Chap. 38. An Expofitionupon the Book,of J o a. Veri. 17. unto thee 0 God the Lord, to thee is my truft . leave not my feat defïitnte , keep me from the fnare which they have laid for me, arc, It is the royal privil-àge of Jet asChritl, to bekey-keep- er of the grave ( Rev. t, tíß.) 1 have the keys of hell and of death ; that is, I have power todeliver over to , and ro deliver or keep fromboth heii anddeath. The keys are an emblem of powerand authority. Stewards have the keys. He that bath the keys of death, can deliver fromdeath. Secondly , Taking death properly ,, note ; nTo living man knoweth how or in what way be (hail die, The gates of death are not revealed to any man ; he hathno certainty by. what means he (hall paffe ont of this world to the grave he cannot tell through what gate he (hall go , whether through the gate of a natural death , or of aviolent death , as Chriti fpake to Peter (9'obn 2 t . 18. ) when thou waft young thougirdeft thyfelt , and wenteft whether thouxiouldeli ; but when thoufhalt beold, another 'hallgird thee, andcarry thee whether thou would/I not : thisfpake be, fignifyiingby what deathbe (houldglorifie God. Peter did not know what deathhe fhould die,whether ana- tural or aviolent death , till Ch: ill fignilied it tohim. And if man knoweth not at what kind of gate he (hail enter the houfe of, death, that is, whether by ficknefs or violence, thenmuch lefs doth he know the particular fickneffe or violence , by which,as a gate, he muff pars into the houfe ofdeath ; there things the Lord keeps in his own hand. And feeing we know not thefe gates of death , we (hould aleeayes pray that we may know the path of life (Pfal, a 6.1I Thou wilt fheno me the path of life, was Da- vids aifurance as a type ofChrift. And though Chrtti fhould"not (hew any man the gate of his own temporal death , yet he (hew- eth every godly 'Man the path of eternal life, and that's enough for us. Thirdly , Note ; God anel), knoweth when, how, and inwhat way we (hall die, as alfo what the/late and conditionof the dead is. Death is the darkefi and obfcureft thing in the world. The grave is a gloomy place , and filled not only with natural but me- taphoricaldarknefs ; yetall is light toGod, he knows the gates X z of IS;
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