SERMON preached on a speciall occasion On 1 COR. 15. 57. But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Iesus Christ THese words are a part of Paul's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Triumphant Song In the Song there are two parts and this is the last 1. A confident Challenge 2. A solemne Thanksgiving The one is directed to the enemies the other to the giver of victory 1. A confident Challenge in which he outbraveth Death and all the powers of the Grave O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory the words allude to Ilos 13. 14. where Christ is brought in speaking I will ransome them from the power of Death and redeem them from the Grave O Death I will be thy plagues O Grave I will be thy destruction there is Christs ingagement and undertaking for a full conquest of Death Christ threatneth Death and the Apostle insulteth over it the form of the words is altered because the enemy was now faln and Paul proclaimeth the victory hitherto Death and the Grave had insulted over the misery and frailty of mankinde all the tombes and charnels of the World were but so many Monuments of Deaths conquests Golgotha the place of skuls seemed to be designed on purpose to upbraid and discourage our Redeemer so many skuls and rotten reliques of humane frailty as there were in that place so many Trophies and Monuments of triumph did Death produce before the eyes of Christ as if it were said to him Canst thou darest thou grapple and enter into the lists with such an enemy But our Lord was not discouraged when he ascended upon the Crosse he did as it were answer these bravings of Death thus O Death I will be thy plagues O Grave I will be thy destruction and because he was as good as his word and every way performed his ingagement the Apostle as one of Christs followers cometh and insulteth over this proud adversary that was now faln O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory This challenge is illustrated by a Prolepsis or an Anticipation of an objection some might ask What is this sting of Death What is this power of the Grave The Apostle answereth The sting of Death is sin the strength of sin is the Law Death cometh to have this power by sin and sin to have this power by the Law The sting of Death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The prick it implyeth both the stroke of Death and the anguish of it as in the sting of a Serpent there is the deadly touch and the pain and torment of the wound and so it noteth the power of Death over us the prick or weapon by which it striketh is sin Rom. 5. 12. By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and the terrours and horrours of it which also doe arise from sin now by horrours I mean not onely the naturall aversation retirement or flight of the spirits but the bondage torment and despair that is upon the conscience as Death is a penall evill inflicted by the justice of God guilt maketh Death terrible so that a sinner is all his life time subject to bondage Heb. 2. 14 15. and kept under an awe of judgement to come 't is not alwayes felt but soon awakened especially in sicknesse and approaches of Death when we feel the cold hands of it ready to pluck out our hearts conscience is whipped with a scourge of six strings fear horrour distrust grief rage and shame The strength of sin is the Law How is that to be understood The Law giveth strength to sin ratione cognitionis obligationis augmentationis they are the words of a German Divine and will yeeld us a fit method wherein to open the matter 1. The Law discovereth sin and maketh it appear in its owne colours the more light and knowledge of the Law the more sense of sin as in transparent vessels dregs are soon discerned Rom. 6. 9. I was alive without the Law but when the Law came sin revived and I dyed When by a sound conviction all disguises are taken off from the conscience we finde sin to be sin indeed Paul was alive before that is in his owne hopes as many a stupid soul maketh full account he shall goe to heaven till conscience be opened and then they finde themselves in the mouth of Death and Hell 2. The Law giveth strength to sin in regard of the obligation of it it bindeth over a sinner to the curse and wrath of God God hath made a righteous Law which must have satisfaction and till the Law be satisfied we hear no news but of a curse and that maketh Death to be full of horrours there remaineth nothing but a fearfull expectation of the fiery indignation of the Lord. 3 It augmenteth and increaseth sin by forbidding it lusts are exasperated and rage upon a restraint as the yoke maketh the young bullock more unrulely Now put all together and you will understand the force of the expression The strength of sin is the Law the Discovery of the Law stoppeth the sinners mouth and the curse of the Law shutteth him up and holdeth him fast unto the judgement of the great day by which restraint sin groweth the more raging and furious all which put together make Death terrible not an end of misery but a door to open into Hell Now this being the case of every man what shall we do and how shall we extricate our souls from such a labyrinth of endlesse horrour You have an answer of that in the next verse in the Apostles Thanksgiving where he acquainteth you not onely with grounds of Hope but Triumph Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ In this thanksgiving you may observe 1. The Author of the mercy God by Jesus Christ 2. The manner how we come to be interested in it He giveth us victory