Letter 16. The Effects of Christ's Death
Dear Brother Benjamin,
1. We will now proceed to consider the effects of Christ's death, or sacrifice. As the deliverance of our fathers from the Egyptian bondage was accomplished immediately after the paschal lamb was slain, so when "Christ our passover was sacrificed for us," the whole work of redemption was completed. Hence the Lord Jesus, with his dying breath, but with a loud voice, cried, ''It is finished!" The full meaning of this comprehensive and triumphant exclamation of the Redeemer will be better understood when we shall see him "no more through a glass darkly, but face to face." The prophecies of his humiliation were accomplished; the prefigurations and shadows of his death were substantiated; the battle with the powers of darkness was over; the righteousness of the law was fulfilled; the payment of the price of redemption was completed; and the work which the Father gave him to do was finished in the highest degree of perfection.
Such is the virtue and efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ, that every thing formidable and burdensome is removed, every thing great and glorious procured; justice with all its vengeance appeased; the law with all its retinue of curses silenced; sin with all its demerits expiated; the covenant with all its benefits ratified; peace with its blessings restored; the spirit with all its treasures bestowed; our services purified from their filth; our consciences pacified from their fears; whatsoever is grievous abrogated; the veil of the temple, with all the heavy weight of ceremonies, rent in twain; hell quenched, and heaven prepared and furnished for all that imitate God in his valuation of this sacrifice.
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," which was the (prophetic) song of a multitude of angels at the birth of Jesus, was effected by his vicarious sacrifice on the cross. In a former letter I have staled that the sentence pronounced in Paradise on the tempter was a curse to Satan, and included a promise of the Savior; and I will now show its accomplishment in the death of Christ. This may be considered,
2. a. In regard to Jehovah. Satan aimed to rob God of his glory, and to restore the glory of God was that which Jesus aimed at when he came into our world, and that which he perfected when he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. The glory of all the attributes of God appeared in the face or manifestation of Christ. They all centered in him, and shone forth from him in all their brightness, and in a full combination set off one another's luster; not only in his incarnation, but also, and that chiefly, in his sacrifice.
Mercy could not be glorified, unless justice had been satisfied; and justice had not been evident, if the tokens of divine wrath had not been upon him; grace had not sailed to us, but in the streams of his blood—"without the shedding of blood there is no remission." Justice had not been so fully known in the eternal groans of a world of creatures, nor could sin have appeared so odious to the holiness of God, by eternal scars upon devils and men, as by the deluge of blood from the heart of the sacrifice. Wisdom, in the contrivance, had not been evident without the execution.
The cross of Christ, which is "foolishness to the Greeks, and a stumbling-block to the Jews," is the wisdom as well as the power of God unto salvation. Here unsearchable depth of wisdom was unfolded, a depth more impossible to be comprehended in our minds than the whole heaven and earth in our hands. Such a wisdom of God shines in the cross as the angels never beheld in his face upon the throne, wisdom to cure a desperate disease by the death of the Physician; to turn the greatest evil to the greatest glory; to bring forth mercy by the shedding of blood.
But the death of Christ is a display of power as well as of wisdom.
Dear Benjamin! turn your eye toward Calvary, where our Lord was crucified, and behold exertions greater and more marvelous than the creation and support of the universe: Almighty God strengthening his dear Son with his arm, and bruising him under his wrath, sustaining him under a weight which would have crushed the creation, and by his weakness breaking the forces of earth and hell, which were in opposition. Revenging wrath is a weight which creatures are not able to bear.
