It is a large and fair inheritance that belongs to the children of God. They have no need to divide themselves into little parties, and to quarrel about their particular interest in one minister or another, in one blessing or another; for whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, whether life or death, all things are theirs.
My former discourses have explained in what sense christians possess all things, and that is, that all things present or to come, that can any way affect or concern them, shall certainly turn to their benefit, and subserve their great and final interest. I proceed now more particularly to enlarge on the words, which I had chiefly in my design, whether life or death, all are yours. The first doctrine arising from the words is this, “Life itself, and the continuance of it to the saints, is for their advantage.” Now to improve this proposition to practical purposes, I shall do these things:
I. I shall make it appear under a variety of instances, that life is designed for the benefit of christians.—II. I would amplify and confirm the doctrine yet further, by discovering what a variety of graces may be exercised on earth, which can have no place in heaven; and make it appear, that in some respects, a saint below hath advantage above the saints that are on high.—III. I shall answer a considerable objection or two that seems to rise against the doctrine, while I am treating of it: And, at last some inferences will be drawn from the whole discourse.
First let me shew wherein life appears to be a benefit to true believers. Life is yours, O christians, for
1. This is the time that was given you for your reconciliation to God, and securing your everlasting interest. All the elect of God are born into this world sinful and miserable, by their relation to the first Adam, therefore St. Paul seems to include himself, as well as the heathen infidels, when he speaks of the iniquity of their nature, and the guilt of their state. Eph. ii. 2. We all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath even as others. Now this life is the time given to seek deliverance from the wrath to come, to fly to the hope that is set before us; now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation; 1 Cor. vi. 2. Now while we are in our state of trial, before the gates of the grave have closed upon us, and before the gates of hell have been opened to receive us.
We are all, by nature, strangers to God, enemies in our minds by wicked works, and under sentence of condemnation: Remember, O sinners, this is the time to get acquaintance with God, to return to his service, and obtain his special favour. We are defiled and guilty creatures: This is the hour of cleansing while the fountain of the blood of Christ stands open, to wash us from sin and uncleanness. We are, by nature, utterly unfit for heaven, and all the works and the joys of it, because of the vicious inclinations that govern us. This is the day of repentance as well as pardon: This is the day given to us to insure those blessed mansions on high, and to obtain preparing graces. This temporal life is the only season, wherein the sentence of our condemnation can be reversed, and wherein we may obtain eternal forgiveness, and a right to life everlasting. The blood and righteousness of the Son of God, are not proposed nor offered to guilty creatures in the other world. Now is the time to acquire a meetness for the inheritance in light through the sanctifying influences of the blessed Spirit.
After death there is nothing of this kind to be done: There is no work, nor device, no knowledge, nor wisdom, no faith or repentance to be exercised, no such duty to be performed among the dead, no opportunity to rectify, the mistakes of life: There is no grace to be obtained for sinners in the grave, whither we are all travelling; Eccl. ix. 10. What is left undone at that awful moment, must be for ever undone. At the voice of the summons we must go, whether pardoned or unpardoned, whether holy or unholy, whether hoping or despairing. And a dreadful spectacle it is, as your eyes ever beheld, to see a sinner expiring in full and raging despair.
But O what infinite advantage has it been to christians, that they have enjoyed, this golden hour of grace, and been taught to improve it well! What, had become of you, O believers, if ye had been arrested some years ago by the messengers of death, and hurried away into eternity? Where had your portion been, if ye had been sent down to the grave in the midst of your sins, before you were awakened or convinced of your folly and danger, before you had felt inward repentance, or had been acquainted with Jesus that bought and bestows forgiveness; before ye had known the virtue of his reconciling blood, or seen the face of a God reconciled? While your hearts and life were all unclean and unholy, your death must have been dreadful, and your soul for ever unhappy. What infinite honours are due to the patience and long-suffering of your God, and to the mercy and mediation of Jesus your Saviour? Glory be to divine patience, and divine grace, for life prolonged, and a sinner saved!
II. Life is yours; it is your opportunity of doing much service for Christ, and manifesting your gratitude for his redeeming love; 2 Cor. v. 15. They who live, should not henceforth live to themselves, but to him that died for them, and rose again.
