belongs to the covenant of grace, that turns a curse into a blessing.
When the broken law, or covenant of works attempts to curse thee with
death, O believer, (as Balaam did Israel) _the Lord thy God turns the
curse into a blessing to thee by this new covenant, because the Lord thy
God loveth thee_; Deut. xxiii. 5. So afflictions are turned into mercies
by the virtue of this covenant, they mortify our sins, they wean us from
the world, they bring our hearts near to God, they make us partakers of
his holiness. So death, which is the greatest affliction to nature, and
has such a formidable aspect to a sensual man, is made subservient to
the eternal welfare of a christian. It is this sweet covenant that has
wrought the change; Christ has conquered it, and the believer enjoys the
triumph.
Does the eye of nature behold death as a serpent? Our Lord Jesus has
broken its teeth, and taken away its sting; for by his sacrifice he has
abolished sin, which is the sting of death. Does nature look upon death
as a lion? Our Redeemer has slain it, and the covenant of grace has
furnished the carcase of it with honey, and stored it with delicious
food for the entertainment of a christian; thus, _Out of the eater
cometh forth meat, and out of the strong cometh forth sweetness_; Judges
xiv. 14. The riddle of Samson, when applied in this manner, carries a
diviner beauty in it, and more exquisite delight. And as that Jewish
champion feasted his father and his mother, with delicacies taken out of
the lion he had slain, so does our Lord feast his brethren and his
friends, with sacred pleasures derived from death, our vanquished enemy.
O how unspeakable is the privilege of those that belong to Christ! If
you are his, then death is yours: Christ is the only begotten Son, and
he inherits all things; not only as a son but as the first overcomer:
_Ye all are sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus_; Gal. iii. 26. _Ye
shall also be overcomers, and shall inherit all things_; Rev. xxi. 7.
_Whether life or death, things present or things to come, all are yours,
for ye are Christ’s._ I proceed to the practical uses.
I. If death in every sense, may be turned to the advantage of the
saints, as I have proved in the former discourse, let us see then, that,
in all its appearances, we gain some advantage by it. Let us not act
like fools, who have a prize put into their hands, and know not how so
use it.
If our fellow-creatures die and go down to the dust, and the nations of
mankind perish from the earth, let us learn thereby the frailty of our
natures; let us learn so to _number our days as to apply our hearts to
wisdom_; Ps. xc. 12. and be awakened to an active and immediate
preparation for the day of our own death. If we see impenitent sinners
dying under the anguish of a guilty conscience, let us gain a sensible
lesson of the dreadful evil of sin; let it raise such a religious fear
of the wrath of God, and such a sacred gratitude for our deliverance,
from the torments of hell, as may quicken every grace into its warmest
exercise, and its brightest evidence. If death seize upon our Lord
Christ himself, his dying groans lay a foundation for our immortal
hopes: Let us meditate on the thousand blessings we receive from his
cross and his tomb. Do the saints around us lie down and die? We should
learn to follow them boldly into the dark valley, and to fall asleep in
the dust with the same chearful hopes of the joyful rising-day. Does
death come near us into our own family, and tear our dear relatives from
our arms? Even this may be turned to our advantage too; it should render
the world and the pleasures of it more insipid and worthless; it should
loosen our heart-strings from the fond embraces of the creature; for it
calls our eyes and our souls heavenward and home-ward, and that with a
loud and sensible voice, if nature and grace are awake to hear it.
If death and the grave be ours, and we make no use of this privilege, we
are like misers, who have treasure in their possessions but never employ
it to any valuable purpose. Has Christ our Lord taken death among his
captives, and made it his own property? Let us look upon ourselves as
humble sharers in the victory; he has appointed it to serve the interest
of all his followers: He has put it into the inventory of our treasures.
Let us improve it then to these divine purposes, let us seize and enjoy
the spoils _which Christ, the Captain of our salvation_, has taken from
the hands of the prince of darkness.
II. Is death become your possession, O believers, through the grace of
the covenant: Fear it not then, but ever look upon it with an eye of
faith as a conquered adversary: Behold it, as reduced to your service;
wait for it, with holy courage and pleasure; it is a messenger of mercy
to your souls from Christ, who hath vanquished it in the open field of
battle, and reduced it to his subjection. When you labour and groan
under sins and temptations, under pains and sorrows, remember Christ has
appointed death to be his officer for your relief. It is like the porter
that opens the door of his repository, the grave, where your bodies
shall take a sweet slumber till the resurrection-day; and it is
appointed also to open the gates of heaven for your spirits and to let
them into a world of unknown felicity.
