Sermon 4
The
Believer’s Triumph Over Death
Considered in a Sermon Occasioned by the Decease
of
Mr. Hugh Lloyd, who departed this life February 11, 1735.
(1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
by John Brine
(
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, which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
1 Corinthians 15:55, 56, 57.
The infinitely wise God, at whole disposal all persons are,
has been pleased to take from this society a member of long standing and
usefulness. This mournful providence I am desired by his surviving relatives to
improve; for which purpose I have made choice of these words. In this chapter
the Apostle largely treats of the resurrection of the dead, and fully proves it
by many irrefragable arguments. This doctrine cannot be disputed whatever
difficulties may seem to attend it, without giving up the whole Christian
religion; “For if there be no
resurrection the dead Christ is not risen, and if Christ be not risen then is
our preaching vain, and your faith also is vain;” (1 Cor. 15:13,14), says
the Apostle. The earth is but a refining place to the bodies of the saints, they
will be railed from thence with unspeakable advantage, free from corruption and
death, spiritual and glorious; and therefore there is sufficient foundation for
this holy triumph of the Apostle over death, that formidable enemy, and the
devouring grave. It is thought by interpreters, that this is a quotation of the
Septuagint’s Version of those
words in the prophecy of Hosea;
“O death!
I will be thy plague;
O grave!
I will be thy destruction;” but
with a small variation which affects not the sense. The Apostle makes use of a
metaphor, taken either from spurs and pricks by which oxen are driven, or rather
from the stings of wasps and the like creatures; from which if you take the
sting they are the same, but are not able to hurt. Thus the sting being taken
from death, it can do no injury to men.
In
speaking to the words I shall endeavor to do these things.
·
First,
show that sin is the sting of death.
·
Secondly, that the law
is the strength of sin.
·
Thirdly, that sin,
which is death’s sting, is taken away.
·
Fourthly, demonstrate
that the Saints victory over sin, death and the grave, is the free gift of God.
·
Fifthly, that this
conquest is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
·
Sixthly, observe that
we are under obligation to praise God on this account.
First, I am to show, that sin is the sting of death.
Man consists of two parts, soul and body, spirit and matter:
These are widely different in their nature. The soul is immaterial, it is not
made up of parts, is invisible, not subject to corruption and mortality. The
body is indeed a most curious frame, in the formation of which the infinite
wisdom of God is wonderfully discovered; but its original is dust, and to that
it naturally tends, as appears from God’s threatening to our first parents after
the fall; “Dust thou art, and unto
dust thou shalt return,” (Gen.3:19). In man these two parts, though so
very distant in their nature, are most nearly united, the dissolution of which
union is natural death; it is of that the Apostle here speaks. Sin is any want
of conformity to, or transgression of the law of God, is evident from the
Apostle’s account of it; “whosoever
sinneth transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law,” (1
John 3:4). It was sin that subjected the human nature to mortality and death;
for “by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin; and so
death passed upon all men,” in whom all have sinned (Rom. 5:12).
The bands and ligaments which keep the soul and body together
would never have been dissolved, if sin had not rent them asunder; that is the
meritorious cause of death. Hence, says the Apostle, “the
wages of sin is death,” (Rom. 6:23); it is the sting of it also, death
receives all its poison and venom from this evil root; that is it which arms it
with terror and renders it formidable; when death approaches, and guilt attends
it, what inexpressible horror and anguish doth it raise in the minds of men!
Which disquietude is but the small beginning, of an eternal spring of sorrow and
distress. That sin is the sting of
death thus appears.
1.
It is that which makes death a curse: in itself it
is not so, when it is inflicted with relation to guilt contracted, as the proper
procuring. Cause thereof, it is a penal evil, and a dreadful curse; but without
respect to sin imputed, it has nothing really injurious in it. Our Lord, in his
crucifixion and death, was made a curse, as the Apostle asserts;
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us,” (Gal. 3:13). But then this was as
he stood in the sinners place, and bore the guilt of his people. The saints are
not exempted from the stroke of that enemy:
what man is he that liveth and shall
not see death? Shall he deliver
his soul from the hand of the grave?” (Ps. 89:48), notwithstanding they
are secure from curse, to them it is not a token of divine vengeance and wrath,
“all things are theirs [yours],
whether Paul, or Apollos, or
Cephas, or the world, or life,
or death, or things, present, or things to come, all are theirs, for they are
Christ’s, and Christ is God’s,” (1 Cor. 3:21, 22, 23); it is to them an
unspeakable advantage and glorious privilege.
