249 / 674
SERM.
XLSII.]
DEATH
A.
BLESSING
TO
THE SAINTS.
229
"
all shall work
together
for
the
final
welfare
of
those
that
love
God, and
are
called
and justified, and sancti-
fied
according to
his holy
purpose,
"
Rom.
viii.
.28,
There
are,
doubtless,
some peculiar and secret
rea-
sons in
the grand comprehensive scheme
of
the counsels
and decrees
of
God,
why
the death
of
ever_y.saint
is.ap-
pointed
at
this season,
and
not at
another
;
why
some
young buds
are cropped ere they
blossom on
earth, and
transplanted to
open.
and unfold
themselves,
and shine
in
the
garden
of
God
on high, while
others are brought
home into the heavenly garner,
like
fruit
well
-
grown,
or
like
a shock
of
corn
fully
ripe.
There
is
a
divine
reason
why some
are hurried.
away by
a
violent death, and
others
are
permitted.
naturally
to dissolve
into
their
dust:
Why
some
must
die on this
spot
of
ground, and others
on
that
for
the vast scheine
of
his
counsels has
á
glorious consist-
ency
in
it
with
the
covenant
of.
his grace..
And indeed,
.
the covenant
of
grace
runs through the
whole
scheine
of
divine counsels,
and
mingles
itself
with them
all.
We
rejoice
in this
meditation,
while
we
believe
the
truth
of
it. We are persuaded,
that
we
shall
know,
hereafter,
the
various.
and admirable
designs
of
divine
providence
and
love;_.in
all the infinite variety
of
the deaths
of
his
saints;
and this shall; make
part of
our
songs in
the
upper
world,
and
give
a
joyful accent
to
our
hallelujahs
there.
Let
us
maintain, therefore, a
blessed
assurance
of
the
wise and gracious
designs
of our
Lord,
in all
the.
circum-
stances
of
the death
of
his
people.
Let
us
learn to
say
with
that
aged saint,
and eminent servant
of
Çhrist,
the
Reverend Mr.
Baxter, when
under
many
weaknesses
of
,nature,
and
long
and
sore agonies
of
pain,
he
spa.ke
còncerning
-.
his
death,
":Lord,
when
thou
wilt,
what
thou
wilt,
how
thou wilt."
Let
us insure
our
souls in
his
hands for eternity,. and
not be
over solicitous
about
the circumstances
of our
death,
about
the place, the
manner, or the hour,
when
we
shall
take
our
leave
of
life
and
time.
[If
this
sermon be too long,
it
may be divided
here.]
Having
made it
appear,
in these several sermons,
that
death
is
ours,
or
shall
turn
to
our.advantage,
,
not
only
when
it
strikes
our
friends
or
strangers,
but
when,
it
seizes
our
own
flesh
also
:
I
desire
to
conclude this sub-
e3