Sermon at the Funeral of Christopher Love, Sermon
A SERMON Preached at the FUNERALL OF M. CHRISTOPHER LOVE, IN St. LAƲRENCE CHƲRCH, Auguſt, 25. 1651.
By THOMAS MANTON, Miniſter of the Goſpell at Stoak-Newington near London.
ISAIAH 517. The righteous periſheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and mercifull men are taken away, none conſidering that the righteous is taken away from the evill to come.
London: Printed by J B. 1651.
To the Reader.
Courteous Reader,
THou haſt here preſented to thy view a ſhort, but yet a ſweet Sermon; in it is comprehended among other things, the right way of dying well. If ever you would die comfortably, you muſt firſt live holily, get an aſſurance that your ſinnes are pardoned, that God is reconciled unto you through Jeſus Chriſt, that ſo you may be perſwaded by the holy Spirit of God, as ſoon as ever you goe out of this world, you ſhall then be received into an eternall. Reader, if this Sermon may prove for thy ſpirituall advantage, for the mortifying of ſinne, and the renewing of Grace in thy heart, bleſſe God for it. Thou mayeſt bee confident it ſhall be the daily Prayer of him that is thy friend in the Lord,
D. R.
A SERMON Preached at the Funerall of M. Chriſtopher Love in St. Laurence Church, Auguſt 25. 1651.
1 COR. 15. 57. But thankes be to God which gives us the victory through our Lord Jeſus Chriſt.
THE words in themſelves needs no explication; they are the triumphing ſong of S. Paul, partly directed to the enemies themſelves, and partly to the giver of victory, Thanks be to God, that gives us victory through Jeſus Chriſt.
1. It is ſinne that is the ſting of death, when the conſcience is awakened, and all diſguiſes are taken away, then ſin will be ſin indeed.
2. In regard of the Obligation, the Law binds us over unto death.
3. Sin aggravated labours to ſtrengthen ſin, and ſets them all in order in their proper colours before our face. But now the great queſtion will be, What ſhall we do that we may come out of this horror and terror? The Apoſtle tells us, Chriſt hath given us victory in Chriſts victory; he hath overcome the law, death, and hell; he foyled death in his own perſon, when he was upon the Croſſe; he left death in the grave, when he himſelfe aroſe againe; he hath given us victory through Jeſus Chriſt; and yet all Chriſts work was not done upon the Croſſe, there is much to be done in our hearts, the God of peace ſhal bruiſe Satan under your feet ſhortly, Rom 16. 20. hee will make you fellow-Conquerors with his Sonne Jeſus Chriſt; Chriſt hath got a victory for us, and he will get alſo a victory in us. From the words obſerve this Doctrine:
That Chriſts victory over death may ſerve for the incomparable comfort of all true Believers. Death is either temporall or eternall; now wicked men are ſubject unto both; the wicked mans temporall death it makes way for his eternall; the taking them away out of this life, is but the bringing them into eternall wo and miſery.
For the opening of the point, he would 1. ſhew how Chriſt delivereth us from death.
2. How far he hath delivered us from death.
For the firſt, that Chriſt hath delivered us from death, Heb. 2. 14. By death he deſtroyed him that had the power of death: If you conſider Chriſts death by way of merit, or if you conſider him as a Conqueror, by his death he deſtroyed death, he grapled and overcome death.
Whether you look upon it as the Act of a Redeemer in dying for our ſinnes, Chriſt died in our room, or in our ſtead, he died that the creature might be ſpared, Iob. 33. 19. Deliver him from going down into the pit, for I have found a ranſome; the ſinner muſt die, or elſe the Surety muſt die; by Chriſts death the wrath of God is expiated, the Law of God is ſatisfied, the Juſtice of God fulfilled, and the jawes of death are broken.
2. Looke upon it as the act of a Conqueror, and ſo Chriſt hath foiled death in his owne perſon; for Chriſt is called the firſt fruits of them that ſleep in the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, 1 Cor. 15. 20. yea, he is called the firſt-borne of the dead; death is Satans laſt beaſt of prey, and Chriſt hath grapled this beaſt. 1. Be pleaſed to conſider, the quality of the Grave is quite altered to wicked men; it is the King of terror; but to every beleever it is a bed of eaſe, Iſai. 57. 2. The righteous are taken from the evill to come, and reſt in their beds.