2.
Sin deprives men of happiness after death is
executed upon them, it is that which secludes them from the presence of God, the
company of blessed angels and glorified saints; this is the bar which eternally
keeps the gates of heaven shut against them, and forever prevents their
admission into that place of perfect and everlasting bliss, which Christ himself
plainly teaches us; “many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out devils?
and in thy name have done many
wonderful works. And then will
I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me ye that work iniquity,” (Matthew
7:22, 23).
3.
This is the weight that sinks them into hell, that
place of unconceivable horror and torment,
where the worm dieth not, and the fire
is not quenched,” (Mark 9:44). It is sin that causes God to sentence men
to those regions of blackness and despair in which
there will be wailing and gnashing of
teeth,” (Matthew 13:42). And that it is which will forever hinder their
release from thence.
4.
Sin draws down upon them the vengeance of God. All
threatnings of divine displeasure immediately refer to the commission of sin;
this is that which incurs the anger of God, and for that only is his fury poured
forth upon any of his creatures; “the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, to take vengeance;
but it will be solely on such that
know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of Christ, who shall be punished with
everlasting distraction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of
his power, (2 Thess. 1:7, 8, 9). The Apostle, after the mention of
various sins, acquaints us, that for
those things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience,”
(Col. 3:6).
There is an awful cup of anger in God’s hand for sinners, but
it is of their own filling up; “they
treasure up wrath against the day of wrath,” (Rom. 2:5). It is the guilt
that men contract, which exposes them to the fierce resentments of an angry God.
And therefore, what a dreadful sting is sin? which is attended with such
consequences.
Secondly, The strength of sin is the law, which, as
I conceive, includes in it all those duties that God hath in joined upon us in
his Word; every branch of holiness is referable to the law, and comes within the
compass of it. The law is to be considered either as it is in the hand of God,
thus it is a covenant of works, and has a curse annexed to the breach of it; or
as it is in the hand of the mediator, thus it is not a covenant of works, but a
rule of obedience; in which sense the Saints are under it, “being,
not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,” (1 Cor. 9:21). It
is in the former view that we are to take it here, “the
law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good,” (Rom. 7:12); and
therefore it doth not encourage evil, or communicate vigor and strength to the
lusts of men; yet in some sense it is the strength of sin.
1.
It is an occasion to it: the heart of man is full
of impure and unlawful desires, these are strictly forbid and restrained by the
law; but concupiscence [lust; Ed.] in men is like to a torrent of water, that
rises and swells till it bears away all opposition which is made to its flow; or
the fire, which grows the more vehement when it is pent up by the cold ambient
air. Thus the law is an accidental cause or occasion of sin; but not properly,
for it is wholly repugnant to all evil; in this sense some think, it may be
called the strength of sin. Parcus observes, that “sin is irritated by
the law, and becomes the more sinful; the fault is not the law’s, which forbids,
reproves, and condemns sin; but it is the fault of our vicious nature, which
with the greater violence is carried after that that is forbid, as an unruly
horse leapeth, and is the more head-strong in that he is the more held in by
sharp bits.”
2.
The condemnatory power of sin is lodged in the law:
Hence every sin subjects us to its curse; “Cursed
is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of
the law to do them,” (Gal. 3:10). This condemning power of sin is
universal, it is extended to all men without exception, considered in
themselves; persons of every rank are obnoxious to it, the great and noble as
well as the mean and low, the rich no less than the poor. This power of sin to
condemn is not to be disputed, for it is supported by the authority of God the
supreme Judge, it is his awful voice that pronounces the curse, nor is it a
power that is unjustly exercised; “it
is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation,” (2 Thess. 1:6),
to such as sin against him. The condemnation of a sinner is equitable, because
he acts in direct opposition to the revealed will of God; no exemption can
possibly be obtained from it but by the free grace of God through Christ, which
the Psalmist strongly expresses; “one
can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him;
for the redemption of their soul is
precious, and it ceaseth for ever,” (Ps. 49:7-8).
