victory Deaths commission and power is taken away it comes not as a penal and judicial evil to the Saints not as a part of the curse but a remain of the cross an evil of affliction sanctified and eminently conducing to their good hence the Apostle gloryes over it not in a way of proud insulting but in an humble triumph of faith in God through Christ which plainly argues death as to him and all believers was spoiled of its power Hence we may take up these two Doctrines of just and weighty Observation Doct. 1. That there is a sore and grievous Sting in natural Death or natural Death is armed by Sin with a sore and grievous Sting Doct. 2. That the Sting of Death is certainly and infallibly taken out so that it cannot really hurt prejudice or annoy true Believers These two Doctrines doe contain the true meaning and intent of the Apostle in these words 1. That there is a sore and grievous Sting in natural Death This lies first in our way Never shall we see our deliverance fully till we see our danger nor be sensible of the excellent remedy till we have felt the smart of the fore hence many men out of stupidity or a wilful slighting or refusing to mind their death their last end have made too light a matter of it but of a truth when death comes armed by sin with an high Commission from the Law it will be found to be piercing painful and poysonous I shall therefore in the first place endeavour to shew more particularly what the Sting of Death is before I come to shew how it is taken out 〈◊〉 â—â—ow there are several Stings in Death 1. The first sting in death is that it came into the world through mans own fault Rom. 5.12 By one man sin entered and death by sin and death passed upon all men c. It is sin brought in death as a curse and punishment Death comes from God not as instituting the course of Nature at first but as revenging sin There is a Saying in Ecclsiasticus that God did not make Death true it is not a Creature but the destruction of the Creature God is not the peccant cause of the falling of this house of clay but our sin as Eccles 10.18 It s plain in the tenor of the first threatning Gen. 2.17 They are Malefactors that are sentenced aâ— judged and condemned to die Every sinner dyes as a Malefactor as an evil doer suffering for his own sin And truely it pierceth deep if a man consider that he fetcht the Viper out of the snow and nourished it in his own bosome which now doth sting and devour him When a man must say In me convertite ferrum mea caedes mea fraus omnis When it shall be told him as Jer. 2.19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee And as Jer. 4.18 thy way and doings have procured these things unto thee this is thy wickedness We like the foolish woman Prov. 14.1 pull down the house over our heads with our own hands Before we feel the burthen of sin our own will to it is our warrant for it and because our selves have done it we can easily excuse it but at last it will sting like an Adder This will double the burthen this will be enough to silence any sufferer in this last execution of Justice upon him i.e. in this life This consideration will devolve all the load upon our selves Who shall relieve us Who shall grieve for us Whom shall we blame but even leave our complaint upon our selves 2. Another Sting in Death is that it comes from the Wrath of God Psal 78.50 He made a way to his anger and spared not their soul from death God takes away the wicked in his wrath Psal 58.9 Death is his destroying Angel that chaseth them out of the world There are two thing in a curse or punishment 1. Something that is evil some oppressing evil 2. The wrath of God mixt with it Now death is a part of the curse now this is piercing and painful indeed for a man to be taken away in wrath Sinners in Sion are afraid and a fearful thing it is to tall into the hands of the Living God 3. Another sting in death is that it is the punishment due to sin It comes armed therefore with a Commission to take satisfaction for of sence and wrong done to the infinite God It is the wages of sin Rom. 6. ult We were bound upon peril of our lives and on pain of death to keep Gods Law Gen. 2.17 In the day thou catest thereof thou shalt surely dye that being broken death ensues and seizeth on us as our punishment So v. 22. of this Chapter In Adam all aye Sin and punishment goe together When the body of sin goes before Punishment as its shadow attends it When Eve brought forth a son she was brought a bed of death according to the Proverb Ex malo Corvo malum Ovum The Jews have a Saying There was never any punishment hapned to them but there was anounce of the golden calf in it So there is no death but there are some drachmes of sin in it The lively Image of Sin is ever to be seen in Death Would you see the sad influence that moisture hath