Or rather you may observe 1 The Act of the Father as to Jesus Christ in that he appointed him to get the victory 2 The Act of the Father as to us in that hee applyeth this victory to our souls Christs victory and the application of it are the two grounds of this thanksgiving 1. Christs victory over Sin Death and the Law for it must be extended to all the things mentioned in the context they are enemies by combination and knit together in a fast league the Law giveth strength to sin and sin giveth a sting to Death as long as the Law hath power sin will be strong and as long as sin hath strength Death will bee terrible But Christ hath overcome Death he foyled it in his own person as I shall shew you anon fully and for Sin he hath taken away the guilt of it by his own merit and will destroy it more and more by the power of the Holy Ghost when he stood before the tribunall of God he stood there as a
as you are chosen and sanctified in Christ Jesus it cannot hurt you I say again death may kill you but it cannot hurt you it hath no power over the better part like a Serpent it feedeth only upon your dust nay and for your bodies that which dyeth as a creature is sure to live as a member of Christ the Lord Jesus is our head in the grave your bodies have a principle of life within them beleevers are raised by the Spirit of holinesse the same Spirit that quickneth them now to the offices of grace shall raise their mortall bodies So Rom. 8. 11. He shall quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you The holy Ghost can never leave his old mansion and dwelling place how many grounds of comfort have we against the mortality of the body Christ is united to body and soul and he will not let his Mysticall body want one sinew or joynt in the account that he is to make to the Father he saith he is to lose nothing Joh. 6. 39. Mark he doth not say none but nothing Christ will not lose a leg or a piece of an ear Again God is in Covenant with body and soul when you go down to the chambers of death you may challenge him upon the Charter of his own Grace God is the God of Abrahams dust of a beleevers dust though it be mingled with the remains of wicked men yet Christ will sever it Mat. 22. 32. Christ proveth the resurrection of the body by that argument that God is the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob the ground of the argument is that God made his Covenant not only with the souls of the Patriarchs but with their whole persons Again Christ hath purchased body and soul so much is intimated in that place 1 Cor. 6. 20. Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies Christ had payed price enough to get a title to body and soul and therefore he will not lose one bit of his purchase the Lord will call the grave to an account Where is the body of my Abraham my Isaac my Jacob t is said Rev. 20. 13. The Sea gave up her dead and the Grave gave up her dead and Hell gave up her dead let me note that Hell is there taken for the state of the departed or else what 's the meaning of that passage that followeth afterward and death and hell were cast into the lake that burneth c. Well then all the dead shall be cast up as the Whale cast up Jonah so the grave shall cast up her dead the grave is but a chest wherein our bodies are kept safe till the day of Christ and the key of this chest is not in the Devils hands but Christs see Rev. 1. 18. I have the keys of Death and Hell when the body is laid up in the cold pit 't is laid up for another day God hath an especiall care of our dust and remains when our friends and neighbours have left is Christ leaveth it not but keepeth it till the great and glorious day 3. We are eased from the terrours and horrors of death death is terrible as t is a poenall and a naturall evill as I distinguished before 1 As it is naturall evill death in it selfe is the greatest of all evils 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said an heathen which in Jobs language may be rendred The King of terrours Job 18. 14. We gush to see a Serpent much more the grim visage of death morall Philosophy could never finde out a remedy against it Heathens were either desperate rash stupid or else they dissembled their gripes and fears but Christ hath provided a remedy he hath delivered us not only from the hurt of death but the fear of death Heb. 2. 14. to deliver them from the fear of death that all their life time were subject to bondage by his spirit hee filleth the soul with the hopes of a better life nature may shrink when we see the pale horse of death approaching but we may rejoyce when we consider its errand 't is to carry us home as when old Jacob saw the chariots come from Egypt how did his heart leap within him because he should see his son Joseph Death however we figure it with the pencill of fancy is sent to carry us to heaven to transport us to Jesus Christ now who would bee afraid to be happy to be in the Armes of our beloved Jesus Let them fear death that know not a better life a Christian knoweth that when he dyeth he shall not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 3. 