A sermon preached at the funerall of M. Christopher Love, in St. Laurence church, August, 25. 1651. By Thomas Manton, minister of the gospell at Stoak-Newington near London.

A sermon preached at the funerall of M. Christopher Love, in St. Laurence church, August, 25. 1651. By Thomas Manton, minister of the gospell at Stoak-Newington near London.

Table of contents

Title page

To the Reader.

A SERMON Preached at the Funerall of M. Christopher Love in St. Laurence Church, August 25. 1651.

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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.

[Page]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, [Page] 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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 onely 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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.

[Page]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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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.

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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.

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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 [Page] 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.

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§

August 30, 1651.

Imprimatur

JOHN DOWNAME.

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Title statement

A sermon preached at the funerall of M. Christopher Love, in St. Laurence church, August, 25. 1651. By Thomas Manton, minister of the gospell at Stoak-Newington near London.

Manton, Thomas, 1620-1677.

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1651

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Wing M535

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Thomason E641_7

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99865821

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— A sermon preached at the funerall of M. Christopher Love, in St. Laurence church, August, 25. 1651. By Thomas Manton, minister of the gospell at Stoak-Newington near London., Manton, Thomas, 1620-1677..

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Printed by J.B.,. London :: 1651.. (Annotation on Thomason copy: "Septemb: 8".) (Reproduction of the original in the British Library.)

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