The Walk of Faith: The Believer Finishes His Course, and Enters into Rest
The believer is now happily arrived at the verge of life. Goodness and mercy have followed him all his days, and will not lose their glory by forsaking him at the close of them. It is appointed unto all men once to die, and his fixed time is at hand. This body is returning to dust, and the spirit must appear before the throne of God. In this trying hour he trusts to the principles which had carried him through life, and he finds them a perfect preservative from the fear and from the power of death. The same faith in a reconciled God and loving Father, keeps peace in his conscience, and love in his heart. He depends upon the atonement of Emmanuel, and is safe: he wraps himself up in the robe of Emmanuel’s righteousness, and is happy. He knows he shall be found in Jesus, when he stands before God; and therefore he looks upon death as his friend, and meets it with a hope full of glory and immortality.
This is the privilege of believers in Jesus. They die in peace. Their principles are mighty, through God, to support and comfort them in the hour of death. Reader, are these principles thine? Examine carefully. Come to a point in this matter; for it is of infinite and eternal moment. What is thy state? Art thou prepared to die? Perhaps thou art openly profane. And what wilt thou do upon thy death-bed, when the divine law accuses thee, justice condemns thee, and the terrors of hell take hold of thee? The stings of guilt, at such a time, will be worse in the conscience than all the tortures that thy sick body can possibly feel. But if thy conscience be asleep — O what a dreadful death! if thou go out of the world with thine eyes shut, and open them not till thou find the flames of hell about thee!
Perhaps thou art not afraid, because thou hast a decent outside: O take care of trusting in thyself, lest thou shouldst have thy portion with the openly profane. If thou make what thou art, or hast, any ground of thy hope before God — if thou depend on thy duties or righteousness, or join them with the work of Christ, and meet death in this confidence — how dreadful will be thy mistake! how inevitable thy ruin! Such false hopes are thus described: “Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, and compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled” — but mind the end — thus saith the Lord: “This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow.” And together with them will the open enemy of God and his Christ lie down, A denier of revelation is brought to the bed of languishing — a slow lingering distemper is carrying him oflp — the physician has given him over — his disease is mortal, and he is convinced of it: but, alas! he has no preparation fbr death and judgment. He has some Christian friends, and they talk freely to him about his eternal state, but he will hear nothing of his guilt, or of his want of a Saviour. They get a minister of Christ to visit him, and he speaks to him of sin, which is the transgression of the holy law; and of the justice of God, which is engaged to give transgressors their due; and of the impossibility of his finding mercy at the judgment-seat, until every demand be satisfied, which law and justice have upon him: he tries to persuade the dying man of the Godhead of Jesus, and of the divine work of Jesus, but in vain. He sets at nought the minister’s advice, and with a hardened and impenitent heart replies — * Be it as it will with me in eternity, I’ll have nothing to do with your Christ.’ So he died. We need not follow him to the judgment-seat, to know what became of his soul. The infallible record has declared what will be the portion of the unbelieving. Their misery is as certain as the truth of God. O reader, examine thyself; for he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
Perhaps thou art in name a Christian; but what thinkest thou of Christ? The grand heresy of this day is about his person; and if thou art fallen into it, there is no hope in thy death. Is he Jehovah? O leave not this matter undetermined. The truth of his word, and the glory of his work, depend entirely upon this one point: so do thy peace and comfort; for if thou believe him to be any thing but the self-existent God, thou shalt die in thy sins. His sufferings cannot avail for thy pardon, nor his obedience for thy righteousness, unless he be Jehovah. Without faith in him, as the self-existent Saviour, death will find thee under guilt, and judgment will leave thee among the enemies of God and his Christ. Whatever evil there is in death to terrify, whatever pain to hurt, the blessed Jesus, by the grace of God, tasted it for all his. The grace of the Father gave him to be the surety for his people unto death. He died for them and as truly tasted death as ever the nicest palate tasted meat or drink. But it was like a taste — of short duration — it was not possible that he should be holden long under the bands of death. He rose again on the third day; and because he lives, believers in him shall live also. They are partakers of his victory over death, and share in all its blessings. The sentence of the broken law is repealed. They do not die to bear the punishment of sin. Christ sustained that. The pains and agonies of death fell upon him: “The sorrows of death,’* says he, “compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me.” He was a just man, who had no reason to fear death: but being found in the place of his people, with their sins upon him, he was to bear every thing that was dreadful in death. Hence his agonies at the approach of it: “My heart,” says he, “is sore pained within me, and the terrors of death are fallen upon me: fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.” He endured those inconceivable horrors, to deliver them, who, through fear of death, had been all their lifetime subject to bondage. But the bondage is at an end when they believe in his victory. Their fears are dispelled, when they see the glory of the battle which he fought and won; — how by dying he took away sin, satisfied justice, removed the curse, conquered death, broke its sceptre, took out its sting, and left nothing in it but what was friendly to them. In these believing views they can meet death with confidence: for they cannot taste that in death which Christ tasted. He felt it, that they might not feel it: he died in agonies, that they might die in peace. O my most loving and precious Jesus, I believe this: let not any unbelief in me dishonour thy complete conquest over all that is fearful or painful in dying. My times are in thy hand: when thou art pleased to bring them to an end, let me find death swallowed up in victory. O that I may then triumph with thy redeemed. What can separate us from the love of Christ — shall the sting of death or the fear of death, or of Satan or of hell? No; thanks be to God, these were all conquered when Jesus died; subdued for ever when he rose again. And he has left us many precious promises, that we, trusting in him, shall share in his victory, and find the blessings of it in the hour of death.