17. The world may thrust you out but you may see heaven alluring ready to receive you as Stephen saw heaven opened Act. 7. latter end there is an intellectuall vision or perswasion of Faith which is common to all the Saints though every one hath not such an extasie and sensible representation as Stephen had yet usually in the hours of their departure faith is mightily strengthned and acted so that they are exempted from all fear and sorrow 2. As 't is a poenall evill 't is sad when death is sent in justice and cloathed with wrath and cometh in the quality of a curse you know what was said before The sting of death is sin they dye indeed that dye in their sins death is a black and gloomy day to them they drop down like rotten fruit into the lake of fire now Christ hath taken away the sting the dolours and horrours of it he hath taken away death as he hath taken away sin he hath not cast it out but cast it down taken away the guilt and power of it though not the beeing of sin so the hurt the sting is gone though not death it self 't is like a serpent disarmed and unstinged we may put it into our bosomes without danger there are many accusations by which Satan is apt to perplex a dying soul these make death terrible and full of horrours But they overcome by the bloud of the Lamb Rev. 12. 11. and get the victory of these doubts and fears when sins are pardoned fears vanish Luther said Feri domine feri absolutus sum a peccatis meis strike Lord strike my sinnes are pardoned 4. 'T will be utterly abolished at the last day We scarce know now what Christs purchase meaneth till the day of judgement 't is said 1 Cor. 15. 26. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death t is weakened now but then it shall be abolished as to the elect Rev. 20. 14. And death and hell shall be cast into the lake of fire this is the second death the dominion of death is reserved for hell it must keep company with the damned whilest you rejoyce with God for the present t is continued out of dispensation it doth service to promote Gods glory but then the wicked must share death and hell amongst them and be kept under a
surety and undertaker Heb. 7. 22. A surety of a better restament now he was a surety mutually Gods and ours to work Gods work in us and our work for us among other things which he undertook there he undertook the abolition of sin on Gods part he obliged himself that it should be performed by his Spirit on our part he obliged us to endeavours of mortification now because Christ is an able surety the work is as good as done already Rom. 6. 6. Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin mark 't is crucified with him as implying his undertaking upon the crosse that the body of Death might be destroyed as noting the Work of Gods Spirit which was ingaged and made sure by Christs death upon the crosse that we should not serve sin as noting the concurrence of our endevours to which wee are obliged by the same sponsory Act of Christ thus much Christ hath done for the abolition of sin now for the Law that was an enemy that could not be overcome but must be satisfied and so it was by Christ who both performed the duty and sustained the penalty of it chiefly the latter and therefore t is said he was made a curse for us Gal. 3. 13. The sting is lost in Christ and the honey left for us But this is matter of another respect and cognisance 2 The next reason of the Apostles thanksgiving is the application he hath given us victory for understanding of which you must note that 1 Christs victory is imputed to us as if it were done in our own persons when we are actually united to him wee are possessed of all his merit Christ fought our war and joined battell in our stead we have a mysticall victory in Christ and are said to overcome when Christ overcame this is the reason why the acts of beleevers are complicated and folded up with Christs acts in the expressions of Scripture Crucified with him quickened with him and raised with him and set down with him in heavenly places Ephes 2. c. All which are terms proper to the Judiciall Vnion which is different both from the Morall and Mysticall as I could easily shew you were it not a matter of another nature now this mysticall victory is of great use to a beleever in time of discouragements if the Law challenge Satan and Conscience say thou art a sinner under a curse thou maist answer I am a sinner but I am crucified in Christ in my surety his payment and suffering is mine if Death or the world discourage you may say This is a beaten enemy I foyled it in Christ I ascended in Christ c. 2. The benefit of this victory is imparted and applyed to us by which he maketh us conquerours over sin and death all Christs worke was not done upon the Crosse there is much to be accomplished in our hearts Rom. 16. 20. The God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet c. not onely under Christs feet but ours as Joshua called his fellowes to come and tread upon the necks of the Canaanitish Kings Come put your feet upon the necks of these Kings so Christ will see us conquer he that got a victory for us will get a victory in us over sin and death and hell Christ hath trodden them under foot already when his own heel was bruised now he will doe it under your feet Doctr. Having laid this foundation the point and head of Doctrine which I shall discuss is Christs victory over Death for the comfort and profit of Beleevers Death is either the first or second temporall or eternall sinners are under the sentence of both and both are in a sort put into the hands of Satan he had the power of Death Heb. 2. 14. as Gods executioner and the one maketh way for the other Death to the wicked is but a taking them away to torment as unruly persons are committed to prison that they may molest no more Gods patience expireth with their lives and then his vengeance beginneth The curse of the first Covenant was eternall Death Gen. 2. 