IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES

IN TWO VOLUMES.

BY ALEXANDER MACWHORTER, D. D.

SENIOR PASTOR OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN

CHURCH IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God. Paul

1803

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Reprint and digital August 11, 2004.

Alexander MacWhorter, D.D., ( 1734-1807 ) received schooling at the West-Nottingham Academy under Samuel Finley ( later President of Princeton College). Thereafter, MacWhorter at age 22 joined the junior class at the College of New Jersey with Rev. Aaron Burr, which later moved to Princeton, graduating in the first commencement there in 1757. Afterwards, he entered upon the study of Divinity, under the instruction of the Rev. William Tennent, the pious and justly celebrated minister of Freehold, in New Jersey. He was an active Pastor, and in 1772 was elected a Trustee of the College of New Jersey at Princeton. Yale honored him with a Doctorate of Divinity in 1776, which followed with his active involvement in the Revolutionary War, as an advisor to Washington, and as chaplain under General Knox at White Plains, where again he was a frequent guest of Washington's. The Newark Presbyterian Church extended a call to the pastorate to him in 1781, which was accepted.

"He was one of those great and good men, who, in 1788, had principal influence in settling The Confession of Faith, and framing the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States; and in transferring the authority, of the highest judicatory from the Synod to a General Assembly, which met first in May, 1789.—Ten years afterwards, when a board of trustees for the General Assembly was incorporated by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, at their session in the winter of 1798- 9, he was named in the charter as one, of the board, and continued to hold this trust, until the growing infirmities of age induced him, in 1803, to resign it."

The biographical summary is taken from Edward Dorr Griffin's Funeral Sermon for Dr. Macwhorter ( 1807). This title may be found at The Willison Center http://willisoncenter.com/

On the Princeton Page, Link 13 and 16. ---Willison Ed.

Alexander MacWorter published a two volume collection of sermons in 1803, from which the following title was selected.

Page numbers in the original are shown as: ( 474 )

The following begins the original text:

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SERMON XXXIV

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MELANCHOLY death must again be the subject of our meditations. This gloomy theme should not be dwelt upon so long, but it is absolutely necessary we should soon enter the lifts and hold a conflict with it, hence it is an instance of the highest wisdom to be in readiness for the combat. If there be an enemy who will surely attack us, whom we can neither appease nor avoid, it would be the extremity of folly to neglect preparation for the engagement. And would it not manifest a sound judgment and a good understanding, seeing his assault is not to be escaped, to enquire whether there be any method by which he may be overcome I must now speak of that which will soon close my mouth in the profoundest silence, and you must bear of that which will shortly flop your eats. And we shall neither speak nor hear any more till the last trumpet shall sound, and the bright morning of the resurrection open.

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Was the dread pomp of a funeral presented before us, the silent procession, the sad train of mourners, the berieved friends taking a final last look, groaning out a farewell, eyes and hearts intent upon the gasping grave, the hollow murmurs of the falling clods sending forth a doleful sound, a discourse on death might then have a double force, and make the impressions deep. Altho’ this painful appearance is not at present passing in review, yet it is an object so frequent, that we must, me-thinks, always bear upon our minds the image. As by an immutable statute of heaven, it is appointed unto all men once to die, therefore a proper consideration of death can scarcely at any time be needless or impertinent. Are there any here who can object and say, that reflections upon our mortality are vain, for men are naturally too sensible hereof and too much dread the name? If this were just; there would be no need of such a pious aspiration handed down to us in the divine oracles ; "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end." Notwithstanding death is certain, and preparation for it of the greatest importance, yet, alas! How few, how very few lay it seriously to heart; how few are engaged to how few are engaged to have its power destroyed before it slay them? While it is the king of terrors to the world, many remain ignorant of its chief injury, thinking it hath done its utmost when the connection between the soul and body is dissolved, considering not that the everlasting separation of both from the fountain of blessedness is still infinitely greater. For what is temporal when compared with eternal death ? To think of the separation of those near and dear companions; the soul and body, of the debasement and horrors of the grave, the bed all stench and putrefacion, the coverlit crawling worms—is sad and melancholy. They are very unwelcome and dismal thoughts to the minds of sinners, but what follows after is inconceivably more dismal, and inexpressibly more terrible.

