Part 75
“Is life prolonged that I may be profitable to mankind, and have I lived thus long already to so little purpose? Though my goodness extends not unto thee, O Lord, yet I entreat that my fellow-creatures may be the better for me while I continue amongst them. O may the God of Abraham bestow on me that rich favour which Abraham received in those divine words of promise, _I will bless thee, and I will make thee a blessing_; Gen. xii. 2. I would fain live useful and beloved, that I may die desired and lamented. What a shameful thing is it when I go out of the world, that my acquaintance should say, He is gone, but there is no loss of him.”
“Have my days been prolonged thus far that my hopes of heaven might be daily increasing, that my evidences of adoption might grow stronger daily, and my soul be more prepared for heaven: Look inward then, O my soul: Hast thou acquired a more divine and heavenly temper than in years past? Art thou wrought up to a greater meetness for the inheritance on high? Are thy desires, thy appetites, and all thy powers more fitted for the business of heaven, and attempered to the blessedness of the upper world? Art thou growing fitter still for the sight of God, for converse with Christ, for the company of saints and holy angels? How are thy days and months, and years run out to waste, if thou art so much nearer death, and yet art not so much riper for heaven?
“And is it possible that a length of life should be so improved, as that my crown of glory, and my portion of happiness may be enlarged hereafter? Let my holy ambition awake at such a hint as this, and let me aspire to a superior rank among the blessed, by employing every part of life to the most noble and excellent purposes for which life is granted. Let me ever abound in the work of the Lord, since I am assured that no part of my labours shall be in vain in the Lord, or want its proper recompence. Though it is the blood of my Redeemer that has purchased all the prizes and crowns in heaven; yet if I am a swift runner in the christian race, and the race itself be long, I am fitted to receive the fairer prize: And if I am an active and victorious soldier in the army of Christ, and have served faithfully through a tedious war, I may have reason to hope for a brighter crown. We may humbly wait for a reward in proportion to the work, according to the encouragements of the bible, while we still acknowledge that it is free and sovereign grace both enables us to hold out working, and bestows the rich reward.” _Amen._
HYMN FOR SERMON XXXIX. _The Right Improvement of Life._
And is this life prolong’d to me? Are days and seasons given? Shall I not then prepare to be A fitter heir for heaven?
I’ll never let these moments pass, These golden hours be gone; Lord, I accept thy offer’d grace, I bow before thy throne.
Now cleanse my soul from ev’ry sin, By my Redeemer’s blood; Now let my flesh and heart begin The honours of my God.
Let me no more my soul defile With sin’s deceitful toys; Let chearful hope encreasing still, Approach to heavenly joys.
My thankful lips shall loud proclaim The wonders of thy praise, And spread the savour of thy name, Where e’er I spend my days.
On earth let my example shine; And when I leave this state, May heaven receive this soul of mine To bliss divinely great.
Footnote 40:
Treatise on Death and Heaven, discourse II. sect. 2.
SERMON XL. _The Privilege of the Living above the Dead._ 1 COR. iii. 22.——Whether life or death,——all are yours.
When these words were explained, this doctrine was drawn from the first part of them, _viz._ “When life is given or continued to the saints, it is for their advantage.”
The first thing proposed, in our meditations of this truth, was to make it appear by a variety of instances, that life is designed for the benefit of christians. I proceed now to the
Second, _viz._ to amplify and confirm this doctrine yet further by representing what various graces may be exercised on earth, which can have no place in heaven; and to discover in what respects, a living christian may be said to have some advantage over the saints that are dead.
1. The first grace I shall mention, which belongs only to this life, is, faith of things unseen, whether present or future; for in heaven this sort of faith is ended and lost; it vanishes into sight; 1 Cor. v. 7. Here in this world we walk by faith, and not by sight; but in the world above, we shall live by sight, and not by faith. _Blessed are those souls_ on earth, _who have not seen, and yet have believed_; John xx. 29.