upon iron Look upon the rust of it Would you see the horrid evil of drunkenness Look upon the effects of it Prov. 23.29 Who hath woe who hath sorrow Who hath contention Who hath babling Who hath wounds without cause Who hath redness of eyes v. 30. They that tarry long at the wine they that goe to seck mixt wine So here Who hath shortness of breath a pale countenance a crazy body Catarrhs Epilepsies Palsyes c They that continue in sin Why doth the living man complain Lam. 3.39 A man for the punishment of his sin This stings pains and pierceth the sinner when death comes 4. Another sting in death is that it separates the soul and body each from other These antient friends whose lives and happiness here as Jacobs was in Benjamins Gen. 44.30 lare bound up in one anothers welfare Will ye take Benjamin away All these things are against me If mischief befal him then shall ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave Gen. 42 36 38. So may the body which is so closly wedded and so dearly affected to the soul say If ye take away my soul you take away my life As it is reported of Madrian the Emperour when he was dying he thus trembling at the gastly countenance of the King of Terrors bespake his miserable soul Animula vagula blandula Hospes Comesque corporis Quoe nune abibit in loca Pallidula rigida nudula Nec ut soles dabis Jocos O thou little pleasant wandring soul the guess and companion of the body 〈◊〉 what place will it goe c. So hard did he find it for these two friends to part If it be so hard for a man to part
things be they shall be another mans It s certain saith the Apostle 1 Tim. 6.7 that we carvy nothing out of this world Where we took up our Lot in this life there we must leave it The things of this life are like a boat to wast us over the water which can doe us no further service when we come on shore as our cloaths that we put on in the morning and put off at night Now for them that dote upon their worldly enjoyments and have their portion in this life what a grief is it and how doth it sting them to consider that they yet must take an utter leave of all their joyes delights friends and good things at once as the merchants of Babylon lamented over the costliness of the city for in one hour it was made desolate so may the rich Miser in a dying hour They at Ziglaz wept for the sacking of the place and the captivity of their sons and daughters till they had no more power to weep yet they might be recovered but in Death there is no Return 9. Another sting in Death is that Satan is very busy to hold the souls of men in a desperate security or plunging them into the depth of 〈◊〉 spair which is the very image of Hell hence Asaph in Psal 73. spâ—â—â—â— of some in his observation that had no bands in Death and Bildad â—enâ— of others that are haled to the King of Terrors O the Râ—â—â—â—â— and restless tostings of some poor wretches when they 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 out as if their breath were already made up of Fire and Brimstone as Francis Spira and Hadrian the Emperour And oh the sottish stupidity and senslesness of others who mind nothing at all neither past nor present but their bodily pains when their souls are sinking into hell How few are there that commit their souls to God and wisely and patiently dispose themselves for their latter end There is a woe pronouced upon the inhabitants of the earth for the Devil is come down unto you having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time Râ—v 12.12 So it may be said of every inhabitant of this earth when he comes to dye the weight of sin the unsupportableness of Gods anger the terrors of hell the nearness of the danger the difficulty of salvation will all appear nakedly to the naked soul When God makes darkness and it is night then the beasts of the forest creep forth every frog will be croaking towards the evening every puddle will send up a stinking vapor in a foggy night all the several shadows of things will unite every thing will concur to make up and compleat the misery of the poor sinner but the Rulers of the darkness of this world and powers of darkness set in to doe the last and worst in this life 10. Another sting in death is in the manner of its coming 1. It comes inevitably none can withstand or evade it the wise the rich the strong the beautifull the virtuous the young and the grey-headed c. fall and perish by it It s as a River that carryes all before it a Sythe that cuts all clean before it and levels all before it Job 3.14 15 18 19. It turns Kings and Counsellors Princes into the grave it breaks prisons small and great are seized by it It is appointed for all once to die saith the Apostle Heb. 9 27. Like sheep they are laid in the Grave and Death feeds on them Psal 49.14 This carryes a sting with it