The Saints Triumph OVER THE Last Enemy IN A SERMON Preached at the Funeral of that Zealous and Painful Minister of CHRIST Mr. JAMES JANEWAY Unto which is added His CHARACTER His sore Conflict before he dyed And afterwards His Triumphant manner of departing from Earth to the Heavenly Inheritance By Nathanael Vincent Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers Chappel and at the Bible on London-Bridg under the Gate 1674. To the much respected Mrs. Hannah Janeway the sorrowful Relict of Mr. James Janeway Dear Sister THough it be a great affliction to lose so excellent an Husband as you enjoyed and at whose Funeral this ensuing Sermon was preached yet that he was so excellent may also be an argument of Consolation The thoughts of his being at rest in Heaven and rewarded with that Crown which the Great Shepherd has promised to those Pastors who are faithful may help to quiet and satisfie your spirit especially considering as Death was unconceivably gainful to him so the Husband that lives for ever can easily make up the loss of that mortal one who is taken from you Think of the Joys his Soul is fill'd with in Glory when you find your sorrow swelling and your grief transgressing due bounds And withal remember that He who has betrothed you unto himself for ever is always near you and has engaged himself never to fail you nor forsake you How unchangeable is his love How great is his faithfulness How tender are his bowels How certainly does he sympathize with you in your sorrows And how ready is he to give that grace which is sutable and sufficient You performed your duty abundantly to your dear Husband while he lived and I must needs say that by your love to him and care of him you have made the Church of Christ and Souls your Debtors Pray do not fail in doing your duty now which is patiently to submit unto the will of God The Gospel will be credited and you will be no loser by such a submission The Lord increase grace in you exceedingly and so shed abroad his love in your heart by his Spirit as that the days of your Widowhood may be the most comfortable you have ever lived So prays Your truly loving Brother Nathanael Vincent To the Congregation over whom my Brother Janeway was Overseer My dearly Beloved 'T Is a very heavy stroke that has made you a Flock without a Shepherd Oh what a Friend did you lose when your Pastor was snatched from you You were as dear to him as his own Soul How did he pray and weep and preach and labour and all to this end that you might be sincere converts and work out your own salvation Very few could match my Brother Janeway in zeal in compassion in holy activity in affection in sincerity He sought not yours but you and desired ten thousand times more to gain Souls than ought besides He endeavoured to debase the world in your esteem and 't was low in his own He strived to raise your affections heaven-ward and there was his heart and treasure Christ he loved in Christ he believed Christ he preached Christ he commended And how did he rejoice when any that before rejected the Lord Jesus were perswaded to give their consents to him How may his unregenerate Hearers be startled at the removal of such a Minister They deafned their ears and hardned their hearts notwithstanding all his intreaties and importunity they have resisted the Spirit speaking in him and may fear the Spirit is about to give over striving O you secure Souls that live without God without Christ that are strangers to duty and haters of holiness A Prophet has been among you and you shall know it You that are back sliders from God and your seeming forwardness in Religion is vanished away O bethink your selves Let the death of Him that has spoken so much in the Name of the Lord be a louder warning than ever any he gave you in the Pulpit Call to mind the words he has preached and beg that being back'd by this sad providence they may be made effectual to your awakening and turning of you unto God You that are sincere Weep over him that so sincerely loved both Christ and you Lament your loss of him but especially your own unprofitableness under such a Ministry and let it be your earnest desire to be made more fruitful I must here inform you of three words of advice which were given by your Pastor before he died and the words of dying persons should be remember'd First That you would walk according to the Gospel ordering your conversation so as that the Doctrine of God our Saviour may be adorned The eyes of God and Angels and Men are upon you you had need to walk with circumspection pass the time of your sojourning here in fear deny ungodliness and worldly lusts live soberly righteously and godly in this present world as those that indeed look for a blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the Lord Jesus Secondly That you would continue united together Scatter not presently now your shepherd is gone but wait still at those gates of wisdom where you were