,transcribed from the #ahdi ,d4 ,batten edition by ,david ,price4 8,he was buried40 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,,sermon ,,for ,,easter ,,even4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,by ,,thomas ,,macgill1 ,,curate ,,of ,,clapham1 ,,evening ,,preacher ,,at ,,the ,,magdalen ,,hospital4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,clapham3 ,,printed ,,by ,d4 ,,batten4 #ahdi4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if there be any profits from the sale of this publication1 they will be added to the funds for ,building a ,temporary ,church in ,clapham4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,,sermon4 #a ,cor4 xv4 #d4--8;,,he ,,was ,,buried40 ,,who has not witnessed a funeral6 ,who is unacquainted with the emotions that possess the heart whilst carrying the remains of a beloved friend to the grave6 ,and even when we have no interest in the deceased beyond the ties of a common humanity1 there is a majesty in death itself that overawes the mind1 and the gloomy pomp that proclaims death's triumph arrests the thoughtlessness of man and repeats to him the lesson of the ,bible--8,the grave is thine house1 and thou must make thy bed in the darkness40 ,who has not felt his curiosity awakened when some splendid train of mourners has passed by1 declaring by the parade in which corruption sits in mockery1 how noble1 or how renowned1 or how rich the victim on whom the hand of the destroyer has fallen1 and how utterly vain and empty are all human glories4 ,and who has not experienced a hallowed sympathy when he has met a little band hurrying towards the churchyard all that is mortal of some friendless man1 who lived unknown and died unbewailed1 and who now seems to be stealing out of a world that had scarcely acknowledged his existence1--yet declaring in his undistinguished departure that 8death has passed upon all men1 because all have sinned40 ,to-day ,i invite you to contemplate the funeral ceremonies of the ,prince of ,life1 of ,him who lay down amid the mansions of the dead1 that by dying ,he might destroy death and him that had the power of death4 ,the mourners on this mysterious occasion were few in number4 ,the ,lord whom all despised1 and who had no home in which to lay his head in life1 could scarcely attract around him in death as many as could carry him from the cross to the grave4 ,his disciples1 with one honoured exception1 had all disappeared in shameful flight4 ,a few women1 with tearful sympathy1 lingered to mark the spot where their ,lord should be laid1 and assisted ,joseph and ,nicodemus to perform the last offices to the crucified ,immanuel4 ,these two persons were men of considerable distinction in ,judea1 rich and honourable1 and members of the great council of the nation4 ,of ,joseph it is written that he was 8a good man and a just40 ,of ,nicodemus we read that he was a ruler of the ,jews1 a public teacher1 8a master in ,israel10 but of a remarkably timid disposition4 ,three years before this sad day he had visited ,jesus under the cover of night1 and received instructions in the mysteries of the kingdom of ,god1 but he had never yet openly avowed his attachment to ,messiah4 ,the world's frown1 the dread of its reproach1 the certainty of its persecution1 had deterred both ,joseph and ,nicodemus from confessing ,christ before men4 ,but his death1 the event that encreased the peril of his disciples1 had the effect of dissipating all their fears1 and constrained them openly to profess their respect to the ,lord4 ,with a boldness which defied all danger they begged from ,pilate the body of ,christ1 that it might not be cast into a malefactor's grave1 but entombed with such honour and distinction as circumstances would allow4 ,the earnest desire of such a person as ,joseph was not to be refused1 and agreeing1 as it doubtless would1 with ,pilate's own feelings respecting one whom he had pronounced innocent1 the request was at once complied with4 ,how strange an event was this6 ,at the very time of ,messiah's utmost desertion1 when heaven frowns with gathered blackness1 and the cry has been uttered1 8,my ,god1 ,my ,god1 why hast thou forsaken me60--when lover and friend were put far from ,him1 there went forth from the ,sanhedrim that had condemned ,him two distinguished witnesses to proclaim ,his praise1 and shew to ,his lifeless remains the respect they had themselves denied to ,his living person4 ,thus it is1 ,christian brethren1 