Principalities and powers sunk beneath it, into outer darkness and endless misery. The wrath which crushed them hung over man, who was seduced to join their rebellious powers. Men, chosen to everlasting life, were by nature children of wrath, even as others. But for the chosen generation the Lord Jesus Christ was made under the law, and endured the wrath which their sins deserved, endured it all, endured it all at once, and in the strength and glory of his weakness endured it all alone! The beams of holiness, which is the essential glory of the nature of Jehovah, and revealed glory of his will, shine bright and awful in the death of Jesus. In the triumph over Egypt, on the banks of the Red Sea, Moses and the children of Israel sang, "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, glorious in holiness?" and, in remembering the triumph of the cross over principalities and powers on Calvary, the song of Moses rises into the song of the Lamb, and transmits the praise of the glory of his holiness from generation to generation.
The light of the knowledge of the glory of the holiness of God never broke forth in such luster and majesty. The punishment of angels, the destruction of the old world, the overthrow of the cities of the plain, the drowning of Pharaoh and his hosts, the pools of Nineveh, the humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar, and the ruins of Babylon, are manifestations of the glory of his holiness and righteousness; but these are all in a manner eclipsed by the brighter and more awful glory that beams from the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Why was that just one wounded and bruised? why was his righteous soul filled with sorrow? his blessed head crowned with thorns? his glorious face defiled with spittle? and his holy body nailed to a tree, and lifted up on a cross, between two thieves? It was because God is glorious in holiness, hates iniquity, and punishes it wherever it is found. Lastly, "God is love!" and the sacrifice of Christ is the manifestation of this glory of his nature. "In this," saith the apostle, "was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).
When the believing eye turns toward the cross, the love of God to sinful, guilty, and miserable men, shines forth, and becomes the object of contemplation, and theme of discourse, which can never be sufficiently praised and adored. May you and I, my dear Benjamin, "be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge" (Eph 3:18,19).
3. b. In the next place, we may view the effects of Christ's death in regard of himself as Mediator.
It hath already been shown from the Scriptures of the Old Testament, that in the stipulations of the covenant of redemption a variety of promises were made to the Messiah, particularly as relating to his exaltation; all these are applied, in the New Testament, to Jesus Christ. Thus the apostle informs us, that beside the essential native power and dominion over all which Christ hath as God, but which was, as it were, veiled during his state of humiliation, the Father hath exalted him, as Mediator, to the highest dignity and universal sovereign dominion over every thing in heaven, and earth, and hell. From the many precious passages which relate to this all-important and most interesting subject, I have selected but a few, and pray that my dear Benjamin may feel the sweet truth they contain.
"As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him" (John 17:2). "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man; and being formed in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:6-11). "Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph 1:20-23). "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb 12:2).
By the death of Christ the covenant was ratified, confirmed and sealed, and the blessings of it put into his hands, to be disposed of at his pleasure. "For it has pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell" (Col 1:19).
I have already shown that the covenant which was made known to Adam immediately after the fall, was accompanied with the sacrifices of beasts, both to show to him a token of that punishment which he had merited at the hands of justice, and in what a bloody way his recovery was to be accomplished. The repetition of it to Abraham was confirmed by sacrifices (Gen 15:18), and the solemn covenant between God and the Israelites was also confirmed by sacrifices, and the blood of them is called the blood of the covenant (Exo 24:5,8); i. e. a type of that blood which should be shed for the confirmation of that blessed covenant, whereby the soul shall be purified from sin. Hence, Christ, in the institution of the supper, calls his blood the New Testament in his blood, i. e. the true blood shed for the ratification of the covenant, which was only typified by the blood of all former sacrifices.
4. c. We next notice the effects of Christ's death upon his people. It will easily occur to your mind, my dear Benjamin, that in my letter on the covenant of redemption, I stated that it contained blessings to the seed of the Messiah, as well as to himself. It has also been shown in another letter, that the curse pronounced on the tempter (Gen 3:15), contained a revelation of the Messiah, signifying our deliverance from the misery brought into the world, and in another letter I explained the promise made to our father Abraham, that in his seed, which is the Messiah, all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. I will now point out to you the fulfillment of all this in Jesus Christ, my blessed Lord and Savior, as the effect of his atoning sacrifice.
