Twenty-Four Sermons, Sermon 22
SERMON XXII.
Auguſt 24. 1697.
DEUT XXXIV. v.
So Moſes the Servant of the Lord died there in the Land of Moab, according to the Word of the Lord.
III. WHY we ſhould thus die in Obedience to the Will of God? There are many Reaſons for it.
1. God is Supream and Abſolute Lord. He hath the higheſt Proprietyin us, and the moſt unlimited Dominion over us. Behold as the clay is in the Potters hand, ſo are you in my hand, O houſe of Iſrael, Ezek. 18.6. He forms every Veſſel as he pleaſes, and is at liberty to break his own Workmanſhip without controul; ſo the ſame God whoſe power produces, hath a right to diſſolve our Subſtance. He is the Father of our Spirits, and they are his peculiar Off-ſpring, and therefore ought to be entirely at his Command: He created and infuſed them, and on that account may juſtly call for them, whenever he will. 'Tis but like the Stream's going back to its Fountain; like the Rivers returning turning to the Sea, whence they came, and the Sun's haſting to the place where he aroſe, Eccleſ. 1.5, 7. We know nothing of God as we ought to know, if we know not this, that God hath a far greater Intereſt in us, than we have in our ſelves: And that it belongs to him, and not to us, to govern and appoint all thoſe things which do concern us. It was almoſt in the ſame breath that David ſaid, Thou art my God, and my times are in thy hand, Pſalm 31.14, 15. We deſtroy his Deity, if we deny his Sovereignty; we renounce him as our God, unleſs we ſubmit to him as Lord of our Lives. If he may not determine the Period of Life, why ſhould he manage any of the Affairs of it? And if we exclude his Providence, why ſhould we admit his Being?
2. We have the Character of God's Servants, and profeſs Subjection to him; but we contradict this Character and Profeſſion, except we die in Obedience to the Will of God. 'Tis obſerv'd, that Moſes is never call'd the Servant of the Lord in all his life time, till now that he came to die; becauſe hereby he did moſt remarkably approve himſelf ſuch, though he had performed many great and excellent Services to God before. He that is another Man's Servant, muſt be content to be called off from his preſent Work and Station, at his Maſter's pleaſure; they that are under the Yoke, are not to be the Diſpoſers of their own Time; or rather we may ſay, they have no Time which is their own, but what is allowed them. We are under a ſtricter Law to God, and he that calls Himſelf a Chriſtian, does thereby acknowledge it; we are not our own, but the Lords, both living and dying, and therefore there is as much reaſon for our dying, as for our living to the Lord, and as little reaſon for our dying, as for our living, to our ſelves, Rom. 14.7, 8. It was Paul's earneſt deſire and hope, that Christ ſhould be magnified in his Body, whether by life, or by death, Phil. 1.20. And this became him, as a Servant of Christ, ver. 1. For we are falſly ſo called, and aſſume a Name which our Pactice does not agree to, if his Will be not a Rule to ours in every thing, and particularly in this grand and important Point of Life and Death.
3. OUr Lord Christ, when he took upon him the Form and Quality of a Servant, was our Example in this Caſe. He became Obedient unto death, even the death of the croſs, Phil. 2.8. A Death ſo circumſtanced wih the moſt tremendous Aggravations, as we can never be call'd to be obedient to, yet he did not refuſe or decline it, as he might have done, when his Hour came. His Life was not taken from him, but he laid it down of himſelf, becauſe he had received ſuch a Commandment of the Father, John 10.18. It was a free and voluntary Act; he gave up the Ghoſt in the ſtricteſt ſenſe, as is plain from all the Paſſages going before his Death. It was in the proſpect of its near approach, that he ſaid to his, Diſciples, Ariſe, let us go hence, John 14.31. The words were ſpoken, where Chriſt had celebrated his laſt Supper, but the place which he ſpeaks of removing to, was the Garden, where he knew that he ſhould be betray'd and apprehended. Chap. 18.4. Jeſus knowing all things that ſhould come upon him, went forth, &c. He boldly and chearfully met the Enemy, whom he could eaſily either have ſhun'd, or defeated. He was able to eſcape this Death, but would not; and therein is a pattern to us, who have no ſuch power.