Here on earth, you may speak of the wonders of his grace that has saved you, and publish his love that is unspeakable: You may tell sinners of the infinite dimensions of this love, to invite them to partake of the same salvation. Here your lips, and your tongues may be delightfully employed, in declaring what you have tasted of the blessings of the gospel, and the grace of Christ; and call others to taste and see that the Lord is good, and how blessed the man is that trusteth in him! Ps. xxxiv. 8. Here you make it known, for the support of poor convinced wretches that are ready to despair, what heights and what lengths, what breadths and what depths there are in the love of Christ; for it reached your soul even at the borders of hell, it spread wide to cover all your great and heinous iniquities; it rises high, for it has lifted your hopes to heaven, and it stretches its sweet and sovereign influence beyond the length of time, and provides for your life and happiness that shall measure out eternity. Here you may proclaim the praises of your Redeemer to an ignorant world, you may promote his interest a hundred ways on earth, and thus glorify your Saviour which is in heaven.
This is not to be done in the same manner, nor for the same blessed purposes amongst the saints above. When the body lies senseless and mouldering in the grave, the tongue cannot praise the Lord: The living, the living, they praise thee as we do this day, as Hezekiah did when he was recovered from sickness, and had a sense of pardoned sin. Is. xxxviii. 17, 18. In love to my soul, thou hast delivered it from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. The grave cannot praise thee, the dead cannot celebrate thee; they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth. This is the proper work of the living saint, to make known to sinners the grace of salvation.
Life is the only time of such work and service. “Opportunity, (saith a writer on this subject) is like a golden instrument to dig for heavenly treasure: Do not wear it out as many have done in digging for pebbles, and at your latter end become a fool. Plead not your mean capacity: Kings of the earth, and all people, old men and children may praise the Lord; Ps. cxlviii. 11, 12. Serve your age according to your talent; Mat. xxv. 15. He that had but one talent, but a single capacity, was called to account for it, and cast into outer darkness. Think how many opportunities you have out-lived, which will never have their resurrection: Redeem lost time, by improving what remains. Project improvements of life, since your light is near extinguished. Make up in affection what may be wanting in action. If you cannot do much, yet love much. If our servants should work no better for us than many have done for God, we should turn them out of doors. Stir up others to work for God, that you may do by their hand what you cannot do by your own.” Thus this pious author.
Let us consider what glorious services have been done for God, by the long continuance of saints in this world. Survey the labours and the sufferings, the ministry, the zeal and the success of the blessed apostles, who planted the first christian churches. What monuments of honour did they raise among Jews and strangers, among Greeks and barbarians, the savage and the polite heathens, to their crucified and exalted Saviour! What multitudes of subjects were brought to bow the knee to Jesus by their preaching! What a large harvest of souls was gathered unto Christ, when the apostle scattered the seed of the gospel all round the countries, from Jerusalem, through the provinces of the lesser Asia, and through the southern parts of Europe, as some have supposed, as far as Spain! And the Redeemer was glorified by his labours where the name of the true God the Creator was hardly known before. What an extensive blessing to the world was the life of Paul? It is to this, that the following ages of christianity, as well as the primitive saints, owe the unspeakable benefit of his writings; and it is to this, that Great Britain owes the blessing of his divine epistles. How honourable was it for St. Paul himself, and how happy for us, that he was made an instrument of such service to Christ, such a glorious service, as spread itself around the nations, and reached to distant ages of mankind. His long life was an illustrious blessing both to himself and to the christian world.
III. Life is yours, O christians, for it allows many a proper season for giving examples of holiness to mankind. And it is a honour to a saint, to be made an example of religion amongst a nation of sinners, or a pattern of holiness, among the churches of believers. Herein you become followers and imitators of the blessed Lord your Master: He is the first pattern, he is the most glorious example; for in all things he must have the pre-eminence.