The cross of Christ has often been compared to "the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (Rev 22:2). Here is food in rich abundance, great variety and perpetual growth; together with a healing influence on all nations: yet the effects and fruits of the death of Christ, of whom the tree of life in paradise was but a type are infinitely superior.
As the seed of the woman, he delivers from all misery, and as the seed of Abraham, he confers numberless blessings. No sooner is the sinner delivered from the wrath of God, but he is also restored to the favor of the Most High, which is life, and his loving-kindness, which is better than life; no sooner is he delivered from the curse of the law, than he is interested in all the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant; no sooner freed from the reigning power of sin and Satan, than he is under the happy influence of grace, has his fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life; no sooner delivered from the fear of death, through which he was all his life subject to bondage, than he enjoys a good hope through grace, and desires to depart to be with Christ, which is far better.
5. Before I close this letter, permit me, my dear Benjamin, to detain you for a few moments on the last particular just named, viz. that deliverance from the fear of death is one of the happy fruits and effects of the atoning sacrifice of the Messiah. This has a particular reference to the sentence pronounced in paradise on the tempter Satan, and fulfilled by the death of Jesus Christ. I have mentioned in a former letter, that the sufferings of Christ, and his ignominious death, were the great stumbling-stone of our nation, and the chief cause of their rejecting him as a deceiver and impostor. Hence, to convince our brethren of the necessity of such sufferings and death, the apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, uses a variety of arguments, from which I select but one, contained in verses 14 and 15, chapter 2d, viz. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Now you will perceive that in these words the apostle asserts that Satan has the power of death; that death produceth a fear which brings men into bondage; that Messiah Jesus came to deliver us from this fear; that he was to effect this by destroying Satan; and that, to accomplish the destruction of Satan, it was necessary for him to become incarnate, to suffer and to die.
6. Now I wish you, my dear Benjamin, particularly to observe, that the apostle, in his other Epistles, especially to the Romans, always produces proofs to establish his positions, but not so here; and the reason doubtless is, because he well knew that these propositions were the received opinions of our nation. That our ancient Rabbins believed that Satan had the power of death, is evident from the names by which they call him. The most general is, that of Malach Hammaveth, i. e. the angel of death; another is, Ashmadi, i. e. destroyer; again, they call him Abaddon, i. e. the angel of the bottomless pit (Rev 9:11). Targum Jonathan on Genesis 3:6, saith,
"That it may please thee (good Lord) to deliver us from evil decrees, from poverty, from contempt, from all kinds of punishment, from the judgment of hell, and from the beating in the grave."
This cock is a substitute for the scape goat, which our Rabbins say was offered to the devil, by which he who was before their accuser, becomes their friend; and the punishments due to their sins are laid upon the Gentiles.(96)
Is it then to be wondered, my dear Benjamin, that a firm belief of these, and a thousand similar dogmas of our Rabbins, of blessed memory, should produce that fear which makes our people subject to bondage all their life-time? You have probably not forgotten how often we have talked about the fear of death, and sometimes even hesitated to eat our necessary food, lest we should grow bulky, and suffer the greater pain from the worms that would consume our flesh after death. To some, indeed, it may seem strange that any one in his right senses should believe such things. But you know how our dear father and teachers instructed us, that it was our duty to receive all the dogmas and maxims of the Rabbins, not only without evidence, but even against evidence. For thus it is written,
"Thou shalt not depart from their words, even though they should tell thee of the right hand, this is the left; or of the left hand, this is the right."
