Freedomefrom the fear of Deiath. 4 S Again fecondly,look on the Servants of God in death, teewhat they have fail too ; Tofrab,a plan that was upright in heart, he went to the Grave in peace, hewasgathered to bra Fathers in Peace, that he fhonld not fee the Evil that fho,eldcome ;span btr Peo- ple e Here is all it was but a peaceable taking 'of him away from a more troubelous condition if he had lived longer. Beloved,he died in War, yet it is laid he was ga- theredin Peace ; he had inwardPeace with God, though hefailed in that particular a&ion. And the Apoftlein the aCor.5.4. This isour dare, that roe may be death- Cor.g.4 ed ripen, not that we would be uncloathed, but cloatbedupon, that Mortalitymay be fwallowedup of life. A Grange fpeech, he countech Death, Life to him, he countech: the deathof this life, to be the death of Mortality, by laying elide this earthly Taber- ?lade (as he Paid in the firft Verfe ) Mortality is [wallowed ap of Life : And th:re fore you give wrongnames to things, for while you live, you die,becaufe your life i t is a dying condition,and while you die,youlive,becaufe then the Ceffacionof life it is as the River Jordan to thepeople of lfraet, nomore but a ¡mirage to Canaan, nota flood to drown them ; foie is with the Servants of God, death is but a paffage to Heaven, it 'snot defiruetive to them. So that ifmen did but redtifie their Opinions of death (as I told you before) when their hearts arearight fet,when theyare humbled,andnotlifted up with worldly things, when their Faith is ftrengthned, andCelled in them, when they are tnade watchful in a Holy courfe, looking'for.death, when theyare eftablislredwith the affurance ofGods favour, then I fay they may find that of . all there natural Fears of death were upon mi(take, they didnot rightly apprehend the thing. Ocher things I fhouli have added, but I am loth to hold you too long. A word for the occaion ; and fo I will conclude: The departureof our Sifter here was the occalion, as of this meeting here, fo of this Text in particular. She give good evidence to chofe that knew her more inwardly, that the was in Chrift, chat the was delivered not onlyfromEternaldeath, but fromfearof Temporal death too. Ic pleaCed God to exercife her a great while under thefearofDeath,the apprehenfion of it was of fome terror toher, but neverthelefs when (;rod called her to it indeed, then the fear of Death was hid from her, and Chrift then applied the Fruit of his death, in freeing herfrom thofe fears. She wasnot freed from themout of a Scoycal Appethy, or want of natural affedlion and paflion, but of a fpeeial and faithful Applicationof Chrift to her (elf upon good grounds. She looked upon God as.her Father, and much delighted to exprefs her apprehenfion of him under that notion, and the very often, ptanifefied her reloycing in that interefi flu had in God, ashis Child : No marvel then if the fear ofdepth were taken away : We fee here in the Text, that theyareChildren thatare delivered from theAtt. of Death. When we are in the flare of Gods Children by Adoption and G race,then there is rathera delire than a fear of death : It is butas our Fathers tbite Horfe, fo is is called in the Reve- lation. A Child at School, when he teeth one ridingPoft through the fireets, as if he would run over him, or tread upon him, he cryethout :But if he fees that it is his Fa- thers Man fern to bring hirn fromSchool to his Fathers houfe,all his fear ispa{i,and he laugheth and rejoyceth. , Sa whenwe are the Sons and Daughters of God by Adopt'- on,weapprehend death asour Fathers pale Horfe, fent by him to bring us from a place of Prifon onEarth,home toour Fathers houfe,a placeof liberty in Heaven ; So it was With her. Sire looked upon Chrift as her Husband, and though the Left a HusbanduponEarth, yet (it was her ownExpreflron) ¡he mat to go to her ffnthand in Heaven, which was far better for her. And therefore (Í fay) having theft apprehenfions of God as her Father, and that thewas adopted tothe estate ofa Child by Grace, and looking uponChrift as her Husband, nomarvel the was freed from the fear of Death. And that there were upon goodgrounds, thofe that knew her courfe bell, know that the expre(fed.it by her abundant care topleate God, by her delire to ferveGod, by her endeavour tomortifie and fubdue ill in her felf, by her growth in Grace inher latter times, thofe good evidences did thew that it was not a ra(h and groundlefs perforati- on, but a true and real apprehenfion of God andChrift, that freed her from this Pear of Death. Beloved,
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