wont to attend Thirdly That you would be very well advised in chusing a Successor Let the person he one that is an holy able and lively Minister and who is not subtle to draw people to a particular party but serious in endeavouring to draw them to Christ and to perswade them unto holiness Dear Brethren I am very much concerned for you and as my grief is great because he who had the rule over you must now watch for your Souls no longer so my hearty desire is that God would once again trust you with an able Minister of the new Testament and that he may come to you in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of peace Your affectionate Friend and Servant for Jesus sake Nathanael Vincent Books lately Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers Chappel THE Life and Death of Mr. John Janeway Saints Encouragement to Diligence in Gods Service Both writ by Mr. James Janeway The Life and Death of Dr. Edmund Staunton to which is added a Dialogue between a Minister and Stranger with a Discourse of Christian Conference Published by Richard Mayo Eighteen Sermons of Mr. William Whittaker late of Bermondsey Southwark With his Funeral-Sermon by Samuel Annesly L. L. D. Cases of Conscience by John Norman late Minister of Bridgwater Four Sermons of Mr. William Hickock A Discourse concerning the Lords Supper by Rich. Kidder The young man's Instructer and old man's Remembrancer By Tho. Doolittel There is printing Forty six Sermons on the whole Eighth Chapter of the Romans Eight Sermons on the whole fourth Psalm Nineteen Sermons on the whole 51 Psalm Preached by Tho. Horton D. D. late Minister of St. Helens Perfected for the Press by his own
three things are remarkable 1. Their Souls immediately are with Christ. The Apostle for encouragement-sake seems to put this into death's definition Phil. 1. 23 For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to be dissolved or to depart and to be with Christ which is far better The Saints as soon as absent from the body are present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 8 9 We are confident says the Apostle and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord wherefore we labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him That opinion of the Souls sleeping and dying with the Body and resting sensless till the resurrection is absurd and impious Christ says Fear not them which can kill the body but are not able to kill the soul Mat. 10. 28. If the Sould did dye with the Body man would have power over both and might cast the Soul as well as the Body into a dead sleep But our Lord affirms man is not able to kill the Soul which is an undeniable argument to prove its immortality and surviving after its separation it goes immediately to Christ if it hath been sanctified Stephen commended his spirit into Christs hands Act. 7. 59. 2. Believers bodies after death has divided their Souls from them are still united unto Christ Our very Bodies are called the Temples of the Holy Ghost and the Members of Christ 1 Cor. 6. 15 19. And the mystical Union between Christ and his Members is lasting nay everlasting The dead Saints do sleep in Jesus they are in Jesus while asleep 1 Thes 4. 14. 'T is comfortable seriously to meditate upon that relation and consequently that respect and care that Christ has to and of the carcasses of his deceased Servants even these are still his Members and by vertue of that Union shall rise again at the last day 3. The death of Believers is compared to a sleep for after a while they shall be awaked I grant the ungodly shall wake too but in order to punishment 't were better for them to sleep eternally Believers Bodies and Souls that are parted by death shall one day be reunited 'T will surely be a joyful meeting of those two dear Companions that have been so long separated especially they being both changed so much from what they were when before together for the Soul will in the most perfect manner partake of the Divine Nature and the Body that is now a vile one will be like to Christs glorious body Phil. 3. ult Not another Body but the same for substance shall rise again else 't would not be a Resurrection but a new Creation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This mortal shall put on immortality and this corruptible shall put on incorruption 1 Cor. 15. 53. In the second place I am to speak of the sting of death Now if you ask what that is the Apostle explains his own meaning in the verse following the Text The sting of death is sin As sin has caused death it self so all the terror and bitterness of it is the effect of sin Sin is certainly committed upon a very great mistake only those keep their sins who know not what they are The Apostle cautions against being hardened through the deceitfulness of sin Heb. 3. 