4. God never give a Commiſſion to Death, nor lays his command upon us to die, but when 'tis really the fitteſt Seaſon for us to obey him in it. To ſpeak ſtrictly, an untimely Death is never permitted by God; we are never ſuffer'd to die, when it would be better for us to live, Infinite Wiſdom and Grace will not permit it; and he that reſigns himſelf to their Conduct, is ſure to die, when it is beſt that he ſhould. The Scripture is expreſs, Pſalm 116.15. Precious in the ſight of the Lord is the death of his Saints. This may be moſt clearly expounded and underſtood by comparing with Pſalm 72.14. (which is a Pſalm for Solomon, as Type of Chriſt) He ſhall redeem their Soul, &c. and precious ſhall their Blood be in his ſight; ſo precious, that when it is fitter to be ſpar'd than ſpilt, he will certainly preſerve it. Though God can kill or keep alive, as he will, he does not act after an Arbitrary manner; he never turns a Saint to deſtruction, when it would be good for him, that his Soul ſhould be held in Life. We do not indeed ſee the Grounds and Reaſons of God's acting, and therefore our Thoughts are not as his Thoughts, but it would be very ſtrange, if we muſt not truſt God further than we yet ſee, becauſe we ſhall ſee hereafter, though not now.
5. In our Obedience to this command of God, there is the greateſt reward. There is a great Reward in the doing of every one, but above all in this. There's no Act of Obedience ſo profitable to our ſelves as this, if we conſider the Glory, Honour, and Peace which immediately follows. If a Servant deſireth the Shadow, Job 7.2. Why ſhould we be unwilling to enter into our Reſt, and receive our full Reward, when our Work is done? Can we think that our Services would be ſo well recompenc'd by a perpetual ſtay here? 'tis impoſſible to think ſo. When the Maſter is come, and calleth for us, (as John 11.28.) we cannot but know, it is in order to our unſpeakable Promotion and Advancement. The Arrows which Death ſhoots, though they kill, yet they are directed and deſign'd in greater Love, than Jonathan's to David, which were to prevent him from being killed. Death may ſeem formidable at a diſtance (as one ſays) like Eſau to Jacob, but is very friendly when it comes nigher to us, and does us the kindeſt Office, which to have undone, would be our greateſt loſs. Though it did no more than caſe us of the grievous weight of indwelling Sin, that's a matchleſs Benefit; for if we had not mortal Bodies, we muſt have immortal Corruptions.
6. This is the concluding and crowning Act of our Obedience to God in this World. 'Tis the compleat finiſhing of our whole Work here; when we have done this we have no more to do on Earth. Now how incongruous, and unſeemly, how reproachful and diſhonourable would it be, for a Man to live many Years in a courſe of Duty, and then ſpoil all by Diſobedience in the laſt Act? Undoubtedly, the Man whoſe Heart is perfect and upright with God, ſhall never be left to do ſo: If we have been truly Faithful to the Death, we ſhall not be Rebellious in it. But however Exhortations and Arguments are of uſe to the beſt, through the efficacious Concurrence of the Spirit with them. He that lives to the Will of God, cannot be ſaid to perſevere finally, unleſs he dies according to that Will alſo. We do not follow God fully, if we ſtart and fly back juſt at the end of our Race, when we ſhould lay hold upon the Prize. I know thy works, and the last to be more than the first; was Thyatiras's Commendation, Rev. 2.19. God expects that at the laſt we ſhould outdo all which we have done before. If we have run well, 'tis pity that the laſt ſtep ſhould be the ſloweſt.
7. This being the laſt Act of our Obedience here in this World, will have the greateſt Influence on thoſe whom we leave behind us. As the laſt words of dying Perſons are apt to make the deepeſt Impreſſion upon ſurviving Friends, ſo their laſt Acts are moſt likely to encourage Imitation. When we forget moſt of the Paſſages of their Lives, we remember their Deaths, and are ready to take our meaſures from thence. And indeed the Holy Ghoſt calls upon us eſpecially to mark the End of the perfect and upright Man, Pſalm 37.37. and to conſider the End of their Converſation, whoſe Faith we are to follow, Hebr. 13.7. The End here, ſignifies the cloſe, the iſſue of their Converſation; Now where this is unimitable, it will obſtruct our following of all that went before, how good ſoever it were. This will ſtill ſtick moſt upon their Minds, that ſhould take Pattern from our Faith and Obedience, and tend to diſhearten them from walking with God, if after a Life of ſervice we ſhould flinch and faulter in the laſt Extremity; it may tempt ſome to believe, that God is an hard Maſter, and that we too late begin to think him ſo. Whereas an holy ſubmiſſive Death will have all the contrary Effects.
