1 Peter I. 4. J A string of pearls. 461
them from earth till they are fit, till they are prepared for heaven. It is with Christians as it is with the fruits of the earth ; some are ripe sooner, some later ; but as we, so God will gather none till they are ripe for glory. Some souls, like some fruits, are ripe betimes ; other Christians, like other fruit, are a longer time of ripening ; and so God gathers his fruit in as they ripen, some sooner, some later, but none till they are in a measure ripe for heaven. And why, then, should Chris- tians be unwilling to die, seeing they shall not die till they are prepared to die ? I do not say they shall not die till they think they are fit to die, or till they say they are prepared to die ; for they may be graciously prepared and sweetly fitted to die, and yet may judge otherwise, by reason of Satan's sleights, or some spiritual distemper that may hang upon them, or from a natural fear of death, and some great unwilling- ness to die ; but they shall not die till they are either actually or habitually prepared to die, till they are ripe for glory ; and therefore be not, oh be not, Christians, unwilling to die. But in the
[17.] Seventeenth place, When a righteous man dies, he shall leave a sweet savour behind him, his name shall live tuhen he is dead, Heb. xi. Are not the names of the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and other saints, a sweet savour to this very day? We know there is no sweet savour to that they have left behind them : Ps. cxii. 6, ' The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance/ Prov. x. 7, ' The memory of the just is blessed::' the Septuagint thus translates it, 'The memory of the just is with praises.' Many are the praises that wait on the name of the just when their bodies are in the dust ; no scent so sweet as that which the just man leaves behind him : Eccles. vii. 1, ' A good name is better than precious ointment. ,] He doth not say a great name, a name arising from outward greatness, but a good name, a name arising from inward goodness, and manifested by outward holi- ness ; that is the name that is better than precious ointment. Oint- ment only reaches the nostrils, but a good name reaches to the cheering and the warming of the heart: The Chaldee reads this verse thus : Melius est nomen bonum quod comparabunt justi in hoc sceculo, quam unguentum unctionis, quod fuerit inunctum super capita regum et sacer- dotum : better is the good name which the just shall obtain in this world, than the ointment of anointing which was poured upon the heads of the kings and priests. Though a believer may not leave great sums of money behind him, nor yet thousands nor hundreds a-year be- hind him, yet he shall leave a good name behind him, which answers to all, nay, which outweighs all the riches, gallantry, and glory of this world. That heathen [Plautus] hit right -who said, Ego si bonam famam servasso, sat dives ero. If I may but keep a good name, I have wealth enough. It is a greater mercy to leave a good name behind us than to leave the riches of a kingdom, yea, of a world, behind us. But in the,
[18.] Eighteenth place, Death is nothing but the believer's inlet into glory. Death is the gate of life, it is the gate of paradise ; it is the mid- wife to bring eternity to bed. When Jacob saw the chariots that were to bring him to Joseph, his spirit revived, Gen. xlv. 27. Ah, Christian!
1 The initial letter t3 of the Hebrew word tob, that is, for good, is bigger than ordinary, to shew the exceeding excellence of a good name.
402 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4.
death is that chariot that will bring thee not only to a sight of Jacob and Joseph, but also to a blessed sight of God, Christ, angels and 'the spirits of just men made perfect, Heb. xii. 23, 24. Here we meet with many inlets to sin, to sorrow, to affliction, to temptation ; but death, of all inlets, is the most happy inlet ; it lets the soul into a full fruition of God, to the perfection of grace, and to the heights of glory ; and why, then, should a gracious soul be unwilling to die? But I must hasten to a close ; therefore in the,
[19.] Nineteenth place, Was Jesus Christ so willing to leave heaven, his Father's bosom, his crown, his dignity, his glory, his royal attend- ance, to come into this world to suffer the saddest and the heaviest t/rl tigs that ever was thought of, that ever was heard of, for thy sins, for thy sake ? and wilt thou be unwilling to die, and to go to him who hath suffered so much, who hath paid so much, who hath prepared so much for thee?1 Ah, Christian, Christian! why dost thou not rather rea- son thus with thy own soul: Did Christ die for me, that I might live with him ? I will not therefore desire to live long from him. All men go willingly to see him whom they love, and shall I be unwilling to die, that I may see him whom my soul loves ? Oh, I will not ! oh, I dare not ! oh, 1 may not ! Others venture through many dangers and many deaths to see their friends and relations, and why then shouldst not thou, O Christian ! be willing to venture through death to the Lord of life, to him that is thy crown, thy comfort, thy head, thy husband, thy heaven, thy all ? &c. But, in the
[20.] Twentieth and last place, Consider, O believer ! that thou always standest before God in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, who is (■ailed the Lord our righteousness, and who, of God, is made unto thee wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, Jer. xxiii. 6 ; J Cor. i. 30; Whilst thou livest thou standest before God, not in the righteousness of thy duties, nor in thy gracious dispositions, which are but weak and imperfect, but in the pure, perfect, matchless, and spot- less righteousness of Jesus Christ. And when thou diest thou appear- est before God in the same glorious righteousness, so that thou mayest appear before God's unspotted justice and holiness with the greatest boldness and comfort that is imaginable, upon the account of that righteousness with which thou art clothed: Ps. xlv. 13j 'The king's daughter is all glorious within' (there is her inward glory ; grace makes the soul glorious within) ; 'her clothing is of wrought gold' Some read it purled work, or closures of gold, enamelled with gold ; such as pre- cious stones were set in, which were exceeding splendid and glorious, and which shadowed forth the glorious righteousness of our Lord Jesus, Exod. xxviii. 11, 14 ; xxxix. 1-5, &c. This clothing of wrought gold is the glorious righteousness of our Lord Jesus. Now, in life and in death, the believer stands before God in the glorious golden robes of Christ's righteousness ; and hence it is that believers are said to be all fair and without spot, and to be without spot or wrinkle, and to be complete in Christ, and to be without fault before the throne of God ;2 and why then should a believer be unwilling to die and appear before God ? By reason of this clothing of wrought gold, you stand spotless,