15. thou shalt dye that is eternally the curse must carry proportion with the blessing the blessing was eternall life and the curse was eternall death I say the sorrow and pain must have bin perpetual answerable to the life which he should have enjoyed therefore Christ is said to have delivered us from wrath to come which certainly was our portion and inheritance by Adam and without Christ there is no escape But to come to particulars I shall shew you 1. How Christ delivered us from Death 2. How far 1. How be delivered us The Apostle answereth that Heb. 2. 14. by Death he destroyed him that had the power of Death now Christs Death cometh under a twofold consideration as a merit or as a glorious act of warre and combate as the Act of a Redeemer or the Act of a Conquerour which answereth to the double evill in Death 't is a naturall evill and a poenall evill 't is a naturall evill as it is the dissolution of soul and body 't is a poenall evill as 't is a curse of the Covenant or the punishment of sin 1 There was merit in Christs voluntary Death 't was a ransome for the elect he dyed not onely in bonum eorum for their good and profit but loco vice ominium in their room and stead as when the ram was taken Isaac was spared so Christs Death was in stead of ours God will not exact the debt twice of us and our surety Job 33. Delivered him from going down into the pit for I have found a ransome The sinner must dye or the surety now saith the Lord I accept of the Death and passion of Christ for this penitent man if we go downe to the pit we go not down by way of vengeance by Christs Death the merit of our sin is expiated justice satisfied Gods wrath appeased the Law fulfilled sin pardoned and so the Jawes of Death are broken Death in its self is the sentence of the Law the fruit of sin and the recompense of angry justice and so it hath no more to doe with us for God hath found a ransome 2 You may look upon it as the Act of a Conquerour Christ foiled Death in his own person ever since he rifled the Grave death hath lost its retentive power Act. 2. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 loosing the pains c. t is an allusion to the throws of a travailing woman the Grave was in travail till this precious burthen was egested for he could not be holden of it and over since the Grave is a womb rather then a dungeon and pit of vengeance non vitam rapit sed refoomat it doth not destroy life but renew it in almost the same metaphor Christ is called Col. 1. 18. The first
dying life or a living death but all tears shall be wiped from your eyes death shall be no more and you shall take the harps of God in your hands and in an holy triumph say O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory t is true we may say it yea and sing it now in hope as some birds sing in winter but then we are properly said to triumph Application To apply it now Use 1 1. Here is terrour for wicked men you may think it strange that I should draw terrour out of such a comfortable doctrine but consider Jesus Christ hath conquered death for none but those that have an interest in him others alas are under the full power of it for the present the case of wicked men is sad in death 't will be worse in hell 't will be worst of all 1 'T is sad for the present there is a bondage upon your souls not alwaies felt but soon awakened you cannot think of death and hell without torment the thought of it like Belshazzers hand-writing against the wall smiteth you with trembling in the midst of all your cups and bravery a small thing will awaken a wicked mans conscience the fingers of a mans hand upon the wall Belshazzer seemed a jolly fellow a brave spirit sets light by the Persian forces that were even at his door but God soone taketh off the edge of his bravery and then his joints trembled his knuckles smote one against another for fear if the Lord will but whist to conscience the bravest spirits are soon daunted he needeth arm nothing against you but your own thoughts certainly none but a childe of God can have a true and solid courage against death you cannot suppose it without consternation David said Psal 23. 4. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death yet I will fear no evill that 's a griesly sad dark place to walk in the very borders of death side by side with terrours and destruction yet there David would be confident t is otherwise with wicked men hereafter they would not live and here they would not dye 2. In death it will be worse the nearer you draw to the everlasting estate the more will conscience be opened and scourge you with horrour and remorse I confesse every wicked man doth not dye sensible some are stupid and foolhardy they may sacrifice a stout body to a stubborn minde but at last they dye uncertain doubtfull if not anxious and full of horrour As Adrian to his soul O Animula vagula blandula c. Oh poor soul whither doest thou now goe thou shall never sport it more jest it more Or as he said anxius vixi dubius morior heu quo vado I have lived doubtfully and dye uncertainly alas whither doe I go A man that leapeth in the dark near a deep gulfe knoweth not where his feet shall light and this is the case of wicked men But this is not all usually their death is full of terrour things written with the juice of a Lemmon when they are brought to the fire are plain and legible so when wicked men are within the stench and smell of hell they howl upon their beds few or none are able to look death in the face with confidence Oh consider when you come to dye sin stareth in the