§ÈRMONXLI. $i it enables a poor feeble dyingcreature to face death withCourage,. to look beyond the limits of life and time, and venture into an unseen world with holy jay and triumph. It gives us a glorious evidence, that the principles of ,Christianit are such, as will justify all the labours óf á holy life, and will bear us out in the profession of it, in the midst of ridicule and mockery;of perse- cution and martyrdom. This surely 'must be a religion"Coming down tram Gad, that Can give the weak and Unlearned such a courage, as to encounter death itself without fear ; and that not from a stupid and senseless temper of spirit, not from a brutal hardiness, such as carries the horse and the hero into the battle, but with a clear and full discovery of God and his holiness, of our own sins and his forgiving grace, this reli- gion can enable us to venture into his immediate presence. How glorious is our gospel, how divine a doctrine is this It has wrought ten thousand such wonders by faith in the blood of Christ, as the great atonement forsin, andthe only way to the Father. A saint leaving this world, and patting offmortality, with The light of heaven breaking in upon his soul, and the beams of glory shining round about him, with divinejoy and transport in his countenance, and the language of heavenupon his lips, brings the invisible world into present view : The pious spectators grow ,up to a sensible assurance of the glories and felicities of that invisible world: each of them sits on the borders Of paradise, eachof them gets a glimpse of the newJerusalem, and all the heavenly country, and this adds new strength to his faith and hope. 2. The glorious death of our fellow-christians greatly encou- rages the imitation of their holy life. To see a Child óf God die from amongst men, leave this world with a holy contempt and sincere pleasure; and enter into the presence of his heävenly Father with a filial Confidence ; to see him finish his race with joy, and, as it were, lay hold on salvation, and puton hisheavenly crown : This calls aloud upon us to tread in the same steps, to pursue the blessed priíe, and tö be followers of them, Who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises ; Heb, vi. 12. When we mark the perfect mad, and behold the Uprights and see that his end hispeace; Ps; xxxvii. 37. we are animated to walk with God in the same uprightness, and to press' after the same perfection. Having such d cloudofwitnesses that have gone before us, and Christ our Lord at the head of them, we run with patience the race that is set before us, till we arrive at the promised glory ; Heb: xii, 1. To stand near the bed of a dying saint, and observethe von. t: Q
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