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The Keys of Hell and Death!
Spurgeon, "Christ With the Keys of Death and Hell"
"I have the keys of hell and of death."
Rev. 1:18.
Hell and death, terrible powers as they are, are
not left to riot without government. Jesus holds
the keys of these dreadful regions!
Death is a land of darkness, yet a sovereign eye
surveys it, and a master hand holds its key.
Hell also is a horrible region, where powers of evil
and of terror hold their high court and dread assembly;
but hell trembles at the presence of the Lord, and
there is a throne higher than the throne of evil.
Let us rejoice that nothing in heaven, or earth,
or in places under the earth, is left to itself to
engender anarchy. Everywhere, serene above
the floods, the Lord sits as King forever and ever!
No province of the universe
is free from the divine rule!
Things do not come by chance. Nowhere do chance
and chaos reign, nowhere is evil really and permanently
enthroned. Rest assured that the Lord has prepared his
throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
Christ has the keys of hell and death!
He is the Lord over those dark regions, and rules them
by his sovereignty. Christ is Lord over hell and death.
He actually rules and manages in all the issues of the
grave, and overrules all the councils of hell, restraining
the mischievous devices of Satan, or turning them to
subserve his own designs of good.
Our Lord Jesus Christ still is supreme! His
kingdom, willingly or unwillingly, extends over
all existences in whatever regions they may be!
Jesus rules over the damned spirits!
In this life they would not have him to rule over
them, but in the life to come they must submit
whether they will or not. In that seething caldron
of hell, every wave of fire is guided by the will
of Christ, and the mark of his sovereignty is on
every iron chain.
Thus the ungodly will be compelled to feel his rule with
terror, for although the ferocity of their natures will
remain, yet the boastfulness of their pride shall be
taken from them. Though they would still revolt,
they shall find themselves hopelessly fettered, and
powerless to accomplish their designs.
Though they would sincerely continue stouthearted
as Pharaoh, and cry, "Who is the Lord, that we should
obey his voice?" They shall wring their hands in anguish
and bite their tongues in despair.
One of the great terrors of the lost in hell will be this,
that he who came to save was rejected by them,
and now only reveals himself to them as mighty to
destroy. He who held out the silver scepter when they
would not touch it, shall forever break them with a
rod of iron for their willful impenitence.
"Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you be destroyed
in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment."
"Beware you that forget him, lest he tear
you in pieces and there be none to deliver."
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