2. The ſecond queſtion is, how far he hath delivered us from death; I might anſwer, that it is ſufficient the ſecond death hath no power over us; there is no condemnation unto them that are in Chriſt Jeſus, Rom. 8. 1. But this is not all, the very nature and habit of death is changed; death is not a deſtruction, but a deliverance; we are apt to have wrong thoughts of death, death is to us a bleſſing, it is one of Chriſts legacies bequeathed to his Church; while death was in the Devils hand, it was our enemy; but now it is in Chriſts hand, it is our friend; it is now but our paſſage into the Land of Canaan, our entrance into the heavenly Jeruſalem: a wicked mans death is his executioner, but to the Godly; it doth but fever us from our friends upon earth, and then we are united unto Jeſus Chriſt our head; now letteſt thou thy ſervant depart in peace, wicked men are taken away. This night ſhall thy ſoule be taken away, Luke 12. 20. Now what hope can a wicked man have when God takes away his ſoule? the godly man reſignes up his ſoule unto Jeſus Chriſt. The beleever dyeth not becauſe he muſt dye, but becauſe he would dye: the Funerals of the Godly are but the Funerals of their ſinnes; it is not the man that dyeth, but his miſery and his ſinnes that dyeth. When God juſtifieth a ſinner, he takes away the condemning power of ſinne; when he ſanctifieth, he takes away the reigning power of ſinne; but when he takes him away by death unto himſelfe, he takes away the very being of ſinne: Death is our cure, ſinne brings in death, and death by way of revenge deſtroyeth ſin. 2. By death there is way made for a preſent union of the ſoule with Jeſus Chriſt; I deſire to be diſſolved, and to be with Chriſt, ſaith St. Paul; it is better the ſoul ſhould be ſeperated from the body, then to be abſent from Chriſt, we have an union here, but whether is it better to be preſent with your friends, or preſent with Jeſus Chriſt? the ſoul goeth away to God that gave it, immediately as ſoon as ever the body is deſtroyed; the body came from Adam, and muſt be purified in the grave, but the ſoul is a ſupernatural Light and flyeth to God again.
3. The Body that ſeemeth moſt to ſuffer, hath great advantage. A Shed is taken down to raiſe up a better Structure; It is ſowed a Natural body, but it is raiſed a Spiritual body; here it is not capable of high enjoyments, it is humbled by diſeaſes; it is ſowed a Corruptable body, but it ſhall be raiſed an Incorruptable body, 1 Corinth. 15. 54.
The next degree is, how far Chriſt hath conquered death, the hurt of death is taken away. Death may kill you, but it cannot hurt you; it cannot have any power over your better part, Jeſus Chriſt is your head in the grave; ye are raiſed by the Spirit of holineſs, Rom. 8. 11. The Holy-ghoſt can never leave his Temple; you belong to Chriſt in the grave.
1. Oh conſider what ground of comfort we have againſt the mortality of the body: Chriſt hath united body and ſoul, Chriſts myſtical Body ſhall not want the leaſt Member or Joynt.
2. God is in Covenant with your body and ſoul, God is the God of your fleſh, though it remain with the duſt of the wicked.
3. Chriſt hath purchaſed your body and ſoul, 1 Corinth. 6. 20. Yea are bought with a price, Therefore glorifie Chriſt in your bodies; Chriſt will not looſe one whit of his purchaſe: Therefore here is your comfort againſt the Mortality of the Body; God will call the grave to an account, What is become of my Abraham? my Iſaac? and my Jacob? The grave ſhall give up their dead, when Chriſts commands it: the grave is but a cheſt (and with reference be it ſpoken) Chriſt wares the Keys at his own Girdle; God hath a ſpecial care of your duſt, when your friends and neighbours have left you in the grave, yet Chriſt hath not left you there.
