Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written… I. THE NATURAL UNDER THE CURSE MUST NOT ONLY DIE, BUT DIE BY VIRTUE OF THE CURSE. Death in any shape has a terrible aspect, it is the king of terrors, and can hardly miss to make the creature shrink, being a destruction of nature, and carrying him into another world where he never was before, and putting him into a quite new state, which he has had no prior experience of. But death to the natural man is in a singular manner terrible; it is death of the worst kind. Soul and body joined in sin against God, and by sin the man was separated from God; and as a meet reward of the error, the companions in sin are separated by the curse at length; which would have remained eternally in a happy union had not sin entered. Now, that we may have a view of death to a sinner by virtue of the curse, consider — 1. It is the ruining stroke from the hand of an absolute God, proceeding according to the covenant of works against the sinner in full measure. 2. It is the breaking up of the peace betwixt God and them for ever: it is God setting His seal to the proclamation of an everlasting war with them; after which no message of peace is to go betwixt them any more for ever. 3. It puts an end to all their comfort of whatsoever nature (Luke 16:25). 4. It is death armed with its sting, and all the strength it has from sin, and a holy just broken law. 5. It is the fearful passage out of this world into everlasting misery (Luke 16:22, 23). It is a dark valley at best; but the Lord is with His people while they go through it (Psalm 23:4). It is a deep water at best; but where the curse is removed, the Lord Jesus will be the lifter up of the head, that the passenger shall not sink. But who can conceive the horror of the passage the sinner under the curse has, upon whom that frightful weight lies? It leads him as an ox to the slaughter; it opens like a trap-door underneath him, by which he falls into the pit, and like a whirlpool swallows him up in a moment, and he is staked down in an unalterable state of unspeakable misery. II. AFTER DEATH HE STILL REMAINS UNDER THE CURSE. Then comes the full execution of the curse, and it is fixed on the sinner without possibility of deliverance. 1. All his sins, of all kinds, in all the periods of his life, from the first to the last breathing on earth are upon him. The curse seals them up as in a bag, that not one of them can be missing (Hosea 13:12). 2. As the man's sins were multiplied(so the curses of the law were multiplied upon him; for it is the constant voice of the law, upon every transgression of those under the covenant of works, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Galatians 3:10). How then can such a one escape, while innumerable cords of death are upon him, before a just Judge with their united force binding him over to destruction? 3. There is no removing of the curse then (Luke 13:25). The time of trial is over, and judgment is to be passed according to what was done in the flesh. When a court is erected within a sinner's own breast in this world, and conscience convicts him as a transgressor of the law, a covenant breaker, and therefore pronounces him cursed; there is a Surety for the sinner to fly to, an Advocate into whose hands he may commit his cause, a Mediator to trust in and roll his burden on by faith. But before that tribunal there is none for the sinner who comes thither under the curse. 4. Wherefore he must there inevitably sink under the weight of the curse for ever (Psalm 1:5). He must fall a sacrifice for his own sin, who now slights the only atoning sacrifice, even Christ our passover sacrificed for us. III. THE SOUL IS SHUT UP IN HELL, BY VIRTUE OF THE CURSE. 1. Separate souls under the curse, after their particular judgment, are lodged in the place of the damned. 2. The dregs of the curse shall there be wrung out to them, and they made to drink them, in the fearful punishment inflicted upon them for the satisfaction of offended justice, for all their sins, original and actual. 3. They are sensible of their lost happiness (Luke 16:23). They see it to their unspeakable anguish. And how must it pierce the wretched soul, to think that not only all is lost, but lost without possibility of recovery? 4. Their consciences are then awakened, never to fall asleep any more for ever. They will scorch them then like a fire that cannot be quenched, and gnaw them like a worm that never dieth. The conscience that was seared till it was past feeling, will then be fully sensible. The evil of sin will then be clearly seen, because felt; the threatenings of the holy law will no more be accounted scarecrows, nor will there be any such fools there as to make a mock of sin. 5. They will be filled with torturing passions, which will keep the soul ever on the rack. Their sinful nature remains with them under the curse, and they will sin against God still, as well as they did in this life; but with this difference, that whereas they had pleasure in their sins here, they shall have none in their sins there. 6. In this state they must continue till the last day, that they be reunited to their respective bodies, and so the whole man get his sentence at the general judgment, adjudging both soul and body to everlasting fire. IV. THE SINNER'S BODY GOES TO THE DUST. 1. It is laid up there as in a prison, like a malefactor in a dungeon, to be kept there till the day of execution. The bodies of the godly go to the grave too, but it is a place of rest to them, where they rest as in their bed, till the joyful morning of the resurrection (Isaiah 57:2). 