If you become a public and a shining example of virtue, and piety, and goodness, you may attain these four very valuable ends at once:
1. By this means you pay great and just honours to the blessed gospel whereby you are saved, and confound and silence the impious accusations and slanders of the wicked: And especially if your station and rank in the world make you the object of more public notice, either in a city, in a village, in a neighbourhood, or in any society of men, then like a candle or a torch set on a hill, you diffuse light and honour far around you, and God and the gospel are glorified on your account. And not only in the higher stations of life, but even servants of the lowest character, if they are but saints, may adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things; Titus ii. 10. It is greatly for the credit of our holy religion, when the men of this world seeing our good works, are forced to confess that there is something divine in christianity, that God is amongst us of a truth; and by these means they are constrained to glorify our Father, and our Redeemer, and our holy religion. This is the command of Christ; Mat. v. 16.
2. Hereby sinners are not only convinced that there is a power and glory in the doctrine of Christ, but many a soul has been converted to the faith of Jesus, by beholding the pious conversation, the heavenly graces, the holy love, the divine zeal, the constancy, the patience, and the sufferings of christians. The good women in St. Peter’s days were exhorted to invite and draw their unbelieving husbands to the faith and love of the gospel, by beholding their chaste conversation, coupled with religious fear, and the ornament of a meak and a quiet spirit; 1 Pet. iii. 1-4. Look forward, O christians, to the last great day, and think with what a pleasing joy you shall hear those who have been converted by your example, and reformed from a licentious course of life, declare this to your public honour before men and angels: Your holy example though buried long in silence, shall have a glorious resurrection in that day, and the Judge himself shall proclaim it to your praise, that he used your piety here on earth, as an instrument of his grace to enlarge his kingdom.
3. Hereby christians of a lower form, and those that are babes in Christ, are awakened to a holy imitation of your superior virtues and graces. It was the continuance of St. Paul in this life, through the various stages of it, that recommended him as a pattern to the believers of his day, in all the various circumstances of their lives; and the longer he lived, the more glorious example he left behind him, for the benefit of the saints, that they might be followers of him as he was of Christ; 1 Cor. xi. 1. And I may add in the
Fourth place, Where a christian of shining virtues and of diffusive goodness is blessed with a long life, the memory of his example, and the sweet savour of his graces, remain the longer on earth, after his own departure to heaven. It is like a rich perfume that has lain some considerable time among garments, it communicates a pleasant fragrancy to the apparel long after the perfume itself is removed. Thus many a saint, by the sweet odour of his name, has done honour to the gospel in the place where he lived, while his bones are mouldering in the dust: The history of his various virtues has dwelt long on the lips of the surviving neighbours, and perhaps, hath awakened others to an imitation of such a pattern many years after his decease.
Whether example be of any use in heaven, or whether the saints of lower rank there may be excited to holy imitation, by the superior graces or glories of more eminent saints, is not so well known to us; but this we may be well assured of, that the example of christians can have no use in that happy world, to guard the doctrine of Christ from profane reproaches, or to convince or convert sinners and infidels. It is the living, and the living alone, that can do this service for Christ, and glorify his gospel in such instances as these:
But I proceed to another advantage of our continuance in this world.
IV. Life is yours; for it gives opportunity for abounding in good works to the great benefit of mankind. The longer a saint lives, if he maintains his character with honour, he becomes so much a greater blessing to the world. But what a deal of good ceases with the life of a good man!
Christians, ye are required to maintain good works for the honour of your Father, and for the glory of your Saviour, who hath purchased you to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works: But there is another reason for them too, and that is, “these things are good and profitable to men;” Titus ii. 14. compared with the third chapter, verse 8. Every day of life opens some new scenes, wherein you may be serviceable to your neighbours, your relatives, your fellow-creatures, and so make the world the better for you.
The days and years of life should be numbered by the multitude of good works, as much as by the revolutions of the sun and moon: For lost and wasted time should not come into the account of life. But if this were our way of counting, what should we say of thousands, who have lived to no other purpose but to eat and drink, and to make up the number of mankind? O it is a mean and pitiful thing only to be old in time, and not in duties to God, or benefits to men. And, as an author speaks on this subject, All the good works of many who are stricken in years will lie in a very little compass: To be an ancient man or woman of two or three years old, sounds like a contradiction, and it is, indeed, a matter of great shame, and ought to awaken deep repentance.
