Gardiner, John S. J. j
The Christian's Victory Over Death and the Grave.
Boston, 1809.

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THE CHRISTIAN'S VICTORY OVER DEATH AND
THE GRAVE.

SERMON, /
DELIVERED AT TRINITY CHURCH, NOVEMBER 5, 1809,

ON THE DECEASE OF

ELIZABETH LADY TEMPLE.

BY
JOHN S. J. GARDINER, A.M.
RECTOR.

BOSTON :
PRINTED BY MUNROE, FRANCIS & PARKER, NO. 4 CORKHILL.
1809.

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1 COR. xv. 55, 56, 57.
0 death, where is thy sling ! 0 grave, where is thy
victory ! The sting of death is sin ; and the
strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
THERE is no subject, my brethren, naturally
more alarming to the fears, or more formidable to
the self-love of man, than that of death. To go
he knows not where, to take his last farewel of the
sun, and all that it animates, to leave forever
every dear object in this world, without any firm
assurance of another, it is this, this consideration,
which arms death with its sting, and gives victory
to the grave.

4
But the christian, whose whole life has been a
preparation for this great event, faces the king of
terrors with calmness, and even with joy, and,
relying on his Saviour's assurance to accept his
imperfect services, can exclaim with triumph, 'O
death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy
victory ? Thanks be to God, which giveth me the*
victory, through my Lord Jesus Christ.'
I shall consider then, for the subject of your
present meditation, the triumph of death, and the
triumph of life ; contrast the darkness of nature
with the light of revelation, and conclude with such
observations as may naturally arise.
To those, my brethren, who have no interest in
a Redeemer's blood, sharp indeed is the sting of
death, and terrifying the victory of the grave. Terri
ble are the heralds of this great enemy, formidable
his menaces, and tremendous his preparations. Dis
ease, Pestilence, and Famine march before him.
Pain and Infirmity attend his steps. Anguish and
Despair follow in his rear. Whither can you fly
from his assaults ? In the country, in the city, at

home, and abroad, on land and at sea, he enjoys
the attribute of omnipresence, and numberless
victims every moment fall beneath his insatiable
vengeance. All animated nature is subject to his
uncontrolable power, and man, the lord of all, is
obliged to yield to his superiority. The hand of
the tyrant shakes the tree of life, and like the leaves
of Autumn we mingle with our kindred dust. Go
into the repositories of the dead, and read on the
tombstones the fate of your species. There you
will find deposited in the cold bed of death, at a
small distance from each other, the saint and the
sinner, the pious man and the libertine, the old and
the young ; those of every age, sex, and condition.
Here lies the infant, that died almost as soon as it
was born; there the once playful and promising child,
severed, by a sudden and unexpected stroke, from
the embraces of its fond and afflicted parents. On
this register of death is recorded the dissolution of
the young man, cut off in the bloom of his days,
the last hope perhaps of a respectable family, who

had fondly flattered themselves, that he would have
transmitted their name to posterity. Beneath that
spot, reposes the hoary head of age, of one, who
had experienced, probably, all the vicissitudes of
human life, and, in hopes of a joyful resurrection,
was happy at last to find a refuge from its miseries,
in the grave. Go whither you please, you tread
on the domains of death ; the very dust you raise
was once perhaps human flesh like your own, and
yours hereafter will share the same fate, and min
gle with the viewless winds.
What renders the triumph of death more formi
dable is, that his arrival is frequently unexpected.
In the midst of life we are in death. His pestilence
walketh in darkness, and his arrows fly in the noon
day. He now sends an epidemick disorder, that
thins the population of the crowded city. In some
countries, the bursting volcano, with its cataracts
of fire, is the awful minister of his vengeance. In
others, earthquakes engulph, or hurricanes sweep
thousands to untimely graves. Amidst the bustle

of business, the pleasures of the table, or in the
tranquil hour of repose, he singles out his victim,
and strikes the fatal blow, ere his footsteps are
heard. Go to the chamber of the dying man, and
behold his cruel triumph. View his sad victim
stretched on a bed of sorrows, struggling, panting
for breath, paleness and horrour seated on his
countenance ; his limbs benumbed, and seized with
deadly cold ; his speech faultering ; his eyes fixed,
and sunk into his head, covered with a confused
mist, before which every thing begins to disap
pear ; his friends and relations round his bed,
pouring forth fruitless supplications for his recov
ery, and increasing his fears and anguish, by the
tenderness of their sighs, and the abundance of
their tears. View him in the agitations of the last
conflict, giving no signs of life, but by the convul
sive agonies, which announce his approaching dis
solution. The world is annihilated before him.
He is divested of all his worldly advantages, strip
ped of his possessions, abandoned by all that was