Hereby the living christian doth much honour to God, and offers him a revenue of such glory, as can never be offered to him among all the saints and angels on high. To believe that there is a God who made all things, among a world of atheists, that deny him that made them; to carry it toward an unseen God with a solemn awe of his majesty, and deep reverence and submission to his will, in the midst of thoughtless sinners who deride religion, and live without God in the world; to believe that the bible is the word of God, notwithstanding all the difficulties contained in it, and all the bold and subtle cavils that infidels have raised against it, to make this word the ground of our religion, the rule of our practice, and the foundation of our hopes, in the midst of an age of deists and heathens, that laugh at our bible and our belief together: These are noble instances of a militant faith in a world of infidelity. To believe that Jesus of Nazareth, who was hanged upon a tree without Jerusalem, and died there, is the only begotten Son of God, the Maker and the Saviour of the world, to believe that he now lives and governs all things at the right-hand of his Father, and to trust in him who died upon the cross to give us a crown of eternal life; these are such exercises of the grace of faith, as have no place in the world of sight, where every saint beholds him face to face: Such acts as these, are only suited to our present state of absence from the Lord, and yet they are highly honourable to God and our Redeemer, _whom having not seen we love, and in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable_:—2 Pet. i. 8.
To believe that there is a heaven of glory far above the clouds, where our Lord Jesus Christ has dwelt in his human nature almost two thousand years, and where ten thousands of his blessed saints and angels are for ever enjoying divine consolations; to maintain a firm belief that there is a reward for the righteous laid up on high, while they are here trodden to the dust; to believe there is a hell, an unseen world of misery and torture, where damned spirits are punished for their rebellion against the great God, and shall for ever suffer the weight of his indignation; and to walk through this world with a holy negligence and contempt of it under the influence of these future invisibles, these eternal joys and eternal sorrows: This is a faith that gives much glory to God, while we live, and speak, and act, while we suffer and endure, as seeing him who is invisible, and firmly believing all the joys and terrors of another world, which are hidden from us by the veil of flesh and blood.
This was the faith of the ancient patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; this was the faith of Noah and Moses, and many other heroes, whose names shine with honour in St. Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews; and great and blessed God received daily honours from this their faith. In heaven all these invisibles are seen, all these futurities become present, and they are no longer matters of faith. O that this faith might overspread the earth, as sight is found all over heaven!
II. Hope and expectation of future blessings, either here or hereafter, under all present darknesses and discouragements, is another grace which may be exercised by the living saints; but among the saints that are dead there is no room nor place for it; for in heaven our hope is turned into enjoyment; _hope that is seen or enjoyed, is not hope; what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it_, Rom. viii. 24. And this patient and chearful expectation under discouraging difficulties, is a glorious homage paid to God, such as the saints in heaven cannot pay him.
The living christian knows not what honour he brings to his God, when his hope for promised mercies bears itself up, while there are no appearing prospects to the eye of sense, and in opposition to a thousand rising dangers; when he can live upon the naked promise, and be assured of the full performance, merely because his God hath spoken it. Then we give honour to God, such as the souls in heaven cannot give him, when under the renewed exercise of faith and repentance we maintain a humble hope of the pardon of sin through the promises of his gospel, even though our iniquities have been exceeding great, and though sin is every day working and striving against our best purposes, and too often bringing us under fresh guilt.
Then we glorify our blessed Redeemer so as the saints in heaven cannot glorify him, when we feel our consciences burdened with sin, and yet maintain faith and hope of acceptance with a great and holy God, through the death, righteousness, and intercession of a person whom we never saw. This is an illustrious honour done to the name, and sacrifice, and mediation of the Son of God.
Then we give glory to the blessed Spirit our enlightener, and our sanctifier, when in the midst of our own errors and darknesses, and in the midst of difficulties and cavils raised by men, we trust in his promised guidance into all necessary truth; when we walk on in the midst of temptations waiting and hoping for fresh sanctifying influences, while we feel and groan over the deceitfulness and the weakness of our own hearts, that are too ready to start aside from God like a broken bow.
Then we honour God and his gospel indeed, when we hope for our own final salvation through the blood of the everlasting covenant, having fled for refuge to the hope that is set before us, though by the wiles of the devil, we have been under strong temptations to despair, and sometimes have seemed to be forsaken of God, as Christ Jesus was when hanging on the cross: It was then that he glorified his Father and his God, by the constancy and courage of his hope, in such a manner as he was never capable of doing after that great and dreadful day; and herein his poor tempted followers have been noble imitators of their Saviour and their Lord, and have held fast their confidence in divine mercy in the midst of sore temptations, and given great glory to their God and Father.
