tian, whose animal spirits too are enfeebled by bodily disorder; and the anguish which he feels, who at this awful time is conscious to himself that he has lived in sin, and is an enemy to God and religion. And though God may, for a time, hide his face from the Christian, and permit Satan to buffet him with his temptations; yet, for the most part, the storm after a while subsides, and peace is restored to his breast. Peace of conscience then, in a reflection on what is past, and serenity of temper in the contemplation of what is to come, are, if I may so express it, the natural and proper state of his mind who is truly religious. So that if the health of the soul be not disordered, through any of the causes just hinted at, these effects of such health will appear as well at the close of life, as in the midst of it. And this is very commonly the case. Mark the perfect man, behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace a. He is not, it may be, transported with future hopes and prospects; yet, upon the faith of the gospel, and a serious review of his own state, he is well satisfied that it is all right between God and him and so he is calm and easy. An eternal world he sees immediately before him; yet he enjoys the quiet possession of himself. Of the importance of death he is sensible; yet he is not afraid to die.-How desirable is it in such a state as this to meet the last enemy! Can we be one moment at a loss to determine which is to be preferred, the pleasures of a peaceful, or the terrors of a self-condemning conscience? the dread of future wrath, or a cheerful confidence in the divine mercy, through the atoning blood of Christ? The happiness is unspeakable to be able then to say, "This is my rejoicing, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, I have had my conversation in the world b: and though I am conscious of much guilt, and am utterly incapable of atoning it; yet the blood of Jesus Christ hath cleansed away all my sins, and in him the beloved I am accepted c." Religion then is the noblest antidote against the dread of death. But, admitting that some men who are strangers to the grace of God, do yet through hardiness of natural constitution feel little or no dread of death itself, and through downright infidelity, or at least inattention, are little affected with the appreel John i. 7.-Eph. i. 6. a Psal. xxxvii. 37. b 2 Cor. i. 12. hension of its consequences in the world to come; they are, nevertheless on other accounts very unwilling to die. Now, Secondly, As to this reluctance to death. The grace of God strikes at the main cause of it, I mean a criminal attachment to the present world, and a perfect unsuitableness of disposition to the heavenly state: and so, by correcting and subduing these tempers, it gives the Christian an advantage over death, in this view of it, above another man, 1. In regard of the present world, it loosens his attachment to it, and so makes the idea of parting with it less irksome and disagreeable. The man who is destitute of real piety is a friend of the world. There is an habitual love of it prevailing in his heart. He walks by sight. He minds earthly things. Either the profits, honours or pleasures of the present life are his main enjoyments. They are the idols he worships, and at the very apprehension of being stripped of them, he cries out with Micah, They would take away my gods, and what have I more a? Now to one of this character the thought of dying must be very sad indeed! He can look upon death in no other light than that of a fierce robber, who aims at spoiling him of his best and most valuable possessions. But the reverse of this is the character of a man of religion. An estimate he has made of the world, and joined issue with Solomon in the sentence he pronounces upon it. He has looked around him upon this and the other delectable enjoyment, and with eagerness put the question, Is happiness, perfect happiness in you? So he hath said to wealth and power and honour, to the gratifications of sense, to improvements in human knowledge, to the sweets of friendship, and to the tender feelings of consanguinity and natural affection. And in the reply they each make he has readily acquiesced. Whatever comparative value therefore there may be in these enjoyments themselves, or however unduly his passions may be sometimes captivated with them; his judgment is fully convinced of their vain and unsatisfying nature, and his heart is by the grace of God rescued from the dominion they once had over him. By the cross of Christ he is crucified to the world, and the world a Judges xviii. 24. to him a.' Now surely this indifference to the things of sense, which is unquestionably the natural and genuine fruit of true religion, must needs have a happy effect to abate, if not wholly overcome, a man's reluctance to death. He that hath little to expect from the present life, must feel less pain at the thought of parting with it, than another who has an extravagant and insatiable fondness for it. And then, 2. As to the world to come, the grace of God forms him into a temper suited to it. We are very sure that the happiness of heaven must be pure and spiritual, and of a nature widely different from that which the generality of mankind covet and pursue. It must consist in a steady contemplation of the infinite glories of God; in a continual intercourse with holy beings, on subjects the most sublime and exalted; in exercises of pure and sinless devotion; and in unwearied acts of cheerful and uniform obedience. Now the very idea of this is so far from being agreeable to a carnal mind, that it is highly disgusting and irksome. And were a wicked man to be assured, that death would certainly remove him into such a state, that