II. How this is applicable in all afflictions. That easily appears from these premises : —
1. In public troubles and difficulties. We arc amazed and per- plexed many times at the events that fall out in the world, and know not whereunto the.se things will grow. Yet this is some comfort and support to all that are concerned in Zion's affairs, that Christ is alive at his Father's right hand, and will pursue all things that make for the glory of God, and the advancement of his own kingdom. I say, the glory of God : Rom. vi. 10, ' In that he livetli, he liveth unto God.' His own kingdom : Fs. ex. 1, 'Sit thou at my right hand till I make
Job XIX. 25.] the twelfth sermon. 301
thine enemies thy footstoo].' He is at the rifj^lit hand of God, and there shall abide till he return to judge the world. In the meantime, he hath the inspection of" all afiairs: all judgment is put into his hands, John v. 22. Things arc not left to the will of man, nor to their own contingency, but are guided and ordered by him with good advice. However matters go, Christ is governor, who is not, cannot be deposed from his regal ofHce, nor jostled out of the throne. As Luther said upon some loss that befell the friends of the gospel, Etiamnum vivit et regnctt Chrisius. When the floods lifted up their voice, and all things seemed to threaten ruin and to overwhelm, then follows, ' The Lord reigneth ; the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,' Ps. xciii. 1,4. It is spoken of the kingdom of Christ, for the advanc- ing and preserving of wliich he gives forth signal testimonies of his regal powei".
2. In spiritual distresses ; when we want life and quickening, are opposed Avith troubled thoughts about our sinful infirmities. Your Redeemer hath life in himself, but not for himself alone ; he came into the world that we might have a fuller communication of his grace, John X. 10. Now he is gone back again to God, and filled with the Spirit, to communicate it to the members of his mystical body: Eph. iv. 10, ' He is ascended up to fill all things.' When we are dead, our Kedeemer liveth as a fountain of life to God's people.
3. In outward calamities. He liveth when other comforts fail or are taken away from us ; he will prove the nearest and best friend when all others forsake us ; he will not only sympathise with us, but help us, and knoweth how to give a comfortable issue out of the sorest troubles: 2 Cor. iv. 14, IG, 'Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For which cause we faint not.'
4. It is a gi-eat comfort in calumnies and slanders, when our names are taken up in the lips of the taunters and cast forth as evil. Job here, when his friends suspected him as fallen from the grace of God, puts his cause into the hands of the great Mediator who was now with God in heaven, making intercession for him, and will one day stand on the earth judging the world. We need not fear any partial judge here below, nor be troubled at their prejudices and misconstructions. Christ is the true judge, ' who will bring to light the hidden things of the heart ; and then shall every man have praise of God,' 1 Cor. iv. 5, that is, every one that hath done well. Though we have failings, yet those that flee to a Redeemer for pardon and reconciliation with God, and grace to walk uprightly, shall then be acquitted.
5. Chiefly it is a comfort against the fears of death, that you may yield up yourselves into Christ's hands. Thoughts of dwelling with God in eternal life are less comfortable, because death and the grave interpose ; we must pass through them before we can enjoy him. But though we die, Christ liveth, who is the resurrection, and those that believe in him shall live though they die, John xi. 25. For our souls, he standeth ready to receive them : Acts vii. 59, ' Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' And our bodies at the last day shall be raised again to immortal life : ' When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory,' Col. iii. 4. We need not fear death, for
302 THE TWELFTH SERMON. [JOB XIX. 25.
by his dying and rising again the powers of the grave are shaken, and death itself is become mortal. The grave is not a prison, but a ])laco of repose, Lsa. Ivii, 2 ; and death not a final extinction, but a ]>assage into glory. It is ours: 1 Cor. iii. 22, 'All things are yours, lite, death, things present, things to come ; all are yours.' And it is gain : IMiil. i. 21, ' For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' Therefore we may go to the grave with comfort and hope. Christ died and yet is alive; so shall we. 'He is risen as the first-fruits of them that sleep,' 1 Cor. xv. 20. The whole harvest was blessed and sanctified by a handful of the first-fruits dedicated to God. When Christ arose, he virtually drew all the elect out of the grave with him ; being renewed and reconciled by his grace, they may be confident of a joyful resurrection, for Christ is their fore-fruits. The first-fruits did not bless the tares, darnel, and cockle that grew amongst the corn ; 110 man that ever offered the first-fruits desired a blessing upon the weeds. No ; ' Bind the tares in bundles, and gather the wheat into my barn.' But if he indeed be your Bedeemer, and hath redeemed you from all iniquity, that is, from the guilt and power of sin, it is a comfort to you to know that he lives gloriously with God, and will draw all his own after him, that they may live gloriously with him. He is our fore-runner, Heb. vi. 20, who is gone to heaven and hath taken possession for himself, and in our behalf, to make the way more passable for us. When we die, we do but go thither whither he is gone before us ; he standeth upon the shore ready to receive us into glory.