face of conscience and conscience remitteth you to the law and the law bindeth you over to hell and hell enlargeth her mouth to receive you what will you doe in such a case Satan insulteth your old tempter is become your new accuser nay you are at oddes with your self the body curseth the soul for an ill guide and the soul curseth the body for a wicked instrument 't is a sad parting when they can never expect to meet again but in flames and torments and therefore curse the memory of that day when ever they were joyned together A godly man can take fair leave of his body Farewell flesh goe rest in hope thou shalt one day awake out of the dust and then I shall be satisfied with Gods likenesse I have a longing desire of thy reunion we have lived together and glorified God together thus long God will not suffer thee to see corruption c. 3 In Hell t will be worst of all envie will be a part of your torment as well as despair Luk. 16. 23. 't is said of the rich man in hell he lifted up his eyes and seeth Lazarus in Abrahams bosome and saith I am tormented in this flame 't will be an additionall torment to compare the beleevers eternall happinesse with your own misery they are in the presence of God and his holy Angels you have no company but the devill death hell and the damned and are holden under the power of everlasting torments you would not live and cannot dye when you have run through many thousands of years you cannot look for one minute of rest conscience gnaweth more and more you burn but consume not Oh! t is a dreadfull thing to fall into the hands of the living God mark that attribute living God we do not speak in the name of an Idol that cannot avenge his quarrell upon you or of a God that shall dye and suffer decay but in the name of a living God that liveth for ever to see vengeance executed upon his adversaries there is no hope of release as long as God is God Hell is Hell Use 2 2. It serveth to exhort us all to get an interest in this conquest of Christ every one is not fit to make use of Christs victory over death there are many things necessary to injoy the full comfort of it I shall name them 1. A care to get sinne pardoned all the power of the devill and death hangeth on sin therefore see sinne buryed ere thou art buryed or it will not be well with thee there are two deep pits wherein you may bury your sins and you shall never hear of them any more the Ocean of divine mercy and the Grave of Christ see them buryed in the Ocean of mercy Mich. 7. 18. Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the Sea there is depth enough to bury them and drown them that they may no more come into remembrance then there is the Grave of Christ the merit of Christ is a deep grave deep enough wherein to bury all the sins of the world buryed with him in Baptisme Rom. 6. 3. Otherwise if this be not done you will desire to be buryed eternally and never to rise more Let me use one metaphor more in this matter and it shall take its rise from that expression of the Apostle 2 Cor. 5. 3. we shall be cloathed upon saith he if so be that we shall be not found altogether naked t is the great fault of Christians when they come to die they are to seek of a shrowd and are found altogether naked 't is uncomely to see a man
as having thy portion and interest in him and in none else this is an undoubted evidence that you doe belong to the Covenant of Grace 3. For God to be your God it notes Gods soveraignty and power over you for your benefit the Lord will reign over you and subdue corruptions in you and quell your pride and humble your heart and give you a meek and quiet spirit If you finde that God is yours in these three particulars you may comfort your heart in an unquestionable interest in the Covenant of Grace if God be your God and you his people that you have given up and devoted your selves wholly to the service of God in every thing that you doe 2. Another speciall blessing of the covenant of grace is that God hath promised to sanctifie and renew your natures as in Ezek. 36. 26 27. saies God there A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and will take away the stony hearts out of your bosomes and will give you hearts of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them God will not onely give us life for our happinesse but grace for our holinesse he will not only give us imputed righteousnesse for our justification but also inherent righteousnesse for our sanctification now therefore examine your selves have your natures ever been sanctified and regenerated have you been ever washed with clean water and those stains of sin and corruption wiped away from you hath the beasom of sanctification ever swept your inward man and made it not a cave for every unclean bird to lie in but a habitation fit for the holy Ghost to dwell in if it be so you have a reall right to and interest in the covenant of grace for no man can have the blessings of the covenant but he must have a beeing in the covenant of grace It is very observable that God is not only as the covenant represents him a God gracious and mercifull slow to anger and full of compassion c. but he is a holy God as well as a mercifull God and therefore he will work holinesse in us and expect holinesse from us if ever we expect to have mercy and happinesse from him never lay claim to God nor expect life and happinesse from him as he is a mercifull God unlesse you resolve to be conformable to him as he is a holy God Object But here some may say This is not so great a blessing as you speak of to be sanctified by vertue of the covenant of grace for there are many men that may be sanctified by the covenant of grace and yet never be saved by it and this objection they ground upon that place in Heb. 10. 