3. " For me to live is Christ," i. e. Christ is the joy of my life, Ps. xliii. 4., " God my exceeding joy," or the cream of my joy. A Christian rejoiceth in Christ's righteous- ness : he can rejoice in Christ, when world- ly joys are gone ; when the tulip in a gar- den withers, a man rejoiceth in liis jewels : when relations die, a saint can rejoice in Christ the pearl of price. In this sense, " For me to live is Christ," he is the joy of my life ; if Christ were gone, my life would be a death to me.
Use. It should exhort us all to labour to say as the apostle, " For me to live ia Christ." Christ is the pi-inciple of my life, the end of my life, tlie joy of my life. *' For me to live is Christ ;" and then we may comfortably conclude, that to die shall bo gain.
II. And that brings me to the second part of the text, " And to die is gain."
Docf. To a believer death is great gain. A saint can tell what his losses for Christ are, but he cannot tell how great his gjiins are at death, " To me to die is gain." Death to a believer is crespuscufum gluritr, — the day-break of eternal briffhtness. To show fully what a believer's gains are nt death, were a ta.sk too great for an angel, — all liy- perboles fall short, — the reward of glory exceeds our very faith : only let me give you some dark views and imperfect linea- ments of that infinite irlory the saints shall
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A BELIEVER'S PRIVILEGE AT DEATH.
gain <at the liour of death ; "To me to die is gain."
1. Believers at death sliall gain a writ of ease from all sins and troubles ; they shall be in a state of impeccability. Sin expires with their life. I think sometimes what an happy state that will be, never to have a sinful thought more ; and they shall have a quietus est from their troubles. Here Da^nd cried out, " My life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing," Ps. xxxi. 10. Quid est dill viverc, nisi diu torqueri, Aug. Life begins with a cry, and ends with a 2Toan : but at death all troubles die.
2. Believers at death shall gain the glo- rious siffht of God. They shall see him, Ist, Intellectually with the eyes of their mind, which divines call the beatifical vi- sion ; if there were not such an intellectual sight of God, how do the spirits of just men, made perfect, see him ? — 2c//?/, They shall behold the glorified body of Jesus Christ ; and if it be pleasant to behold the sun, then how blessed a sight will it be to see Christ the Sun of Righteousness clothed with oar human nature, shining in glory above the angels ? Through Christ's flesh, as through a transparent glass, some bright rays and beams of the Godhead shall dis- play themselves to glorified eyes ; the sight of God through Christ will be very com- placential and delightful ; the terror of God's essence will be taken away ; God's majesty will be mixed with beauty, and sweetened with clemency ; it will be infi- nitely delightful to the saints to see the a- miable aspects and smiles of God's face. VlHiich brings me to the third thing.
3. Tlie saints at death shall not only have a sight of God, but shall enjoy the love of God ; there shall be no more a vail on God's face, nor his smiles chequered with frowns, but God's love shall discover itself in all its orient beauty and fragrant sweetness. Here the saints pray for God's love, and they have a few drops, but there they shall have as much as their vessel can receive. To know this love that passcth knowledge, this will cause jubilation of spirit, and create such holy raptures of joy in the saints as are superlative, and would soon overwhelm them if God did not make them able to bear.
4. Believers at death shall gam a cele.s- tial palace, — an house not made with hands, 2 Cor. V. 1. Here the saints are straiten- ed for room, they have but mean cottages to live in, — but they shall have a royal pa- lace to live in ; here is but their sojourning house, — there in heaven is their mansion- house, — an house built high above all the visible orbs, — an house bespangled with light, Col. i. 12., — enriched with peailsand precious stones. Rev. xxi. 19. And this is not their landlord's house, but their Father's house, John xiv. 2. ; and this house stands all upon consecrated ground ; it is set out by transparent glass to show the holiness of it. Rev. xxi. 27.