Nor is this hope a vain presuming confidence, or a bold fit of enthusiasm, for it evidences its own heavenly and divine original, by keeping the soul pure, and holy, and humble, in the midst of all this darkness, and this disconsolate state: _He that has this hope will purify himself, even as Christ is pure_; 1 John iii. 3. A presuming hope that carries no spring of holiness in it, can neither honour God nor profit men.
But there are other occasions also in this life, for the exercise of the grace of hope, _viz._ amidst huge and threatening difficulties, that relate to the public interests of religion. When the feeble and doubting christian sees the affairs of the church of Christ sinking daily, he is almost ready to sink and die too, and to despair for Zion; and it is the language of his unbelief, _by whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small?_ But the stronger christian, who knows how to live upon a promise, can reply, that the God of Jacob is almighty, the king of Israel is the true God and everlasting king, and the interest of the church shall rise again, even though it were drowning; for not all the floods on earth, nor even the gates of hell shall prevail against the church that is built upon Jesus the rock of ages: And Jesus himself receives his special tribute of glory from his saints on earth, while they triumph in this hope.
There are also some seasons wherein a living saint honours God in this world, by maintaining his hope in the midst of various trials that attend him in his private affairs, and especially when poverty and distress overtake him like an armed man, and he hath no other help nor hope left, but in some gracious words of promise, and some unknown appearances of providence in his behalf. Blessed are the poor who can live by faith! A christian honours God also greatly in the days of sickness, and the hour of death, when he feels nature sinking, and flesh dissolving; yet he can look upon his withering limbs without dismay, in the hope of the resurrection, and speak in the language of holy Job, “Though after my skin worms devour this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God;” Job xix. 26.
I grant that the saints who are in heaven, the spirits of the just made perfect, wait also, and hope for the resurrection of the body, and all the promised blessings of that day; but they have a bright and sure prospect of it by the light of glory, in which they read all the promises; and they have a pledge and pattern of it in the body of Jesus Christ raised from the dead, and glorified in the midst of them. Their hope lies under no darkness, no discouragement. The saints on earth therefore, in the exercise of this their hope, give a greater glory to God than those in heaven; for it struggles with mighty difficulties, and overcomes them all. It is such a hope as Abraham built on the mere promise of God, that he should have a son when he was a hundred years old, and his wife Sarah was ninety. “He hoped in God who quickened the dead, and called those things which be not as though they were; who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the Father of many nations, according to that which was spoken; so shall thy seed be. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;” Rom. iv. 17, 18-20.
III. Liberality and compassion to the poor is another exercise of grace, for which this life only gives opportunity. The objects of our bounty on earth are both saints and sinners; for we are charged to imitate our heavenly Father, _who commands his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and his rain to fall and refresh the just and the unjust_; Mat. v. 45. But in the world to come, the saints are raised far above the want of our compassion, and condemned sinners in their long everlasting misery are forbid all refreshment.
It is in this life only, that we can shew our love to Christ himself, by refreshing the bowels of his saints. It is here that we may treasure up matter for divine approbation and solemn applause, in the great judgment-day, when the alms that have been given in a private corner, where _the left-hand has not known what the right-hand did_, shall be published with honour before that innumerable assembly. “I remember,” says our blessed Lord, “I well remember, when in yonder world ye fed my hungry saints, then ye fed and nourished me; when ye gave drink to them, ye gave drink to me, and relieved my thirst; when ye bestowed garments on them, it was I that was naked, and ye clothed and covered me; and when ye visited them in sickness or in prison, I was the prisoner, I was sick, and I take it as kindly as though ye had visited and comforted me.” Astonishing condescension of the Son of God! Surprizing honour put on the liberal christian! But here is the only place for acquiring these honours, though they are published hereafter.
