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DEATH
A
BLESSING
TO
THE SAINTS. [SERM.
XLIIri
to
awaken thy longings, and
stretch
thy
wings for
a
flight
to heaven.
"
Remember
also
whilst thou
art
here,
and
art
often
sinning, many
of
the threatenings
of
God
in
his
word
stand bent
against
thee, his
arrows sometimes stick
in thy
flesh,
and
pierce
thy very soul.
I
confess
these
are not
the
sword
of
his vindictive
justice,
thy
afflictions
are but
the
corrections
,of his
rod
:
But
is
it not better
to
dwell
in
that
world where thou
shalt
feel
no
such correcting strokes,
and deserve chastisement
no more, where
the
Lord
thy
God
shall
lay
aside every frown,
and remove
his
anger
for
ever
?"
"
Thy
best
life
now
is
to
live
upon the
promises
;
but
does not
all
the excellency
of
a
promise consist
in
the
hope
of
performance
?And
is
not
the performance then
so much
better than
the promise
itself
?
Is not
posses-
sion
better than
hope
?
Is
not
an assured and
an
un-
changeable
possession
better than
this
state
of
doubts
and fears?
Is
it not
much more agreeable to
"
dwell
in
the
house
of
God
for ever
?"
Ps.
xxiii.
6.
than
only
to
make a visit
to
it
now
and then
?
Is
it not
infinitely
bet-
ter
to be
fixed in
a
state
of
perfect
felicity,
without
the
.least
feat,-
or apprehension
of
losing
it;
To
be
as
"
a
pillar
in the
temple
of
God,
thy God,
and
to go no more
out;
Rev.
iii.
I2."
"
Think
again. Hast, thou
not
sustained
sufficient
pains and
serrows both
of
'flesh
and mind
in
this lower
world
?
Death
shall
put
an
end
to
them
all
;
and
art
thou
unwilling
to
have
a
full release
from
sorrow and pain
?
Has
this
flesh
of
thine been complained
of
so
often
as
thy
clog and thy painful prison, and
art
thou afraid
to
have
thy fetters knocked
off?
Has not
thy body
given
thee
smart
and
anguish enough
?
And has
it
not tempted
thee
enough
away from thy God, and thy
truest
happiness
?
Has thy
sinful
sickly
flesh
been
so
charming
a
companion
that
thou
art
not yet
willing to
part
with
it
?
Dost
thou
not
desire to
have
all
thy diseases
healed
at
once?
Wouldest thou
not
he glad
to
have
all thy
torments
of
body and
mind
for
ever
eased,
and
all
the
uneasinesses
of
flesh
and.spirit
removed for ever
?"
"
It
is
true, the' mere desire
of
ease
should
not
be
the
chief
reason
why
thou shouldest desire
death,
nor
shouldest
thou seek
it
with
an
impatient spirit
:
It
is thy
duty to