Again,
"Whosoever scorns the words of the wise men, shall be cast into boiling dung in hell." "Whoever breaks the words of the scribes, is worthy of death."(97)
8. You will remember, my dear Benjamin, that in a preceding letter I have shown, both from the Scriptures and from the writings of our Rabbins, that the design of Satan in seducing our first parents, seems to have been to destroy them, and so to have put an end to the human species. But the Messiah, who was promised to come of the seed of the woman, was to bruise the head of the serpent, i. e. frustrate this malicious design. I will only refer to one prediction on this subject, delivered by the prophet Isaiah 25:8, "He will swallow up death in victory,"(98) or for ever, i. e. the Messiah shall, by his death, and resurrection from the dead, obtain such an entire victory over death, not only for himself, but for all his people, that in the resurrection-morn, when they will be all raised from the dead, death will be so swallowed up, that it will be no more for ever. This prediction is applied, by our Rabbins, to the resurrection of the dead in the days of the Messiah. They say
"that the Messiah shall descend from Pharez, and in his day the holy blessed God will cause death to be swallowed up," as it is said, Isaiah 25:8, "He shall swallow up death in victory."(99)
Again,
"When thy King Messiah comes, the holy blessed God will raise up those that sleep in the dust; as it is written, he shall swallow up death in victory."(100)
It is also applied to the Lord Jesus by the apostle, 1 Corinthians 15:54, "Death is swallowed up in victory." Now all this has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose death, as has been shown in former letters, was an atoning sacrifice for the sins of his people; it has fully satisfied divine justice on their account, dissolved their obligations to the punishment of eternal death, procured pardon and acceptance with God, and a restoration from death, by a blessed resurrection, to the enjoyment of eternal life and glory in heaven. In the hope of that glory and immortality brought to light by the Gospel, the believer in Christ, even in the house of his pilgrimage, can sing the triumphant song, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 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" (1 Cor 15:55-57). Farewell.
When I can read my title clear
To mansions in the skies
I bid farewell to every fear
And wipe my weeping eyes.
Should earth against my soul engage,
And hellish darts be hurl'd,
Then I can smile at Satan's rage,
And face a frowning world.
Let cares like a wild deluge come,
And storms of sorrow fall;
May I but safely reach my home,
My God, my heav'n, my all:
There shall I bathe my weary soul
In seas of heav'nly rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast.
Dear Brother Benjamin,
1. We will now proceed to consider the effects of Christ's death, or sacrifice. As the deliverance of our fathers from the Egyptian bondage was accomplished immediately after the paschal lamb was slain, so when "Christ our passover was sacrificed for us," the whole work of redemption was completed. Hence the Lord Jesus, with his dying breath, but with a loud voice, cried, ''It is finished!" The full meaning of this comprehensive and triumphant exclamation of the Redeemer will be better understood when we shall see him "no more through a glass darkly, but face to face." The prophecies of his humiliation were accomplished; the prefigurations and shadows of his death were substantiated; the battle with the powers of darkness was over; the righteousness of the law was fulfilled; the payment of the price of redemption was completed; and the work which the Father gave him to do was finished in the highest degree of perfection.
Such is the virtue and efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ, that every thing formidable and burdensome is removed, every thing great and glorious procured; justice with all its vengeance appeased; the law with all its retinue of curses silenced; sin with all its demerits expiated; the covenant with all its benefits ratified; peace with its blessings restored; the spirit with all its treasures bestowed; our services purified from their filth; our consciences pacified from their fears; whatsoever is grievous abrogated; the veil of the temple, with all the heavy weight of ceremonies, rent in twain; hell quenched, and heaven prepared and furnished for all that imitate God in his valuation of this sacrifice.
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," which was the (prophetic) song of a multitude of angels at the birth of Jesus, was effected by his vicarious sacrifice on the cross. In a former letter I have staled that the sentence pronounced in Paradise on the tempter was a curse to Satan, and included a promise of the Savior; and I will now show its accomplishment in the death of Christ. This may be considered,
2. a. In regard to Jehovah. Satan aimed to rob God of his glory, and to restore the glory of God was that which Jesus aimed at when he came into our world, and that which he perfected when he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. The glory of all the attributes of God appeared in the face or manifestation of Christ. They all centered in him, and shone forth from him in all their brightness, and in a full combination set off one another's luster; not only in his incarnation, but also, and that chiefly, in his sacrifice.