29. And they shall count the bloud of the covenant wherewith they were sanctified an unholy thing Answ I answer that the sanctification here spoken of is not a true sanctification but onely in profession in the sight of men not in the fight of God it is not a sanctification in very deed and in truth but onely in shew and in the judgement of men 3. Another blessing of the covenant of grace is the forgivenesse of our sins as in Jer. 3. 34. They shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest saith the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and will remember their sins no more now beloved can you say that God hath pardoned your sins and done away your offences if so then you are under the Covenant of Grace Object But here some poor soul may say Alas I have been a great sinner and have committed offences against God and therefore I fear I have no reall interest in the covenant of grace Answ Be not discouraged for it is the glory of the covenant of grace to pardon great sins it puts a great deal of glory upon God to pardon great sins and passe by great offences as in Amos 5. 12 15. I know sayes God your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins here you see are manifold and mighty sins and yet saies God hate evill and love good it may be the Lord will be gracious to you nay the Lord he will be gracious to you though thou hast manifold and mighty sinnes yet it is not the greatnesse nor mightinesse of them but thy stubbornnesse of heart in not coming in and closing with Jesus Christ that undoes thee 4. Another blessing of the covenant of grace is Gods writing his Law in our hearts that we shall never depart from him as in Jer. 31. 33. I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts I will be their God and they shall be my people that is God will put into our hearts a sutable frame and disposition answerable to every command of God in his Law that we shall be able to obey observe and keep it and say that it is good and then saies God you shall never depart from me now examine your selves hath this effect beene wrought by the spirit of God in your hearts hath God written the Sermons you have heard not in your books but in your hearts if so these are good evidences of your interest in the covenant of grace 2. Another discovery or character of your interest in the covenant of grace is this if you have in you the inseparable concomitances that belong to this covenant of grace there are some things that doe alwayes accompany the covenant of grace as I shall instance in 3 or 4 particulars 1. If you be a man under the covenant of grace in covenant with God then you are disingaged from that league and covenant which you have made and contracted with your lusts whosoever is in covenant with God he hath broken his league with his lusts you cannot be in covenant with Christ till you fall off from your lusts and break off from your sins as in Act. 3. 25 26. sayes the Apostle You are the children of the Prophets and of the covenant which God hath made with our Fathers saying to Abraham even in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed First unto you hath God raised up his Son Jesus Christ and him hee hath sent to blesse you in turning every one of you from your iniquities so that if you are children of the covenant the Lord will turn every one of you from your wicked wayes and therefore you that are not turned from the evill of your courses that have not broken that league you have made with death and hell you can lay no claim to the covenant of grace as in Psal 50. 16. sayes God there to the wicked What hast thou to doe to take my covenant into thy mouth seeing thou hatest to be reformed and castest my words behinde thee thou wilt not forsake thy lusts nor leave thy sins and therefore what
mens are that will leave them when they have most need of them Use 2 Use 2. The second Use shall be by way of terrour to shew you the misery of those men that have only presumptuous hopes for heaven 1. You are in a state of unlikelihood to be converted more then any other men in the world and this is the reason why the Scripture tels us that whores and harlots shall go to heaven before the Scribes and Pharisees and yet they were a very strict people and did walk very outwardly holy and the reason is because it is an easier matter to convince a harlot of her sins then to convince a proud Pharisee that thinks himself as good as the best and hath lived in peace all his life time 2. Let me tell you thus much that your hopes will leave you when you have most need of them Prov. 11. 7. the place before quoted The hope of the wicked shall be cut off and when he dies his expectations shall perish he looks for heaven but he shall be disappointed as in Job 8. 14. His confidence shall be cut off and his trust shall be sake a Spiders web as the Spider wraps himself in his web and dwels there securely all the week long but at the end of the week when the maid comes to sweep the windowes she sweeps down the web and the Spider both just so the hopes of all wicked men shall come to nothing and so in Job 11. 