Some
useful Observations may be drawn from hence.
1.
That it is impossible to attain happiness by the
works of the law: There is not any law given which doth not furnish sin with a
curse; all men are corrupt, and unable perfectly to obey divine precepts, and of
consequence none can be justified by the law. It is certain that that law which
condemns sin, will never justify a sinner, as so considered; but all persons are
sinful, and “therefore by the deeds of
the law,” nomou
(nomou), a law without the particle, i.e.
any divine law whatever) “there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin,”
(Rom. 6:20).
2.
The law cannot subdue and conquer sin, it justly
condemns every sin, but its office is not to subdue it; the grace of God alone
can do this. So long as a man is under the law as a covenant of works, sin
retains its tyranny and dominion in the heart; it is not the most dreadful
denunciation of wrath against evil, that will influence a sinner to hate it;
nothing less than a discovery of free and sovereign grace, which is gloriously
displayed in the pardon of sin through Christ, can produce an abhorrence of it:
hence, says the Apostle, “it shall not
have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace,” (Rom.
6:14).
3.
The law is of service to convince us of sin, and
inform us of its consequences: to this end the Spirit of God makes use of it, he
impresses its precepts upon the mind, and presents its threats to the view of a
sinner, to acquaint him with his sinfulness and misery upon which he lies. This
effect it produced in the Apostle, as he declares; “I
was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came sin revived and I
died,” (Rom. 7:9). Its nature is to wound but not to heal; the curses of
it are as so many arrows fixed in the heart of a sinner, which deeply pierce it,
nor can anything heal it but the “name
of Christ, which is as ointment poured forth,” (Song of Solomon 1:3).
Thirdly, The sting of death is taken from it:
“O death, where is thy sting?”
this mode of expression strongly implies, that it is taken away. Here I shall
observe,
1.
The Person by whom it is removed, and that is
Christ: It was predicted of him, that “he
should finish transgression, and make an end of sin,” (Dan. 9:24).
Agreeable to which Old Testament—prediction, the Gospel assures us, that
he has by himself purged away our sins
(Heb. 1:3). John the
Baptist with wonder beheld and spake of him as “the
Lamb of God, that took away the sin of the world,” (John 1:29). Sin was
such a burden that none but himself could stand under, it would have sunk any
mere creature into eternal ruin; if all created power had centered in one
subject, yet this man, or angel, furnished with all this strength, would have
been infinitely unequal to that load of guilt which Christ bore.
2.
All sin is taken away, no part of death’s sting is
left remaining: The whole guilt which the elect of God contract was imputed to
Christ; “all we, like sheep, bare gone
affray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquities of us all,” (Is. 3:6); and therefore they are entirely
acquitted by divine justice, no charge can be justly exhibited against them, and
if any is, it will prove invalid, as is most evident from that bold challenge of
the Apostle; “who shall say anything
to the charge of God’s elect?
It is God that justifies, who is he that condemneth?
It is Christ that died, yea rather
that is risen again,” (Rom. 8:33,34). Numerous offences they commit
against God, their number vastly exceeds their observation, and yet they are
conscious of so large a multitude, that at sometimes they very much hesitate
concerning the remission of them; but they are perfectly cleansed from all their
stains and spots, by Christ’s blood, for “the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth them from all sin,” (1 John 1:7); none is
to be found upon them as persons justified, so considered, they are as clear
from guilt as if they had never contracted any, which is very manifest from
these words; “In those days, and at
that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall
be fought for, and there shall be none;
and the sins of Judah,
and they shall not be found, for I
will pardon them whom I reserve,” (Jer. 1:20). All their crimes are
carried at the greater distance from their persons; hence are those words of the
church; “as far as the east is from
the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us,” (Ps.
103:12).
3.