13. None are obstinate in sin but those that are deceived by it Sin is fancied to be full of pleasure and 't is represented as if 't were all honey but 't is a sting the very sting of death It may be compared to a sting in these three respects 1. Sin like a sting pierces It pierced Christ it pierces us That which no weapon can reach sin can wound and that 's the Soul Diogenes Laertius tells us that when Anaxarchus was In vitâ Anaxar 〈◊〉 driven to Cyprus and taken by Nicocreon the Tyrant there and horribly beaten as in a Mortar with a Pestle he cried out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beat on beat on the windbag of Anaxarchus for Anaxarchus himself thou canst not hurt But though weapons cannot touch the Soul sin strikes deepest there Against this the Apostle says our fleshly lusts do war and therefore beseeches us to abstain from them 1 Pet. 2. 11. 2. Sin like a sting pains Cain was thus pained when he cried out My punishment is greater than I can bear Pashur was thus pained when he deserved the name of Magor Missabib Terror round about Judas also was thus pained when in the height of despair and horror he put a period to his burthensom life with his own hands Oh the horror and raging torment that sin causes in the conscience A wounded spirit who can bear says Solomon Prov. 18. 14 intimating there is no pain like the smart of those wounds 3. Sin like a sting poisons 'T is compared to venom and that of creatures most venomous Deut. 32. 33 Their wine is the poison of Dragons and the cruel venom of Asps This was all the fruit which those which the Lord had once planted a noble Vine yielded How harmless soever sin is thought 't is rank poison Job 20. 12 14 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth though hide de it under his tongue though he spare it and forsake it not yet at length it proves the gall of Asps within him You see in what respect sin is called a sting But here it may be demanded Is all sin the sting of death Miserable then must the end of all needs be for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God Rom. 3. 23. In many things all still offend Jam. 3. 2. There is not a just man upon earth that does good and sins not Eccl. 7. 20. I answer in these particulars 1. All by sin have deserved death accompanied with its greatest horror We read Rev. 6. 8 of a pale horse and the name of him that sat on him was death 'T is represented as on horseback to shew the speed and haste it makes but behold a terrible second it follows Hell followed with him and truly 't were just that Death and Hell should be inseparable The Grave in the Old Testament is frequently called Hell to signifie that sin has indeed joined the Grave and Hell together and how righteous 't is that one should always follow upon the other 2. In sin we are to take notice of two things the strength of it and the dominion of it and those that are under both these death comes with a sting to them But whoever are redeemed and made free from sins strength and dominion are under grace and death is unstung before it comes to them 1. We are to take notice of the strength of sin Now the Apostle informs us that the strength of sin is the Law 1 Cor. 15. 56. Therefore sin is so powerful to bind over to condemnation because the transgression of a Law and therefore to such dreadful and eternal vengeance because the Law transgressed is the Law of so
hand left with his Relict to be Printed A SERMON Preached at the Funeral of Mr. James Janeway March 20 1673 4. 1 COR. 15. 55 former part O death where is thy sting I Am verily perswaded that in this great Assembly there are not many but what are real Mourners Although the pompous Ceremonies of a Funeral are wanting yet I am confident few have been attended with more sad hearts to their graves than he that is now to be carried thither The loss of a Saint is a great loss not only because such are so useful and profitable while they live but their removal also is no good Omen their departing is like Lot's out of Sodom before its overthrow Their housing in Heaven is like Noah's getting into the Ark before the Old World was drowned The Prophet tells us That the righteous are taken away from the evil to come Isa 57. 1. But the loss of a Minister that has been zealous and industrious and whose great design was to turn many unto righteousness is yet more to be laid to heart Is not Gods controversie great when the Ambassadors of peace are called home May we not justly be afraid of losing the Treasure when the Vessels that contain it are broken so fast in pieces When faithful Labourers are still growing fewer may we not suspect there are not many more among us to be gathered Surely then great lamentations aking hearts sad countenances and sadder spirits very well become this days Solemnity What David of old said over his dead and dear Jonathan 2 Sam. 1. 