4. We are eaſed from the terror and horror of death. Now death is terrible, as it is a natural evil, a diſſolution of the ſoul from the body. Death is the King of terrors, Morral Phyloſophy could never finde any remedy againſt the fear of death. But God by his holy Spirit, he fills the ſoul with a hope of a better life, by which it is ſtrenthened againſt the fear of death; nature may ſhrink when we ſee the pail horſe approaching, yet we way rejoyce in this it is but to carry us home to our Fathers houſe, And who would be affraid to be happy? Let them be affraid to dye, which are loath to go to Chriſt. St. Stephen ſaw the Heavens opened for him, when he was ſtoned to death, at the very hour of their departure they are exempted from fear and terror, by reaſon of that comfortable perſwaſion, which they have in their breaſt, that their ſins are pardoned through the blood of Jeſus Chriſt; that God is reconciled unto their ſouls, that as ſoon as they go out of this miſerable would, they ſhall be received into eternal Glory: The ſting of death is ſin, the day of death is a black and glomy day to wicked men; Wicked men they drop like rotten Apples into that Lake that burns with fire and brimſtone for evermore; Wicked men have many accuſations laid to their charge, many ſins that fly in their face, which moſt commonly perplex a dying ſoul; but godly men are freed from all this: This made Luther cry out Percule domine percule, peccata remiſſa ſunt, ſtrike Lord ſtrike, my ſins are pardoned: So may every true believer ſay, Lord do what thou wilt with me, my ſins are forgiven.
5. Chriſt hath utterly aboliſhed death, 1 Cor, 5. 16. Then death ſhall be utterly aboliſhed to the Elect, the Dominion and Power of death is overcome, but for the wicked they muſt be kept under a dying, and yet under a living death, death ſhall be no more unto Gods people, they may then triumphantly ſay, Oh death, where is thy ſting?
Thus much for the Doctrinal part of the Text: There remains nothing but the uſeful Application unto our Souls.
Vſe. Firſt let this ſerve for terror to wicked men, Jeſus Chriſt hath conquered death onelyonly for his Elect: for the preſent wicked mens condition is ſad, in Death it is worſe, and in Hell it is worſt of all.
1. For the preſent their condition muſt needs be ſad; they cannot ſo much as think of death or hell without a great deal of terror and fear: It is like the hand writing againſt Belſhazer upon the wall, it will mar all their Jovial company, but with the righteous death makes way for their eternal happineſs, Though I walk in the vale and ſhadow of death, ſaith David, yet will I fear none ill. It is a ſad walk to walk at Deaths right hand.
2. In Death it will be worſe, the nearer you come to your everlaſting eſtate, the more your Conſcience will be troubled, and your ſins will fly in your face: Every man doth not dye thus ſenſible, ſome there are that ſacrifice their bodies with great courage, but mark this in them all, they oftentimes dye anxious of their ſpiritual condition: A wicked man is like one that leaps over a great Gulph in the dark, but uſually their death is full of terror. Oh conſider what a ſad caſe you will be in, when your ſins ſhall ſtare you in the face, your conſcience accuſe you, the law binde you over to hell, hell open her mouth for you, and heaven be ſhut up againſt you; how will you be able to appear before the Judgement Seat? what a hideous cry will it be to hear the ſinner curſe his body, and his body to curſe his ſoul, becauſe he did not make ſure of heaven. It is quite contrary when the godly man dyeth, he takes fare leave of his fleſh, fleſh farewell, and reſt in hope, God will not ſuffer his holy One to ſee corruption.
3. In Hell it will be worſt of all, Envy will be a part of your ſorrow, as well as diſpare, when you ſhall ſee the godly in heaven, whom you have ſcorned, diſpiſed, and thought not worthy to love among you, when your ſelves ſhall be tormented in hell fire with the Devil and his Angels for ever, there is a ſpecial conviction upon the damned ſoul in hell.
Here you would not live, and their you ſhall not dye: Oh miſerable will be your condition! when conſcience, that worm that never dyeth, ſhall gnaw your ſoul to all eternity. You are now fallen into the hands of a living God, who liveth for ever to ſee vengeance executed upon his enemies.
The ſecond Uſe is to labor to get an Intereſt.
1. In Jeſus Chriſt, and firſt you muſt take care to get your ſins pardoned; all the power of the Devil and Death, depends upon this particular, you can never have any true or real ſolid comfort, when you come to dye, unleſs you are aſſured that your ſins are pardoned, unleſs that you are confidently aſſured by the ſpirit of God, that when you go out of this Life, you ſhall be received into a Better. There are two pits which God hath digged, that are deep enough to bury your ſins in that they ſhall never beable to hint you, vid. the Ocean of Divine mercy, and the grave of Jeſus Chriſt, ſee your ſins buried in one of thoſe graves, and then be ſure they ſhall never trouble your ſoul again. It is the great fault of Chriſtians, that when they come to dye, they come altogether naked: it is an ill favoured thing to ſee a man ſtark naked; Chriſtians ſhould come cloathed with the White Robes of Chriſts Righteouſneſs, for the grave hath no power over them.