20. The eyes of the wicked shall fail and they shall not escape and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost As a dying man a little before his death is pretty joyfull and merry and entertains some hopes of a longer life but when his eye-strings crack and the tokens of death appear upon him then his heart fails him and all his hopes are dasht in pieces and taken from him just so it is with wicked men they are full of hopes for heaven till they come to dye but then their hopes leave them and all their expectations perish 3. Your harbouring false and presumptuous hopes for heaven does produce this threefold miserable and unavoidable effect upon you 1. Frustration 2. Vexation and 3. Damnation 1. It produceth frustration and disappointment of all your hopes when you are a dying you hope that after death you shall lanch forth into a sea of joy and pleasure when on the contrary you shall lanch forth into a river of brimstone which the breath of the Lord shall kindle you hope it may be that after death you shall be carryed by Angels into Abrahams bosome when you may be carryed by the Devils into Beelzebubs bosome you it may be hope that death shall be a dore to let you into heaven when it shall be only a back dore to let you fall down into hell 2. It shall produce in you vexation Now vexation ariseth either from disappointment or revenge why so wicked men shall not only have a privation of happinesse but a vexation in the losse of happinesse And hence it is that some Divines give the reason why it is said in Mat. 8. 12. that in hell there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Some are of an opinion that as our fire burns hot so the fire of hell shall burn cold but that is but a fancy our Divines say that there shall be gnashing of teeth in hell in token of that vexation of minde that shall be in wicked men because all their hopes are so frustrated and disappointed they shall gnash their teeth for vexation of minde when they shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdome of God and they themselves thrust out 3. These false hopes will likewise produce your damnation a wicked man that harbours false hopes for heaven in his heart is like a man sleeping upon 〈◊〉 Mast of a Ship who it may be is dreaming a very pleasant and delightfull dream and upon a sudden comes a blast of winde and blowes him into the Sea so a wicked man he is but in a golden dream on his death bed and he hopes that he is going to heaven till he be plunged down into hell all this represents to you the dreadfull condition of those men that have onely presumptuous hopes for heaven Use 3 We come now to the third use which shall be for instruction and if this be so then this may teach us these two or three lessons 1. Let us take heed lest we run into this easie delusion there are some in the world that doe fall into it and therefore why may not we as well as others therefore take heed that you doe not fancy to your selves false hopes of heaven 2. Doe you that are godly take heed that you do not cast off all your hopes for heaven doe not you say that hope is cut off from you as wicked men are apt to harbour groundlesse hopes for heaven so good men are too apt to cast off grounded hopes for heaven therefore do not say there is no hope for you for there is hope for you 3. Do not harbour in your hearts common and ordinary conceits of this grace of hope as if it were so easie a matter to obtain it It is naturall for men to think that this grace of hope is very easie to be gotten for say they were it not for hope the heart would break wicked men are ready to thinke that this grace of hope is easie to be gotten by any body and to be had of all therefore take heed of this and consider that there is the same certainty the same excellency and the same efficacy in this grace of hope as there is in faith 1. There is the same certainty in it Heb. 6. 11. it is called the full assurance of hope 2. There is the same excellency in it Tit. 2. 13. it is called a blessed hope and 3. There is the same efficacy in it as in the grace of faith in Act. 15. 9. it is said there that Faith purifieth the heart and so likewise does hope 1 Joh 3. 3 Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as God is pure And 4. There is the same difficulty in getting hope as in getting faith for 1. this is gotten by the word of God Rom. 10. 17. and so is hope too Col. 1. 23. it is gotten by the â—â—aching of the Word 2. Faith is wrought in us by the power of God Heb. 12. 2. Christ is the author and finisher of our faith and so is hope likewise wrought in us by the power of the holy Ghost Rom. 15. 13 that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost So that hereby you see that you ought not to have such low thoughts of this grace of hope as if it were an easie matter for every man to get it for there is as much certainty as much excellency as much efficacy in this