assurance, instead of reconciling him to the change, would rather make him averse to it. He wishes for that kind of heaven alone, which Mahomet promises his disciples. Of indispensable importance therefore it is, to the overcoming that reluctance to death, which arises from this consideration, to have the heart formed into an aptitude to the business and enjoyments of the other world. And such is the effect of the influence and operation of divine grace upon it. Where religion prevails, a preference will be given to the pleasures resulting from the favour of God, and the pure and spiritual exercices of the mind, to any other whatever. And though the best of men, by reason of the remains of imperfection and sin which still cleave to them, will endure many painful struggles within, and sometimes suffer a sad suspension of their noblest comforts; yet the hope of being freed from sin, and enjoying such a kind of heaven as I have been describing, will afford them solid satisfaction. And it is easy to see that this being their habitual temper, they are better prepared for this great change than a Gal, vi. 14. other men. That which the sinner would account a great infelicity, is in the apprehension of the good man the highest bliss. Thus it appears then, that the state in which death finds the real Christian, gives him an advantage against most of those evils, which render the apprehension of it formidable. Whence the utility of religion at this most important juncture is clearly evinced. And now, SECONDLY, Let us take a view of those extraordinary sup ports and consolations, which it pleases God to afford some Christians in their last moments. And here, 1. It is remarkable that many persons do at this time enjoy an unusual flow of animal spirits. How this is, I will not pretend to say; whether it may be accounted for on physical principles, or is to be attributed to the immediate influence of an all-wise and good Providence. It is possible that the violent struggles of nature, when the constitution is just breaking up, may give an extraordinary force and energy to the animal spirits; like a candle, which, when it is nigh being extinguished, will suddenly recover itself, and shoot out its light with unusual brightness towards the last. This is very observable in some disorders; and being no other than a mere effort of nature, is common to bad as well as good men. But the effect, in some instances, so far exceeds the force of any natural, apparent cause, that we may with good reason impute it to the particular favour of divine Providence. And this, I doubt not, they who have stood by the dying beds of Christians have observed with peculiar pleasure. Some of them, and those too, who, when in health, were of a different complexion, have happily enjoyed a clearness of perception, a liveliness of imagination, and a strength and vigour of spirits, which have been truly astonishing. I say not that this is the case of all. But so it is in some instances. And I know no reason why it should not be ascribed to a special and extraordinary influence exerted upon the animal frame. But be this as it may, it is certain, 2. That their minds are often composed, and their hearts sustained, by a seasonable reflection on the great truths of religion. These are at all times, if properly applied, the noblest cordials that can be administered to the afflicted breast: but they ; are never so salutary as on these occasions, when it is out of the power of any worldly considerations to afford relief. How soft and pleasing that idea of the blessed God which the gospel suggests, as laying aside all the terrors of avenging justice, and assuming, for Christ's sake, the endearing characters of a friend and parent! How enlivening the consideration of that everlasting covenant he has made with his people, ordered in all things and sure a! How reviving the many exceeding great and precious promises of his word, that he will never leave nor forsake them b; that when they pass through the fire he will be with them, and through the waters they shall not overflow them c and that when flesh and heart fail them, he will be the strength of their heart and their portion for ever d! How soothing, in a word, the reflection, that, as the children were partakers of -flesh and blood, the Son of God also took part of the same e; that he has borne their griefs and carried their sorrowsƒ; that he has redeemed them from the curse g of all those evils they endure; that he has, by dying, destroyed him that had the power of death h; that he is now touched with the feeling of their infirmities i; and that he lives to take care of them in the hour of death, and by his own kind hand to conduct them safe to mansions of eternal glory! These truths are evidently adapted to compose the mind, to reconcile it to the will of God, and to inspire it with resolution. Sickness indeed, is not a time for close and fixed meditation. The thoughts are usually broken and confused, and the attention disturbed and interrupted. Yet a glance only at these matters hath a happy and salutary effect to hold up the sinking Christian from despair, and keep him steady amidst the storms of his approaching dissolution. God is pleased likewise to strengthen his mind for such reflections, to impress them with power on his heart, and to make them effectual to the purposes just mentioned. So that as the outward man decays, the inward is renewed day by day. What serenity have the countenances of some timorous Christians assumed, whilst their friends have been reminding them of these truths! How have a 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. d Psal. lxxiii. 26. g Gal. iii. 13. b Heb. xiii. 5. h Heb. ii. 14, c Isa. xliii. 2. f Isa. liii. 4. i Chap. iv. 15. |