But is there no escape from this destroying enemy? Must all become his prey? And shall he still triumph and pass so

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vanquished? Our text affords here an answer of sweet joy ~ the strongest consolation, that this universal destroyer shall be destroyed.— "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." Tho' he is an enemy, and the last enemy, yet his conquest and destruction is certain. This is a precious hope and a transporting consideration, that tho’ he hath and will reign long, yet he will not reign always. This our glorious Saviour and all conquering king hath done, and will infallibly accomplish. Thus the captain of our salvation bath declared, " O death, I will be thy plague, O grave, I will be thy destruction." His arm is almighty, and he goes forth conquering and to conquer. And the last enemy he will vanquish and subdue is death.. But in leading your attention particularly thro’ this subject, we shall endeavor to show?

First, let us consider this chief of all enemies. It is usual for the sacred volume to employ sensible images to communicate to our minds spiritual ideas. Hence our ruin by sin, and recovery by the redemption of Christ, are often exhibited in warlike or military terms. Thus Satan is said to lead us captive; Christ is stiled the captain of our salvation; sin is spoken of as bondage, chains, imprisonment; religion, as liberty, freedom, deliverance, victory, &c. Therefore all obstructions and impediments which interrupt our passage to everlasting blessedness and felicity, are denominated enemies. Death is represented as the last of these enemies, because he is the last with which we have to engage in this world, and it is the lift which will be destroyed. For be never will be compleatly and perfectly conquered until the resurrection, when he must surrender up all those he hath confined in his cold prison for

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thousands of ages. He himself must then die and cease fore ever, for after this event there will be no more death. But, in this world he reigns and triumphs, and will hold his dominion as long as it endures. Death is an enemy to the whole human nature ; an enemy to every individual of the race of man; an enemy to the body; an enemy to the soul; an enemy to the sinner; and an enemy to the saint.

First, he is an enemy to the body. This curious machine, which was fearfully and wonderfully made, he renders it as though it had never been. He removes the pins of this grand tabernacle, and reduces it to its primitive dust. This glorious flame, which had been long in rearing, and on which the pains and labour of years had been expended to bring to maturity and perfection, is in an instant tumbled into ruin. So that in which we much delighted, and from which we entertained the highest expectations, immediately is made so disagreeable to us, that our friends with it buried out of their sight. What care, attention and toil doth it take to rear such a creature as man ? and when finished in our fond apprehensions and fitted for service and usefulness, then does death quickly blast our hopes, and destroy in a moment the labour of a number of years. Truly it may be said, "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass, the grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away." How superior and noble a creature doth death destroy? To day the body is beautiful, all the parts performing their several functions ; the heart moving, the lungs playing, the blood circulating, the spirits fine, but to-morrow death comes, touches some muscle or nerve, disconcerts some wheel, casts an invisible particle of infection into the inspired air, and all stands still. We breathe, we speak, we think, we act no more. Our pulse ceases to beat, and our eyes to behold the light. Our ears will hear the voice of melody no more; our strength is gone; our natural warmth is turned into an earthly cold, and our comeliness into ghastly deformity. This mighty change doth death perform. The

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prince cannot resist him by his majesty, nor the strong by his might. Commanders must here obey, and conquerors are here conquered. The rich cannot bribe him, the learned orator with all the profusion of his eloquence cannot persuade him to pass him by, nor can the skilled physician save himself from the mortal stroke. All have sinned, all must die." Dust we are, and to dust we must return."

Secondly, Death is also an enemy to the soul. The body and soul in their original formation were designed to dwell perpetual]y together. Therefore these intimates have the strongest inclination and attachment to each other. The separation cannot be made but by the unnatural violence of a cruel enemy. Yea, the soul of the saint clings to the body. They, who possess the fullest assurance of a translation to glory, feel great desires that the body should be taken along. The apostle himself, " Did not desire to be uncloathed, but rather to be cloathed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life." That is, be translated at once into the celestial state without the horrid pains of a dissolution, A separation was terrible even to the human soul of Christ himself, hence he earnestly prayed that this cup might pass from him. Therefore we have perfect assurance that death, as death, must be unwelcome as it is unfriendly to every creature. It is a natural evil in itself, abhorred by soul and body. There is no principle in human nature, on which there can be grafted a reconciliation. The highest. degree to which grace can raise the saint in this life is only a submission to the divine will, and to say, " Not my will but thine be done." Death is still hated as an enemy, though there is a sweet acquiescence in the will of heaven. The saint most willing to die, wills not death; and all his willingness to die is merely as the reconciliation of a sick man to the hateful prescriptions of the physician that he may obtain health.