8. This is an Act of Obedience, from which God's chiefeſt Favourites on Earth are not exempted. If this were a Cup which paſſed from every one elſe, and were only filled out to us, it might be more bitter to drink of it and ſinful Fleſh might have the more to ſay againſt it; but God lays no other Burden upon us herein, than what all his Saints, excepting two, have born from the beginning of the World; yea, even thoſe two, underwent a Change in their Tranſlation, in ſome reſpects, we are ſure, equivolent to Death. Are we ſo much better than our Fathers, than the many Thouſands which have gone to Heaven the ſame way, that we ſhould expect any peculiar Privilege? Are we greater than Abraham, who is dead, and the Prophets, who are dead? whom do we make our ſelves? as the Jews ſaid to Chriſt, John 8.53. Does God deal worſe with us, or require more from us, than from all the Excellent of the Earth? Why muſt not we give place to others, when God thinks meet, as others have made way for us, that ſucceſſive Generations may ſtill go and come? That Life which we are prone to complain of, as too ſhort, 'tis probable hath been longer than many; and the ſhorteſt is certainly longer than we deſerve that it ſhould be.
9. 'Tis an Act wherein God's Saints on Earth outdo the Obedience of Angels in Heaven. This is a mighty Honour to us, that we are capable of honouring God by dying according to his will, which is out of their Power, for they die not. 'Tis their bright and glorious Character, that they do his Commandments, Pſalm 103.20. but this is a command which they cannot do, and which they were never tried with. They have no ſuch Bodies as we have, to be ſeparated from; and by the Settlement which God hath made, meer ſpiritual Beings cannot taſte of Death. Now this is a thing worthy of our Ambition, to bring more Glory to God than the higheſt Angel can; for a Saint of God would ſeek to excel all Creatures. 'Tis no Tryal to Angels, to execute the orders which they receive, in compariſon of what Moſes did here in the Text; and yet 'tis aſtoniſhing to read, how familiarly he hears of his own Departure; there was no noiſe, no ſtriving, no trouble in the caſe; God only ſays to him, Go up and die, and he does it; as when the Prophet Elijah had Food ſet before him, and was invited to ariſe and eat; to which an hungry Man in a barren Wilderneſs, would need very little perſwaſion. To which of the Angels did God ſay thus at any time? Our Mortality gives us an opportunity of obeying, which they want.
10. All the Obedience which we have to yield after this to God in Heaven, will be (like that of the Angels) moſt eaſie and delightful. Glorified Saints are doing endleſs Service, but there is nothing of Labour or Difficulty in it; nor can there be the leaſt degree of averſion or unwillingneſs to perform it. When we have once poured out our Souls into the Boſom of God, we ſhall launch into the pleaſant Enjoyment of Eternal Praiſe; and ſo far as we underſtand the Worſhip of the Church above, this will be the whole buſineſs, that we ſhall be exerciſed in; A buſineſs which will contribute greatly to our Bleſſedneſs. There is a great deal of weight and force in this Argument, if we think ſeriouſly upon it; how hard and painful ſoever the work of dying be, all our work afterwards will be entire and perfect; like crowding through a ſtrait Gate into a ſpacious Manſion, where we are to walk at Liberty for ever. How deſirous ſoever the Fleſh is in any of us to be delivered from Death, no Soul can be excuſed from that Work which is conſequent upon it; we could not be ſo happy in Heaven, if we were not ſo employed; as to be kept out of Heaven by an Immortality here, and be moſt miſerable.
IV. To Apply this. By way of Information, and Exhortation.
Firſt, Information.