How many are there that live to no purpose at all, and the world will not miss them when they are gone? How many that live to wicked purpose, and the world is glad to be rid of them? Some are mere cumberers of the ground, and some are perfect nuisances, and public mischiefs. Such should never pretend to the name of christians. Let us remember it was the character of our blessed Lord, that he went about doing good; and he was willing to work those works while it was his day of life; for the night was coming on him wherein he should have no such sort of work to do; John ix. 4. O may our Saviour be our pattern, and let us be followers of the holy Jesus! Alas! what a noble pattern! what slow and distant followers.
It was this desire of service to the world, that put the great apostle into a strait betwixt two, as in Philip. i. 23. He knew not what to ask for; Shall I pray for death and glory, my heart hath a wish that way? It is far better for me to depart, and to be with Christ: Or shall I desire to continue in life? This is for the service of your faith, and furtherance of your joy; therefore I am content, saith he, to have my crown and glory deferred, that my longer life may be your advantage. O what an illustrious spirit of zeal and love reigned in the heart of this apostle!
Ye are the light of the world, saith Christ to his disciples; Mat. v. 13, 14. What a dark dungeon would this world be, if it had never a saint in it? Ye are the salt of the earth; What corruption of manners would overspread the face of the earth! What vile communications, and odious practices would defile the world in a few years, if every christian were dead! What shameful and abominable works had over-run the heathen nations, before Christ and his gospel appeared, and the idolaters were made christians! A saint in a family, is like the ark of God in the house of Obed-edom; 2 Sam. vi. 12. For the Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertained to him, because of the ark of God. A pious soul is a Joseph in the family of Potiphar; Gen. xxxix. 5. When the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field.
A number of saints in a city, or a nation, are many times like Noah, Daniel, and Job, in the midst of them. They guard the public by their prayers from mighty ruin and wide desolation. Sodom itself had been saved, if there had been ten righteous souls in it. And I am persuaded, Great-Britain had been a kingdom of idolaters and slavery, or a heap of confusion and slaughter, and a field of blood long ago, because of the provoking wickedness in the midst of it, had it not been for the few righteous that have always stood in the gap: There have been always some powerful pleaders at the mercy seat, when the wrath of God and the destroying angels have been breaking in like a flood upon us, some Moses and Samuel to withhold the desolation, when popery and tyranny have been just at our gates, and ready to overwhelm us.
O how many unknown blessing do these sinful nations enjoy, because of the lives and the prayers of the saints that are in it! Holy souls, who though they are divided into different parties, and practise their different forms, yet worship the same God, through the same Mediator, and by the same Spirit, who are ever welcome to the throne of grace, who are all saints in the esteem of God, and in the language of scripture. Strange, that the name of a saint should be used as a term of reproach amongst us, and cast upon one party in a way of scorn, when these are the persons of every party who are the most excellent in the earth; these are the guards and walls of defence to the nation, the chariots of our Israel, and the horsemen thereof; 2 Kings ii. 12. xiii. 14.
V. Life is yours; for it affords means for brightening your evidence for heaven, and improving your own preparation for glory. Surely you are not willing to depart from this world, till you have good hope of an interest in a better state, and a comfortable expectation that it shall be well with you for ever. Does God prolong your days on earth? See then, that the principles of piety and goodness be well rooted in your hearts, and that your graces grow up under the influences of heaven. See that they bud and blossom with fair flowers, to the honour of your profession, and to the joy of your own consciences. Let the sacred fruits of your love and zeal break out upon all just occasions: Shine brighter in holiness every day of your mortal life, and bring forth fruits meet for life everlasting, that ye may know and be assured that the seeds of glory are sown within you, such divine seeds as will bear a rich and blessed harvest in the great day.
He that has this hope will purify himself as Christ is pure; 1 John iii. 3. and his increasing purity will confirm his hope. Believe it christians, as your life and practice grows more divine and undefiled, the image of Christ will appear in you with fairer evidence, and raise your hopes of dwelling with him to the joys of assurance. Many a soul has gone to heaven as in a chariot of triumph, after some years of their practice of christianity, who, at their first profession of it, were oppressed with many doubts and fears, and were often trembling upon the borders of despair. Life was their blessing indeed, when it taught them to die with faith and honour, and enter into the world of spirits with divine joy.