born from the dead not that hee was the first that was raised from the dead howbeit he was the first that arose others were raised by the power of another but Christ arose by his own so he is called 1 Cor. 15 20. The first fruits from the dead as the offering of the first-fruits was a blessing to all the store so Christ dying and rising is a ground of conquest to all the elect Christ before his death had beene combating with the powers of darknesse and all the subordinate instruments Death was Satans beast of prey that was set upon him but our Lord foiled it in its own dungeon the battail between Christ and Death was begun upon the Crosse he grappled with it there and they went tugging and wrestling to the Grave Christ like a prudent warriour carryed the war into his enemies countrey and there got loose of the grasp of Death foiled it in its own territory he arose and left Death gasping behinde him so that the quality of the grave is quite altered before 't was a prison Satans dungeon now 't is a chamber of repose a bed of ease ever since Christ slept there when the Prophet speaketh of Christs resurrection he saith Isa 53. 8. He shall be taken from prison and from judgement by prison meaning the grave but speaking of the death of the faithfull he saith Esai 57. 2. They shall rest in their beds 't was for a while to Christ a prison that to us it might be a bed of ease 2. The next question is how far he hath delivered us from death we see the godly are obnoxious to the changes and decayes of nature yea to the strokes of violence as well as others and how are we delivered I answer 't is enough that the second death hath no power over us Rev. 20. 6. Nothing to do with us Rom. 8. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not one condemnation c. We may dye but we shall not be damned and though we go to the grave yet we are freed from hell But this is not all in the first death beleevers have a priviledge they doe not dye as others doe 1. The habitude and nature of it is changed that which is poenall in death is now gone 't is not a destruction but a delivery beleevers have wrong thoughts of Death we are delivered from it as 't is a punishment and a curse now 't is a blessing one of Christs Legacies of the Church all things are yours Death is yours 1 Cor. 3. 18. while Death was in the Devils hands it was an enemy but 't is made a friend and a blessing in Christ a passage from the vale of tears to the kingdome of glory the end of a mortall life and the beginning of that which is immortall as Haman to Mordecai it intended a mischief but it proved a priviledge to a wicked man it is properly an execution but to the godly a dismission of their souls into the bosome of Christ Luk. 2. 28. Now lettest thou thy servant to depart in peace they quietly send away their souls but a wicked mans soul is taken away t is twice so expressed Luk. 12. 20. This night shall they take away thy soul from thee and Job 27. 8. When God taketh away his soul c. they would fain keep it longer but God taketh it away whether they will or no a godly man resigneth and sendeth away his soul in peace his life cannot be taken away t is only yeelded up upon the call of providence and he dyeth not because he must dye but because he would dye he may dye sooner then he thought but not sooner then he would for when God willeth it he submitteth But to return the blessing of death lieth in 3 things 1. The Funerals of the godly are but the Funerals of their sins and frailties and weaknesses peccatum moritur miseria moritur homo non moritur 't is not the man dyeth but the sin the misery dyeth all other means and dispensations doe but weaken sin but Death destroyeth it when God justifieth the damning power is gone when God sanctifieth the reigning power is gone but when by death we come to be glorified then the very beeing of it is gone when the house was infected with leprosie so as scraping would not serve the turn it was to be digged down we are so infected with sin that all other remedies are too weak nothing but death will serve the turn when Ivy is gotten into a wall it cannot be wholly destroyed till the wall it self be demolished cut off the stump the body the boughes the branches still there are some strings that are ready to sprowt again so t is here originall sin cannot be destroyed the constant groans of the faithfull are Who shall deliver us from this body and masse of sin But now Death is a sudden cure sinne brought in death and as it were in revenge death destroyeth sin 2. There is a way made for a present and compleat Vmon of the soul with Christ Phil. 1. 23. I desire to be dissolved and be with Christ we are loosed from the body and joined to Christ t is better a soul be separated from the body then absent from Christ we have an Union here but not a presence now judge you which is better to be present with the body or to be present with the Lord to have the company of the body or the company of Christ Here the soul is inclosed and imprisoned as it were but there thou hast the free enjoyment of Christ without the clog of an earthly estate the soul as soon as it departs the body goeth immediately to Christ as when Potiphars wife laid hold on Josephs coat he escaped so you leave your upper garment in Deaths hand but the soul flyeth to God the body came from Adam and runneth in a fleshly channell and what we had from Adam must for a while be mouldred to dust to purge it from the impurity of the conveyance but the soul by a naturall right returneth to God that gave it and by a speciall interest to Christ that redeemed and sanctified it by his own spirit 3. The body which seemeth most to suffer hath much advantage a shed is taken down to raise up a better structure 't is sown a naturall body 't is raised a spirituall body c. 1 Cor. 15. 44. here 't is not capable of high injoyments 't is humbled with diseases unfit for duties again it 's sown'd corruptible body 't is raised an incorruptible body here 't is liable to changes there it may live forever without change and decay if we love long life there is eternall life 't is carnall self-love that maketh us willing to abide in the flesh if we did but love our selves but love our own flesh we would not be afraid to dye for to dye is to be perfected to have body and soul free from sin and incorruption 2. The hurt of it is prevented