8
dear to him on earth, on the point of appearing
before God, his sovereign Judge, accompanied only
by his good or evil deeds. This, my brethren, is no
romance... it is no vain prediction... it is the history
of those whom you daily see dying before your eyes,
and, by anticipation, it is the history of what will be-
fal you. Think, then, frequently and seriously on
it. The terrible moment cannot be far off ; per
haps you now border on it. Remember, that the
only consolation you will then find, will arise from
having made the memory of death, and the prepa
ration for it, the study and chief object of your life.
Such, my brethren, is the victory which this ty
rant of mortality boasts over the earthly lords of
the creation. Nor does his triumph cease with the
extinction of his victim. The tolling bell, the
sad procession, the tears and lamentations of the
afflicted survivors, give poignancy to the sting of
death, and crown with additional trophies the vic
tory of the grave. The heart weeps blood at the
final separation from those, who were dear to usa

9
and the wounds inflicted by the grim tyrant are
sometimes incurable. Here we see the deserted
orphan, deprived of her sole support, bereaved of
her, who had watched, with parental solicitude, over
her cradled infancy, instructed her inexperienced
youth, and trained her up in the path of piety and
virtue. What consolation now remains to her,*
save innocence and heaven ? At one moment, the
wife and mother is torn from the embraces of her
distracted husband, and weeping children. At
another, the father of a numerous family, whose
prosperity depended on his life, is suddenly sum
moned to his fate, and obliged to leave behind him
the objects of his fondest affection to the casual
charity of strangers. Here the afflicted father at
tends his only son to the grave. There the sor
rowing mother follows with faultering footstep the
bier of the daughter whom she had idolized, of
her, perhaps, who had been the pride and joy of
her life, the delight of every circle, the ornament
of every assembly, dear to her eyes and tender

10
to her heart. Dissolved in woe, the melancholy
mourner sickens at the sun, and wastes her days
of solitude and confinement, in tender recollections
and unavailing regrets.
Thus dreadful is the sting of death, thus formi
dable the victory of the grave.
But is the triumph of death final ? Is the victory
of the grave eternal ? No, my brethren. Jesus Christ
has brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel. By this great event, death is swallowed
up in victory, and the expiring Christian may now
exclaim with exultation, * O death, where is thy
sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ? Thanks be
to God, which giveth us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ.'
Without this blessed revelation, what would be
the situation of man ? What was it, before the sun
of righteousness arose with healing in his wings T
The wisest of the Heathens were animated with
hopes of afuture state, but those hopes were cloud
ed by doubts and uncertainty. They gazed with

11
anxious eye on the boundless ocean of futurity that
lay before them. They strove to discover the shore
on the other side. But they strove in vain. Clouds
and darkness skirted the horizon, and veiled the
immortal coast from their view.
The anxiety felt on this subject, before the rev
elation of the gospel, is well expressed in the book
of Job. s If a man die,' says he, c shall he live
again ? There is hope of a tree, if it be cut down,
that it will sprout again, and that the tender
branch thereof will not cease. Though the root
thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof
die in the ground, yet, through the scent of water,
it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But
;man dieth, and is cut off*. Man giveth up the
ghost, and where is he ? As the waters- fail from
the sea,. ..as the flood decayeth, and drieth up,... so
man lieth down, and riseth not. Till the heavens
be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised
out of their sleep/

