U a Bochim ; Rachel wept for lier cliil- dren ; some grieve that they liavc no chil- dren, and others grieve that their children are undiitiful. Thus we spend our years with sighing ; it is a valley of tears, but death is the funeral of all our sorrows, Rev. vii. 17., " And God shall wipe away all tears." Then Christ's spouse puts off her mourning ; how can the children of the bride-chamber mourn, when the bridegroom shall be with them? Mat. ix. 15. Thus death gives a believer his quietus est ; it frees him from sin and trouble ; though the apos- tle calls death the last enemy, 1 Cor. xv. 11., yet it is the best friend : " To me to die is gain."
Use \st. See here that which may make a true saint \villing to die ; death will set him out of gun-shot, — free him from sin and trouble ; there is no cause of weeping to leave a valley of tears ; the world is a stage on which sin and misery are acted. Believers are here in a strange country, why then should they not be willing to go out of it ? Death beats otf their fetters of sin, and sets them free. Who goes weep- ing from a gaol ? Besides our own sins, the sins of others. The world is a place where Satan's scat is ; a place where we see God daily dishonoured. Lot — who was a bright star in a dark night — his righteous soul was vexed with the unclean conversa- tion of the wicked, 2 Pet. iii. 7. To see God's sabbaths broken, his truths .adul- terated, his glory eclipsed, is that which wounds a godly heart. This made David cry out, Ps. cxx. 5., " Wo is me that I dwell in Mesech, that I sojourn in the tents of Kedar !" Kedar was Arabia, where were Ishmael's posterity ; this was a cut to David's heart to dwell there. O then be willing to depart out of the tents of Kedar !
II. The bodies of believers are united to Christ in the grave, and shall rest there till the resurrection. They are said to sleep in Jesus. 1 Thcss. iv. 14. The dust of be- liet'^eis is part of Christ's body mystical.
The graA'e is a dormitory or place of rest to the saints, where their bodies quietly sleep in Christ, till they are awakened out of their sleep by the trumpet of the arch- angel.
Quest. 2. But hoiv shall we know that we shall gain all this at death, to be freed from sin and trouble, and to have our bodies united to Christ in the grave ?
Ans. If we are believers, then we gain all this at death. " To me," saith Paul, " to die is gain :" to me, quatenus, a be- liever. Are we such ? Have we this bless- ed faith ? Faith, wherever it is, is opera- tive. Lapidaries say there is no precious stone but hath virtutem insitam, — some hid- den virtue in it : so I may say of faith, it hath some secret virtue in it, — it anchors the soul on Christ, — it hath both a justify- ing and sanctifying virtue in it, — it fetcli- eth blood out of Christ's sides to pardon, and water out of his sides to purge, — it works by love, — it constrains to duty, — it makes the head study for Christ, the tongue confess him, the hands work for him. I have read of a father wlio had three sons, and, being to die, left in his will all his e- state to that son who could find his ring with the jewel which had an healing vir- tue. The case was brought before the judges ; the two elder sons counterfeited a ring, but the younger son brought the true ring, which was ])roved by the virtue of it, whereupon his Father's estate went to him. To this ring I may compare faith : there is a counterfeit faith in the world, but if we can find this ring of faith which hath the healing virtue in it to purify the heart, this is the true faith which gives us an interest in Christ, and entitles us to all these privi- leges at death, to be freed from sin and sorrow, and to have our bodies united to Christ while tliey are in the grave.
3. I should now come to tlie third privi- lege at death, the souls of believers pass immediately into glory. Wiiere I shall lead you to the top of mount Pisgali, and give you a short view of the glory of heaven.
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A BELIEVER'S PRIVILEGE AT DEATH.
A BELIEVER'S PRIVILEGE AT DEATH.
Phil. i. 2L And to die is gain.
III. AT deatli the souls of believers pass ,nty glory. Death brings mnloriim omnium ad('m])tionem^ — omnium adepdonem ; death is the day-break of eternal brightness. And here I shall lead you to the top of Mount Pisgah, and give you a glimpse of the holy land.
Quest. 1. IVhat is comprehended in glory ?
Ann. Glory is status omnium bonorum ag- gregatione pcrftctus, Boetius. It is a per- fect state of bliss whicli consists in the ac- cumulation and heaping together all those good tilings which immortal souls are ca- pable of. And truly here I am at a loss ; all that I can say falls short of the celestial glory ! Apelles's pencil cannot delineate it, — angels' tongues cannot express it, — we shall never understand glory fully, till we are in heaA'en, — only let me give you some dark views, and some imperfect lineaments of that state of glory saints shall arrive at after death.