. He who was meek and lowly of heart, has triumphed over those proud foes.
And he is exalted over them all, in that which appears most despicable, even his
cross.
II. Here is matter of
exceeding great encouragement for all sinful miserable creatures in the world of
mankind to come to Christ. For let them be as sinful as they will, and ever so
miserable; Christ, in the work of redemption, is gloriously exalted above all
their sin and misery.
How high soever their guilt
has risen, though mountains have been heaping on mountains all the days of their
lives, till the pile appears towering up to heaven, and above the very stars;
yet Christ in the work of redemption appears gloriously exalted above all this
height. — Though they are overwhelmed in a mighty deluge of woe and misery, a
deluge that is not only above all their heads, but above the heads of the
highest mountains, and they do not see how it is possible that they should
escape; yet they have no reason to be discouraged from looking to Christ for
help, who in the work of redemption, appears gloriously above the deluge of
evil. Though they see dreadful corruption in their hearts, though their lusts
appear like giants, or like the raging waves of the sea; yet they need not
despair of help, but may look to Christ, who appears in the work of redemption,
gloriously above all this corruption.
If they apprehend themselves
to be miserable captives of Satan, and find him too strong an adversary for
them, and the devil is often tempting and buffeting them, and triumphing over
them with great cruelty; if it seems to them that the devil has swallowed them
up, and his got full possession of them, as the whale had of Jonah; yet there is
encouragement for them to look again, as Jonah did, towards God’s holy temple,
and to trust in Christ for deliverance from Satan, who appears so gloriously
exalted above him in the work of redemption.
If they are ready to sink
with darkness and sorrows, distress of conscience, or those frowns of God upon
them, so that God’s waves and billows seem to pass over them; yet they have
encouragement enough to look to Christ for deliverance. These waves and billows
have before exalted themselves against Christ, and he appeared to be infinitely
above them. — And if they are afraid of death, if it looks exceeding terrible,
as an enemy that would swallow them up; yet let them look to Christ who has
appeared so gloriously above death, and their fears will turn into joy and
triumph.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's Jonathan Edwards Collection by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Box 119
Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
Our websites: www.biblebb.com and
www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986