2. Strive for an aſſurance of Gods love; mine eyes have ſeen thy ſalvation, therefore now let thy ſervant depart in peace; now let me dye ſaith old Jacob, when he had ſeen his ſon Joſeph; when you have ſeen Jeſus Chriſt, when you can ſay experimentally he is my portion; then you may bid welcom to any death: death never comes untimely to ſuch a man, though he may be cut off by ſome ſudden ſtroak, if he hath an intereſt in Jeſus Chriſt. A ſinner though he live to be an old man, yet he is accurſed.
3. Mortifie Corruption: he dyeth well that mortifieth corruption firſt; ſee your ſins dead before you come to dye: Either ſin muſt dye, or we muſt dye, What ſhould an unmortified man do with heaven? that would be no place for his abode, becauſe there are no carnal Beſtial delights there; when wicked men go howling to hell, then might God ſay, go ſee whether your vain delights can ſave you.
4. There muſt be a holy Life and Converſation. Men live as though they never thought to dye, and then they dye as if they never thought to live; they that are not aſhamed to live are not affraid to dye. We have a ſingular inſtance of this in our deceaſed brother, Balaam would fain dye the death of the righteous, but he would not live the life of the righteous: if we are careful to obſerve theſe directions, then our laſt hour will be our beſt hour.
The third Uſe is to improve the comfort of Chriſts Victory,
1. Improve it for your friends, that are departed in the Lord: Why ſhould we weep in the day of their preferment? Chriſtians in the primitive times, at the ſolemnizing of their friends Funerals, had wont to light Tapar, ſing Pſalms, and rejoyce in the Lord (but may ſome ſay) Sir do you not read, when Stephen was ſtoned to death, that certain devout men carried him, and made great lamentation for him, Acts 8. 2. But for anſwer to this, mourn for your friends deceaſed, but not diſtractedly mourn for them as thoſe that know they ſhall meet their friends in glory: when you weep for your friends it ſhould be like rain upon earth, when the Sun ſhines.
2. Improve it for your ſelves, and that in your life time.
1. In your reſolutions, that you may be willing to dye: we are apt to linger ond linger, and fain we would live a little longer; but alaſs what Prince would be willing to be uncrowned: this argueth a great deal of carnallity. Chriſtians are begotten to a lively hope.
2. Improve it in your death againſt the fear of death: death it ſelf ſtartles the Creature. When once you come to Heaven, death ſhall moleſt you no more, Believers, when they come to heaven, ſhall have the ſame welcom that Jeſus Chriſt had, the Angels ſhall carry your ſoul into Abrahams boſom, Luk. 16. 22, there ſhall a train of Angels carry your ſoul into eternal Glory.
Laſtly, Bleſs your Redeemer, that hath freed you from the fear of death. Jeſus Chriſt hath given himſelf a ranſom for thy ſoul; he hath ſatisfied Divine Vengeance for thy ſins: Many men give their lives to death for their Prince; but here is a Prince, that gives his life for his People.
It remains that we ſpeak a little concerning this our deceaſed Brother: I might ſpeak much concerning thoſe raviſhing Comforts, that he had in his ſoul: What a rare aſſurance he had of heaven, as a patern moſt worthy of your imitation. He was a man eminent in Grace, A man of a ſingular Life and Converſation. When he was to dye, he profeſſed high thoughts of his Congregation; Therefore I pray do not fruſtrate his expectations; when he looks to finde you among the ſheep, the Lord grant you be not found among the goats; do not think that now he is gone, his truths are gone too? for God will require them at your hands. God takes an exact account, how long a Miniſter hath been in ſuch a place, what good a people hath got under his Miniſtery: The Lord grant that you may now reap the fruit of all his labours. I might ſpeak much more, but I will forbear.
The Lord bleſs what you have heard, and give you underſtanding in all things.
FINIS.
Auguſt 30, 1651.
Imprimatur
JOHN DOWNAME.
End of the text · Thomas Manton, Sermon at the Funeral of Christopher Love (1651)