gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things : and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he hath destroyed thee.' Sad souls ! it will be your wisdom to make this scripture your daily com- panion, and to ponder it seriously in your hearts, as Mary did the say- ing of the angel. God takes it so unkindly at his people's hands that they should he sad, and sighing, lamenting, and mourning, when they should be a-rejoicing and delighting themselves in the Lord for the abundance of his mercies, that he threatens to pursue them with all sorts of miseries and calamities to the very death. A sad, dejected spirit opens many foul mouths that God would have stopped, and sads many precious souls that God would have gladded, and discourages many weak Christians and young beginners whom God would have encouraged and animated ; and therefore we need not wonder if God should deal so sadly and severely with such sad souls, who make little of sadding many at once, viz., God, Christ, the Spirit, and many precious ones, ' of whom this world is not worthy/ Surely there is infinitely more in the great and glorious things that are reserved for believers in heaven, to joy and rejoice them, than there can be in all the troubles and trials, afflictions and temptations, that they meet with in this world, to sad, grieve, and deject them. Ah, Christians ! the great and glorious things that are reserved in heaven for you, will afford you such an exuberancy of joy, as no good can match, as no evil can overmatch. Witness the joy of the martyrs, both ancient and modern. Oh how my heart lcapeth for joy, saith one, that I am so near the apprehension of eternal bliss I1 But,
(12.) Twelfthly, If the best and greatest things are reserved for be- lievers till they come to heaven, why then let not believers be unwill- ing to die ; yea, let them rather court it, and ivhen it comes, sweetly welcome it, 1 Cor. v. 1, 2, 7, Philip, i. 21, There is no way to paradise but by this flaming sword ; there is no way to those heavenly treasures, but through this dark entry ; there is no way to life, immortality, and glory, but by dying ; there is no coming to a clear, full, and constant fruition of God, but by dying. Augustine upon those words, Exod. xxxiii. 20, 21, 'Thou canst not see my face and live/ makes this short but sweet reply, ' Then, Lord, let me die, that I may see thy face.' ' Shall I die ever?' saith one.2 'Yes ; or shall I die at all? yea, why then, Lord, if ever, why not now, why not now !' So St Andrew, saluting the cross on which he was crucified, cried out, ' Take me from men, and re- store me to my Master/ So Lawrence Sanders, when he was come to the stake at which he was to be burnt, kissed it, saying, ' Welcome the cross of Christ, welcome everlasting life.'3
Ah, Christians ! can you read over those instances, and not blush,
1 Sec [Fox.] Act. and Mon. 106S-70. &c.
,J Monica, mother of An^ustinc. — G.
3 So Moses, Jacob, and old Simeon. So Cowper, Nnzianzon, Faninns, Cyprian, young Lord Harrington, and others, &c. Pracipit vt quisque vitam siiam futuri denderio laboret, prasentium tcedio. — Bernard. [The 'funeral' sermon of 'young' Lord Harrington was preached l>y Richard Stock, and contains some touching BayingB of above kind. Cf our Memoir, prefixed to Stock on Malachi, in the series of ' Commentaries ' issued by the present Publisher. '•■]
1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 451
and not be troubled that these worthies should be so ready and so will- ing to die, that they might come to a happy fruition of those glorious things that were reserved in heaven for them, whilst you are unwilling to die ; whilst your desires are rather, with Peter, to build tabernacles here, than to be in a full fruition of God, and in a happy possession of your heavenly mansions, Mat. xvii. 4, John xiv. 2, 3. Cyprian tells of a bishop, who, being near his death, and unwilling to die, and praying to God for a longer life, an angel appeared unto him, and, with an angry countenance in reproving him, said, Pati timetis, exire de vita non vultis, quid faciam vobis ?1 Ye fear to suffer, ye will not go out of this life, what shall I do unto you? Ah, Christians, Christians! how justly may that father be angry with his child that is unwilling to come home, and that husband with his wife who is unwilling to ride to him in a rainy day, or to cross the seas to enjoy him? And is not this your case ? is not this your case ? I know it is. Well, Christians ! let me a little expostulate the case with you, that if it be possible I may work your hearts into a willingness to- die, yea, to desire death, to long for death, that so you may come to a full fruition of whatever is reserved in heaven for you : and that I may, I beseech you, Christians, tell me,
[1.] First, Can death dissolve that glorious union that is between you and Christ ? No ; Rom. viii. 35-39. Why, why then are you unwilling to die, as long as in death your union with Christ holds good ? As in death Saul and Jonathan were not parted, 2 Sam. i. 23, so in death a believer and Christ is not parted, but more closely and firmly united. That is not death, but life, that joins the dying man to Christ ; and that is not a life, but death, that separates the living man from Christ. As it is impossible for the leaven that is in the dough to be separated from the dough after it is once mixed, for it turneth the nature of the dough into itself; so it is impossible, either in life or death, for the saints ever to be separated from Christ ; for Christ, in respect of union, is in the saints as nearly as the leaven in the very dough, so incorporated one into another as if Christ and they were one lump, John xvii. 20, 21 ; xv. 1-6. But,
[2:] Secondly, For I shall but touch upon things, tell me, O Chris- tian, who art unwilling to die, Whether death can dissolve or untie that marriage-knot that by the Spirit on Christ's side, and by faith on thine, is knit between Christ and thy soul ? No. Death cannot untie that knot, Hosea ii. 19, 20. Why, why then, O Christian, art thou unwilling to die, as long as the marriage-knot holds fast between Christ and thy soul ? Mat. xxv. 1, 2 ; Rom. vii. 1-4. I readily grant that death dissolves that marriage-knot that is knit between man and wife ; but death nor devil can never dissolve the marriage-knot that is knit between Christ and the believing soul. Sin cannot dissolve that mar- riage-knot that is knit between Christ and a believer ; and if sin cannot, then certainly death, that came in by sin, cannot. Though sin can do more than death, yet sin cannot make null and void that glorious marriage that is between Christ and the soul ; therefore a Christian should not be unwilling to die : Jer. iii. 1-5, 12-14, compared. But,