christian is the only man of whom it can be said, in relation to eternal felicity, that he is not "made in vain." IX. DEATH, THE LAST ENEMY, SHALL BE [PREACHED AT BEDFORD, MAY, 1817.] 1 Cor. xv. 26.—The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death. In this chapter the apostle directs the views of christians to the final consummation of all things; when the mediatorial kingdom of Christ, in our nature, having answered the ends for which it was established, shall be surrendered, " and God shall be all in all." This kingdom is, in the mean time, progressive, and will be so till all enemies shall be subdued and placed under his feet. The apostle brings in the words of the text as an instance of this general proposition; but it may be proper here to remark somewhat of inaccuracy in our common version. That rendering does not seem to sustain the conclusion to which the apostle had arrived. It was his purpose to establish the perfection of our Saviour's conquest, the advancement of his *From the Notes of the Rev. S. Hillyard. triumphs, and the prostration of all enemies whatever beneath his power. Now to say that "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death," by no means affords proof of this position. Though death might be destroyed, and be the last enemy that should be destroyed, it would not thence appear but that other enemies might remain, not destroyed. But the proper rendering is, Death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed." 66 Having made this observation, I would now direct your attention to the import of the proposition; and I will consider I. The nature of that enemy that shall be destroyed; and why he is called "the last enemy." II. The manner and the successive stages in which our Lord Jesus has already conquered in part, and will completely conquer this last enemy. I. The nature of that enemy that shall be destroyed, and why he is called "the last enemy." It is not necessary to say much to shew that death is, in many respects, an enemy to the sons of Adam. It is so, first, if we consider it in its most obvious effects, the dissolution of the human frame. Every part of the body is part of a marvellous fabric, of a wonderful machine; which bears upon it the mark of divine wisdom and skill in its contrivance and execution. It is a work which man is not only unable to form or contrive, but the contrivance of which he is not able to comprehend. Every man possesses and carries in himself certain excellencies of composition, and enjoys the benefit of innumerable operations, while he is wholly VOL. VI. unacquainted with the internal machinery by which they are produced. If we look upon the Goths and Vandals as the enemies of the nations, and of all civilized society, because they destroyed palaces and temples, and the ancient monuments of art; what must we think of death, which demolishes, not only in one victim, but in innumerable victims, the noblest fabric that was ever raised on earth; and spoils the most skilful works that were ever constructed? All human beauty, and vigour, and strength, are at once laid prostrate by the power of death; are broken and shivered to pieces under the stroke of this great tyrant. Were we to see, at once, all the victims which, in different lands and climes, and in all ages, have fallen before him, we should behold a pile of ruins raised to the heavens: but these ruins are mostly crumbled to dust, and concealed in the darkness of the grave; or what an amazing view would be afforded of the power and conquests of this universal enemy! Again, Death is an enemy, as he puts an end to all that is terrestrial with regard to man. All the schemes, and projects, and thoughts, that relate only to the concerns of time, are destroyed." In that day," says the word of God, "his thoughts perish" all the thoughts of the sublimest genius of the most acute philosophers, of the subtlest statesmen, of the most ambitious projectors, perish! All find, at once, a termination to their intellectual labours, their sublunary joys and sorrows, hopes and fears: they go only as far as death leaves space for them; and stop where he opposes his power. As much, therefore, as the world is worth,-as much as it possesses of value in the eyes of man,—so much is death to be considered as a formidable foe, standing forth against him, and in opposition to his career. Say, ye ambitious, ye lovers of wealth, ye pursuers of earthly pleasure, what will all the objects you desire avail you when you are summoned to meet this last enemy, and are by him confined to the narrow limits of the grave? What will you do in that period when your "souls shall be required of you," and you are questioned, "Whose shall these things be?" As much as you value these, so much will death be your enemy. Death is also an enemy, because of the separation of the tenderest ties of nature and affection; of all those endearments of friendship and relationship that bind man to man. Death tears asunder brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, parents and children; he snatches the tender infant from the mother's breast, or bereaves it of parental care, and leaves it a helpless orphan in this wilderness. One part of the moral compound is left by him to mourn and sigh, while the other part is mingled with corruption, and becomes a companion of worms. Death so mars the features, that the most passionate admirers of the fairest and most lovely forms of beauty, are constrained to say, as Abraham said of Sarah, "Bury my dead out of my sight." All the fruits of friendship are withered by his breath; and one has been called alone, to go through the dark passage where no one could accompany him: while the survivor, who is left behind, frequently experiences the greatest sufferings, from the emotions and reflections of his mind. Alas! how Alas! how many fond mothers, beloved children, and valuable friends, have been already sacrificed to this inexorable tyrant! Nor is there any union so closely formed, nor any friendship so established and strengthened, but it will be cut asunder and destroyed by the stroke of this great enemy, death. But the most terrible part yet remains:-the moral, or rather the eternal consequences of death. If divine grace had not interposed, death has a sting by which he would pierce every transgressor, and send him to a state of interminable misery. "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law."* The death of the body is by no means the full infliction of the penalty of the divine law. What we look upon as death, is only a dark passage which conducts the sinner to the state of eternal death. The dissolution of our body, and the separation of the spirit from it, is but a preparation; like knocking off the chains and fetters from a prisoner who is about to be led forth to the place of execution. "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life.” † Eternal life is here contrasted with death: but what is the opposite of eternal life, but eternal death-the death of the soul, which consists of the perpetual loss of hope; a cutting off from the presence and favour of God; a sense of his eternal † Rom. vi. 23. * 1 Cor. xv. 56. |