Attend then, O my soul, to what he has engaged to bestow upon his dying disciples, as the fruit of his death; and give him credit, not doubting but he will make it good. Live now in the comfort of his promises, and fear not. The almighty Jesus will be with thee, and thou shalt conquer with him in the hour of death. Observe his word, which cannot be y 4 broken — “I will ransom them from the power of the grave, 1 will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plague; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” The ransom which he here engages to pay for his, he paid as their surety, r.nd he daily applies it to them, as their Saviour. Upon quoting this promise, and finding, by faith, the happy fulfilment of it, mark how the apostle rejoices with the Corinthians in the near view of death: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” O thou most glorious conqueror, almighty Jesus, eternal thanks be to thee, that the law cannot accuse, sin cannot condemn, death cannot sting thy redeemed. Thou hast promised to make them happy in death, and faithful is thy word. The beloved John is one of thy witnesses: “I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me. Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord:” Write it for the use of my disciples, that it may be the ground oi their faith when they come to die: I promise to make them blessed in their death; being in me, members under me their Head, and living in the Lord, they shall die in the Lord: they shall have union with me, and communion too, when they are dying: the hour of death, the time of their dissolution, shall he a season of great blessedness; they shall have my presence in their last moments: I will walk with them through the valley of the shadow of death, and they shall fear no evil; my rod and ray staff shall then comfort them. — O my God, make thy word good.
Sweet Jesus, write this promise upon my heart. O help me to mix faith with it, that when mine appointed time is come, I may experience the blessedness of dying in the Lord. I wait for the time, it is not far oflp. O keep me, Jesus, till that hour; keep me, Jesus, in that hour. Save me through life and death, and bless me with thine eternal salvation. Hear and answer, for thy mercies’ sake. Amen.
Meditate, O my soul, upon these blessings. Consider how great, how many they are. Consider also thine unworthiness. Thou art less than the least of them: and yet God has set his love upon thee, and has given thee the greatest of them. He has called thee to the knowledge of his love in Jesus, and has shed it abroad in thy heart. He has set thee in the way that leads to the eternal enjoyment of his love, has promised to keep thee all the way, and to bless thee at the end of it. He will make thee blessed in death, and blessed for evermore. Hitherto thou hast found him faithful. Not one good thing has failed which thou didst ask in faith, and wait for at his hands. Review all his dealings with thee, and see what infinite mercy there was in them. He made thy walk prosperous, thy warfare successful, thy crosses sanctified. Thou hast not taken a false step, but when thou wast not living by the faith of the Son of God. O trust him then, and be not afraid. His love has brought thee thus far: he has led thee in the right way to the verge of life, and he declares he will not leave thee nor forsake thee in the hour of death. Fear not to look down, fear not to cro down with Jesus into the grave. He has promised, “I will be with thee;” and wherever he is, there is hea-Y 2 ven. He is with his dying friends, and they are blessed indeed. They die in faith; they live by faith in death; and as soon as faith ceases, they live with their God forever. The body falls asleep, and rests safely till the morning of the resurrection. The soul in a moment enters into the joy of its Lord: a joy like his — pure and holy; a fulness of joy — every ^ense has its proper object, enjoys it, and is satisfied for ever. O what will the heart feel in this blessedness! What acknowledgments will it make to God and the Lamb! To praise him for the wonders of his grace, in bringing to that glory, will be the happy employment of eternity. To see him as he is, in his divine majesty, is heaven. For how great communications of his love the being ever with him, and ever like him, will make the soul capable of, we cannot perfectly conceive. These things are at present too high and heavenly, even for our thoughts. By faith we sometimes have a little glimpse of the glory to be revealed, and it eclipses all the grandeur of the world. There are happy moments, when we are permitted to behold the King in his beauty, when he discovers his matchless loveliness, and gives us a taste of the heavenly feast: at such blessed seasons the soul is bowed down and humbled to the dust, adoring