Sin is taken out of God’s sight; it must be allowed
in some sense, that God sees no sin in his people, since it is plainly declared
in the divine Word; “He hath not
beheld iniquity in Jacob,
neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel,” (Num. 23:21). This is not
inconsistent with his omniscience, for we do not assert that the sins of God’s
people are hid from the eye of his knowledge; he is certainly acquainted with
every transgression that any of his commit, and hates evil in them no less than
in others; but it is the eye of his justice that is intended, which beholds them
as “all fair and without spot,”
(Song of Solomon 4:7), as
washed in Christ’s blood, and clothed with his most perfect righteousness. I am
tempted to think, that some who have objected to the removal of all sin out of
God’s sight, must have willfully mistaken the intention of such as affirm and
vindicate it, with an ungenerous design to calumniate and traduce them, because
it is expressly asserted in the holy Scriptures, and doubtless is inseparable
from a perfect justification of the saints, through Christ.
Fourthly, God gives his people victory over sin, death, and the grave.
Here I shall consider:
1st,
The Conquest they have over these enemies;
2dly,
Observe, That it is the
gift of God.
1st.
The saints are conquerors over all their
adversaries, as the Apostle most clearly teaches us in those exulting words of
his; “Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword: (As it is written, for
thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter:) Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us;
for I am persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,”
(Rom. 8:35-39).
1.
Believers are victors over sin, the most formidable
adversary of their souls; this bore the sway in their hearts, before conversion
it exercised rule and dominion over them; it subjected them to the maledictions
of the law, and exposed them to the anger of God, as in themselves; that is it
which rendered them deserving of eternal death: but this cruel enemy is
conquered, condemned and destroyed.
(1)
They are conquerors over sin as a usurping tyrant,
its destructive reign in their hearts is taken away by omnipotent grace, the
Spirit of God dethrones it in regeneration; it is true, the being of it is
continued in believers, till death; but it is deprived of its reigning power,
for grace reigns in the soul in opposition to sin; “that as
sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness
unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord,” (Rom. 5:21);
nor will it ever regain that
power which before it possessed, how violently soever it may rage and swell; so
long as the saints are under grace they are secure from the reign of sin, which
is the evident import of these words; “Sin
shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law but under grace,”
(Rom. 6:14).
(2)
They are above the reach of its condemning power:
hence, says the Apostle, “There is
therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,” (Rom.
8:1); from this they are redeemed by Christ’s blood, and until that loses its
virtue, or becomes of little worth in God’s account, the saints shall be secured
from all condemnation and curse; which it never will do: “Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us,”
(Gal. 3:13).
(3)
They are raised above all danger of lying under the
consequences of sin after death; something of which you have heard since sin
itself is expiated there is no ground to fear its fatal effects for
justification from it secures from all the penal evils that attend it; as
appears by these words, “being
justified by his blood, we
shall be saved from wrath through him,” (Rom. 5:10). Divine anger is not
poured down upon any but for sin, those therefore to whom it is not imputed,
have an eternal security from God’s displeasure.
2.
The saints have victory over death by Christ; they
are not exempted from its stroke, but must submit unto it. Persons of the
greatest usefulness in the Church, when they have done their generation-work,
must lie down in the silent dust; our
fathers, where are they, and the prophets, do they live for ever, (Zech.
1:5). But, blessed be God, death hath lost its terror, it is deprived of
its sting, it cannot draw after it any hurtful consequences, which when the
believer views by faith, he is not terrified at its nearest approach; no
melancholy apprehensions arise in his mind, nor would he have this enemy slacken
its pace, and delay to give the fatal blow. Thus doth he bespeak this king of
terrors: I am sensible it is in vain to think of withstanding thy arrest, I am
certain that my soul must be rent asunder from my body, and enter into an
unknown world, and that my fleshly tabernacle must be dissolved and crumbled
into dust; the thought of which strikes me with no manner of dread, for I am
comfortably persuaded, that I shall only die to eternally live in the immediate
presence of my heavenly Father and gracious Redeemer, which is a happiness that
infinitely exceeds my most extended ideas; and that my body shall certainly be
delivered from thy power, be railed immortal, and never feel the weight of thy
cold hand anymore. I therefore welcome thee as my friend, and wish not thy
departure: the chillness of my blood, the lowness of my pulse, and dimness of my
eyes, are not in the least disagreeable to me. He looks upon this enemy death
with a pleasant countenance, and joyfully receives it with open arms. To see a
believer thus depart, is, in my opinion, the most glorious prospect that can be
beheld on this side eternity.
3.
