298 . . .An Objetfjon ~nfwe-fe'd. State I\1'. In his' arms, and fa'ying, Lord, no.:W felle}J thou fhJ ftr-vant lf~part inpeace, according to thy wr;rd. For mine 'eyu ~aw · ften thyfaivation, Luke ii. 19, 30. yet they can fay with· dying Jaeob., 1 have •waited for .I~J /alv'atiotz, 0 Lord, ·- Gen. xlix·. 18 .. His left hand ~s !lbder thtlir head t{) ~~p .: port them; though his rigJn: harid cloth not embrace them: · . they firmly believe, though they are not fille~ withjoj in· believing. ·They c'an plead th.e covenant, and hang by· ·the promife, although their houje is not fo with God as th€y CO\Ild wilh. But the dying day of fome faints may be like that day mcntion~d, Zech.-xiv. 7• Not day, nor night. 'fhey may die under gHat doubts and fears; fetting as it . were in a cloud, an4 going to hea,ven in a milt. They may go mourning without ,the fun, and never put off their ~ fpirit of htavine/i, till ·death flrip them of it. They may be carri~d to heaven through the cor1fi.nes of hell; and may be.purfu,ed by the devouring lion, even to the very g-ates of the new Juujafem; and may be compared to a;. !hip almofl: wrecked in fight of the harb.our, which yet · ,gets fafe into her port, 1 Cor. iii. 15. If nn)' 1mm'J worl jhall be burnt, be /hallJuf/er lofl: but he himfiiffoal/ be faved, yet fo aJ by fire. There is f4fet y amidfl: tl1eir fears - but danger in lhe wicked's ftronge!t, 'confidence; and th~re i_s a biefied feed of gladnefs in t'h;1r greatefi farrows;~ · Li~ht iJ Jown for the righteouJ, and gladneft for the up– . . right in heart, Pfal. xcvii. 11. ' Now, faints are liable to fuch perplexity in their death, - becaufe tho' <hey be Chrifl:ians indeed. yet they are men ~rlikepajfto·mwith othets; and death is a frigl~tful object ·in itielf, whatever drefs it appear in; the fiern countenance with which it looks at mortals, can hardly rnifs of cauf– ing them fhrink. M,oreover, the faints are of all men the moft jealous of themfelves • . /They think of eternity and of a tribunal, more deeply than ·others do: with them it is a m9re fcrious thing to die than the.refl: of rn1n·kind ar-e a~;are of. They know the deceits of the heart, the fnb– tilties -of dept:aved human nature, better than others do. And therefore they·may have much ado to keep np hol)e on a death :bed; while others pafs off quietly, like {beep to the flanghter ; the rathe_r that Satan, who uf~th all llis art tO fupport the' ·hopes of th~hypocrite, will do ~i:s · · utmoR " ...
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