Inf. 3. How little cause have they to fear death, who shall be with God so soon after their death ? Some there are that tremble at the thoughts of death ; that cannot endure to hear its name mention- ed ; that would rather stoop to any misery here, yea, to any sin, than die, because they are afraid of the exchange. But you that
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are interested in Christ, need not do so ; you can lose nothing by the exchange : the words Death, Grave, and Eternity, should have another kind of sound in your ears, and make contrary im- pressions upon your hearts. If your earthly tabernacles cast you out, you shall not be found naked ; you have " a building of God, an " house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ;" and it is but a step out of this into that. O what fair, sweet, and lovely thoughts should you have of that great and last change ! But what speak I of your fearlessness of death ? Your duty lies much higher than that far.
Inf. 3. If believers are immediately with God, after their dissolu- tion, then it is their duty to long for that dissolution, and cast many a longing look towards their graves. So did Paul, I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ, which is far better. The advanta- ges of this exchange are unspeakable : You have gold for brass ; wine for water ; substance for shadow : solid glory for very vanity. Oh ! if the dust of this earth were but once blown out of your eyes, that you might see the divine glory, how weary would you be to live ? How wilting to die ; But then be sure your title be sound and good : leave not so great a concernment to the last ; for, though it is confessed, God may do that in an hour, that never was done all your days, yet it is not common ; which brings to our third and last observation.
Doct. 3. That God may, though he seldom doth, prepare men for glory immediately before their dissolution by death.
There is one parable, and no more, that speaks of some that were called at the last hour, Matt. xx. 9, 10. And there is this one instance in the text, and no more, that gives us an account of a person so called. We acknowledge God may do it, his grace is his own, he may dispense it how and where he pleaseth : we must always salve divine prerogative. Who shall fix bounds, or put limits to free grace, but God himself, whose it is ? If he do not ordi- narily shew such mercies to dying sinners (as indeed he doth not) ; yet it is not because he cannot, but because he will not ; not be- cause their hearts are so hardened by long custom in sin, that his grace cannot break them, but because he most justly withholds that grace from them. When blessed Mr. Bilney, the martyr, heard a minister preaching thus : O thou old sinner, thou hast lain these fifty years rotting in thy sin, dost thou think now to be saved ? That the blood of Christ shall save thee ? O, said Mr. Bilney, what preaching of Christ is this ? If I had heard no other preaching than this, what had become of me ? No, no, old sin- ners, or young sinners, great or small sinners, are not to be beaten
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off from Christ, but encouraged to repentance and faith ; for who knows but the bowels of mercy may yearn at last upon one that hath all along rejected it ? This thief was as unlikely ever to re- ceive mercy, but a few hours before he died, as any person in the world coufd be.
But surely this is no encouragement to neglect the present sea sons o£ mercy, because God may shew mercy hereafter ; or to neglect the ordinary, because God sometimes manifests his grace in ways extraordinary. Many, I know, have hardened themselves in ways of sin, by this example of mercy. But what God did at this time, for this man, cannot be expected to be done ordinarily for us ; and the reasons thereof are :
Reason 1. First, Because God hath vouchsafed us the ordinary and standing means of grace, which this sinner had not ; and therefore we cannot expect such extraordinary and unusual con- version as he had. This poor creature never heard in all likeli- hood, one sermon preached by Christ, or any of his apostles : He lived the life of a highwayman, and concerned not himself about religion. But we have Christ preached freely, and constantly in our assemblies : We have line upon line, precept upon precept: And when God affords the ordinary preaching of the gospel, he doth not use to work wonders. When Israel was in the wilder- ness, then God gave them bread from heaven, and clave the rocks to give them drink ; but when they came to Canaan, where they had the ordinary means of subsistence, the manna ceased.
Reason 2. Secondly, Such a conversion as this, may not be or- dinarily expected by any man, because such a time as that will never come again: it is possible, if Christ were to die again, and thou to be crucified with him, thou mightest receive thy conver- sion in such a miraculous and extraordinary way ; but Christ dies no more ; such a day as that will never come again.
Mr. Fenner, in his excellent discourse upon this point, tells us, That as this was an extraordinary time, Christ being now to be installed in his kingdom, and crowned with glory and honour ; so extraordinary things were now done ; as when kings are crown- ed, the streets are richly hanged, the conduits run with wine, great malefactors are then pardoned, for then they shew their munificence and bounty ; it is the day of the gladness of their hearts. But let a man come at another time to the conduits, he shall find no wine, but ordinary water there. Let a man be in the jail at another time, and he may be hanged ; yea, and have no reason but to expect and prepare for it. What Christ did now for this man, was at an extraordinary time.
Reason 3. Th'irdhj, Such a conversion as this may not ordinarily be expected ; for as such a time will never come again, so there
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Mill never be the like reason for such a conversion any more : Christ converted him upon the cross, to give an instance of his divine power at that time, when it was almost wholly clouded: Look, as in that day the divinity of Christ brake forth in several miracles, as the preternatural eclipse of the sun, the great earth- quake, the rending of the rocks and vail of the temple ; so in the conversion of this man in such an extraordinary way, and all, to give evidence of the divinity of Christ, and prove him to be the Son of God whom they crucified ; but that is now sufficiently confirmed, and there will be no more occasion for miracles to evidence it.