Death has so many things belonging to it, which are afflictive to
nature, and formidable to the eye of sense, that we have need of all
manner of assistance to raise our souls above the fear of it. The very
thought of dying makes many a christian shudder, and sweat, and tremble,
and awakens all the springs of human infirmity: O may the grace of faith
gain a more glorious ascendancy in our souls! We should often meditate
on such doctrines as these, which place that dreadful thing death in the
most easy and pleasing light; we should behold it as changed from a
curse into a blessing, and numbered among our treasures. Christians
should accustom themselves to look at it through the glass of the
gospel, which casts fair colours upon what is in itself so dark and
formidable. It is the gospel in that glass which discovers to us the
flowery blessings that grow in that gloomy valley, and gives a fair and
delightful prospect of those hills of paradise and pleasure that lie
beyond the grave. Why should we let this blessed gospel lie neglected,
and live still in bondage to the fear of dying?
The Recollection.—“Come now, and let us learn by this discourse, to
shame ourselves of these weaknesses, these unreasonable fears. Let us
talk to our own souls in the language of faith. Why, O my soul, art thou
afraid to let this body die? Hast thou not endured labours and trials
enough, and art thou unwilling to come to the end of them? Hast thou not
yet been tempted enough? Hast thou not been foiled too often, and too
often thrown down in the conflict? Think of thy many wounds of
conscience, the bruises of thy spirit, the defilement of thy garments,
and the loss of thy purity and thy peace. Canst thou bear, that all
these should be repeated again and again? Art thou unwilling this war
should have an end? Art thou afraid of victory and triumph? What dost
thou labour and fight for? Dost thou not run to obtain the prize? Dost
thou not wrestle and fight to gain the crown? And hast thou not courage
enough to go across the dark valley, to take possession of this crown
and this prize?
“Think, O my spirit, think of thy painful ignorance whilst thou dwellest
in this region of shadows: Is not knowledge thy natural and delicious
food? Hast thou not lived long enough in darkness, and been involved too
long in mistakes and errors? And art thou willing to dwell in a land of
darkness still, a land of dreams and disguises, where truth is hardly
found? Art thou afraid of the borders of that world, where light and
knowledge grow, and where truth, and realities appear all unveiled and
without disguise? Where thou shalt be cheated no more with the sound of
words, but shalt see all things just as they are, in a clear light,
without error, and without confusion? O happy period of thy mistakes and
wanderings, of all thy learned mazes in quest of truth! And art thou
still afraid to come near it?
“Has it not been the matter of thy sacred mourning, that thy God is so
much concealed from thee, that greatest and best of beings? That the Son
of God, _the brightness of the Father’s glory_; Heb. i. 3. is so much a
stranger, and thy Saviour is so little known? That thy faith has been
labouring and wearied in many enquiries about the glories of his person
as God-man, about the wonders of his united natures, and the mysteries
of his gospel, about the power of his death, the virtue of his
righteousness, and the sovereignty of his grace? And art thou afraid of
the sunshine, and that perfect day that shall scatter all these clouds
of doubt and mistake, and let thee see thy Saviour and thy God face to
face, as they are seen by angels? O that surprizing hour, of unknown
delight, that shall place thee, O my soul, in the midst of the world of
spirits, surrounded with the light of heaven, and in the open presence
of God, even thy God! When thou shalt gain swift and transporting
acquaintance with the Almighty Being that made thee, and the Son of God,
who dwelt once in mortal flesh, and died to save thee! When the divine
irradiations of the Eternal Spirit shall unfold those mysteries to thy
view, which had so much darkness about them in these lower regions! What
an illustrious scene of light and joy shall arise all around thee as
thou enterest into that unknown state! What strange new ideas of things,
what new worlds of knowledge shall throng in upon thee, and thy enlarged
understanding shall receive them all with infinite satisfaction, and
with ever-growing pleasure! Art thou not already on the wing, my soul,
at such a divine prospect as this? O stupid creatures that we are! we
seek after the light of truth here below, and crowd about a glimmering
spark of knowledge, we wrangle all around it with endless contention,
and yet when death would open the gate of glory, and admit us into
regions of light, we start back, and retire, contented to abide among
twilight and shadows.