that1 when least expected1 ,god's hidden work of grace may be silently advancing2 in young and aged hearts ,christianity may be putting forward its sacred and resistless claims and obtaining a mastery within1 that needs only to be put to the trial to exhibit its real power4 ,there is not always the 8rushing mighty wind0 when the ,spirit of the ,lord takes possession of a man's heart4 ,there is not always the intense sorrow of 8one mourning as for an only son10 when the sinner looks to ,christ4 ,there is not always the alarm of 8,men and brethren what shall we do80 when sin's appalling consequences are first spiritually discovered4 ,the work of grace is often silent and gentle1 like the season of spring in a tropical clime1 when the earth by some rapid change of the atmosphere seems by enchantment to be covered with new created loveliness1 and welcomes the blessed showers of heaven with a bloom as sudden as it is glorious4 ,and how often are the very circumstances that seem most unfavorable to the progress of faith1 chosen by ,god for the manifestation of ,his grace4 ,yet let no man carry this principle beyond its legitimate use1 nor consider that the existence of religious principles can ever be consistent with a life of ungodliness4 ,in the case of ,joseph it is expressly declared that1 though he was a member of the ,council that condemned ,jesus to death1 he had not consented to their verdict4--,no2 men cannot be the children of ,god whilst they are avowedly the children of their father the devil1 whose works they do4 ,but to return to the narrative4 ,no sooner had ,joseph obtained the consent of ,pilate than he hurried back to the cross4 ,the day was1 however1 far spent and the sabbath was at hand1 therefore the funeral ceremonies must needs be finished in a very hasty manner4 ,with such assistance as the occasion commanded1 ,joseph and ,nicodemus removed the sacred corpse1 extracted the nails from the cross1 wiped off the stains of indignity with which that holy countenance had been profaned1 and having wound the body in fine linen with spices and aromatic gums they bore it to a new tomb wherein never before was man laid4 ,there amid the dimness of twilight1 the fitting emblem of the extinguished hopes of the world1 they deposited with speechless grief1 the precious form of ,him who came in the name of the ,lord to save us4 ,o ye men of holy and humble hearts1 how sad was your task6 and your faith was too feeble and your hopes too gloomy to sustain you in this pious duty4 ,it is to be observed that the sepulchre in which ,christ was laid was a new one1 the property of a rich man1 and was situated beyond the gates of ,jerusalem4 ,thus the ,scriptures were fulfilled which declare that ,he should be 8with the rich in ,his death 7,isaiah liii4 #i47 thus was fulfilled the type involved in the command that the ashes of the sacrifice should be carried without the camp1 7,leviticus iv4 #ab4 ,heb4 xiii4 #aa1 #ab74 ,it was also a part of the proof necessary for the fact of the resurrection1 that ,he had been laid1 not in the place where the bodies of felons were usually cast1 nor in any ordinary burying ground where other bodies lay1 and where some deceit might have been practised by the disciples2 and being a grave excavated in the rock it could only be approached by one entrance1 and the entrance was guarded by sentinels and sealed4 ,these circumstances are of vast importance as bearing on the reality of ,his resurrection1 and they are proofs which easily and naturally present themselves to the mind4 8,there laid they ,jesus40--,observe its locality2 it was in a garden1 a lonely but a lovely resting place1 constructed amid the arbors and flower-paths1 and near it there would grow many a fragrant plant with leaves painted by heavenly art1 and be like ornaments of beauty designed to relieve the gloom that overhangs the dwellings of the dead4 ,here there would be nothing to remind us of death1 no sickening vapours of corruption2 no mouldering fragments of humanity1 to proclaim it a place of skulls4 ,all around would breathe the spicy odours of the eastern clime2 yea1 from the sepulchre itself would exhale a balmy sweetness1 fulfilling the words of the royal poet1 8,all thy garments smell ,of myrrh and aloes and cassia3 ,out of the ivory palaces ,whereby they have made thee glad40 ,and what does this flowery abode of death speak to us1 ,christian friends8 ,it proclaims how death and the grave have been