Use 2. It serveth to exhort us all to get an interest in this conquest of Christ. Every one is not fit to make use of Christ's victory over death ; there are many things necessary to enjoy the full comfort of it. I shall name them : — (1.) A care to get sin pardoned. All the power of the devil and death hangeth on sin ; therefore see sin buried ere thou art buried, or it will not be well with thee. There are two deep pits wherein you may bury your sins, and you shall never hear of them any more — the ocean of divine mercy, and the grave of Christ. See them buried in the ocean of mercy : ]\Iicah vii. 19, ' Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.' There is depth enough to bury them and drown them, that they may no more come into remembrance. Then there is the grave of Christ ; the merit of Christ is a deep grave, deep enough wherein to bury all the sins of the world : ' Buried with him in baptism,' Rom. vi. 4. Otherwise, if this be not done, you will desire to be buried eternally, and never to rise more. Let me use one metaphor more in this matter, and it shall take its rise from that expression of the apostle, 2 Cor. v. 3 ; we shall be ' clothed upon,' saith he, * if so be that we shall be not found alto- gether naked.' It is the great fault of Christians, when they come to die, they are to seek of a Bhioud, and are found altogether naked. It is
I Cor. XV. 57.] the saint's triumph over death. 451
ancomely to see a man in his nakedness ; you should be wrapt in the winding-sheet of Christ's righteousness; there is no shroud like to that ; come thus to the grave, and the grave shall have no power over you. But to leave the metaphor : This must be your great work and care, Christians, to reflect upon the.se things in the serious applications and discourses of faith, the infinite mercy of God, the abundant merit of Christ, and the sufficiency of his righteousness for your acceptance with God. (2.) Do not only act faith, but strive after assurance of God's love to 3'our souls. Old Simeon said, Luke ii. 29, 30, * Mine eyes have seen thy salvation; now let me depart in peace.' He held the Messiah not only in his arms, but in his heart, and then he could comfortably dismiss his soul. ' Now let me die,' said Jacob, when he had seen Joseph. He can never die too soon, as for himself, his own comfort and profit, that hath seen Jesus ; his death is not untimely and immature, by what stroke soever he be cut off; whereas otherwise, if you live a hundred years, you die too soon if you die before you have gotten an interest in Christ : ' The sinner of an hundred years shall be accursed.' Old sinners that are left to be eaten out by their own rust, are chimneys long foul, and come at last to be fired. (3.) Mortify corruptions. Sin must die ere we die ; he dieth well whose sins are dead before him. Either sin must die or the sinner. As the prophet said in another case, I say in this, ' Thy life must go for its life.' You will find those sins mortal that are not mortified. What should an unmortified man do with heaven ? There are no sports nor carnal pleasures there ; those blessed mansions seem to him but dark shades and melancholy retirements. The apostle hath an expression : Col. i. 12, ' He hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.' We are first made meet for heaven before we enter into it ; we are weaned from the world before we leave it. When men hang upon the world as long as they can, and when they can hang no longer, think then to make use of God, the Lord will refuse them with disdain : ' Go to the gods which you have chosen,' Judges X. 14 ; let the world now help you and save you. In short, a mortified man is prepared and ready ; he doth but wait for wind and tide, and falleth like a shock of com in season. (4.) A holy life and conver- sation. Men live as if they never thought to die, and then die as if they never thought to live. The best way to die well is to live well ; they that are not ashamed to live are not afraid to die. Balaam desired to ' die the death of the righteous,' but would not take pains to live a godly life. Every man cannot say, ' Thanks be to God that giveth us victory by Jesus Christ.' You cannot die in Christ unless you live in him, and in the power of his life advance towards heaven. Oh, labour to exercise yourselves in these things, that you may be in a constant preparation. You never enter into the combat with death but once. It is impossible to mend oversights ; either we are slain or saved eternally. Now, if you do what I have here exhorted you to, you may wait till your change come ; and when it cometh, your last hour will prove your best.