The people of God are conquerors over the grave;
the earth is to be a receptacle for the bodies of the saints till the time of
the resurrection. Hence Job
says, “I know that thou wilt bring me
to death, and to the house appointed for all living,” (Job 30:23). But
they shall be raised from thence by the almighty power of God; their dust is
securely kept by the watchful eye of God upon it, he will collect its
scattered particles, and frame
their bodies spiritual and immortal, make them capable of eternal duration; the
Lord will “change this vile body that
it may be fashioned like unto Christ’s glorious body, according to the working
whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself,” (Phil. 3:21).
Then will death be swallowed up in victory. Thus it appears that the saints are
conquerors over all their spiritual adversaries, and have sufficient reason to
triumph in the view of death.
2dly, This victory is not obtained by them, but it
is the free gift of God; which is very evident from these things.
1.
God’s will to remit sin is voluntary, free, and
sovereign; it was not influenced by any external motive, his determination to
forgive the offences of his people arises wholly from his good pleasure, nothing
in them induces him to it; neither is the divine will moved to this gracious act
by Christ’s death. God did not first will that his Son should die, and then
resolve to pardon sin; but, or, the contrary, he first determined not to impute
sin to his elect, and then fixed upon the death of Christ as the only way in
which the honor of his law, and the glory of his justice might be secured in
their discharge; divine favor is not the effect, but the cause of Christ’s
suffering for us, as he himself hath taught us; “God
so loved the world, that be gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” (John 3:16).
2.
It was infinite love that [he] gave Christ for us,
our forgiveness is the purchase of a Redeemer’s blood; taken in that view it is
an act of justice; “whom God hath let
forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that
he might be just, i.e.
appear to be just, and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus,” (Rom. 3:25, 26). It is also an act of
free, rich, and glorious grace, the price that is paid for our redemption is so
far from being incompatible with the freeness of it, that it is a greater
illustration thereof than if we had been pardoned without any satisfaction by a
surety, because free love provided the sponsor, and paid the debt for us. It as
a commendation of divine goodness towards us,
in that while we were yet sinners
Christ died for us,” (Rom. 5:8). To us our salvation is altogether as
free as if both law and justice had been wholly neglected in the affair. In
Christ we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God’s grace,” (Eph.1:7).
3.
God justifies us in a way of free grace; “being
justified by his grace, we are made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life,” (Titus 3:7), the
righteousness of Christ is our title to everlasting life, it is that only [that]
can secure us from the second death. This is the free gift of God to us, and is
an instance of infinite love; God
justifies us freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ.
4.
Heaven and eternal glory is his gracious donation;
we are wholly unable to do anything which may procure us a right to future
happiness, if we must be kept from heaven till we recommend our persons to the
divine regard by the observance of the law, we shall never come there. The crown
of glory designed for the saints is not won by them, but freely given to them.
“As death is the wages of sin so
eternal life is the gift,”
carisma
(charisma),the free gift of God, “through the
Lord Jesus Christ,” (Rom. 6:23),
the saints will live and reign with him forever, as conquerors over sin,
death, and the grave; but not by virtue of what they have done: all their
felicity [happiness; Ed.] springs merely from under-merited goodness. Hence are
those words of our Lord, “fear not,
little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom,”
(Luke 12:32).
Fifthly, We have this conquest through Christ. He only fought our battle, and
slew our enemies.
As this victory is a free gift of immense favor, it is the
purchase of blood, the way in which Christ obtained it is really surprising.
1.
He took sin upon him; all the sins of all the elect
of God were amassed together, and laid upon him,
all we like sheep have gone astray, we
have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all,” (Isa. 53:6). In himself he was pure and innocent, free from
any stain or pollution; “he did no
sin, neither was guile found in his mouth,” (1 Pet. 2:22); that of all
things was most hateful to him, and yet, in order to condemn, conquer, and
destroy it, he must bear it. This was a weight which would have sunk an angel
into the lower Hell, Christ alone could stand under, and carry it
into an eternal oblivion.
2.
In him sin was “condemned,
for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the
flesh,” (Rom. 8:3). The whole curse demerited by it, was inflicted on it
in the believers surety; the fierce threatnings of the law are pardoned, not in
vain though sinners are pardoned, for they were all poured down upon Christ, as
bearing the guilt of his people. Oh! amazing indeed! that the most holy and
blessed Person, he from whom all blessings temporal, spiritual, and eternal
flow, should be made sin and a curse.