12
But this gloomy prospect the sun of righteous
ness dispels. The star from Jacob shines, and
the shadows of death vanish. ' I am the resurrec
tion and the life, saith the Lord, he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
Whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall
never die.'
Wide as the dominion of death is, it is but tem
porary. The dominion of life is more wide, and
it is eternal. The dominion of death extends but
to what is transitory and mortal ; the dominion
of life to the past, the present, and the future.
Nothing ultimately perishes, but, after apparent
dissolution, revives, and flourishes with increased
vigour. The seed, which you plant, decays and
dies, and yet from this death a new life arises.
It springs up, flourishes, and bears fruit an hun
dred fold. The sun shines with mild radiance
in the morning, blazes out in full majesty at noon,
remits his brilliance and fervour towards evening,
and sinks into his watry grave. But does he re-

13
vive no more ? Does he leave the world involved
in darkness and horror forever ? No, ' tomorrow
he repairs the golden flood, and warms the nations
with redoubled ray.' The plants and flowers, that
wither at the touch of winter, revive in the spring,
and once more expand their variegated beauties
in that genial season.
Let then the tyrant Death exert his destructive
power. That power is limited and short-lived.
It can only turn to dust, that which was originally
dust. It cannot affect the immortal spirit, it can
not extinguish the etherial spark, that animates
the clay of man. ' The dust only shall return to
the earth, as it was, but the spirit shall return to
God, who gave it.' O death, where is then thy
sting ? O grave, where is then thy victory ? Thy
triumph, O death, is futile. Thy victory, O grave,
fallacious ! Ye have indeed destroyed the earthly
tenement, but the immortal inhabitant has mount
ed to his native heaven. He has ascended to the
bosom of his father and his God, disappointed thy

14
malice, and there will enjoy perpetual rest and
felicity. However irresistible, my brethren, the power of
death may be to mortal man, the power of life is
still superior. It disarms death of its sting, and
despoils the grave of its victory. It turns dishon
our into glory, defeat into triumph, clothes cor
ruption with incorruption, and mortality with im
mortality. With God every thing is possible.
Though the dust of our buried bodies should be
blown to distant regions, incorporate with other
substances, or sink to the bottom of the sea, yet
can the eye of omniscience discover, and the hand
of omnipotence separate and re-collect it, reinstate
the dismembered and dishonoured body in its for
mer situation, and render it glorified and imper
ishable. He can, my brethren, and he declares that
he will. To the blessed Jesus, the author and fin
isher of our faith, has he given this power, at whose
second coming, in glorious majesty, to judge the
world, the earth and sea shall give up their dead,

15
and the corruptible bodies of those, that died in the
christian faith, shall be changed, and made like to
his own most glorious body, according to the mighty
power, whereby he is able to subdue all things to
himself. His powerful voice shall break the slum
ber of the grave, and reanimate the dead. ' O
death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy
victory ? The sting of death is sin ; and the
strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ.' Yes, my brethren, though the power of death is
formidable, what is it when compared with the
power of life ? What though the body repose
whole ages in the cold and silent tomb, what are
those ages, when contrasted with eternity ? What
is the dark night of the grave, when compared with
the brilliant morning of the resurrection, when,
awakened from the long sleep of death, we shall
rise refreshed, and rejoice to run our new and im
mortal career. Death destroys. Life restores.

16
Death exults in darkness and horror and misery.
Life in light and joy and happiness.
In the blessed regions of immortal felicity you
will enjoy pleasures, which the grossness of mortal
sense cannot enable you to conceive. You will be
re-united with those you loved, never to separate
again, and, as your happiness will be perfect, so will
it be endless. What then, my brethren, have we
to fear ? Can the Christian, with these blessed
assurances, tremble at the approach of death ?
No. Let the infidel and the scoffer shudder at
the thoughts of that annihilation, into the belief of
which they have foolishly reasoned themselves.
Let them leave all that is dear in this world, with
the gloomy prospect of eternal separation. Chris
tians, you have better hopes. You can say to that
great despoiler, O death, where is thy sting ? O
grave, where is thy victory ? Thy sting, O death,
can but destroy the body. Thy victory, O grave,
is but temporary. In spite of thy power, we shall
once more enjoy the society of our friends and