Thirdly, to the guilty, unpardoned, and unrenewed sinner

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death is an enemy indeed. He is to him the king of all imaginable terrors, terrible in itself, and more terrible in its consequences ; it is here a mere passage from tolerable to intolerable misery. Could the unhappy soul be sure that there is no vengeance to seize it after death, that there is no more sorrow or anguish to be felt, only the expiring agony, that he hath nothing to suffer but the loss of existence, this would seem an evil that might be endured. But it is the living death, says one, the dying life, the endless woe, to which death leads the guilty soul, which makes it unspeakably terrible The utter darkness, the unquenchable fire, the living and gnawing worm, the eternal flames of Jehovah’s wrath, these are the horrors, these are the sting of death for the ungodly. Thus to impenitent sinners he is an enemy cloathed with inconceivable terrors.

Fourthly, he s an enemy to the saints themselves. Of those who are truly sanctified the apostle is here principally speaking, and of the advantages which they receive by Christ among these, this is one, that the enemy death shall be destroyed, which fully assures us that death is an enemy to them as well as others. By accident it is rendered friendly to them, thro’ the conquest Christ has obtained over it, set in its own nature., and in many respects, it is an enemy still. It is a monster full of horror, if we consider the ghastly paleness, the stiff cold, the forbidding visage, distorted eyes and convulsed limbs of the dying; and afterwards if we think of the corruption of the grave, the putrefaction of the flesh, all things visible are expressions of enmity in the extreme. It is an enemy as it removes them from the conversation and intimacy of their agreeable friends, as it imprisons one part of them in the earth, and as it prevents their complete blessedness and felicity which they will not enjoy till after the resurrection. Thus it is death is an enemy to the whole nature and race of man. But, glory to God, this enemy shall be destroyed; death itself

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shall die. Altho’ it s the last enemy, yet it shall surely be conquered. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

Second thing proposed, which was to establish this truth, that this enemy shall be destroyed. As we have seen, the inimical visage of death, let us contemplate the conquest of it by the all powerful love of the Redeemer. We have considered what sin hath done, let us contemplate what grace will do. As we have noticed the strength of the enemy, we will now observe the irresistible power and victory of the Saviour, the glorious conqueror of death. The beginning, of the victory is in this world, bin the perfection of it all be in the resurrection, when death shall live and reign no more. The first mortal wound which the king of terrors received was by the death of Christ on the cross. Hereby it is rendered a tolerable evil to true believers, in the hopes of everlasting life. Its strength was hereby weakened and its sting was taken away. "The sting of death is sin, but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory thro’ our Lord Jesus." It never was the intention of Christ to deliver us from the stroke of death, only from its dominion and power, and finally to recover us from its fetters by a glorious resurrection. " For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection from the dead." As he merited life for all who believe, so he actually conquered death by his own resurrection from the tomb. On this important day, he led captivity captive, and triumphed gloriously. It was then demonstrated to heaven, earth, and hell, that death was vanquished. By his arising from the dead he hath conquered the powers of darkness, so shall we rise thro’ him and die no more. " For because he liveth, if we believe in him, we shall l live also."

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The next fatal stroke which this universal tyrant receives, is when we are sanctified by the influences of the Holy Ghost, and justified by divine grace. When faith is implanted in the soul, it then looks beyond the grave and beholds eternal life. And altho’ death may injure him, it can never destroy him. The believing soul foresees the day, "when death shall be swallowed up of victory." So he may in the present time lift up his voice and hug that triumphant song, " O death, where is thy fling, O grave where is thy victory. For this cause we faint not, tho’ our outward man perish, our inward man is renewed day by day, for our light affliction, tho’ it extends to the grave, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

