[4.] It will be utterly abolished at the last day. AVe scarce know now what Christ's i)urchase meaneth till the day of judgment. It is said, 1 Cor. xv. 26, ' The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death;' it is weakened now, but then it shall be abolished as to the elect : Rev.
1 Cor. XV. 57.] the saint's triumph oter death. 449
XX. 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, whilst you rejoice with God ; for the present it is continued out of dispensation, it doth service to promote God's glory ; but then the wicked must share death and hell amongst them, and be kept under a dying life or a living death : but ' all tears shall be wiped from your eyes,' Rev. vii. 17 ; death shall be no more, and you shall take the harps of God in your hands, and in a holy triumph say, ' 0 death, where is thy sting ? 0 grave, where is thy victory ? ' It 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.
To apply it now.
Use 1. Here is terror for wicked men. You may think it strange that I should draw terror out of such a comfortable doctrine ; but con- sider 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 it will be worse, in hell it will be worst of all. (1.) It is sad for the present ; there is a bondage upon your souls, not always felt, but soon awakened ; you cannot think of death and hell without torment ; the thought of it, like Belshazzar's handwriting against the wall, smiteth you with trembling in the midst of all your cups and bravery ; a small thing will awaken a wicked man's conscience, the fingers of a man's hand upon the wall. Belshazzar seemed a jolly fellow, a brave spirit, sets light by the Per- sian forces that were even at his door ; but God soon 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 daunced ; ^ he needeth arm nothing against you but your own thoughts ; certainly none but a child of God can have a true and solid courage against death ; you cannot suppose it without consternation. David said, Ps. xxiii. 4, ' Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, yet I will fear no evil.' That is a grisly, sad, dark place to walk in, the very borders of death, side by side with terrors and destruction ; yet there David would be confident : it is otherwise with wicked men ; hereafter they would not live, and here they would not die. (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 horror and remorse. I confess every wicked man doth not die sensible ; some are stupid and foolhardy ; they may sacrifice a stout body to a stubborn mind ; but at last they die uncertain, doubtful if not anxious, and full of horror. As Adrian to his soul, Oanimula vacjula, hlandula, &c. — 0 poor soul! whither dost thou now go ? thou shalt never sport it more, jest it more ! Or, as he said, Anxius vixi, dubius morior; heu, quo vado ! — I have lived doubt- fully and die uncertainly ; alas ! whither do I go ? A man that leapeth in the dark near a deep gulf, 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 terror. Things written with the juice of a lemon, 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
1 Qu. ' daunted ' ?— Ed. VOL. II. 2 F
450 THE saint's triumph oyer death. [1 Cor. XV. 57.
or none are able to look death in the face with confidence. Oh ! con- sider, when you come to die sin stareth in the face of conscience, and conscience remitteth you to the law, and the law bindeth you over to hell, and hell enlargcth her mouth to receive you ; what will you do in such a case ? Satan insulteth, your old tempter is become your new accuser ; nay, you are at odds with yourself ; the body curseth the soul for an ill guide, and the soul curseth the body for a wicked instrument. It 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 whenever they were joined together. A godly man can take fair leave of his body: Farewell, flesh 1 go, rest in hope ; thou shalt one day awake out of the dust, and then I shall be satisfied with God's likeness : I have a longing desire of thy re-union ; we have lived together and glori- fied God together thus long ; God will not suffer thee to see corrup- tion, &c. (3.) In hell it will be worst of all ; envy will be a part of your torment as well as despair : Luke xvi. 23, it is said of the rich man, ' In hell he lifted up his eyes, and seeth Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, and saith, I am tormented in this flame.' It will be an addi- tional torment to compare the believers' eternal happiness with your own misery : they are in the presence of God and his holy angels ; you have no company but the devil, death, hell, and the damned, and are holden under the power of everlasting torments ; you would not live and cannot die ; 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 ! ' it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,' Heb. x. 31. Mark that attribute, living God. We do not speak in the name of an idol that cannot avenge his quarrel upon you, or of a God that shall die 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.