The Christians Defense Against the Fears of Death, Chapter 4
CHAP. 4.
That Jeſus Chriſt our Lord hath redeemed us from Eternal Death, and by degrees doth deliver us from a ſpiritual Death.
WE read in the fifth Chapter of the Revelation of S. John, That this beloved Diſciple wept bitterly, becauſe no being in Heaven and Earth, nor under the Earth, was able to open the Book, ſealed with ſeven Seals, that was in Gods right hand; at that inſtant, one of the 24 Elders ſpake to him, Weep not, behold the Lion of the Tribe of Juda hath overcome to open the Book and to looſe the ſeven Seals. Thus we have until now wept bitterly, becauſe we could find no body in the Armies of Iſrael, to encounter with that horrid Monſter Death. But let us alſo wipe our Tears, and take good courage my beloved, for this ſame Lion of the Tribe of Juda hath order to fight with this dreadful Enemy, our victorious and triumphing David, who hath torn in pieces the infernal Lion, bruiſed the antient Serpents Head, and ſpoiled Principalities and powers, triumphing of them in his Croſs, Col. 2.15. It is he that hath undertaken this glorious combat; It was for that purpoſe that he left for a while the Throne of God, the Father, and the company of his Holy Angels; 1 Sam. 17. It was for that intent that he came into the Camp, and confuſion of Iſrael, contemning the ſhame and reproaches of his brethren. He hath not borrowed the weapons and aſſiſtance of the world, Heb. 2. all that he hath taken from us, is our frail nature. But he, hath armed himſelf with righteouſneſs, as with a breaſt-plate, and hath put on the Helmet of ſalvation. He hath cloathed himſelf with vengeance as with a garment, and hath covered himſelf with Jealouſie as with a cloak, he hath alone troden the Winepreſs, and no body hath aſſiſted him; Iſa. 59. Iſa. 63. but his arme hath ſaved him, and his hand hath upheld him. As David cut off Goliahs Head with his own ſword, Jeſus Chriſt hath overcome Death by Death; like unto the powerful Sampſon, he hath deſtroyed all the Enemies of his Glory by his Death, 1 Sam. 17. He hath overcome in dying, him who had the Empire of Death, that is the Devil, Heb. 2. and hath delivered them, who through fear of death, were all their life time ſubject to bondage, then was fulfilled this proof out of Hoſea. O death I will be thy plague, O grave I will be thy deſtruction, Hoſ. 13. and that of Iſaiah, He will ſwallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces, and the rebuke of his people ſhall be taken away from off all the Earth. Iſai. 25. 1 Tim. 6. This bleſſed Prince, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, who only hath immortality, and dwelleth in an inacceſſible light, hath deſtroyed death, and brought to light life and immortality by the Gospel, 1 Tim. 1. O death where is thy victory, O grave where is thy ſting; The ſting of death is ſin, and the ſtrength of ſin is the Law, but bleſſed be God who hath given us the victory by our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, 1 Cor. 15.
This great God and Saviour hath perfectly redeemed us from Eternal death, as he himſelf doth teach us in the Goſpel of St. John, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that ſent me, hath everlaſting life, and ſhall not come into condemnation, but is paſſed from death unto life, chap. 5.25. I am the living bread which came down from Heaven, if any man eat of this bread, he ſhall live for ever. Chap. 6.51. v. 40. Your fathers did eat Manna in the wilderneſs and are dead, This is the bread which cometh down from Heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not dye, Chap. 8. Verily verily I ſay unto you, If any man keep my word, he ſhall never taſte of death. I am the reſurrection and the life, he that lives and believeth in me ſhall never dye, and he that believeth in me, although he were dead, yet ſhall he live, Chap. 11. The wages of ſin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life by our Lord Jeſus Chriſt: Bleſſed and holy is he that hath part in the firſt reſurrection, Revel. 20. the ſecond death ſhall never have any power upon him. In one word, the Gates of Hell, that is to ſay, Death, can do no prejudice to them that are built upon Jeſus Chriſt, the rock of Eternity. This merciful Saviour hath alſo delivered us from the ſpiritual death, Eph. 2. For we being dead in our treſpaſſes and ſins, he hath quickened us, and raiſed us up together unto newneſs of life, Coloſ. 2. He hath carried our ſins in his body upon the Croſs, that he dying unto ſin, we might live unto righteouſneſs. We are buried with him in his death by Baptiſme, that as Jeſus Chriſt is raiſed from the dead by the Glory of God the father, we alſo likewiſe ſhould walk in newneſs of life, 1 Pet. 2. Awake thou that ſleepeſt, and riſe from the dead, and Jeſus Chriſt ſhall enlighten thee, Rom. 6. For by his death he hath not only reconciled us to God the Father, Eph. 5. Coloſ. 11. but he hath alſo procured unto us the Holy Spirit, that creates in us a new heart, and imprints the image of his Holineſs, Ezek. 36. 2 Cor. 5. He makes us become new creatures, and regenerates us by the uncorrptible ſeed. 1 Pet. 1. This is that which the Scripture names the firſt reſurrection, Revel. 20. St. Peter was raviſht in admiration at this great and wonderful benefit, and therefore he acknowledgeth it. Bleſſed be the God, and Father of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, which according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the reſurrection of Jeſus Chriſt from the dead, 1 Pet. 1. God diſcover'd to the Prophet Ezekiel, a field cover'd with dry bones, and commanded him to prophecy upon thoſe bones, Ezek. 37. At the Prophets Command they began to draw near one another, then the Nerves began to appear, the Fleſh to grow, and to be covered with skin, but there was no life until God Commanded the Prophet to prophecy again, Thus ſaith the Lord, Spirit come from the four winds, blow upon theſe dead bodies, and let them riſe from the dead. Then the Spirit entred into them, they began to revive, and they ſtood upon their Legs. This is the lively and true image of the firſt reſurrection; for the Spirit of God that blows whither it liſteth, doth regenerate us by degrees, John 3. and the new man is created in our hearts, by little and little as the Child grows in its Mothers Womb.
