SERMON CLXIII.

DEATH.

THOU TURNEST MAN TO DESTRUCTION, AND SAYEST, RETURN, YE CHILDREN OF MEN.

PSALM XC. 3.

In this Series of Discourses I have considered the being and character of God; his creation of the heavens and the earth, of angels and men; the primitive state of man; his fall, and condemnation; their influence on the moral character of his posterity; and the impossibility of justification by works. I have examined the character and mediation of Christ; and the justification accomplished by his righteousness. I have endeavoured to exhibit the character of the Holy Spirit; his agency in the work of regeneration; the reality, necessity, and nature of that work, together with its antecedents, attendants, consequences, and evidences. I have attempted to explain the divine law, and the principal duties which it requires; together with the foundation, the nature, and the effects of virtue, the true and only obedience to it; and the nature of that inability to obey it, which is an important characteristic of man; and the means of our restoration to obedience. I have also investigated the means of obtaining, and the means of increasing grace; the manner in which, and the persons by whom, they are to be employed. In the course of this investigation, I have endeavoured to explain the constitution of the Christian church; the character and duties of its members and officers; the nature of its sacraments; and the scheme of its discipline.

In the progress of these discourses I have also stated, and endeavoured to obviate, the principal objections usually brought against the system of theology which I believe to be revealed in the Scriptures.

Thus have I gone through the consideration of the great articles contained in the Scriptural providence of God, as disclosed in the Gospel; and conducted man through life, to the last act of that providence with which he is concerned in the present world-the act by which he is removed into eternity.

This great and gloomy event is in the text ascribed directly to the providence of God; and exhibited, not as the result of a natural and necessary decay, nor of a general tendency of things, but of his sovereign pleasure. Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men.'-Thou art the agent in bringing man to death, and the grave; and by thy command returnest him to his original dust. All the natural causes of death, therefore, are only modes and means of its accomplishment by the hand of God.

A multitude of considerations necessarily strike the mind of him who makes this subject the theme of his serious attention. Of this number are,

Its universality.

Its extension through the ages of time.

Its certainty.

Its uncertainty with regard to the time, manner, and cir

cumstances.

The causes by which it is brought to pass; and,

The impossibility of escaping or resisting it—together with many other things deeply solemn, and capable of being eminently useful to mankind.

But it is my design to consider Death, on this occasion, merely as a part of the great system of providential dispensations toward the children of men; as the event, by which they are removed out of their present state of being, as the close of their probation, and their introduction into eternity.

It is manifest that some removal from this world is a necessary part of such a system. A probation involves in its nature a close. It infers a trial at that close, by which the character of the man who has gone through the probation shall be finally settled, as good or evil, as acquitted or con

demned. It supposes also a reward suited to his conduct, and intended to recompense it with absolute propriety.

This close, so far as we can understand the subject, must be either painful or pleasant, disgraceful or honourable, according to the conduct of the persons concerned. If their conduct be supposed to have been virtuous, obedient, and pleasing to God, the end of their trial we should naturally expect to be pleasing and honourable, and a proof of his approbation of their character. If their conduct be supposed to

have been evil, and displeasing to God, a painful and disgraceful termination of this state of their existence would be rationally expected. The views which he formed of their conduct, we should naturally expect him to express at their removal from the world.

In this world good men are continually surrounded by spiritual enemies, or enemies to their virtue and final welfare. These enemies, it is to be supposed, will on every occasion attempt to lessen their happiness, and increase their sufferings. The close of life furnishes the last opportunity for this purpose. This period therefore these enemies must be expected to seize with eagerness, in order to annoy them so far as they are permitted.

The best of men also have sinned often and greatly; and have thus merited great evils at the hand of God. Hence, with the strictest propriety, they may suffer greatly at this, as well as at other seasons. No reason can be assigned why their enemies may not be permitted to disturb them therefore in the article of death.