17
relations, free from every care and apprehension.
Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Such, my brethren, is the contrast between death
and life, the grave and the resurrection. May it
prove a source of consolation to all of you, and
more particularly to those, who lament the death
of a dear and respected relation. Let them reflect
on the innocence of her life, and the blessedness
of her death ; for blessed are the dead, who die in
the Lord ; and consecrate in their memories, and
imitate in their lives, those virtues, by which the
deceased was eminently distinguished. Let them
not sorrow, as those without hope, at an event, for
which she anxiously wished ; but rather make the
only improvement of it, which religion and com
mon sense dictate, by so regulating their lives, that
they also may die the death of the righteous, and
their latter end may be like hers.
To pass an unmerited encomium on rank how
ever elevated, and riches however great, would

18
be consistent neither with the respect due to my
own character, nor with the sacred place, from
which I speak. But when rank is attended by
humility and all the christian graces,... when riches
are expended, not for the gratification of selfish
passions, but in acts of charity and munificence,...
to praise what is laudable, and to admire what is
good, seems merely to satisfy the demands of
justice. The distinguished lady, whose loss is now de
plored, was illustrious for discharging, in the most
exemplary manner, the relative, social, and relig
ious duties of life. As a daughter, a wife, and a
mother, she uniformly enjoyed that confidence and
love, from those most dear to her and to whom
she was most dear, to which, by her conduct in
those various and interesting relations, she was
richly entitled. As a companion, she was cheer
ful, affable, and condescending, enjoyed with
sobriety the pleasures of social intercourse, and the
innocent amusements of life ; and whilst the dig-

19
nity of her manners secured the respect, the good
ness of her heart, and amiable disposition, won the
love, of all, who had the happiness to know her.
As a Christian, she was serious and devout, a
regular communicant, when her health would ad
mit of her attendance, and the faith, which had
regulated her life, blessed her in her last moments.
Her charities to the poor, from what I have occa
sionally discovered, I have reason to think exten
sive ; and her munificence in subscriptions was
enhanced by the noble manner, in which it was
bestowed. If I were to draw the lineaments of
her mind, I should portray good sense, as its lead
ing feature ; good sense, the most valuable of all
intellectual qualities, that prompts us to say and
do the very thing we ought, and without which
the most brilliant accomplishments are useless,
and often offensive. Such, my brethren, was the
excellent person, whose loss we lament ; an obe
dient daughter, a faithful wife, an indulgent parent,

20
a pleasing companion, a sincere Christian ; digni
fied in her deportment, affable in her manners,
charitable to the poor.
If we were asked, my brethren, who were the
happiest of our acquaintance, I think, we should
answer, those, who, having led a virtuous life, die,
in the decline of their days, ere the infirmities of
age are felt, in full assurance of a joyful resurrec
tion, leaving their children well settled in the
world, with the example of parental virtue to
stimulate their emulation. Such was the enviable
lot of the deceased, happy in her life, most happy
in her death. I feel a peculiar gratification in
paying this just tribute to departed excellence, and
to those virtues, so rare in every situation, but
more particularly amidst the temptations, with
which rank and affluence are surrounded.
But the object of funeral discourses is not so
much panegyrick, however justly merited, on the
dead, as the improvement of the survivors ; bv set-

21
ting before them the consolations of religion, by
recalling to their minds the extreme shortness and
uncertainty of human life, and by enforcing the im
portance of a necessary preparation for death, by a
life uniformly correspondent with the christian faith.
Reflexions of this nature are too apt to be neg
lected amidst the business and pleasures of the
world. But if a serious thought be inspired on
the present occasion, if a spirit of resignation be
felt, if the hope of a joyful resurrection be con
firmed, with earnest resolutions of exertion to ob
tain the glorious prize, neither our preaching nor
your faith will be vain.
My brethren, what is it that makes death ter
rible ? It is the consciousness of evil deeds, it
is our conscience that tells us, we have not done
our duty. Purify then your conscience by sincere
repentance, embrace the mercies of your Redeem
er, and resolve to live better in future. Then will
you have the well grounded hopes, that after death.

22
infinite mercy will receive you. Then will you be
able to meet death with firmness, and even with
joy. Then will you be able to say, O death,
where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy vic
tory ? Thanks be to God, who giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.