014órtálity changed, 4159 of Chrift. If thy foul doth give fin its difcharge now, death fhall give thy foul a difcharge hereafter. - Secondly , in the qualifying our perlons for the conqueft of death ; there are three things by which see (hall be able chearfully to meet, and aßäredly to conquer death. Firlt by having intereft in the Lord Jefus, the sting of death isfn,and theftrength of fin is the Law ; but thanks be to God who bath givenus viEtory.through our Lord 7efus Chrifi. If thou haft gotten Chrift into thy arms by Faith, thoucarrieft thy peace, ftrength, and advantage boththrough life and death. For we aremorethen conquerors through him that loved us, faith the Apoftle, -ko,m. 8. 37. And to ine to live isChrift, and to die isgain, faith the fame Apoftle,: Phil. i.zz. if thouhaft agóodl Chrift, thou mainbe confident of a good death, i Secondly, renewednefs of our nature; What Saint John fpa.kc of the Martyrs ( as lomeconjefture ) 73leffedandhappy is he that hatb part in the'firfl refurreftion, onfach thefecónddeath hash no power; that fay I of a perfon renewed by the fanfti- Lying qualitÿof Gods Spirit ; i happy is he, he 1hall have power even over the first death. The Spirit and the Bridefaith come ; if a man bath gotten-the heavenly Spirit ,nhich beautifies the foul with the ornaments ofGrace, as the Bride is with her ornaments ; he is a fittedperfon, he may well fay toDeath come, and to Chrift, come Lord Jefus, come quickly. tThirdly, uprightncfs of convetfation ; Riahteoufnefi delivers from death, faith Solomon,and the righteous bath hope in his death ; if a mans workbe Chri(ts fervice, if he have a heart inclined to keep a good confciencein all things, to keep himfelf cxa& to the rule, and towalkwithGod ; Bleffed is that fervant, which his t,L`tapfer when be cometh (hallfindfo doing i .that man that bath looked to Gods Word to guide his life, may confidently look up to Gods mercy, to comfort him in death. Remember OLord, (faithHez.ekiab, /fat 39.) how 1have walked before thee in truth, andwith a perfelt heart. Now all this doth the waiting for our change import in the Text, to wit, a ferious expeftation of it ; first by undoing thofe fins of ours, which elfe for ever will undo us, and by intercftingourperfonsinto Chrift,fromwhomwe mutt likewifereceive the Spirit to change our hearts, and uprightncfs to form a-new our converfation. Butthen you,willfay,Whymuftthere be fuch a waiting forthis? there gravecloths are too fadtor the frefhnefs ofour lifc,andwould you have its he like the mad-man in the Gofpel,wholived amongthe Sepulchres?Nay,I befeech you fetus confider,and fettle our thoughts a littic,and you fhall he flayed with reafon; there are many ftrong Ar- gunfents and reafons why we fhould thus wait,both by expe&ationandpreparation. Firft,itis the main errand ofour life; God did not fend us into this world to fin, and toadorn our felvcs with the creature, but to bringhim fome honour, and then to die : the fa&or isnotemployed to take his pleafure abroad,but to do hisMaffers work, and then to return home. Tertullianconfeffcthhe was a great finner, and therefore born to repentance ; therefore doth God give us life, as the Matter allows the fervant a candle to work by, that we may repent ofour fins, and get our hold in Chrift,and work out our làlvation,anddothe greatbufinefs ofbelieving,to be good, and to dogood,and fo by Death to go upto heaven. Secondly,dcath is but onçe, and that needs to be well done which can be but once done ; if theremight be another fpace after death, a fecond edition to corre& the faults and cfcapes of the former, then aprefcnt and fpeedy preparation were not al- together fo neccfrary ; but faiththe Apofile, Itieoppoinefor all men [once] to die, and afterdeath to come to judgment, Heb. 9. zy. no more butonce. We ufually (hadow ourDeath with an hour-glafs ; A fit emblem, but that when an hour-glafs is run out, it may be turned again ; but thisonce out, canbe fet up no more, thoiy fhalt never live to amend thy errors in dying; O then how needful is if beföre- hand to preparefor Death ! Thirdly, when death bath done with thee,thenGod willbegin withthee; thou mutt oncedie,and after this come to judgment, Heb. 9. z7. To judgment, what is that? thoumutt be prefcnted beforethe holy,and juft, andgreat God, who isthe jrCielge a. In having Our perlons qualified. How that is donc. Why we mat wait and be prepared fox death. I.eaf: z. Real. §^
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