Their own minds also may, for important purposes, be left at this time to the distresses arising from the remembrance of their former sins, and from perplexing thoughts concerning their spiritual condition. Hence various doubts may arise and anxieties be multiplied. The terrors of death may encompass them, and the pains of hell,' (of sheol, or ans, that is, in plainer language, the fears of what will befal them in the world of departed spirits,) may lay hold on them.' Espe cially will all this seem easy of apprehension, if we remember that these things may and will be in the end benefits to them, through the agency of him who is able to bring good out of evil. In this manner may the distresses sometimes suffered by good men at death be sufficiently explained.

Wicked men, on the contrary, are often totally careless concerning all moral and religious subjects, unconcerned about their present or future condition, and indifferent alike to the favour and the frowns of their Maker. This heedless spirit they sometimes carry with them to a dying-bed, and under its influence are equally stupid as in the preceding periods of life. On this account it is to be expected that such men should, at times, have no bands in their death.'. Disease also often weakens their capacity of thinking, and prevents them from coming to any just conclusions concerning their past conduct, their present state, and their future allotments. Frequently too they labour to make a virtue of necessity, to resign themselves quietly to the death which they see they cannot avoid, and to submit to that God whom they now feel themselves unable to resist. This, they frequently mistake for Christian resignation, although totally unlike it in every important characteristic; and, under the influence of this mistake, sometimes leave the world with a degree of composure.

Nor is it unreasonable to believe that these things are the result of a judicial dispensation of God. We know, that he has given up men judicially to strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.' In what case can such a dispensation be supposed with more propriety, than in that of gross, longcontinued, and obstinate sin, perpetrated by a heart hardening itself in iniquity through life. Such a heart certainly may with propriety be permitted to deceive itself at any time during its probation; and this deception may, for aught that appears, be enhanced by its external enemies. Evil men often deceive and flatter with false hopes their dying companions. No reason can be given why the same mischievous office may not be performed by other evil beings.

To these things it ought to be added, that such men have, in several instances, died in alarm and horror; when, from the pains taken to conceal the circumstances of their death, they may have been supposed to leave the world in peace. There is a general disposition in mankind to think and speak favourably of the dying and the dead. In this solemn case even personal hatred is apt to give way to compassion, and every prejudice to be lost in concern for him who now ceases to be either our enemy, or our rival. Often also we speak

favourably of deceased persons from compunctions of conscience, from a desire to be thought candid and kind, because they were our relations or friends, or because they were of the same party or sect with ourselves. Frequently we make the case our own; wishing, and under the influence of our wishes believing, that their exit may be hopeful and safe, because we are of a similar character, and may in this case die hopefully also. Infidels, particularly, have often taken great pains to persuade the world that their fellow-infidels died with serenity; and, when their last moments have been embittered by remorse and terror, have concealed this fact with every ingenious and laborious effort. No man can mistake the reason of this conduct. The acknowledgment, that these persons died in fear and anguish, would convince every man that they doubted of the doctrines which they professed to believe; and were afraid that the Scriptures were still of Divine origin, and that thus infidelity would receive a wound which could not be healed. Several instances of this nature have been disclosed to the world; and have furnished strong reasons to believe that, if the whole truth were discovered, many more would be found.

These considerations taken together prove beyond debate, that the serenity, whether assumed or pretended, with which wicked men are supposed to die is false and hollow; on the one hand, the mere result of ignorance, or stupidity; on the other, a veil employed to cover either from themselves, or their fellow-men, the real state of their minds at death. From this source therefore no good can be augured for them; and no support warrantably gained by their impenitent survivors. With these things premised, I observe,

I. That death is accomplished by the hand of God.

Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men.' Thus it was threatened to our first parents, and to their posterity. It was threatened and executed as the reward of sin. Its universal execution is therefore a decisive proof of the universality of sin.

II. Death is a direct and strong expression of the views which God entertains concerning the character of man.

This remarkable event is a part of the providence of God,