Mercy could not be glorified, unless justice had been satisfied; and justice had not been evident, if the tokens of divine wrath had not been upon him; grace had not sailed to us, but in the streams of his blood—"without the shedding of blood there is no remission." Justice had not been so fully known in the eternal groans of a world of creatures, nor could sin have appeared so odious to the holiness of God, by eternal scars upon devils and men, as by the deluge of blood from the heart of the sacrifice. Wisdom, in the contrivance, had not been evident without the execution.
The cross of Christ, which is "foolishness to the Greeks, and a stumbling-block to the Jews," is the wisdom as well as the power of God unto salvation. Here unsearchable depth of wisdom was unfolded, a depth more impossible to be comprehended in our minds than the whole heaven and earth in our hands. Such a wisdom of God shines in the cross as the angels never beheld in his face upon the throne, wisdom to cure a desperate disease by the death of the Physician; to turn the greatest evil to the greatest glory; to bring forth mercy by the shedding of blood.
But the death of Christ is a display of power as well as of wisdom.
Dear Benjamin! turn your eye toward Calvary, where our Lord was crucified, and behold exertions greater and more marvelous than the creation and support of the universe: Almighty God strengthening his dear Son with his arm, and bruising him under his wrath, sustaining him under a weight which would have crushed the creation, and by his weakness breaking the forces of earth and hell, which were in opposition. Revenging wrath is a weight which creatures are not able to bear.
Principalities and powers sunk beneath it, into outer darkness and endless misery. The wrath which crushed them hung over man, who was seduced to join their rebellious powers. Men, chosen to everlasting life, were by nature children of wrath, even as others. But for the chosen generation the Lord Jesus Christ was made under the law, and endured the wrath which their sins deserved, endured it all, endured it all at once, and in the strength and glory of his weakness endured it all alone! The beams of holiness, which is the essential glory of the nature of Jehovah, and revealed glory of his will, shine bright and awful in the death of Jesus. In the triumph over Egypt, on the banks of the Red Sea, Moses and the children of Israel sang, "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, glorious in holiness?" and, in remembering the triumph of the cross over principalities and powers on Calvary, the song of Moses rises into the song of the Lamb, and transmits the praise of the glory of his holiness from generation to generation.
The light of the knowledge of the glory of the holiness of God never broke forth in such luster and majesty. The punishment of angels, the destruction of the old world, the overthrow of the cities of the plain, the drowning of Pharaoh and his hosts, the pools of Nineveh, the humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar, and the ruins of Babylon, are manifestations of the glory of his holiness and righteousness; but these are all in a manner eclipsed by the brighter and more awful glory that beams from the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Why was that just one wounded and bruised? why was his righteous soul filled with sorrow? his blessed head crowned with thorns? his glorious face defiled with spittle? and his holy body nailed to a tree, and lifted up on a cross, between two thieves? It was because God is glorious in holiness, hates iniquity, and punishes it wherever it is found. Lastly, "God is love!" and the sacrifice of Christ is the manifestation of this glory of his nature. "In this," saith the apostle, "was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).
When the believing eye turns toward the cross, the love of God to sinful, guilty, and miserable men, shines forth, and becomes the object of contemplation, and theme of discourse, which can never be sufficiently praised and adored. May you and I, my dear Benjamin, "be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge" (Eph 3:18,19).
3. b. In the next place, we may view the effects of Christ's death in regard of himself as Mediator.
It hath already been shown from the Scriptures of the Old Testament, that in the stipulations of the covenant of redemption a variety of promises were made to the Messiah, particularly as relating to his exaltation; all these are applied, in the New Testament, to Jesus Christ. Thus the apostle informs us, that beside the essential native power and dominion over all which Christ hath as God, but which was, as it were, veiled during his state of humiliation, the Father hath exalted him, as Mediator, to the highest dignity and universal sovereign dominion over every thing in heaven, and earth, and hell. From the many precious passages which relate to this all-important and most interesting subject, I have selected but a few, and pray that my dear Benjamin may feel the sweet truth they contain.