Let it be said then concerning you, O christians, that you sensibly approach nearer to heaven every month of your continuance upon earth, and that you look more like the inhabitants of that upper world, by how much the longer you continue in this lower state; that when you depart hence, you may be assured of a joyful admission into paradise. May your graces shine bright, and your evidences for heaven appear so glorious and incontested, that there may be no tremblings about your heart in that solemn and important hour; no doubtful flutterings or frights on a deathbed, but that you may find the gates of glory open before you, that you may see your way clear through the dark valley, and have a rich and abundant entrance into the kingdom of your God on high.
VI. Life is yours, that by a due improvement of it your crown of glory may be enlarged, and your seat advanced in heaven.
That there are different degrees of honour and joy conferred on the saints above, according to their different characters and capacities, is a doctrine that hath so much countenance and evidence from scripture, that we can no longer justly doubt of it: And, I think, I have made this appear by incontested proofs in another place[40]. If you are zealous for the cause of Christ, and active in his service through all the stages of life, and your old age be crowned with abundant fruits of righteousness, your reward in glory shall bear a proportion to these labours, and the length of your time on earth shall give a glorious addition to your recompence in the heavenly world; 1 Cor. xv. 58. Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. What a shame and pity is it that you or I should have a long life on earth, and but a low rank or a little portion of reward in heaven!
But to animate your zeal, I would humbly propose yet a more surprizing advancement in glory, to the diligent improvers of life and grace. What if the services you do for God on earth should still bring forth new fruit among men long after your death? and if your happiness should be ever increasing in this proportion? When the great Judge comes, he will surely reward every one according to their works: But in Jer. xvii. 10. it is said, God will not only give to every man according to his ways, but also according to the fruit of his doings? What if our labours, our prayers, our pious works and words, or our examples on earth should go on to produce this divine fruit, even the conversion of souls when we are in heaven? And what if the rich and overflowing grace of God should reward us on this account with growing glories? And those who turn many to righteousness in this manner, should shine as stars with increasing lustre?
Some divines have supposed, that the mischievous influence of the works and lives of the wicked shall increase their torment: And perhaps, Jeroboam, who set up the calves at Dan and Bethel, and who made the land of Israel to practise idolatry for some hundreds of years after his own death, might feel yearly more intense agonies of conscience, and his hell grow seven times hotter. This is a dreadful thought, and should terribly awaken and impress those sinners who have diffused their iniquities far and wide, who have corrupted whole families, and cities, and nations, and spread their poison through succeeding ages. And why may not the joy and crown of St. Paul increase and brighten by the conversion of sinners, through sixteen hundred years, by the influence of his holy writings amongst all the christian nations? And thus not the Thessalonians alone, but the inhabitants of Great Britain, shall be the matter of his glory and joy! O it is a blessed thing to multiply good instructions, and counsels, and exemplary practices of holiness; and to hear of them after we have gone to heaven, either by ministering angels, or by souls newly arriving there, that they still yield on earth a further crop and harvest of honour to Christ, and profit to men. Such tidings as these cannot but raise and advance our own joys.
As your zeal and labour in active service shall find a retribution every way answerable, so your patience under sufferings shall meet with a proportionable reward; 2 Cor. iv. 17. For our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, are working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Life is the only season, as I shall shew afterwards, for this sort of exercise; and the longer we endure sorrows here honourably, the richer shall our reward be hereafter, though the reward is not of merit but of free grace.
How many saints are there in heaven exalted to eminent stations in that upper world, and some who wear, perhaps, the crown of martyrdom, and enjoy the prizes of victory over a thousand temptations, after they have run a long race in christianity? And yet many of these, it may be, would have possessed but a low station, and a little share of honour and happiness in those heavenly regions, if they had been cut off from the earth in their younger days, and been called away to heaven immediately after their conversion. Surely, if you have spent many years in public labour for Christ, and zealous devotion, you have endured cruel mockeries, imprisonments and sharp sorrows, for the sake of Christ and his gospel, and through the course of a long life, have borne a constant testimony to the faith of Jesus, there are superior glories suited to your character in heaven, which wait your arrival there.