3.
He bore the wrath of God against sin; what a cup of
anger must the sins of the elect fill up! This was put into Christ’s hand by his
Father, he readily received it, and freely drank it. God acted towards Christ as
one chargeable with guilt, having his people’s [sin] upon him; sin could not be
imputed to him without his undergoing the whole penalty demerited by it: as God
did not withhold his Son from suffering for the guilty, he did not make him any
abatement of what law or justice might have demanded of the persons in whose
place and room he stood; “He spared
not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,” (Rom. 8:32). The
Father withdrew from him when on the cross, which caused him to say, “My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”? (Ps. 22:1). The thick cloud of
our sins interposed between God and Christ, and hid his smiling countenance from
him; God smote and wounded him with the sword of sin-avenging justice; “awake,
O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, smite the
shepherd,” (Zech. 8:7),
was the awful language of God. Christ suffered from the hands of men and devils,
but infinitely more from the hand of his Father; “it
pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief,” (Is. 53:10);
his inconceivable wrath flowed into the soul of Christ, and most deeply affected
him.
4.
He submitted to death, the painful and ignominious
[disgraceful; Ed.] death of the cross: hence the Apostle speaks of it in this
emphatical manner, “he became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross,” (Phil. 2:8). Sin subjected us
to death, according to the law, and therefore it was necessary that Christ, in
making satisfaction for our offences, should suffer this part of the penalty due
thereto.
5.
Christ was laid in the grave, his body was
committed to the ground; “he made his
grace with the wicked, and with the rich, in his death,” (Is. 53:9); but
it was preserved from corruption there; “His
soul was not left in hell, nor did this holy One see corruption,” (Ps.16:10).
He who had a proper right to heaven, was for a time shut up in the dark confines
of the earth, and encompassed with dust. This is true, it was not for a long
continuance, because it was impossible he should be retained under the power of
death. We have taken a short view of Christ in his sufferings,
or as submitting to the enemies which he undertook to conquer. Let us now
behold him in his triumph over
them all.
1st.
He rose from the dead as a complete victory over
sin, death, and the grave. By dying he was the death of sin, and overcame Satan
that had the executive power of it; had he not fully satisfied for the sins of
his people, he would have been held by the bands of death; but God being
perfectly reconciled, and having no farther demand to make, dispatched a
messenger of justice from heaven to honorably set free the imprisoned body of
Jesus: a shining seraph descends at the command of God, and rolls away the stone
from the mouth of the sepulcher in which our Lord was interred, (Matthew 28:2).
An evident proof was this, that he had finished our redemption. As the battle he
sought was none of his own, but his people’s, the victory he has gained is
theirs; they were considered in him in his triumphant resurrection from the
dead, “they were raised up together,”
(Eph. 2:6), and are as
secure from a charge of sin and everlasting death as Christ himself is, who as
he is raised from the dead, dieth no more, death “hath
no more dominion over him,” (Rom. 6:9). And because he lives, the saints
shall live also.
2ndly. He is ascended in triumph to heaven, “having
spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, and triumphed
over them,” (Col. 2:15). Satan and all the infernal spirits were led
captive by him in his ascension to glory, “thou
hast led captivity captive,” and this as the representative of his
people. So that they may be assured of a perfect deliverance from sin, and that
Satan cannot destroy them; “as a
roaring lion he walketh about seeking whom be may devour,”
(1 Pet. 5:8); but we may depend upon it, that he will never be permitted
to devour those on whose account Christ engaged with, and conquered him.
3rdly, Christ sits at the right hand of God: “When
he had by himself purged away our sins, he for ever sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty on high,” (Heb. 1:3). The Father thus glorified the Son
upon his completing the work that he undertook. And this honor is conferred upon
him as the Head of his saints, for “they
are raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places, in Christ,”
(Eph. 2:6). He is gone to heaven as their forerunner,
and they shall as certainly follow him as they are now set down in him;
it is his will that they should, nor can the Father in justice deny it; “Father,
I will that they also whom thou hast given me,
be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory, which thou hast given me for thou lovedst me before the
foundation of the world,” (John 17:24). Thus it is evident, that the
believers conquest over sin, death, and the grave, was obtained by Jesus Christ.