"As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him" (John 17:2). "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man; and being formed in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:6-11). "Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph 1:20-23). "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb 12:2).
By the death of Christ the covenant was ratified, confirmed and sealed, and the blessings of it put into his hands, to be disposed of at his pleasure. "For it has pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell" (Col 1:19).
I have already shown that the covenant which was made known to Adam immediately after the fall, was accompanied with the sacrifices of beasts, both to show to him a token of that punishment which he had merited at the hands of justice, and in what a bloody way his recovery was to be accomplished. The repetition of it to Abraham was confirmed by sacrifices (Gen 15:18), and the solemn covenant between God and the Israelites was also confirmed by sacrifices, and the blood of them is called the blood of the covenant (Exo 24:5,8); i. e. a type of that blood which should be shed for the confirmation of that blessed covenant, whereby the soul shall be purified from sin. Hence, Christ, in the institution of the supper, calls his blood the New Testament in his blood, i. e. the true blood shed for the ratification of the covenant, which was only typified by the blood of all former sacrifices.
4. c. We next notice the effects of Christ's death upon his people. It will easily occur to your mind, my dear Benjamin, that in my letter on the covenant of redemption, I stated that it contained blessings to the seed of the Messiah, as well as to himself. It has also been shown in another letter, that the curse pronounced on the tempter (Gen 3:15), contained a revelation of the Messiah, signifying our deliverance from the misery brought into the world, and in another letter I explained the promise made to our father Abraham, that in his seed, which is the Messiah, all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. I will now point out to you the fulfillment of all this in Jesus Christ, my blessed Lord and Savior, as the effect of his atoning sacrifice.
The cross of Christ has often been compared to "the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (Rev 22:2). Here is food in rich abundance, great variety and perpetual growth; together with a healing influence on all nations: yet the effects and fruits of the death of Christ, of whom the tree of life in paradise was but a type are infinitely superior.
As the seed of the woman, he delivers from all misery, and as the seed of Abraham, he confers numberless blessings. No sooner is the sinner delivered from the wrath of God, but he is also restored to the favor of the Most High, which is life, and his loving-kindness, which is better than life; no sooner is he delivered from the curse of the law, than he is interested in all the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant; no sooner freed from the reigning power of sin and Satan, than he is under the happy influence of grace, has his fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life; no sooner delivered from the fear of death, through which he was all his life subject to bondage, than he enjoys a good hope through grace, and desires to depart to be with Christ, which is far better.
5. Before I close this letter, permit me, my dear Benjamin, to detain you for a few moments on the last particular just named, viz. that deliverance from the fear of death is one of the happy fruits and effects of the atoning sacrifice of the Messiah. This has a particular reference to the sentence pronounced in paradise on the tempter Satan, and fulfilled by the death of Jesus Christ. I have mentioned in a former letter, that the sufferings of Christ, and his ignominious death, were the great stumbling-stone of our nation, and the chief cause of their rejecting him as a deceiver and impostor. Hence, to convince our brethren of the necessity of such sufferings and death, the apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, uses a variety of arguments, from which I select but one, contained in verses 14 and 15, chapter 2d, viz. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Now you will perceive that in these words the apostle asserts that Satan has the power of death; that death produceth a fear which brings men into bondage; that Messiah Jesus came to deliver us from this fear; that he was to effect this by destroying Satan; and that, to accomplish the destruction of Satan, it was necessary for him to become incarnate, to suffer and to die.