Thus I have made it appear, in various instances, that temporal life itself, and the continuance of it, becomes a real advantage to a true christian: which was the first thing I proposed. But here is an objection which may be raised against this doctrine, viz. “Do not some true christians fall into grievous sins, when their life is prolonged, whereby their conscience is wounded, their garments defiled, their profession blemished, and the holy name of God and Christ blasphemed? Is long life therefore any blessing to christians, since we are so uncertain how we shall behave, and especially if we behave ill?”
Answer 1. The great and natural design, and tendency of our continuance in life, is to do more service for God and men, and obtain more blessings for our own souls; to grow more fit for heaven, and to raise and enlarge our crown. If we abuse the time given us for these blessed purposes, and indulge to sinful lusts or follies, it is highly criminal in us, and we alone must bear the blame.
2. Sometimes those very sins have been so impressed upon the conscience by the convincing spirit, as to become a means to awaken degenerate christians to greater watchfulness, greater tenderness of conscience, and greater degrees of humility, of spirituality, and heavenly-mindedness: Those very falls have been made an occasion of their rise and growth in christianity by the grace of that God, who turns darkness into light, and a curse into a blessing.
But where it is not so, God is not to be charged with injustice, in not raising us to higher degrees after our falls; our negligence and criminal indulgences of temptation, have justly forfeited his peculiar favours: And it must still be confessed, it is our own fault where length of life is not attended with growth in grace, and meetness for superior glory.
I should now proceed to the second general head proposed; but not having room to finish all my design at once, I shall conclude this discourse with these two reflections:
First Reflection.—What a rich advantage is put into the hands of a young convert! When a sinner, in his younger years of life is changed into a saint, what a blessed privilege is granted him by divine grace? And what a glorious opportunity is afforded him, the improvement whereof may reach to everlasting ages!
Happy soul, who art reconciled to God betimes, and a thousand sins in the following course of thy life are hereby prevented! Happy soul, to whom Christ has manifested his love in the beginning of life, and saved thee betimes from eternal death! According to the course of nature, thou hast a prospect of doing long service for thy Lord and thy God. Awaken all thy thoughts; consult, contrive, and seek divine advice what thou shalt do for his honour, who hath given thee so early a salvation. Pray for the direction of the blessed Spirit, to mark out the paths of thy feet, and to employ thy head, thy hands, and thy tongue, in the most honourable manner for thy God, and the most useful for the good of men.
Remember, every hour of thy time is a part of thy treasure: Let it not be said at last, it was a prize put into the hands of a fool that had no skill nor heart to use it. God, even thy God, expects a daily revenue of glory, as the just improvement of this treasure. Let a holy zeal be kindled within thee, to do glorious services for thy Creator and thy Saviour, and to shew thy large returns of love to him who hath first loved thee. Let a pious ambition set all thy powers at work to do some uncommon good for men, and to be made an extensive blessing to all that are near thee, arise, and shine long, as a fair example of holiness in a dark and wicked world, and let every year of life brighten thy character on earth and enlarge thy reward in heaven. Be not content merely to get safe within the walls of paradise; the thief on the cross, who was called at the last hour of life, obtained this privilege; but let thy ambition rise higher, and reach at some of the more exalted stations in that kingdom. Then shall it appear that life is thine in the sweetest sense, when every stage and period of it shall add new honours to the name of thy God, give new blessings to the world, and advance the joys of thy own eternity.
Second Reflection.—If life be such a privilege to a christian, and be a part of his treasure in this sense, then what a dismal account hath an old sinner to give, who hath wasted life and time in folly and guilt, and no part of it hath been improved for his eternal happiness.
O miserable creature! Neither life nor death is thine. Bethink thyself a little, and review the dismal scene: Say to thy soul, “What have I been doing these fifty or sixty years? I came into life guilty and unclean, and am now upon the borders of death unclean and guilty still. I was born a child of wrath, and am a son or daughter of wrath still. I was by nature an enemy to God, and I am an enemy to God still, and have no interest in his love. Life was given me that I might seek reconciliation and grace; but I have neglected and abused offered grace, and am not yet reconciled to my almighty and offended Maker. The Judge is just at hand, methinks I hear the sound of his chariot-wheels, and a dismal account have I to give of all my wasted life. I have done no real service for God, nor have given an example of holiness to men: but alas! I have been a pattern of iniquity, or at least, I have followed a multitude to do evil: Every year have I heaped up to myself new treasures of wrath in hell, instead of securing a crown in heaven, and advancing my station and my joy there. Is there any hope for me in the poor remains of life that may yet be allotted me? Is the grace of the gospel sufficient to save such a wretch as I am?”