26 I cannot abstain from using I am distressed for thee my brother Janeway I am distressed for thee very pleasant hast thou been unto me and so thou wast to all that knew thee Thy love to Souls was wonderful and therefore every Soul should be concerned at thy leaving the world that thy work is come to an end He is gone alas he is gone he is gone We shall never see his face nor hear his voice more But as his life was exceeding so also was his death edifying He had a sore conflict indeed but afterwards a glorious conquest and was a Triumphant Saint before his expiration O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory In this Chapter the Apostle Paul looked by the eye of Faith to the end of the world nay he looked beyond it his Faith was the substance of things hoped for and render'd things unseen evident He saw already the Lord Jesus upon his great white Throne sitting to judg the world in righteousness He saw the bodies that were sown in corruption raised in incorruption that were sown in dishonour raised in glory that were sown in weakness raised in power He saw Believers rescued out of the prison of the grave and placed at the right hand of Christ with Crowns on their heads palms in their hands mortality being totally swallowed up of life And this makes him thus triumph and say O death where is thy sting I shall not trouble you with the various readings of this Text which I have met with nor spend time in shewing the agreement between these words and those of the Prophet Hosea c. 13. 14 O death I will be thy plague from whom many are of opinion they are borrowed though Calvin thinks that the Apostle does not professedly cite the Prophet but only does accommodate a Sentence that is very pious and was very well known to his present purpose I shall adhere to that reading which you have and being thus read the words are not only sound but very full of consolation Chrysostome here admires 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the bravery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 B. in 1 Ep. ad Cor. of the Apostles spirit who looked upon future things as past and done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sings a song of Victory over that last Enemy the thoughts of which terrifie and astonish the most among the children of men In the words you may observe 1. The Person triumphing the Apostle Paul whose Faith was strong concerning the Resurrection and his assurance well-grounded of his interest in Christ who is the resurrection and the life And the Apostle triumphs that other Believers might grow fearless being emboldened by his greatness of spirit 2. What is triumphed over and that is death Death which is the King of terrors which tames the proudest which pulls down the most mighty which is an Universal Monarch and none are able to withstand but all are forced to pay homage to it by stooping and lying before it in the dust This notwithstanding is triumphed over 3. The reason of this triumph the sting of death is taken out and consequently that which renders death so dreadful is removed The Text doth afford us two Doctrines 1. Death comes to a Believer without a sting 2. The Believer may triumph over Death Doct. 1. I begin with the first of these Doctrines Death comes to a Believer without a sting It is appointed unto men once to dye Heb. 9. 27. And this Statute as it changes not so it reaches all Holy men return to the dust as well as others But though they are not exempted from the stroke yet they are from the sting of death In the prosecuting of this Doctrine I shall First Speak concerning Death Secondly Concerning the Sting of Death Thirdly Shew how Believers come to be delivered from this Sting Lastly Make Application In the first place I am to speak concerning Death And 1. I find Affliction in Scripture sometimes called by that name Exod. 10. 27 when Egypt was afflicted with the Locusts Pharaoh cries out Intreat the Lord your God that he may take away from me this death only Afflictions have stings too which Christ only can take out As Sin turns our blessings into cursings so it makes every bitter cup poison But Believers are pardoned and sanctified and therefore though they are exercised with the Cross yet the Curse of the Cross is taken away 2. Hell is likewise called Death Rev. 21. 18 The lake which burns with fire and brimstone is the second death This death is the separation of the Soul from God the chiefest good and the enduring of those torments which the Lords power and wrath justly inflicts upon all that live and dye in their iniquities Augustine has a notable passage That death which men fear is the destruction of the body but the separation of the soul from God Enarrat in Ps 48. Mors est vera quam non timent is the true death which they are not afraid of This second death which is as it were all gall all sting Believers shall never feel 3. Death is taken for the dissolving of that union which is between our bodies and our spirits when the dust returns to the earth as it was and the spirit unto God who gave it Eccl. 12. 7. Of this death the Apostle is to be understood in the Text. Now in the death of Believers