But the last stroke that death will receive, and when the conquest shall be perfected, will be at the resurrection, and this is the victory referred to in our text, wherein it is affirmed the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Many a mortal wound it received heretofore, but now it is completely vanquished. Death will be then given to death. The body lieth under death, and under the penal effects of sin till the resurrection, and it is in a fort penal to the soul too, it is an allay to its perfect felicity, whilst its a state of separation from the body,
even tho’ it is in perfect glory with Jesus Christ, because it is deprived of the perfection or full completion of gory, which it shall receive after the resurrection, when the whole man, soul and body, will be introduced to and confirmed in all the blessedness of eternal life. The Mediator’s work will then be finished and accomplished. All things shall be completely restored. " Then there will be no more death, nor sorrow nor crying, nor pain, for the former things are passed away." No terrible enemy between us and our God, to prevent the emanations of his love, or seclude us from his presence. O ! what a birth-day will it be, when the grave shall bring forth so
many millions of sons for glory ? how joyful will the meeting

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of the soul and body be, who had been separated so long. Then sin and transgression will be finished and can do no more. "And death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire." Then Christ shall have accomplished all, and will have no more to perform as our Redeemer;. he will have placed all in glory who were given to him before the foundation of the world. Then shall he deliver up the kingdom to the Father, and God shall be all in all.

The subject shall close with a few deductions.

First, from death’s being so great an enemy in so many respects we are taught the exceeding malignity of sin. Sin hath entered into the world, and death its never failing companion attends it, and thus death hath passed upon all men, inasmuch as all, have sinned. It is fin which gives death all his power and dominion. Without sin death could neither exist nor reign. Hence we should use all possible means to destroy it, which has been so instrumental in our destruction. Let sin be the enemy we shall chiefly oppose. By a proper opposition to him, we shall conquer death itself and disarm it of its sting; let us fight, neither against small nor great, but against this implacable foe, he is a murderer indeed, who would destroy both soul and body without any cause. Let us therefore carry on unceasing war against sin as our most deadly, unreasonable, and most dangerous enemy. Let us get it slain,, by sanctifying grace derived from Christ Jesus, before it shall slay us. Sin must be slain, or it will surely destroy us forever. It is sin which hath made such universal havoc among mankind, which hath slain all the nations of the earth age after age, and hath made our world an Aceldama, a field of blood. It is he who hath hurried death upon our near relatives, upon our intimate friends and dear companions, and who will quickly destroy us, at least our bodies, also. Wherefore let us no longer, let us never be at peace with such an enemy, but let us

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maintain an obstinate and continual war with every iniquity, trusting in Christ the captain of our salvation, under which banner we shall come off conquerors and more than conquerors. When we weep and mourn over the corpse of a departed friend, shall we not think with abhorrence of the cause of the pale ruin and wounding separation? Let us hate and abhor sin, which has entailed such evil upon the world, is infinitely displeasing to God, and cost his eternal son so dear.

Secondly, we learn from this divine, from the victory obtained over this enemy, the great love and power of Jesus Christ, who condescended to enter the lifts with this mighty combatant, and after an engagement beyond the comprehension of men, came off triumphant; "Who thro’ death destroyed him who had the power of death." Herein was the love of Christ manifested, that when we were taken captive by Satan, and were dead in trespasses and sins, Jesus the Saviour

undertook for us and ransomed us from death and the grave. What returns shall we make for these wonders of love? Ought we not to return to him our whole hearts and. lives? Herein is safety, security and consolation that the second death, even death eternal., can never injure us. What shafts of natural death are continually flying thick around us, ought we not solemnly to consider how we may be able to encounter the king of terrors. If we take Christ for our leader and captain, we shall surely prevail. For this purpose, let us furnish and gird ourselves for the war. " Put on the whole armour of God, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having dons all to stand. Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness and

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your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye all will be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might." Now if we put on this christian armour and bravely use the same, the victory will surely be our own. Let us secure the one thing needfu1, for we daily see that neither young nor old, learned nor unlearned, but must enter the field of battle. Wherefore, "watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." Let us learn to live every day as if it were our last. ‘When we enjoy one day, we have no certainty of another. We know no more that we shall behold another rising sun, than if we were now upon a dying bed, our physicians had given us over, and our friends standing weeping around us at our expiring and agonizing groans. Let us all be admonished to prepare for sickness and our dissolution. Let us be employed in the exercises of self examination, repentance of and humiliation for sin, confessing the same, renewing covenant with God, mortifying corruption, living by faith, denying ourselves and meditating heaven. Let the counsel of our Lord ever abide upon our minds, "Be ye also ready."