6. Now I wish you, my dear Benjamin, particularly to observe, that the apostle, in his other Epistles, especially to the Romans, always produces proofs to establish his positions, but not so here; and the reason doubtless is, because he well knew that these propositions were the received opinions of our nation. That our ancient Rabbins believed that Satan had the power of death, is evident from the names by which they call him. The most general is, that of Malach Hammaveth, i. e. the angel of death; another is, Ashmadi, i. e. destroyer; again, they call him Abaddon, i. e. the angel of the bottomless pit (Rev 9:11). Targum Jonathan on Genesis 3:6, saith,
"That it may please thee (good Lord) to deliver us from evil decrees, from poverty, from contempt, from all kinds of punishment, from the judgment of hell, and from the beating in the grave."
This cock is a substitute for the scape goat, which our Rabbins say was offered to the devil, by which he who was before their accuser, becomes their friend; and the punishments due to their sins are laid upon the Gentiles.(96)
Is it then to be wondered, my dear Benjamin, that a firm belief of these, and a thousand similar dogmas of our Rabbins, of blessed memory, should produce that fear which makes our people subject to bondage all their life-time? You have probably not forgotten how often we have talked about the fear of death, and sometimes even hesitated to eat our necessary food, lest we should grow bulky, and suffer the greater pain from the worms that would consume our flesh after death. To some, indeed, it may seem strange that any one in his right senses should believe such things. But you know how our dear father and teachers instructed us, that it was our duty to receive all the dogmas and maxims of the Rabbins, not only without evidence, but even against evidence. For thus it is written,
"Thou shalt not depart from their words, even though they should tell thee of the right hand, this is the left; or of the left hand, this is the right."
Again,
"Whosoever scorns the words of the wise men, shall be cast into boiling dung in hell." "Whoever breaks the words of the scribes, is worthy of death."(97)
8. You will remember, my dear Benjamin, that in a preceding letter I have shown, both from the Scriptures and from the writings of our Rabbins, that the design of Satan in seducing our first parents, seems to have been to destroy them, and so to have put an end to the human species. But the Messiah, who was promised to come of the seed of the woman, was to bruise the head of the serpent, i. e. frustrate this malicious design. I will only refer to one prediction on this subject, delivered by the prophet Isaiah 25:8, "He will swallow up death in victory,"(98) or for ever, i. e. the Messiah shall, by his death, and resurrection from the dead, obtain such an entire victory over death, not only for himself, but for all his people, that in the resurrection-morn, when they will be all raised from the dead, death will be so swallowed up, that it will be no more for ever. This prediction is applied, by our Rabbins, to the resurrection of the dead in the days of the Messiah. They say
"that the Messiah shall descend from Pharez, and in his day the holy blessed God will cause death to be swallowed up," as it is said, Isaiah 25:8, "He shall swallow up death in victory."(99)
Again,
"When thy King Messiah comes, the holy blessed God will raise up those that sleep in the dust; as it is written, he shall swallow up death in victory."(100)
It is also applied to the Lord Jesus by the apostle, 1 Corinthians 15:54, "Death is swallowed up in victory." Now all this has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose death, as has been shown in former letters, was an atoning sacrifice for the sins of his people; it has fully satisfied divine justice on their account, dissolved their obligations to the punishment of eternal death, procured pardon and acceptance with God, and a restoration from death, by a blessed resurrection, to the enjoyment of eternal life and glory in heaven. In the hope of that glory and immortality brought to light by the Gospel, the believer in Christ, even in the house of his pilgrimage, can sing the triumphant song, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 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" (1 Cor 15:55-57). Farewell.
When I can read my title clear
To mansions in the skies
I bid farewell to every fear
And wipe my weeping eyes.
Should earth against my soul engage,
And hellish darts be hurl'd,
Then I can smile at Satan's rage,
And face a frowning world.
Let cares like a wild deluge come,
And storms of sorrow fall;
May I but safely reach my home,
My God, my heav'n, my all:
There shall I bathe my weary soul
In seas of heav'nly rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast.
JCR - The Controversy Between Jews and Christians, Part 4, Joseph Samuel C. F. Frey
JCR: The Controversy Between Jews and Christians
juchre.org