Sixthly, We are under the greatest obligation to praise God for this.
Victory which may include these things.
1.
An hearty acknowledgment that we were utterly
unable to conquer these [sic] our potent enemies. It was absolutely out of our
power to defend ourselves from the fatal consequences of sin, that would have
involved us into the blackest horror and despair, and have drew down upon us the
infinite anger of God. Nor were we capable to withstand and conquer death, that
terrible adversary, unless we are sensible of our inability to succor ourselves,
the victory we enjoy will not be properly valued by us, we shall not ascribe
that glory to God for it, which it demands at our hand.
2.
That we were as unworthy of God’s giving us this
victory, as we are unable to obtain for ourselves we deserve nothing but wrath
from God, because our hearts are impure, full of sin and enmity to him; our
conduct is disagreeable to his law, we have been guilty of many open and direct
breaches of it; in no action are we perfectly conformable to it, “in
many things we offend all,” (Jam. 3:2). If therefore he should treat us
according to our demerit, we must eternally lie under his awful but righteous
vengeance.
3.
To admire and adore his free love, which gives us
this victory, God is resolved upon the honor of his grace, he will not suffer
its glory to be lessened or eclipsed, his grand design in saving sinners, is to
exalt it to the highest pitch; it is “to
the praise of the glory of his grace,” (Eph. 1:5). Nor will he ever raise
a soul to heaven who will not readily allow it to be an act of undemerited
goodness, all boasting is as effectually prevented in his people, as their
happiness is eternally secured.
4.
To readily allow that the whole of this victory is
from God. The design was formed by him in his everlasting counsels, and the
method of gaining it is entirely his contrivance; no creature could ever have
thought of the way in which it is accomplished, his power was exerted to effect
it; all created strength would have proved infinitely unequal to it. To imagine
a creature might contribute to it, is a base detraction from divine honor.
5.
To live as those who have a true sense of the
conquest obtained, which is to act to the glory of God, who saved us when
sinking into eternal ruin, delivered us out of the hands of our enemies, and
placed us far above their reach, we are certainly under obligation,
“whether we live, [we] live unto the
Lord, or whether we die, [we] die unto the Lord,” (Rom. 14:8). This is
the judgment which we ought to form, that
if one died for all, then were all
dead, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
him that died for them,” (2 Cor. 5:14, 15).
Lastly. Since Christ is the Person who wrought this
victory for us, let him share in our praises; can the saints refuse him this
honor? When they consider what a load of guilt he bore, and dolorous [sad or
painful; Ed.] sufferings he went through; that he was made sin and a curse, lay
under his Father’s vengeance, and suffered death for them; I say, can they
refuse him this honor? Surely, no. I beg leave to observe here, that the person
whose death occasioned this discourse, discovered a just sense of his own
unworthiness, and Christ’s great goodness. In his last affliction, a few days
before his departure, he said to me, and a friend who went with me to visit him,
That he had sometimes thought he could
endure any sufferings for Christ, or death itself;
but that he found his heart to
be deceitful above all things. That
under sharp pains he could not forbear to complain, yet, says he,
not of God,
but to God. Under the exquisite
pain that attended him, as I am informed, many sweet expressions dropt from him,
such as these: it is appointed for men
once to die, but what is death, or the sufferings of this life, to the torments
of hell, blessed be God, for Christ, I am delivered from. At other times
he expressed himself thus: what
are the afflictions that I bear, to the sufferings of my dear Redeemer?
And declared the steadiness of his faith in God, as his God, to his daughter, in
these words: God has been a God and
Father to me all my days, and I am satisfied he will be a God and Father to you
and yours. It has been observed by some friends among whom he used to
exercise his gift in prayer, that of late
he has improved in fervency, and
spirituality in that religious duty.
I make no doubt but that as he is removed from the church
militant on earth, he is taken to the church triumphant in heaven, and is now
perpetually engaged in the celebration of the Redeemer’s praise, with the rest
of the saints above who thus express their gratitude to him for redemption from
sin. Unto him that hath loved us, and
washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen.