â—o lye open to the power of an enemy inevitably 2. It comes suddenly without delay this night saith God thy soul â—â—all be taken from thee Luk 20. Man knoweth not his time Eccl. 9.12 3. It comes irrecoâ—erably Job 14.12 Man lyeth down and riseth not 〈◊〉 the heavens be no more and v. 14. shall he live again the interrogaâ—â—â—â— implyes a strong and vehement negation Job 7.9 10. as the cloud â—â—â—onsumed and vanisheth away so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more he shall return no more to his house nor shall his place know him any more 4. Another sting in Death is that it puts us into a state unknown of which we have no experience it s called a Land of darkness as â—â—â—â—ss it self and of the shadow of death and without any order and where the light is as darkness Job 10.22 Men are afraid to goe in the dark the traveller is afraid to pass when the evening is come and where a man knows nothing he suspects the worst Mat. 17.6 The Disciples were sore afraid at the voice from the excellent glory Lastly Unto ungodly men it is a certain inlet and entrance into eternal Death It s a dark passage into the bottomless pit they are led through the prison of the grave to the place of execution Death temporal ushers in death eternal the death of the body makes way for the death of the soul they dye now and they dye ever Rev. 21.8 We read of A second Death after which there is none to come This is the sting of all its stings a state in which a man cannot be worse and yet shall never be better when death and hell shall be joyned in one for ever VSE I. Hence learn why men dread and are so afraid of Death yea there are many causes why a natural man should fear Death because of the sting that is in it Ah should I tell you nothing and you should mind no other but your souls seperation from your body can you part with it without a sigh or a serious thought or of your bodyes corruption though it might be wrapped in lead and entombed in marble yet in a few days it shall be an abhorring and loathing to all living it shall be a prey to vipers and creeping worms of the earth your carcases and your remembrance shall alike rot and perish together Should I tell you of your sicknesses and death-pangs that shall oppress you and your helpless friends standing by should I shew you your coffin your Grave or Tomb your Herse cloath and your Bier should I tell you of the breaking of your purposes and your intents frustrated and this coming inevitably suddenly and unalterably methinks these things should present Death as terrible Ah but I tell you it is the wrath of God the scalding drops of it and the fruit of your sin the beginning of your everlasting destruction It s no other liberty but what the Felon hath when he is taken out of prison and brought forth to execution it s your extream agony and the time of Satans rage and the prevailing of the powers of darkness the black guard of Hell surrounding of you the rending of you in pieces I acknowledge its an error in the saints 〈◊〉 people of God to be so much affrighted at death and to goe so mournfully out of this world surely they have not learn'd to look off this world
and to look up to that which is to come yet I am sure it iâ—… greater error and a damning error in the wicked and ungodly whâ—… they are not afraid of Death at all when they look upon Death as a common and usual event and have slight thoughts of it all their complaints are out of sympathy with their friends or from their bodily pains or their distracted thoughts about worldly matters but never consider what a weighty thing it is to dye well or what a dreadful thing it is to miscarry in their latter end And O the wretched stupidity of some that can be then most secure and are even like the beasts which perish Psal 49.12 O then blame not any that have woful apprehesions of death and beware of indulging your selves in a stupid secure frame for as Solomon saith in another case Prov. 23.32 It will sting like an Adder and bite like a Serpent II. Hence learn why the wicked and those that are out of Christ have such dreadful deaths they are under the sence and apprehension of the sting of death Death hath a piercing painful and poysonous sting and it hath power over them and doth as armed with the curse of the Law improve its power to fill them with pain sorrow and anguish They may be secure and stupid and their consciences may be seared but those that are not given up to a reprobate sence and so are past feeling they cannot but be full of bitterness and anguish under the unloosed pangs of Death But so much for this Doctrine I proceed to the second II. Doct. The sting of Death is certainly and infallibly taken out so that it cannot really hurt prejudice or annoy any true Believer They may truely and groundedly say as he 1 Sam. 