“But, O my soul, if truth and knowledge are not sufficient, to allure
thee, has holiness no constraining power? Hast thou not sinned enough
and broken the laws of God often enough already? Hast thou not brought
guilt enough, and grief enough, upon thyself, that thou art afraid of a
state of perfect holiness? What is it that has given thee such inward
pain as the perpetual workings of thy native iniquity? What is it that
has made thee cry out, _O wretched creature that I am! who shall deliver
me from the body of this death?_ Rom. vii. 24. From the temptations and
sins which are mingled with flesh and blood! And art thou afraid to have
thy groans ended, thy complaints removed, and thy deliverance appear?
Art thou unwilling to accept of the release? Dost thou shrink back from
the sight of the deliverer? Hast not thy faith often seen the spirits of
the just made perfect standing before the throne, rejoicing before God,
worshipping in the complete beauty of holiness? And has not thy faith
awakened thy desires and thy sacred wishes? O that I were in the midst
of them! Why then art thou so unwilling to leave this body of sin and
darkness, and to go out of this troublesome and impure prison into that
glorious world, that blessed assembly, and to worship amongst them
without imperfection, and without weariness? Consider, O my soul, are
thy complaints of indwelling corruption sincere? Are thy groans for
deliverance honest and hearty? Why then art thou afraid to let this
tabernacle be dissolved, and to gain a blessed release from these inbred
and restless enemies? Has not the lustre of perfect holiness attraction
and force enough in it, to awaken thy longings, and stretch thy wings
for a flight to heaven?
“Remember also whilst thou art here, and art often sinning, many of the
threatenings of God in his word stand bent against thee, his arrows
sometimes stick in thy flesh, and pierce thy very soul. I confess these
are not the sword of his vindictive justice, thy afflictions are but the
corrections of his rod: But is it not better to dwell in that world
where thou shalt feel no such correcting strokes, and deserve
chastisement no more, where the Lord thy God shall lay aside every
frown, and remove his anger for ever?
“Thy best life now is to live upon the promises; but does not all the
excellency of a promise consist in the hope of performance? And is not
the performance then so much better than the promise itself? Is not
possession better than hope? Is not an assured and an unchangeable
possession better than this state of doubts and fears? Is it not much
more agreeable to _dwell in the house of God for ever_; Ps. xxiii. 6.
than only to make a visit to it now and then? Is it not infinitely
better to be fixed in a state of perfect felicity, without the least
fear or apprehension of losing it? To be as a _pillar in the temple of
God, thy God, and to go no more out_; Rev. iii. 13.
“Think again, Hast thou not sustained sufficient pains and sorrows both
of flesh and mind in this lower world? Death shall put an end to them
all; and art thou unwilling to have a full release from sorrow and pain?
Has this flesh of thine been complained of so often as thy clog and thy
painful prison, and art thou more afraid to have thy fetters knocked
off? Has not thy body given thee smart and anguish enough? And has it
not tempted thee enough away from thy God, and thy truest happiness? Has
thy sinful sickly flesh been so charming a companion that thou art not
yet willing to part with it? Dost thou not desire to have all thy
diseases healed at once? Wouldst thou not be glad to have all thy
torments of body and mind for ever eased, and all the uneasinesses of
flesh and spirit removed for ever?
“It is true, the mere desire of ease should not be the chief reason why
thou shouldest desire death, nor shouldest thou seek it with an
impatient spirit: It is thy duty to bear sufferings and sorrows with
holy patience, as a good soldier of Christ, it is thy duty to abide in
thy post during his pleasure, to fill up the hours with service, and to
sustain the fatigues and burdens of the mortal state to the glory of God
thy Saviour: But he does not require that thou shouldest fall in love
with a state of guilt and pain, a state that has so much sin and
temptation, so much burden and fatigue in it; he gives thee leave to
groan after the hour of release and deliverance. _In this tabernacle we
groan earnestly, being burdened_; 2 Cor. v. 2.
“Consider further, O my soul, what is there in this world that should
make thee fond of continuing among the inhabitants of it? Has not the
world, thou dwellest in, sufficiently discovered itself to thee, as a
land of mere vanity and vexation, and art thou fond of the tents of
Meshech and Kedar, where thy soul has so little peace? Art thou afraid
to change thy dwelling-place? Hast thou not been teased long enough with
the company of sinners, or the foolish and unfriendly carriage of those
who are imperfect saints? Hast thou not been often ready to say, _O that
I had the wings of a dove, to fly away from the windy storm and
tempest?_ Ps. lv. 6, 7. to get afar off from the rage and malice of
enemies, from the troublesome infirmities of friends, afar off from the
peevishness, the envy and the passion of some of thy fellow-christians?
