hath no hope by the law. (4.) In death there is no toil, no turbulent paffion nor affection: Natural death puts an end to natural affections, which take place in man's life-time, fuch as the weary purfuit of what we love, and the wearifom flight from what we hate, or fear: There is no fuch thing in the grave, There the weary are at reft, Job iii. 17. They that are alive to the law, and find the life of their hands, they weary themselves in the greatness of their way, as it is expreffed, Ifai. lvii. 10. Many a weary night and day they may have in pursuing after their lovers, in eftablishing their darling felfrighteousness. The law gives them a wearifom task, to make brick without affording ftraw; and loads them with heavy burdens of curses, in case the task be not performed. But when a man is dead to the law, then the weary is at reft. Chrift is the reft, Come to me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you reft: Then the man gets reft to his confcience, in the blood and righteoufnefs of Chrift, the end of the law; reft to his paffions and affections; he refts from his fears, legal fears of hell, and wrath threatened in the law. The believer indeed may be filled with them, but fo far as he is dead to the law, fo far is he at rest from thefe legal flavish fears. He refts from his love and delight; the law affords its votaries much pleasure, fometimes in the performance of their duty in a legal way; but now the believer takes no delight in that way of juftification; he is out of conceit with himfelf, and his duties, because they are vile; yea, tho' they were not fo vile as they are, but perfect, yet he is out of conceit with that way of life, and beholding the glory of the new covenant and way of falvation, joins iffue with Job, Chap. ix. 15, 21. In a word, he refts from all his legal griefs and forrows, because he refts from all his legal labours. As it is faid of the dead in Chrift, in another sense, Rev. xiv. 13. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, they reft from their labours, and their works follow them; fo I may say in this cafe, bleffed are the dead that are dead to the law, they reft from their labours, their toilfom, troublesom, wearifom, legal works, and yet their works do follow them: They are now created in Chrift Jefus unto good works. But, (5.) In death there is no fenfe: A dead man does not fee, nor hear, nor taste, nor feel, nor fmell, nor exert any natural sense; fo they that are dead to the law, fo far as they are dead to it, they do not now fee the lightnings of Sinai all in a flame, as formerly they did; they do not bear the thunders thereof; they do not smell the fulphure of the burning mountain; they do not feel the terror of vindictive vengeance, the tempeft that surrounded the mount; they do not taste the gall, the bitterness of the wrath threatned in the law; the bitterness of death is over with them, fo far as they fee that Chrift drank the gall for them; yea, fo far as they are dead to the law, they are dead to all Sinai wrath: For, Heb. xii. 18. They are not come to the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness, and tempeft, and the found of a trumpet, but they are come unto mount Sion, &c. But what? Have the godly no fenfe of law-wrath? Yea, fo far as they are legal, and under the law (for they are never wholly freed from a legal temper while here) the dead ghost of the law may rife up and fright them; but fo far as they are dead to the law, it is not law-wrath, but fatherly-wrath that affects them. Indeed through unbelief they may fear fear hell, but they cannot do fo by faith, feeing there is no foundation for either that faith or fear, in, the bible, that a believer shall be caft into hell, fince there is no condemnation to them, &c. (6.) In death there is no motion; vital motion ceases when death takes place: Thus far as a man is dead to the law, fo far the motions of fin are killed; for the motions of fin are by the law; Rom. vii. 5. By the law occafionally and accidentally men running the more into fin, by how much the more they are forbidden to commit fin. Hence Mufculus compares the law, in this refpect, to a chaft matron in a brothel-house, which by her good advice does prove an occafion to fome impudent whores to be more bold, and impudent in their impiety. Sin taking occafion by the law, or commandment, fays the apostle, wrought in me all manner of concupifcence. But now, fo far as a man is dead to the law, fo far are the motions of fin killed, and the foul quickned to live unto God. Of which more afterwards. 2dly, To fhew fome of the qualities of this death to the law. 1. It is an univerfal death. I do not mean that it is common to all the children of men. Tho' it be a common death to the children of God, and to every one of them; yet it is a rare death among the children of men. The whole world lies in wickednefs, and are dead in fins and trefpaffes; but few are dead in this fenfe. But what I mean by its being univerfal, is, that the man that is dead to the law in point of juftification, is dead to every part of the law in its old covenantform, to the precept of it, and to the penalty of it, fo as he is not to be juftified by the one, nor condemned by the other. He is dead to every legal K 3 form form of the law; his gofpel obedience thereto, is no part of his righteoufnefs for juftification before God. If he fhould endeavour to make his gofpel obedience to the law as a rule of life in the hand of a mediator, any part of his righteousness for justification, he fo far turns the covenant of grace, and the duties required therein, into a covenant of works, and fo he feeks to live to that, to which he is, and fhould be dead. It is true, the form of the law in the gofpel-covenant does not require obedience for juftification; but yet this corrupt nature is prone to turn to the old biafs, and abufe the proper form of it, by turning the rule of obedience into a rule of acceptance. If a man make faith itself, or any act or fruit of it, the matter of his juftification, he turns it to a covenant of works: The believer is dead to faith itself in this refpect; yea, faith renounces itself, and all things elfe, but the righteousness of Chrift, for juftification. In this fenfe, he is dead to repentance, love, and other graces; he is dead to every obedience to the law, as a covenant of works; to his natural legal obedience before his converfion, and to his fpiritual gospel obedience after converfion: which though it be a righteoufnefs that God works, and is the author of; yet, because it is the believer that is the fubject, and made the actor thereof, it is called his own righteoufnefs, or conformity to the law: All which he renounceth in the matter of juftification, defiring to be found in Chrift, not having his own righteousness, that is after the law, but the righteoufnefs which is of God by faith, Phil. iii. 9. So that I fay, it is an univerfal death. 2. It is a lingering death. It is not eafy to get the law killed, fomething of a legal difpofition remains even in the believer while he is in this world: Many I a ftroke a ftroke does felf and felf-righteoufnefs get, but ftill it revives again. If he were wholly dead to the law, he would be wholly dead to fin; but fo far as the law lives, fin lives. They that think they know the gofpel well enough, bewray their ignorance; no man can be too evangelical, it will take all his life-time to get a legal temper deftroyed. Tho' the believer be delivered wholly from the law, in its commanding and condemning power and authority, or in its rightful power that it hath over all that are under it; yet he is not delivered wholly from its ufurped power and authority, which takes place many times upon him, while here, through remaining unbelief. 3. It is a painful death; it is like the cutting off the right-hand, and plucking out the right-eye: No will hath the man to part with the law. It is as natural for him to expect God's favour upon his doing fo and fo, and to expect life and falvation by his own obedience, or doing as well as he can, as it is natural for him to draw his breath. If we do our best, God will accept of us, is the natural language of every one, who is wedded to the do and live of the firft covenant. And O what a pain is it to be brought off from that way! To die to the law is moft unnatural, ftrange doctrine; and legal pangs, and pains of conviction and humiliation must be born, before a right thought about dying to the law can be brought forth. 4. It is a pleasant death; it is painful at first, but pleasant at last: O how pleafant is it to fee felf abafed, and grace exalted, felf-righteousness cried down, and Chrift's righteoufness cried up in the foul! Wifdom's ways are pleafantnefs, and this way particularly, wherein no flesh does glory in his prefence; but he that glorieth, K 4 glorieth |