There is no poor christian to be supplied in heaven out of the stores of your bounty, no naked saints to be clothed there. All the regions of heaven cannot afford any such object of your compassion and love. Many a saint on earth is hungry, and thirsty, and naked, and exposed to sore hardships and necessities, but necessities and hardships are unknown in heaven. Many a widow, and orphan, and poor destitute christian, lies sick and groaning as it were at the gates of glory: Let us seize the opportunity to feed, to support, and to comfort them; for there is no destitute creature, no sick, or poor, no needy widow or orphan, within the gates.
Life is given to some persons for this very end! Good Dorcas was even raised from the dead, and had her life lengthened out to make more coats and garments for the poor. Ministering to the saints is a delightful labour, and a business worth living for. In this world the rich christian has the honour of being a steward for God to feed his children; but in the world above, there are no earthly treasures to receive such a sort of consecration as this is, no alms to be offered up as an acceptable sacrifice to God the Father, or to his Son Jesus. See then that ye practise this virtue as often as providence gives a proper occasion, and thus consecrate your substance to the Lord of the whole earth. Lend a little to the Lord in this manner, and it shall be paid with large interest: “He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord, and he will repay him;” Prov. xix. 17.
Perhaps another week, or another day shall divide you from all your earthly riches; no more of them can be laid out for God: Perhaps death may send you into the invisible world, and ye shall have no more objects of your pity for ever; _whatsoever thy hand then finds thee to do, do it with all thy might_; Eccl. ix. 10. _You that are rich in this world, be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come, that ye may lay hold on eternal life_; 1 Tim. vi. 18, 19. And remember that _he that sows sparingly, shall reap sparingly; but he that soweth bountifully in his distributions to the poor, for the sake of Christ, shall also reap bountifully of the riches of glory, in the great day of reward_; 2 Cor. ix. 6.
IV. Another grace which only the living can exercise, is, charity to our fellow-creatures under their mistakes, or infirmities, and a charitable and loving frame of spirit to our fellow-christians who differ from us either in principle or practice.
Infirmities and mistakes belong only to the present state: This life is the only time when a fellow-saint can be overtaken in a fault, and when we are capable of restoring such a one in the spirit of meekness. It is here only that the proposed motive has any room or place; _consider thyself lest thou also be tempted_; Gal. vi. 1. And though we are bound to maintain an everlasting aversion to every sin, yet we should imitate and honour the forgiving mercy of our God, by speaking peace and consolation to a returning sinner.
Be not too severe in your censures, you who have been kept from temptation, but pity others who are fallen, and mourn over their fall. Do not think or say the worst things you can of those who have been taken in the snare of Satan, and been betrayed into some grosser iniquities. When you see them grieved and ashamed of their own follies, and bowed down under much heaviness, take occasion then to speak a softening and a healing word. Speak for them kindly, and speak to them tenderly. “Have compassion of them, lest they be swallowed up of over much sorrow;” 2 Cor. ii. 7. And remember too, O censorious christian, that thou art also in the body, it is rich grace that has kept thee hitherto, and the same God, who for wise ends has suffered thy brother to fall, may punish thy severity and reproachful language, by withholding his grace from thee in the next hour of temptation: and then thy own fall and guilt shall upbraid thee with inward and bitter reflections, for thy sharp censures of thy weak and tempted brother. This life is the only time wherein we can pity the infirmities of our brethren and bear their burdens. This law of Christ must be fulfilled in this world, for there is no room for it in the next; _wherefore bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ_; Gal. vi. 2.
This world is the only place where different opinions and doctrines are found amongst the saints; Disagreeing forms of devotion, and sects, and
## parties, have no place on high: None of these things can interrupt the
worship or the peace of heaven. See to it then, that you practise this grace of charity here, and love thy brother, and receive him into thy heart in holy fellowship, though he may be weak in faith, though he may observe days and times, and may feed upon herbs, and indulge some superstitious follies while thou art strong in faith, and well acquainted with the liberty of the gospel. Let not little things provoke you to divide communions on earth; but by this sort of charity, and a catholic spirit, honour the Saviour and his church here in this world; for since there are no parties, nor sects, nor contrary sentiments among the church in heaven, this christian virtue can never find any room for exercise there. This kind of charity ends at death.