How often hast thou wished even for a wilderness where thou mayest be at
rest? Behold the door of death will shortly open itself to thee, and
would let thee in, not to a wilderness, but to a paradise, to a place of
eternal rest and freedom from all uneasy society; and yet thou delayest
and hangest backward, and art afraid to go.
“In that upper world the saints have no follies about them, no vicious
and fretful humours, no springs of vexation; they leave all their
weaknesses, their envy, and their anger behind them in the grave. In the
heavenly country, every companion is an everlasting friend, and all thy
dear and pious kindred, who are departed, have put off every thing that
once made thee or them uneasy. They are far better company above than
ever they were, or could be, here on earth; and dost thou not want to
see them all in their best raiment of grace and glory; and to hold sweet
communion with them in the purest intercourses of love?
“But there are still sweeter allurements to a holy soul; God, even thy
God, dwells in the midst of his saints on high, and that in the full
glories of his love: Jesus thy Saviour, whom thou hast known, and whom
thou hast loved, though thou hast never seen him; Jesus is Lord of that
country, he waits for thee there; God himself dwells there as the
fountain of felicity, and shall be no more absent from thee. Thou shalt
no more complain of the withdrawings of the light of his countenance, or
the short visits of his grace: Thou shalt sit solitary no more, nor
mourn under the dark eclipses of the Sun of righteousness. It is the
pleasure of that heaven thou hopest for, _to be for ever with thy Lord,
to behold his glory, to see him as he is, and to be made like him_, and
wilt thou not enter in at the gate into the new Jerusalem when he calls
thee, but tremble and start backward, because there is a short dark
valley that lies on this side of it?”
Remember, O my soul, _death is thine_: There is nothing in that dark
valley shall hurt thee. Lift up thy head, arise, and shake thyself out
of the dust. Let thy faith take a sweet prospect over the little hills
of time, and beyond the vale of death: Look far into the invisible
world, and banish all thy fears under the strong allurement of the joys
that are prepared for thee; wait with pleasure for the hour of thy
departure, and rejoice and triumph when the divine message shall come.
While thou continuest here, _life is thine_. When thou goest hence,
_death is thine: things present and things to come are thine_; and the
invisible world to which thou art hastening, has everlasting joys in
reserve for thee: Heaven itself is thine: Heaven is the inheritance of
all the saints: The glories laid up there are waiting for thy
possession: the dissolution of thy earthly tabernacle shall convey thee
into the midst of them.
Awake, arise, and meet the happy moment, when thou shalt be undressed of
this sinful flesh and blood: O let these defiled garments ever sit loose
about thee, that they may be cast off without pain and regret: Go, my
soul, at the summons of thy God and Father, and when the symptoms of
dying nature shall say, _Hark, he calleth thee_; let thy faith and thy
love, and thy joy answer, _Lord I come_. Go, my soul at the invitation
of thy Redeemer, at the voice of thy beloved: Behold he appears, he
comes! Go forth and meet him. Drop this fleshly clothing with holy
delight; arise, _put on thy beautiful garments_, and shine for the
_glory of the Lord is rising upon thee_: Go shine among _the spirits of
the just made perfect_, thyself a spirit released from earth, and
divested of all imperfection. O happy farewell to life and time! O
glorious entrance into immortality!
HYMN FOR SERMON XLIII.
_Death a Blessing to the Saints._
Do flesh and nature dread to die?
And timorous thoughts our minds enslave?
But grace can raise our hopes on high,
And quell the terrors of the grave.
What! Shall we run to gain the crown,
Yet grieve to think the goal so near?
Afraid to have our labours done,
And finish this important war?
Do we not dwell in clouds below,
And little know the good we love?
Why should we like this twilight so,
When ’tis all noon in worlds above?
There shall we see him face to face,
There shall we know the Great unknown,
And Jesus, with his glorious grace,
Shines in full light amidst the throne.
When we put off this fleshly load,
We’re from a thousand mischiefs free,
For ever present with our God,
Where we have long’d and wish’d to be.
No more shall pride or passion rise,
Or envy fret, or malice roar,
Or sorrow mourn with down-cast eyes,
And sin defile our souls no more.
’Tis best, ’tis infinitely best,
To go where tempters cannot come,
Where saints and angels ever blest,
Dwell and enjoy their heavenly home.
O for a visit from my God,
To drive my fears of death away,
And help me thro’ this darksome road,
To realms of everlasting day!
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
Edward Baines, Printer, Leeds.
● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
○ Footnotes have been moved to follow the sermons in which they are
referenced.