great "white throne*," the heavens and the earth shall flee from his presence; but the whole race of mankind shall be assembled before him, each one to give an account of himself, to him from whose penetrating knowledge no secret can be hidden, and from whose unerring, inflexible sentence, there can be no appeal. "Where "then shall the wicked and the ungodly appear?"

But it will be a joyful day to believers. They shall be separated as the wheat from the tares, and arranged at his right hand. When the Lord shall come, attended by his holy angels, his redeemed people will reassume their bodies, refined and freed from all that was corruptible; and those of them who shall be then living will be changed, and caught up to meet him in the air. He will then own them, approve and crown them before assembled worlds. Every charge that can be brought against them will be over-ruled, and their plea, that they trusted in him for salvation, be admitted and ratified. They will be accepted and justified. They will shine like the sun in his train, and attend, as assessors with him, when he shall pass final judgment upon his and their enemies. Then he will be admired in and by them that believe. Their tears will be for ever wiped away, when he shall say to them, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepar"ed for you from the foundation of the world."

Beloved, if these things are so, "what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and "godliness" Should we not "give all diligence to "make our calling and election sure," that we may be found of him in peace? He who will then be seated upon the throne of judgment, is to us made known as

* Rev. xx. 11.

+ Matth. xxv. 34.

2 Pet. in. 11.

seated upon a throne of grace. It is time, it is high time, and blessed be God, it is not yet too late, to seek his mercy. Still the Gospel invites us to hear his voice, and to humble ourselves before him. Once more you are invited, some of you perhaps, for the last time; how know you but sickness or death may be at the very door? Consider, Are you prepared? Examine the foundation of your hope-and do it quickly, impartially, and earnestly, lest you should be cut off in an hour when you are not aware, and perish with a lie in your right hand.

SERMON XLIII.

DEATH SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.

1 CORINTHIANS XV. 54.

Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory!

DEATH, simply considered, is no more than a pri

vative idea, signifying a cessation of life; or, that what was once living, lives no longer. But it has been the general, perhaps the universal custom of mankind, to personify it. Imagination gives death a formidable appearance, arms it with a dart, sting, or scythe, and represents it as an active, inexorable, and invincible reality. In this view death is a great devourer; with his iron tongue he calls for thousands at a meal. He has already swallowed up all the preceding generations of men; all who are now living are marked as his inevitable prey; he is still unsatisfied, and will go on devour

ing till the Lord shall come. Then this destroyer shall be destroyed; he shall swallow no more, but be swallowed up himself in victory. Thus the Scripture accommodates itself to the language and appréhensions of mortals. Further, the metaphorical usage of the word "swallow" still enlarges and aggrandizes the idea. Thus the earth is said to "have opened her "mouth and swallowed up Korah" and his accomplices*. And thus a pebble, a millstone, or a mountain, if cast into the ocean, would be swallowed up, irrecoverably lost and gone, as though they had never beent. Such shall be the triumphant victory of MesSIAH in the great day of the consummation of all things. Death, in its cause and in its effects, shall be utterly destroyed. Man was created upright, and lived in a paradise, till, by sin, he brought death into the world. From that time death has reigned by sin, and evils abound. But MESSIAH came to make an end of sin, to destroy death, and him that hath the power of it, to repair every disorder, and to remove every misery; and he will so fully, so gloriously accomplish his great undertaking in the final issue, that every thing contrary to holiness and happiness shall be swallowed up and buried beyond the possibility of a return, as a stone that is sunk in the depths of the sea. Thus Thus "where "sin has abounded, grace will much more abound."

This victory, however, being the Redeemer's work, and the fruit of his mediation, the Scripture teaches us to restrain the benefits of it to the subjects of his church and kingdom. "In Adam all die." A depraved nature, guilt, sorrow, and death, extend to all his posterity. The "All," who "in Christ shall be made alive,"

* Numb. xvi. 32.

+ Rev. xviii. 21.

are those who, by faith in him, are delivered from the sting of death, which is sin, and are made partakers of a new nature. There is a "second death," which, though it shall not hurt the believers in Jesus*, will finally swallow up the impenitent and ungodly. We live in an age when there is, if I may so speak, a resurrection of many old and exploded errors, which, though they have been often refuted and forgotten, are admired and embraced by some persons as new and wonderful discoveries. Of this stamp, is the conceit of a universal restitution to a state of happiness of all intelligent creatures, whether angels or men, who have rebelled against the will and government of God. This sentiment contradicts the current doctrine of Scripture, which asserts the everlasting misery of the finally impenitent, in as strong terms, in the very same terms, as the eternal happiness of the righteous, and sometimes in the very same verset. Nor can it possibly be true, if our Lord spake the truth concerning Judas, when he said, "It had been good for that man if he "had never been bornt." If I could consider this notion as harmless, though useless, and no worse than many mistakes which men of upright minds have made, through inattention and weakness of judgment, I should not have mentioned it. But I judge it to be little less pernicious and poisonous than false. It directly tends to abate that sense of the evil of sin, of the inflexible justice of God, and the truth of his threatenings, which is but too weak in the best of men. us abide by the plain declarations of his word, which assures us, that "there remaineth no other sacrince

Let

* Rev. ii. 11.
VOL. IV.

Matth. xxv. 46.
3 Q

Matth. xxvi. 24.

" for sin*," no future relief against it, for those who now refuse the Gospel; and that they who cordially receive it shall be saved with an everlasting salvation, and shall one day sing, "Death is swallowed up in victory."

I would further observe, that many prophecies have a gradual and increasing accomplishment, and may be applied to several periods; though their full completion will only be at the resurrection and last judgment. This passage, as it stands in the prophecy of Isaiaht, from whence the apostle quotes it, appears to have a reference to the comparatively brighter light and glory of the Gospel state, beyond what was enjoyed by the church under the Levitical dispensation; and especially to the privileges of those happy days, when" the ful

ness of the Gentiles and the remnant of Israel shall "be brought in, and the kingdoms of the world shall "become the kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ." I would not exclude these subordinate senses; I have already considered them. But my text calls our attention to the end of all things. Then, in the most emphatical sense, "Death will be swallowed up in "victory."

Let us endeavour to realize the great scene before us, to contemplate the redeemed of the Lord when they shall return with him to animate their glorified bodies. Let us ask the question which the elder proposed to John, "Who are these clothed with white robes, and "whence came they?" "They came out of great "tribulation;" they were once under the power of death, but now death, as to them, is swallowed up in + Rev. vii. 13.

Heb. x. 26, 27. † Isa. xxv. 8.