“Yes, O sinner, it is sufficient, for Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, even the very chief of them. There is grace in the heart of the Father to receive thee; there is sufficient virtue in the blood of Christ to cleanse away all thy guilt; there is influence enough in the blessed Spirit to soften thy heart, and renew thy nature, though thou art an old hardened rebel, and a transgressor from thy very infancy. Lose not a moment more, but set about the work in good earnest; trifle no longer with grace, thou who art on the borders of the grave; fly to the hope that is set before thee; beg salvation of God with daily and nightly tears, and give him no rest till he hath heard thee. Such an importunity is like to be successful; and then, though thy temporal life hath been no benefit to thee hitherto, yet the last moments of it may possibly be accepted, and prevent thy everlasting death. God who is rich in mercy, may bestow on thee some humble place in heaven, but thou canst not expect to shine amongst the brightest saints. Thou mayest be blessed among the dead who die in the Lord, and rest from thy sorrows and thy sins; but thou hast scarce any good works to follow thee. Thy works in all the sprightly years of thy life, have been matter of guilt and shame, and it is infinite mercy, that they shall be remembered no more, But if thy heart be broken for sin, and healed by the blood of Christ, thy humble repentance, and thy holy faith in the few remaining days of old age, and death, shall be accepted through the abounding grace of the gospel. The dying thief on the cross forbids thee to despair utterly, though thou hast run a terrible risk, and ventured on the borders of destruction: And if thou art saved at last, it is so as by fire, it is like a brand plucked out of the burning, or as a man escaping naked out of the flames, and passing on the very brink of hell into everlasting life.”
The Recollection of the doctrinal part.—“And is life the only space given me to be reconciled to God, and am I still a stranger and an enemy? Have I wasted away so many years of this golden season of hope, this day of mercy, and have I not yet received this mercy, nor laid hold on this hope set before me: Search, examine, enquire, what is thy state, O my soul? And if thou art yet a child of wrath, and unreconciled to God, make haste and fly for refuge to the grace of the gospel. Cry mightily for repentance and forgiveness in the name and blood of Jesus. Let no more days of thy life pass away in such a dangerous and dreadful state, lest life should come to a speedy period, and then thou art banished from grace and hope for ever.
“But if the character of a sincere penitent, and a holy christian be found with thee, if thou art partaker of the love of God, through the grace of Jesus, then bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within me praise his holy name, that he has not cut me off in the days of my enmity to God, unsanctified, and unpardoned; that he has lengthened out my life and the seasons of his mercy, till he has changed my sinful nature, and secured me in the covenant of his grace.
“Is life given me as an opportunity of service to my Lord Jesus? It is he that has redeemed me: it is he that has laid out his valuable life for me, what shall I do, O my Saviour, to make some humble returns of acknowledgment and love? O let my useless and unserviceable years be forgiven, and let the remains of life, whether long or short, be all devoted to the interests and honours of my Redeemer. Were it possible for the saints, after they have dwelt some time in heaven, to come down and dwell on earth again how would they multiply their labours, and lay out their new life in more activity and service for their God and Saviour? When they have found and tasted what a heaven of happiness succeeds the short labours of life, how would they double all their zeal and diligence, and be grieved they could do no more? When they have seen and conversed with their beloved Lord, and beheld him face to face, with how much warmer love would they engage in his service? Surely they would all cry out, that the longest life on earth is much too short to shew their zeal, affection, and gratitude to so divine and glorious a friend. Think of this, O my soul, and remember, if thou ever arrive safe at heaven, thou wilt wish thou hadst done more for thy beloved Lord here on earth.
“Is this mortal life continued to me that I may spread a savour of piety amongst my fellow-creatures, and set a religious example to men? Lord, suffer me to do nothing that may lead sinners astray from thee. Pardon all the evil examples I have ever given, and let my future conduct shine in holiness, as a pattern to those that are round about me. Methinks, I would convince the world that religion has something excellent and divine in it, and encourage them to the practice of strict godliness.
“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.