2. Their sin and guilt remains on them there, and that without further possibility of a removal (Job 20:11). Sin is a dangerous companion in life; one had better live in chains of iron, than in chains of guilt; but happy they with whom sin parts when soul and body part at death. That is the lot of believers in Christ, who at the Red Sea of death get the last sight of it. There the Lord says to the dying saint, whether he hears it or not, as Exodus 14:13, "The Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day ye shall see them again no more for ever. But the man dying under the curse, all his sins take a dead gripe of him never to helot go; and when he lies down in the grave, they lie down with him, and they never part. 3. All the ruin brought on their bodies there, is done by virtue of the curse (Job 24:19, "The grave consumes those which have sinned"). Death makes fearful havoc where it comes; not only doth it separate the soul from the body; but separates the several parts of the body one from another, until it reduce the whole into dust, not to be discerned by the quickest eye from common dust. Thus it fares with the bodies of the godly indeed, as well as the bodies of the wicked; nevertheless great is the difference, — the curse working these effects in the bodies of the latter, but not of the former, — stinged death in the one, unstinged death in the other; so all these effects in the one are pieces of revenging wrath for the satisfaction of justice; in the other not so, but like the melting down of the crazy silver vessel, to be cast into a new mould. V. THE WICKED SHALL RISE AGAIN UNDER THE CURSE. 1. They shall rise again out of their graves by virtue of the curse (John 5:29). When the end of time is come, the last trumpet shall sound, and all that are in the graves shall come forth, godly and ungodly; but the godly shall rise by virture of their blessed union with Christ (Romans 8:11); the ungodly by virtue of the curse of the broken covenant on them. As the malefactor is, in virtue of the sentence of death passed on him, shut up in close prison till the time of execution; and in virtue of the same sentence brought out of prison at the time appointed for his execution; even so the unbeliever is, in virtue of the curse of the law adjudging him to eternal death in hell, laid up in the grave till the last day; and, in virtue of the same curse, brought out of the grave at that day. 2. All their sin and guilt shall rise again with them; the body that was laid in the grave, a vile body; a foul instrument of the soul in divers lusts; an unclean vessel, stained, polluted, and defiled, with divers kinds of filthy-impure lusts; shall rise again with all its impurities cleaving to it (Isaiah 66:24, "They shall be an abhoring unto all flesh "). It is the peculiar privilege of believers to have their "vile bodies changed" (Philippians 3:21). If the bodies of sinners be not cleansed try the washing with that pure water (Hebrews 10:22), viz., the blood and Spirit of Jesus Christ; though they be strained in never so minute parts, through the earth in a grave, they will lose nothing of their vileness and pollution, it will still cleave to every part of their dust, and appear again therewith at the resurrection. 3. Their appearance will be frightful and horrible beyond expression, when they come forth of their graves under the curse, and set their feet on the earth again. When, at the sound of the trumpet, the dead shall all arise out of their graves, and the wicked are cast forth as abominable branches, what a fearful awakening will they have out of their long sleep! VI. THEN WILL APPEAR BEFORE CHRIST'S TRIBUNAL UNDER THE CURSE. 1. In virtue of the curse they shall be set on the left hand (Matthew 25:33). No honour is designed for them, but shame and everlasting contempt. 2. The face of the Judge must needs be terrible to them, as being under the curse of Him who sits upon the throne (Revelation 6:16, 17). 3. To clear the equity of the curse, and the execution thereof upon them, their "works shall be brought into judgment" (Ecclesiastes 12:14). Their whole life shall be searched into, and laid to the rule of the holy law, and the enormity and sinfulness thereof be discovered. The mask will then be entirely taken off their faces, and all their pretences to piety solemnly rejected, and declared to have been but hypocrisy. Their secret wickedness, which they rejoiced to have got hid, and which they so artfully managed, that there was no discovering of it while they might have confessed and found mercy, shall then be set in broad daylight before God and the world when there is no remedy. Conscience shall then be no more blind nor dumb; but shall witness against them and for God; and shall never be silent any more. 4. Their doom shall be pronounced (Matthew 25:41). A final sentence. VII. THEY MUST LIE FOR EVER UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THE CURSE IN HELL. 1. In virtue of the curse, the pit, having received them, shall close its mouth on them. 2. The curse shall then be like a partition wall of adamant, to separate them quite from God, and any the least comfortable intercourse with Him (Matthew 25:41). While on the other side of the wall the light of glory shines, mere bright than a thousand suns, filling the saints with joy unspeakable. 3. It shall hence be a final stop to all sanctifying influences towards them. While they are in this world, there is a possibility of removing the curse, and that the worst of men may be made holy; but when there is a total and final separation from God in hell, surely there are no sanctifying influences there. The corrupt nature they carried with them thither, must then abide with them there; and they must needs act there, since their being is continued; and a corrupt nature will ever act corruptly, while it acts at all (Matthew 7:17). 4. It shall be the breath that shall blow the fire continually, and keep it burning, for their exquisite torment in soul and body (Isaiah 30:33). 5. The curse shall lengthen out their misery to all eternity (Matthew 25:41). Hence, when the sinner has suffered millions of ages in hell, the curse still binds him down to suffer more. VIII. PRACTICAL APPLICATION. 