SERMON XLI. DEATH BỶ ADAM, LIFE BY CHRIST. 1 CORINTHIANS XV. 21, 22. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. FROM ROM Mr. Handel's acknowledged abilities as a composer, and particularly from what I have heard of his great taste and success in adapting the style of his music to the subject, I judge, that this passage afforded him a fair occasion of displaying his genius and powers. Two ideas, vastly important in themselves, are here represented in the strongest light, by being placed in contrast to each other. Surely the most solemn, the most pathetic strains must be employed, if they accord with the awful words, "By man came death," "In Adam "all die." Nor can even the highest efforts of the heavenly harpers, more than answer to the joy, the triumph, and the praise, which the other part of my text would excite in our hearts, if we are interested in it, provided we were capable of comprehending the full force and meaning of the expressions, "By man came "also the resurrection," "In Christ shall all be made "alive." By one man came death, "By one man sin entered "into the world, and death by sin*." Sin opened the door to death. The creation, at the beginning, was Rom. v. 12. full of order and beauty. "God saw every thing that "he had made, and behold all was very good." Adam, happy in the image and favour of his Maker, breathed the air of immortality in Paradise. While moral evil was unknown, natural evils, such as sickness, pain, and death, had no place. How different has the state of things been since! Would you account for the change? Charge it upon man. He sinned against his Creator, Lawgiver, and Benefactor; and thus, by him, came death. The fact is sure; and therefore our reasonings upon it, in order to account for it, further than we are enlightened and taught by Scripture, are unnecessary and vain. God is infinitely wise, and therefore this change was foreseen by him. He doubtless could have prevented it, for to Omnipotence every thing that does not imply a contradiction, is possible, is easy. But he permitted it, and therefore it must have been agreeable to his wisdom, holiness, and goodness, to permit it. He can over-rule it to the purposes of his own glory, and to ends worthy of himself, and he has assured us that he will do so. Thus far I can go, nor do I wish to go further. An endeavour to vindicate the ways of God to man, to fallen man, upon the grounds of what he proudly calls his reason, would be an impracticable, and, in my view, a presumptuous attempt. In proportion as his grace enlightens our minds, convinces us of our ignorance, and humbles our pride, we shall be satisfied, that, in whatever he appoints or permits, he acts in a manner becoming his own perfections. Nor can we be satisfied in any other way. We see, we feel, that evil is in the world. Death reigns. It has pleased God to afford us a revelation, to visit us with * Gen. i. 31. the light of his Gospel. If, instead of reasoning, we believe and obey, a way is set before us, by which we may finally overcome every evil, and obtain a happiness and honour, superior to what belonged to man in his original state. They who refuse this Gospel, must be left to their cavils and perplexities, until the day in which the great Judge and Governor of all shall arise to plead his own cause, and to vindicate his proceedings from their arrogant exceptions. Then "every "mouth will be stopped *." Let us look to the heavens, which are higher than we; and attend to what we may learn from sure principles, that the earth, with all its inhabitants, is but as dust upon the balance, if compared with the immensity of God's creation. Unless we could know the whole, and the relation which this very small part bears to the rest of his government, we must be utterly incompetent to judge how it becomes the great God to act. We are infected with the sin, and we are subject to the death, with all its concomitant evils, which came into the world by the first man. But we are likewise invited to a participation of all the blessings which the second Man has procured, by his atonement for sin, and by his victory over death." "For as by man came death, so by man came also the re"surrection of the dead." Let us take a survey, first of the malady, and then of the remedy. I. The malady; the effect and wages of sin is "death." Many ideas are included in this word, taken in the Scriptural sense. 1. The sentence annexed to the transgression of that commandment which was given as an especial test of *Rom. iii. 19. sup Adam's obedience, and which affects all his posterity, is thus expressed, "In the day that thou eatest-thou "shalt surely die." But man was not, ordinarily, to die by a stroke of apoplexy, or by a flash of lightning, The sentence includes all the natural evils, all the variety of wo, which sin has brought into the world.The rebellious tempers and appetites which so often cut short the life of man, together with the sufferings and troubles which, sooner or later, bring him down with sorrow to the grave, being the consequences of sin, may be properly considered as belonging to that death in which they terminate. Even the earth and the elements partook in the effects of man's disobedience. "Thorns and thistlest" were not the produce of the ground till after he had sinned. Nor can I pose that hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes, were known in a state of innocence. But had the whole earth been a paradise, man, having sinned, must have been miserable. It is not in situation to make that heart happy which is the seat of inordinate passions, rage, envy, malice, lust, and avarice. And were the earth a paradise now, it would be stained with blood, and filled with violence, cruelty, and misery, while it is inhabited by sinners. Many persons at present, who dwell in stately houses, and have every thing around them that is suited to gratify and please their senses, know, by painful experience, how little happiness these external advantages afford, while their minds are tortured with disappointments and anxiety. Thus the outward afflictions which every where surround and assail the sinner, and the malignant passions which, * Gen ii. 17. † Gen. jii. 18. like vultures, continually gnaw his heart, all combine to accelerate the execution of the sentence of death. 2. "Death," in a very important sense, entered immediately with sin. Besides the rational life which still distinguishes man from the brute creation, he originally possessed a spiritual and divine life; for he was created in the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness. He was capable of communion with God, of rejoicing in his favour, and of proposing his will and glory as the great end of his actions. In a word, the presence and life of God dwelt in him, as in a temple, As the soul is the life of the body, which becomes a carcass, a prey to worms and putrefaction, when the soul has forsaken it; so God is the life of the soul.Sin defaced his temple, and he forsook it. In this sense, when Adam had transgressed the law, he died instantly, in that very day, in that very moment. He lost his spiritual life, he lost all desire for communion with God, he no longer retained any love for his Benefactor. He dreaded his presence, he sought to hide himself from him, and when obliged to appear and answer, stood self-condemned before him, till revived and restored by the promise of grace. And thus his posterity derive from him what may be called a living death. They are dead while they live, "dead in tres 66 passes and sins," till they are again quickened by bis Holy Spirit. This is not a subject of common-place declamation; it is to be proved by the tenour of Scripture, the nature of redemption, and the very reason of things. Unless we allow that man in his present state is thus fallen, depraved, and dead, we must be reduced Eph. ii. 1. |