When Joſhua brought the Children of Iſrael into the Land of Promiſe, he did not deſtroy all the Cananites, Joſh. 23. there remained ſome who became Scourges in their ſides, and Thorns in their Eyes. Thus our true and Spiritual Joſhua, who hath led us into the kingdom of his Grace, hath not altogether deſtroyed all our evil affections; ſome yet remains that are like prickles in our ſides, and like ſwords that pierce through our ſouls; They do yet render our life bitter and unpleaſant, and therefore we often deſire death to come and put a period to this combat. Sin was in poſſeſſion of us, as a ſtrong man armed in an Houſe, but Jeſus Chriſt is entred into our Souls, and become the Maſter; He hath therefore bound and chained ſin, and hath nailed it to his Croſs: But this furious Beaſt, although it hath received a mortal wound, and is ready to give up the laſt gaſp, it ſtrugles and fumes within us, our bleſſed Saviour hath extinguiſhed with the Red Stream of his Blood, the infernal flames of all our curſed affections, but yet there remains in the aſhes ſome ſparkles of this deviliſh fire, that do cauſe in us ſome furious fits. This only merciful Redeemer of his infinite mercy, hath looſed us from the Devils Chains, but that we might have cauſe to be humbled, to deſire the increaſe of his Grace, and to long for the advent of his Glory, he leaves about us ſome of the troubleſome Fetters; by his Holy Spirit he files them off by degrees, but one day he will take them away from us. He doth now receive us as his beloved Children, into the Celeſtial Kingdom of his Grace, Joh. 11. nevertheleſs he ſuffers in us ſome ill-favoured reliques of ſin and corruption.
At the voice of this Prince of Life, that reaches to the very bottom of our hearts, we are riſen from the ſepulchre of our Vices with our Grave-Cloaths about us, as Lazarus, when he came out of his Tomb; we are like the antient Slaves that were ſet at liberty, we bear upon our Forehead the viſible marks of our antient ſlavery, but one day our Lord Jeſus Chriſt ſhall cover theſe marks of infamy and diſgrace with an heavenly Diadem. If you deſire another image of our ſpiritual condition, fancy to your ſelves a dead man caſt into a foul Pit or Sink, unto whom life is reſtor'd in a moment; afterwards by degrees he is waſh'd and cleans'd of the filth that covers his body. We were not only dead of a Spiritual death, but we were alſo overwhelmed in an Abyſſe of corruption and filth. The Son of God hath pull'd us out of this Abyſſe, and hath already reſtored unto us life, but the dirt and putrefaction with which we were disfigured, he waſhes it away by the waters of his Grace, Za…. 13. For there is a fountain opened for ſin in the Houſe of David, Iſai. 4. in the which God hath promiſed to waſh away all the filth of the Daughter of Sion, and all the bloud of Jeruſalem, and as it happened to the cruel King Adonibezech, when the Tribe of Juda took him priſoner, he loſt the Thumbs of his Hands, and the great Toes of his Feet, but he did not ſuffer death until he was come to Jeruſalem; Thus our great God and Saviour, the Prince of the Tribe of Juda, hath cut off the ſtrength and power of the old man that did tyrannize in our ſouls, and hath deprived him of his venemous nails, with which he did wound our hearts; he hath alſo given him his mortal wound, but he ſuffers him to enjoy a languiſhing life, and will not take away his laſt breath, until we bring him to the Gates of the heavenly Jeruſalem.
But to ſpeak more openly, ſin is yet in us, but he doth not Reign, for our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt hath broken its Scepter, and hath pull'd him from his Throne; and as he hath taken from it all Command in us, he conſtrains it to leave the poſſeſſion of our ſouls by degrees. As a ſtrong and mighty King, who having won the Battel, purſues and drives his Enemy, until he hath totally expoſed him out of his kingdom, ſo doth our Saviour deal with ſin.
And as it happens with a Woman with Child in her old age, there is in her Body two contrary lives, that of the Mother, and that of the Child, the one decays and dies inſenſibly, the other, that is, the Childs life, grows and increaſeth by degrees: So it is in the faithful and regenerate Soul; There are two lives, that of Sin, that the Scripture names the Old man, and that of the New man, which is created according to God in Righteouſneſs, and true Holineſs; the one diminiſhes, and approacheth to its final end, but the other grows and gathers ſtrength until we arrive to the perfect ſtature of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, the Spirit of God every day gets ground of our corruption and darkneſs. As it happens with the Rivers of freſh water, that encroach upon the Earth, they undermine the neareſt Banks; or as the Sun when he riſeth upon our Horiſon, he drives before him all ſhadows, until the Air be perfectly enlightned, ſo it is with the Grace of God in our Souls.