the infinite mercy and goodness of God. If there be so much of heaven in these manifestations of divine love, what must the full enjoyment be? We may suppose a happy soul entered into rest, thus meditating upon the grace which brought it to that glory: — Blessing and thanks without ceasing, be unto Father, Son, and Spirit, through whose sovereign grace I was chosen to this blessedness, and am now brought to the perfect and everlasting enjoyment of it. This communion with the Godhead, through Jesus, is as far beyond my former thoughts of it, as the heaven is above the earth: how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty, that the most High and Holy One would thus communicate his love unto sinful creatures! Glory be to thee, Holy Father, for predestinating me to the adoption of children, and for the free gift of the heavenly inheritance. Glory be to thee, incarnate Jehovah, for thy covenant undertakings for me — for thy life, death, and complete salvation. I worship thee, I glorify thee, O God the Holy Ghost, for quickening me, for teaching me, and enabling me, through believing in Jesus, to experience the love of the Father, and for bringing me to enjoy his endless blessings. Surely the
goodness and mercy of the Holy Trinity have followed me all the days of my life; were with me when I walked through the valley of the shadow of death; and are now my most blessed portion in the house of the Lord. I am made a pillar in the temple of my God, and am to go no more out. O what exceeding riches of grace are these! What has God done for me! Angels and brethren, help me to praise. My debt is immense. No saved sinner can owe him more: it is growing every moment. My praises pay none of it. With my thankful heart, and it is all thankfulness, I only acknowledge his infinite goodness, and own myself his eternal debtor. Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever!
Reader, art thou in the way which leads to this glory? If not, may the Lord be merciful unto thee, and bring thee unto it.
If thou art seeking to be set right in it, remember Jesus is THE WAY. May his good Spirit enable thee to believe in his word, and to trust in it, till thou attain the salvation of thy soul!
If thou art in the way, and hast communion with the Father, through faith in the atonement and righteousness of his Son, art thou maintaining it in thy daily walk, and improving it in every duty? And art thou going on thy way rejoicing in God? If thou art sorrowing for outward crosses, or burdened with inward conflicts, canst thou nevertheless find joy and peace in believing? Dost thou march on victorious in thy warfare, keeping up communion with God against all opposition of thy spiritual enemies? And is thy faith established upon the faithfulness of God, that he will carry on his own work in thee unto the day of the Lord Jesus? In this faith art thou now living? And in this faith dost thou hope to die? Has God indeed done these wonders for thee? O bless him then with me, and let us magnify his name together. Be thou exalted. Lord, in us and by us. Every day we would grow up into nearer and holier communion with thee. We desire to be more like thee, and to show forth more of thy lovely image before men. O help us to praise thee better with our lips and lives. By the communion of the Holy Ghost we would communicate more by faith with the Son in his salvation, and with the Father in his love. O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, in this divine fellowship we hope to find our heaven upon earth: let it be growing and increasing, helped forward by all means, and, if it please thee, by this volume. Make it. Lord, the instrument under thee of leading thy people into the right way, and of establishing them in it. Accompany the reading of it with the teaching of thy Spirit, and to the advancement of thy glory. I present the book unto thee, ever-glorious Jesus, and lay it at thy feet. Thou knowest my heart: accept it graciously, as a public acknowledgment for inestimable mercies. In thy great compassion overlook the faults in it: what is agreeable to the Scripture is thine own. Make use of it to thy praise. I devote myself, my body and soul, my tongue and pen, all I have and am, to thy service. I would not look upon myself as any longer mine own; but, being bought with a price, I would glorify thee in the use of all thy gifts and graces. With thee I desire to walk through life. In thine arms I hope to die. Through thee I expect soon to enjoy perfect communion with the Father and the Spirit: therefore, into thy hands I commend myself. Keep me in the right way. Guide me to the end of it, that I may finish my course with joy, and join thy redeemed in giving to thee, with the Father and the Spirit, the Three in one Jehovah, equal and everlasting praise. Hear, Lord, and answer! Amen.