1. For conviction. (1) Saints.i. Do ye suitably prize and esteem your God, Redeemer, and Saviour? Are your hearts suitably affected with the love of God in Christ, that set on foot your deliverance, and brought it about?ii. Do ye suitably prize the new covenant, the second covenant? Do ye pry into the mystery of the glorious contrivance, stand and wonder at the device for bringing cursed sinners to inherit the blessing? Would it not become you well to be often looking into it, and saying, "This is all my salvation, and all my desire?" (2 Samuel 23:5.)iii. Do ye walk answer-ably to the deliverance from this curse? O look to the curse of the covenant of works, from which ye are delivered, and be convinced and humbled to the very dust. (1) That ye should walk so untenderly, unwatchfully, and uncircumspectly, before the Lord that bought you, and that in the midst of cursed children, a crooked and perverse generation. (2) That ye should so dote upon this earth, this cursed earth, that the curse of the broken covenant of works has lain upon these five thousand years, and has sucked the sap out of, and so dried up by this time, that it is near to taking fire, and to be burnt to ashes, by virtue of the curse upon it. (3) That ye should perform duties so heartlessly, coldly, and indifferently; with so little faith, love, fervency, humility, zeal, and confidence. O look to the curse of the broken covenant, with the effects of it in earth and hell, that ye may be stirred up to the performance of duty after another manner. (4) That ye should bear your troubles and trials so impatiently, as if your crosses were so many curses. Look to the condition of those under the curse in this world, and you will see your heaviest cross is lighter than their smallest ones, yea your adversity is better than their prosperity. Look how Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, and you will see the poison taken out of the cup, and the pure water of affliction presented to you in your cup to pledge Him in; and why not drink it, and drink it thankfully?iv. Have ye due thoughts of the evil of sin? Is your horror of it suitably raised? Romans 12:9, "Abhor that which is evil," abhor it as hell, so the word may bear. If you duly consider the curse, it may fill you with shame and blushing on this head.v. Are ye duly affected with the case of those who, being(1) Strangers to Christ, are yet under the curse? Are ye at due pains for their recovery and deliverance? How natural is it for men, who with difficulty have escaped the greatest danger, to be affected with the case of others who are still in the same danger, in hazard of perishing? (2) Sinners; ye who are under the broken covenant of works still, not united to Christ by faith, and savingly interested in the covenant of grace, but living yet in your natural unregenerate state, ye may hence be convinced — 1. That ye are under the curse. 2. That, being under the curse, ye are in a very miserable condition. 3. That your case is desperately sinful, while under the covenant of works. (1) The guilt of your sin lies on you, the guilt of eternal wrath; and it cannot be removed. (2) Sin has a reigning power over you; and it neither is nor can be broken, while you continue under that covenant. 4. That while ye remain under that covenant, ye remain under the curse; and there is no deliverance from the curse without deliverance from the covenant. 5. That there is no salvation for you under that covenant. 6. That there is an absolute necessity of being set free from the covenant of works, of being brought into the covenant of grace, and savingly interested in the Lord Jesus, the second Adam. 7. That your help must come wholly from the Lord Jesus Christ, and that you can contribute nothing by your own working for your own relief (Hosea 13:9). 2. For exhortation, First, Let unbelievers, who are still under this covenant, receive these convictions, and be warned, excited, and exhorted timely to sue to be belivered from under the covenant of works, and for that end to be instated in the covenant of grace, by faith in Jesus Christ. 1. The curse is a weight which you will never be able to bear. 2. It is a growing weight; as your sins grow, the curse grows (Romans 2:5). 3. It is a weight that may be now removed from off you (2 Corinthians 6:2), "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." Those whom this weight has sunk down into the pit already, it can never be removed from off them; but ye are yet within the reach of mercy, the Mediator is ready to take the yoke off your jaws. 4. If the weight of the curse be not removed from off you, it will be the heavier that deliverance from it was in your power (Matthew 11:21). 5. It will be an eternal weight (Matthew 25:41), "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." There is an eternal weight of glory for the saints in the promise; and an eternal weight of wrath for sinners in the curse, which they shall for ever lie under, and never get clear of. Let these motives then excite and induce you to flee from the curse of the broken covenant of works, unto the covenant of grace, where life is only to be found.Secondly, believers in Christ, delivered from this covenant — 1. Be thankful for your deliverance, as a deliverance from the curse. Let the warmest gratitude glow in your breasts for so great a deliverance; and let your soul, and all that is within you, be stirred up to bless your glorious Deliverer for this unspeakable blessing. 2. Walk holily and fruitfully in good works, since the bands of death are removed, and your souls are healed. Be holy in all manner of life and conversation; adorning, the doctrine of God your Saviour in all things. Let the whole tenor of your lives testify that you are not under the curse, but that you inherit the blessing of eternal life, by living to the praise and honour of Christ, who hath delivered you from the wrath to come. 3. Turn not back to the broken covenant of works again, in legal principles, nor in legal practices. The more the temper and frame of your spirit lies that way, the more unholy will ye be; and the more your duties savour of it, the less savoury will they be unto your God. It is only by being dead to the law, that ye will live unto God. (T. Boston, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. |
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