15.32 Surely the bitterness of Death is past it may pierce and pain them but it cannot poyson them it may bruise their heel but cannot break their head What is become 〈◊〉 all that are fallen asleep in Christ are they destroyed Nay they 〈◊〉 made Are they undone Nay they are perfected Is their state â—â—â—tered Nay it is bettered and compleated Are they conquered Nay they are crowned Are they perished No they are highly priâ—â—â—â—dged Are they in bondage Nay they are set at liberty Are 〈◊〉 killed Nay they are revived Are they swallowed up Nay Deach their last and greatest enemy is swallowed up into a compleat victory But I shall endeavour in the opening of this Doctrine to shew you how â—he sting of death is taken out 1. That Sting is taken away that consists in its coming through mans own default But you will say is not death even in the godly a fruit of sin I answer it cannot be denied but that to the godly it is the consequent of sin but it is not in a strict sense the Punishment of their sin for there is no condemnation to them that are â—r Christ Rom 8.1 but it is rather a sanctified affliction to them and the Saints priviledge They made themselves sinful and God made them mortal that so they might not be alwayes miserable Though it came in by sin as Râ—m 5.12 yet as things are now stated in Christ Death to the Saints is the only choice Remedy against sin and the way of their return and entrance into a state of Perfection Thus of the flesh of the Viper is made a choice Antidote against his own poison Christ having overcome death for us Heb. 2.14 Temporal and bodily death is one of the streams of the bitter waters that flow from our provocation against God but since the wood of the Cross is cast into it it is become to every godly man delightsome and savoury and without any distastfulness in it It came with the curse of the thorns but since Christ wore his crown of thorns we may suffer and dye without fear So long as the curse of the Law hath power sin will be strong so long as sin is strong death will be terrible and bitter but Jesus Christ hath satisfied the Law vanquished death and taken out its sting even in Golgotha the place of sculls where were so many Trophies of Deaths victory in its own territories there he overcame it so that now a Believer may say I brake the Law but in Christ I satisfied it and may glory saying In the Lord have I Righteousness and Strength 2. The sting of Death is taken out in that it is not now a part or fruit of the revenging wrath of God but of his fatherly love and therefore he doth not so much thrust them out of this world when they dye as take them to himself as it is said concerning him Ger. 5.24 God took him And so Christ tells his Disciples Joh. 14.3 I wâ—ll come again and receive you to my self They are gathered to their Fathers Thâ—â— that dye in the Lord doe not fall but yield themselves into the hand◠〈◊〉 God Acts 7.59 Stephen resigns up his spirit into the hands of Chrâ—â—â— The wicked are gathered like Tares and like chaff to be burned but the Saints like a shock of ripe corn in its season like the preceâ—â—â—â—ain into the Garner to be preserved Hence as a man would â—â—lly â—ay siâ—â— best Moveables when a place is to be destroyed so 〈◊〉 God â—o be 〈◊〉 way his Saints before he bring destroying Calamityes upon a Nation 57 1. The righteous perisheth and no man layâ—th it to heart and the mercifull men are taken away none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come Old Mothuselah goes in the year before the Flood came Hezekiah and Josiah are removed by death that so they might not see the evil coming upon Judah Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the Death of his Saints Psal 116.15 It s no messenger of Satan nor an instrument of wrath but the messenger of Christ to translate them into the Kingdome of heaven whilst others fall into Gods angry revenging hand the Saints dye in the Lord and rest in the embraces of his Love It is said of Moses Deut. 34.5 He dyed at the mouth of Jehovah with a Kiss of his mouth as the Rabbies gloss it as it were sweetly respiring his breath back again into the hand whence he received it So that death to the Saints is not from Justice but choicest mercy and love It is one of those things given us by God in Christ 1 Cor. 3.22 Death is yours 3. Deaths Sting is taken away in that though it separate Body and Soul yet neither the one nor the other are separated from Christ their Communion with one another indeed is broken but their Union with Christ is no wayes impaired or disanulled They dye in the Lord Rev. 14.13 and sleep in Jesus 1 Cor. 15.18 we dye unto the Lord whether we live or dye we are the Lords Rom. 14.8 Our friends indeed are not with us but they are with Christ which is far better Phil. 1. They are taken hence