Son, dwell for ever in my worthless heart. O my God, I sign myself over to thee. solemn hour, "My soul and body I resign, With joy I render thee; My all, no longer mine, but thine Amen. This HESTER ANN ROGERS. A SERMON. "It is appointed unto men once to die," Heb. ix, 27. Ir the remains of our departed sister, in memory of whom the present discourse is delivered, were now before your eyes, with all the pomp and splendour of modern funerals, it is not improbable there are some whose minds would be affected with a solemn but superstitious awe, which the preacher has neither power nor inclination to raise. He is conscious that those who had the privilege of being acquainted with our respected sister, need nothing more than the recollection of that amiable woman, under the blessing of God, to infuse into them that spirit of true solemnity, which alone becomes the Christian on these occasions. But yet, that which rises above every other consideration, is the momentous truth held out to us in my text, that great statute law of Heaven, "It is appointed unto men once to die." For the due improvement of this weighty subject, we shall, under the blessing of the Most High, First, Give an explication of the text. Secondly, Consider the grand point held forth to our view, the certainty of death. Thirdly, Lay down some considerations against the fear of death, for the use and comfort of believers. Fourthly, Draw some inference from the foregoing heads of my discourse: And, Lastly, Present you with an epitome of the experience, death, and character of our deceased friend, Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers. I. We are to explain the text. 1st. The proposition is indefinite, therefore universal, all must die." It is not confined to any sex or description. The whole race is included. But yet there have been, and still shall be, exceptions to the general rule. 1. Enoch, that holy man, who walked with God three hundred years, and then "was not, for God took him. By faith he was translated" into heaven. When he had, for so long a time, borne, by example and prophecy, his faithful testimony against the sins of a wicked world, just mature for destruction, his merciful Redeemer, the God of Israel, with whose smile and intimacy he had been divinely honoured for centuries, took him into his everlasting arms, and fitted him at once for consummate glory. 2. Elijah, the great and highly honoured prophet, who had power to open and shut the heavens, and to call down celestial fire; when he had finished his suf fering life in the midst of a crooked, adulterous, idolatrous people, his friend and his God took him, soul and body together, in a chariot of fire, to the heaven of heavens. These are the exceptions we have had already. And, in respect to futurity, "we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound," and instantly all the faithful who are then alive, shall put on incorruption and immortality, and shall afterward enter into their Master's joy, without suffering the usual lot of mortality. The above excepted, we must all pass through the valley of the shadow of death, and return to the dust from whence we came. And truly, my brethren, I know not whether I should not prefer, if the choice were given me, to tread the steps my Saviour trod before me, and to pass after him through the door of death, than to be at once translated to the realms of bliss. He has sanctified the grave by lying in it: and every path in which we follow the Lamb is strowed with blessings to the faithful. He will take care of our sacred dust every thing which is essential to humanity, will he preserve in the hollow of his hand, till he completely mould it by Almighty power, and give it a lustre, to which the sun shall appear as darkness. 2dly. All must die once, but all shall not die the second death. There is the comfort of the believer. That divine and ineffable union which subsists between God and the Christian's soul, shall preserve the consecrated body, which here below is the temple of the Holy Ghost. As the whole humanity of Christ was united to his Godhead, even when his soul and body were separated; so the soul and body of the faithful are united to Christ, even when they are separated by death: for we are the "bone of his bone, and the flesh of his flesh." When death shall untie those secret and sweet bands, those vital knots which fasten soul and body toge ther, then shall the sanctified and immortal spirit burst through its tenement of clay, and take possession of its everlasting home. On such "the second death hath no power." To them death is only a sleep, a happy passage out of the prison of the body into a state of perfect freedom; out of an earthy nouse, where the better part groans," into a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." But, 3dly. We must all undergo the first death. This is the irrevocable decree of Heaven: not from the necessity of nature, but as the punishment of sin. Man was made immortal: sin alone brought death into the world, and all our wo. 66 By sin," says St. Paul," death entered into the world." And shall we nourish and indulge our great enemy ? Shall we harbour; yea, shall we serve the murderers of Christ? Shall we not exert ourselves to i the uttermost against the greatest foe of God and man? Shall a little temporary joy or profit induce us to sacrifice everlasting happiness, and to embrace everlasting burnings?-May the awful decree, "It is appointed unto man once to die," have such an influence on our minds, and be so accompanied by the operations of grace upon our hearts, that we may always be enabled to say with holy triumph, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' II. But we now proceed to consider the second point,—the unavoidableness and certainty of death. It needs no proof. Every thing else on this side of the grave, is attended with probability or possibility only; this alone with certainty. If it be inquired, will such a child be rich or poor, be learned or ignorant, be honourable or contemptible? the answer is, perhaps it may, perhaps not. But if it be inquired, shall he die? the answer contains no perhaps it is simply, he certainly shall. I shall therefore only consider the present head in a way of application. For it is the heart alone which wants to be awakened on the present subject. Such is the sottishness of men in general, that they will not duly consider the transitoriness of all sublunary things, the mortality of our bodies, and the infinitely momentous concerns of eternity. Let us therefore examine into the grand reasons of this stupidity of man. We shall find it, perhaps, to proceed from the following particulars : 1st. Immense multitudes are so immerged in the pleasures, honours, or riches of this world, that every thought of the certainty or approach of death is drowned therein. As soon as an idea on the important subject springs up in the mind, it sinks and is lost in the innumerable ideas which continually crowd in concerning the things of time and sense it is devoured by the worldly thoughts which are incessantly buzzing in the souls of carnal men. One is eagerly pursuing things of time, and so abhorrent of reflection, that with a variety of invented delights, he imps the wings of time, to make them fly the faster; and is never contented, but when the senses are gratified.Another is eat up by ambition; he forgets he is mortal; and power, and titles, and worldly honours, are the only food of his soul. A third, like the fool in the parable, trusts in his riches. He says to his soul, " Soul, thou hast goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, and be merry:" whereas he might as well lay a plaster to his clothes to heal the wounds of his body, as imagine it can bring happiness into his soul through any thing which the honours, riches, or pleasures of this world can possibly afford him. If he will believe the Spirit of God, the sum total of them all is, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity and vexation of spirit." If vanity can satisfy you, if vexation of spirit can give you content, if you can gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles, then go and doat upon the creatures. 2dly. Men in general are continually viewing death as at a distance; and thereby entirely lose sight of the awful certainty and unavoidableness |