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SERMON
XLIII.
DEATH
A
BLESSING TO
THE
SAINTS.
1
cox.
iii. 22.
whether
life
or
death,
all
are yours.
WE
have
already
seen many divine comforts,
and
a
rich variety
of
blessings
derived
from
the formidable
name
of
DEATH
:
One would scarce have
thought
that
a
word
of
so
much
terror
should have ever
been
capable
of
yielding
so
much sweetness;
but
the
gospel
of
Christ
is a spring
of
wonders
:
It
has
consecrated
all
the
terri
ble things in
nature,
even
death
itself,
and
every
thing
beside
sin,
to the benefit
of
the saint.
Death,
in
all its
appearances,
may furnish
the mind
of
a believer
with some
sacred
lesson
of truth
or holiness.
When
it
appears
in
the extent
of
its
dominion,
and
bringing
all mankind down to the
dust;
when
it,lays
hold
on an
impenitent
sinner,
and
fills
his
flesh
and soul with
agonies;
when
it
assaults a saint, and
is
conquered
by
faith;
when
it
makes
a
wide
ravage among
our acquaint-
ance, when
it enters into our
families,
and
takes away
our near and dear
relatives from the midst
of
us,
still
the
christian
may
reap
some divine
advantage
by it.
But
can
our
own
death
be
ever
turned
into a
blessing
too?
Nature
thinks
it
hard
to
learn
such a
strange
lesson
as this,
and has much
ado
to be
persuaded
to
believe
it.
How
dismal
are
its
attendants
to
flesh
and blood
!
What
languishings
of
the body
!
What
painful agonies
!
What
tremblings and convulsions
in
nature frequently attend
the
dying
hour
even
of
the best
of
christians
!
Can
that
be a blessing which
turns
this active and
beautiful
engine
of
the body
into loathsome
clay
;
which closes these
eyes
in
long darkness, and deprives
us
of
every sense? Can
death become
a blessing to
us,
which
cuts
us
off from
all
converse
with,
the
Eun
and
moon,
and that
rich variety
of
sensible objects which
furnish out
such delightful
scenes all
around
us,
and entertain
the
whole animal
creation?
Can
that
be
a
blessing which divides
asunder