1. It is a great Act of Indulgence in God, to ſpare us, as he many times doth from Death; ſince that dying is ſo great and neceſſary an Act of our Obedience. If God had let looſe his hand, and cut us off many years ago, it would have been our Duty to acquieſce in it; but by his Favour (as David ſaid of his Mountain) our clay Cottages do yet ſtand. How many Mercies, National and Perſonal, have we liv'd to partake of, which we might have been ſent to our Grave without, and as we could not have reſiſted the Will of God, if it had been ſo, ſo we ought not to have repin'd againſt it. In how many leſſer things hath God very often gratified his Servants, by prolonging their Days, wherein he could have denied them, without doing them any wrong? As the Life of old Jacob was lengthened out above Twenty years (as ſome compute) after he had given up his Son Joſeph for dead, to ſee him living and Governor of Egypt Gen. 46.30. So David ſaw his Son Solomon peaceably ſeated on his Throne, before he fell aſſeep, 1 Kings 1.48.
2. If it be our duty to be Obedient to death it ſelf, how much more ſhould we ſubmit to all thoſe Evils, which are previous to death? We are to Suffer according to the Will of God in every thing, 1 Pet. 4 19. Or elſe, how do we, like David, fulfil all his will? Acts 13.22. and if in that which is great, ſurely we muſt not ſtick at that which is leſs. I do not only mean Sickneſs and Weakneſs, &c. which are the uſual Harbingers of Death, but all thoſe other Troubles and Afflictions which we are born to, and which we may naturally expect ſome ſhare of, while we are in this World. He who cannot patiently part with any Comfort of Life, when God takes it away from him, is very ill-diſpoſed to yield up Life it ſelf, at the Call of God. Are we to obey God in dying, and do we not think our ſelves oblig'd to bear theſe Calamities, which Providence ſends upon us while we live? Are we to drink of ſuch a Cup at laſt, and can we think that we do well to be angry, and diſcontented at any thing which befals us in the way? Theſe Things are inconſiſtent.
3. How irregular are the workings of our Affections, with reſpect to thoſe that are fallen aſleep in Christ? God ſeldom or never removes any of our Friends, eſpecially if publickly uſeful Perſons, but that we are ready ſecretly, at leaſt, to wiſh, that they had not died, when they did. We know not how to reſtrain our ſelves from ſuch deſires, and yet in deſiring it we are like Peter when he talkt of making Tabernacles on the Mount, who knew not what he ſaid, Luke 9.33. We do not only wiſh their Infelicity, whom we pretend to love and value, but we make our ſelves Rebels in Heart againſt God, we wiſh in plain terms, that our Wills might have ſtood in oppoſition to his, and that our blind miſtaken Judgments might have been allow'd to overturn or alter his Wiſe and Righteous unerring Counſels.
4. How bleſſed ſhould their Memories be above all others, who are most eminently Exemplary in the performance of this Duty? Going out of the World, as Moſes did, is like the burning of rich and fragrant Spices, which leave a ſweet Perfume behind them. 'Tis obſervable, that God did that to Moſes, who died according to his Word, which he never did for any one before or ſince, verſe 6. And he buried him in a Valley in the Land of Moab, &c. Though there was none to accompany his Body to the Grave, yet God's peculiar Undertaking for his Interment, by the Miniſtry of Angels (as may be reaſonably ſuppoſed) was ten thouſand times more Honour to him, than the pompous Funeral of the Patriarch Jacob, when he was carried with ſo vaſt a Train of Mourners out of Egypt into Canaan, Gen. 50.9.
Secondly, Exhortation. Labour to learn this Leſſon well, of Obedience to the Divine Will in the Point of Death; and that you may do ſo, take theſe Directions.
1. Make death familiar to you by frequent forethoughts of it. Thoſe things which ſurprize us moſt, we are uſually leaſt ſubmiſſive to God in; but what we expect and look for, we are gradually reconciled to. If we propoſe a long Life to our ſelves, and put away the remembrance of Death, we ſhall certainly make our dying work ſo much the harder. 'Tis neceſſary not only to think that our Change muſt come unavoidably at laſt, but that it may come quickly in a very little time. If we live longer than we think, we ſhall live the better; but if we die ſooner than we think, we ſhall die the worſe. If God hath made our days generally as an hand breadth, Pſalm 39.5. we ſhould meaſure them out ſucceſſively by an hairs breadth, that when we are at our utmoſt bounds, we may quietly drop away.