divested of all their terrible features by the work of ,christ1 how ,he hath planted flowers of heavenly promise around the margin of the tomb1 perfumed the sepulchre itself with odours of eternal love1 and scented the once hateful garments of the dead with the fragrance and freshness of a sure and certain immortality4 ,it proclaims that there is nothing now in the chill and darkness of the narrow house1 to alarm the fears of the dying ,christian4 ,for ,jesus has been there and has left within it the impress of ,his own form1 and has changed its aspect and altered its character4 ,it is no longer a prison-house1 but the vestibule of heaven1 in which the children of the kingdom repose their wearied frames before they enter with spiritual bodies on the employments of a glorious eternity4 8,and there10 says ,st4 ,matthew1 8was ,mary ,magdalene and the other ,mary sitting over against the sepulchre40 ,let us draw near1 and share with them their holy musings4 ,there1 in that rock1 lies ,he that made the world4 ,there are sealed up the lips which said1 8,come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and ,i will give you rest40 ,there are closed the eyes which always beamed compassion1 and wept for human woe4 ,there1 cold1 are the hands which were laid on little children to bless them1 and opened the eyes of the blind1 and delivered the widow's son alive to his mother4 ,there reposes that gentle head1 that knew no resting place till ,he could say 8,i have finished the work that my father gave me to do40 ,there lies the ,life of the world and the ,hope of ,israel6--,the ,wonderful1 the ,counsellor1 the ,mighty ,god1 the ,everlasting ,father1 the ,prince of ,peace6 ,he was fairer than the children of men6 ,he was the image of the invisible ,god6 ,he went about doing good2 ,he was rich1 and for our sakes ,he become poor6 ,were we seated beside the two ,marys1 with bleeding hearts we might think what epitaph would best become ,immanuel's tomb2 and had we been like them at that moment1 ignorant of the purpose of ,his death1 this would express both our faith and our fears-- 8,we trusted that it had been ,he ,who should have redeemed ,israel40 ,but had their conceptions of the great scheme of the atonement been correct1 had they understood the nature of ,christ's satisfaction for sin1 had they comprehended how before one sinner could be saved the law must be made honourable in all its penalties and all its requirements1 they would have been disposed to rejoice rather than mourn when ,jesus came to the grave1 and they would have written 8,lift up your heads1 ,o ye gates1 that the ,king of ,glory may come in1 to spoil you of your strength and prostrate all your pride4 ,he comes1 the ,lord of hosts1 like a second ,samson1 to lay ,his hands on your most colossal pillars1 and complete by ,his own death the overthrow begun in the days of ,his life40 ,on the tombs of mortals1 however illustrious1 we write these humbling words1 8,here he lies10 but ,i hear the angel saying at the tomb of ,christ1 8,come1 see the place where the ,lord lay40 ,brethren1 8companions in tribulation1 and in the patience and kingdom of ,christ0--it is well for us to stand by ,his grave and compare ,his deep humiliation with ,his essential glory4 ,let us behold in ,his death the infliction pronounced against sin2 let us learn the odiousness of it in the sight of ,god1 the vastness of the evil displayed in the magnitude of the remedy1 the boundlessness of ,god's grace in 8sparing not ,his own ,son but giving him up0 to the death 8for us all40 ,but1 above all1 let us learn to look on ,jesus as one whom we have pierced1 and who has purchased our ransom from eternal death by sorrows and sacrifices which neither time nor eternity will enable us to estimate aright4 ,let us put ourselves in the place of those charged with the bloody deed1 when they reflected that they had sacrificed an innocent being4 ,suppose that you had been consenting to ,his death4 ,suppose you had been the cause of it4 ,suppose his murderers had only been agents employed by you4 ,then your resentment will operate nearer home1 and your grief will rend your own heart4 ,and this1 brethren1 is the only true repentance4 ,by faith the sinner perceives his own blood guiltiness in this cruel tragedy1 and 8looking upon ,him whom he has pierced1 he mourns for him40 7,zech4 xii4 #aj47 ,no2 you cannot learn the true evil of sin and your own lost condition because of it1 but by considering