2. Look beyond death, while you are looking for it. Let not that terminate your Sight, which in it ſelf indeed is a doleful Melancholy Object. Conſider the Excellency of the Life to come, which takes place immediately upon the concluſion of this. We ſhall not die for ever (as thoſe words ſhould be rendred, which we read, ſhall never die, John 11.26.) though we die once; and there is nothing here ſo amiable and perfect as in that World we are going to. If a view of that Canaan ſufficed Moſes, which he was never to poſſeſs, how much more ſatisfactory will the proſpect of that Heaven be, where we are to dwell eternally? the ſeeing of our abſent glorified Redeemer there, will help us in our following of him thither, and does diſtinguiſh us from the common Men of the Earth, John 14.19.
3. Look upon all the Enjoyments of this preſent Life with ſuch an holy Contempt and Scorn, as they deſerve. If we be not dead to theſe things before hand, we ſhall not know how to part with them at Death. If we lay up our Treaſure here, it muſt needs be troubleſom and grievous to renounce and quit it. He that would obey God chearfully in his going hence, muſt not think that any of the things that are here beneath can make him happy; and therefore the Heart ſhould not be ſet upon them. It made Rachel and Leah willing to go to Canaan, that they had no Expectation left in Padan-aram, Gen. 31.14.
4. Make haſt with your living work, which God gives you to do, with reference to the ſaving of your own Souls, and the ſerving of your Generation. A Man muſt be ſtrangely ſtupified, and harden'd in a falſe peace, that can be content to leave the World, before he hath anſwer'd the End, and diſpatch'd the Buſineſs, for which he was born into it. A comfortable Death does not ſuit with a ſlothful and careleſs, an uſeleſs and unprofitable Life. He that hath neglected his Duty to himſelf, or to others in his place, may very well b backward and unwilling to die. Job begs that it would pleaſe God to deſtroy him, and crys, Let him not ſpare, for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One, chap. 6.9, 10.
5. Clear and State your Accounts every day; ſet them in Order, for their Confuſion will cauſe your Diſtraction, when you come to die. Seriouſly examine and reflect upon your daily Walk and Courſe, and do not leave thoſe Miſcarriages to be budled up in a general Repentance, when they are forgotten; which when they are freſh, you may and ought to be particularly humbled for. The more diligent and exact we are in this caſe, the leſs Advantage will Satan have againſt us. A Man can but (ſcarcely die well (as the Apoſtle ſpeaks of being ſcarcely ſaved, 1 Pet. 4.18.) who hath any thing elſe to do when his hour comes.
6. Beware of grieving the Spirit, and clouding your own Comforts. Though full Aſſurance be not abſolutely neceſſary to the yielding of this Obedience in Death, yet our Obedience muſt needs be very defective, where ſome degrees of Aſſurance, or good hope through Grace are not gotten and maintain'd. 'Tis very hard to reſign, without ſome Evidence that God will receive us; very hard to let go our Temporal Life, when we can lay no hold upon Eternal. therefore the Advice is needful, Jude 21. Keep your ſelves in the Love of God; do nothing that may tend to prejudice or weaken your ſenſe of it.
7. Live upon the Death of Chriſt, as the only Foundation of your warrantable Truſt. Though you do walk before God in Truth, you will find the need of ſomething elſe to depend on, for your Title to Glory. Some think that there is a Goſpel Myſtery in Moſes's dying ſhort of Canaan, and Joſhua's leading the People into it; viz. to intimate to us, That the Works of the Law will bring none to Heaven, but Chriſt by his Blood hath open'd our way to it. He that builds his Hope of Salvation upon any thing which he hath done, muſt either periſh, or pull down all again.
8. Look up to Heaven for Divine Inſtruction in this great Point. It was Moſes's Prayer to God, ſo teach us to number our days, that we may apply our Hearts, &c. Pſalm 90.12. The numbering of our Days aright, is no Vulgar Arithmetick, nor can we learn it without a more than ordinary Tutor. No Man ever died like Moſes here, according to the Word of the Lord, but what was taught of God to do it. He that gives out the Command, muſt guide our Spirits to obey it. If we can do nothing for God of our ſelves, leaſt of all can we die to him without him.