and laying to heart the cross and passion1 the precious death and burial1 of your ,lord and ,saviour4 ,many think that sin is but a light thing2 but hear ,him1 in whom was no sin and who did no sin1 saying1 in the anguish of a wounded spirit 8,my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death40 ,see ,him 8sore amazed and very heavy20 behold 8,his sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground40 ,no2 you cannot otherwise learn what a dreadful evil sin is--you cannot trifle with it--you cannot be reconciled to it--when you see the agonies of ,him who 8made ,his soul an offering for0 it1 and became a curse on account of it4 ,in the ancient history we read that the citizens of ,rome1 when they beheld the mangled body and the gory mantle of ,csar1 rushed forth in fury to be avenged upon his murderers4 ,so will the heart of every true believer1 when he sees the wounds of ,jesus1 be stirred up to mutiny and rage--against himself1 against those sins which caused the shedding of that innocent blood4 ,and such emotions best become this solemn time4 ,the language of this sad event is this--8,scarcely for a righteous man will one die1 peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die1 but ,god commendeth ,his love to us1 in that while we were yet sinners ,christ died for us40 ,come1 then1 to the hallowed scene of ,immanuel's death4 ,come1 and anoint ,his body with tears of godly sorrow1 and swathe it in the fine linen of undissembled love4 ,if ,david1 in that most plaintive of all elegies1 could say over the slaughtered bodies of ,saul and ,jonathan1 8,weep1 ,o daughters of ,jerusalem1 over ,saul who clothed you in scarlet1 and put ornaments of gold upon your apparel10 much more may we say1 8,weep1 ye believers in ,jesus1 weep over the ,king of ,salem1 who clothes you with righteousness and crowns you with salvation40 ,and are there some among you mourning the loss of dear relatives1 departed this life in ,god's faith and fear8 ,i bid you look upon the tomb of ,christ1 and learn what it is to have sorrow sweetened by grace and sanctified by truth4 ,if their ,saviour strengthened them amid the weakness of mortality to glory in ,his cross1 and practically to exclaim1 8,o death1 where is thy sting2 ,o grave1 where is thy victory80--if now you feel that the fairest flowers you can strew over their memory are those of faith and hope and love1 why should your hearts be heavy and your spirits faint6 ,know ye not that ,christ hath laid them in his own resting-place1 and that all who sleep in ,jesus1 ,god shall bring with ,him8 ,precious ,gospel6 which has brought life and immortality to light2 which bids us 8not be ignorant concerning them that are asleep0--which tells us that our departed brethren are blessed1 and that when we too shall come to the shores of the better land1 we shall be welcomed by them arrived before us--that we shall together walk along the golden streets of the holy city1 and sit down together by the fountains of joy which adorn and beautify our common home4 ,but whatever may be our private griefs1 whatever the hopes we cherish of departed friends1 let the burial and grave of ,christ remind us that we must die1 and that after death there is the judgment4 ,it appeals to the thoughtless and the careless and the gay1 with a searching enquiry1 8,when will your spirit be at rest80 when corruption preys upon your body1 it asks 8are you united to the ,saviour8 ,have your submitted to the righteousness of ,god1 and renounced your own1 as a sinner guilty and hell-deserving8 ,have you fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before you on the cross of ,christ8 ,or are you yet dead in trespasses and sins--a captive to ,satan--a vessel fitted for destruction80 ,men and brethren1 the fashion of this world passeth away1 the grave1 and the mourners1 and the funeral train1 are preparing for us all4 ,then it is high time to awake out of sleep4 ,and now1 8,o ,lord1 grant that as we are baptized into the death of thy blessed ,son our ,saviour ,jesus ,christ1 so by continual mortifying our corrupt affections we may be buried with ,him2 and that through the grave1 and gate of death1 we may pass to our joyful resurrection2 for ,his merits1 who died1 and was buried1 and rose again for us1 thy ,son ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,amen40 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,london3 ,d4 ,batten1 ,printer and ,publisher1 ,clapham ,common4