He enters into peace. This blessing was in a degree the privilege of the believer upon earth, when, “being justified by faith,” and “having access into this grace wherein we stand,” Rom. v. 1, 2, he entered into peace passing all understanding. But, as that peace was constantly assaulted, and frequently interrupted upon earth, it is necessary that he be for ever delivered from such interruption and all the causes of it. Such “a rest remaineth for the people of God:” where Satan shall never be able to annoy, the world cannot obtrude its temptations; and sin shall no more extort that groan, “Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death!” Rom. vii. 24. “Where the righteous shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more: for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them to fountains of living waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes!” Rev. vii. 16, 17.
What a glorious exchange?—of sickness and pain, for everlasting rest and peace!—of a ruinous tabernacle; for a house, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!—of a howling wilderness; for the heavenly Canaan, the palace of angels, the city of God!—of the groanings of corruption and sin; for the songs of the redeemed round the throne!—of the chamber of sickness; for the regions of unfading health, “where the inhabitant shall never say, I am sick!”—of the cross; for a crown of glory, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away!—and of earth, with all its distractions, vanities, vicissitudes, and woes; for the beatitudes of heaven, and the rapturous enjoyment of the vision of God!
“—Happy day! that breaks our chain!
That manumits; that calls, from exile, home:
That leads to nature’s great metropolis:
And readmits us, thro’ the guardian hand
Of elder brothers, to our Father’s throne!”
But it is time I should now proceed to consider the last thing proposed, which was,
III. To suggest some serious reflections, more particularly adapted to the consideration of young persons; and not unworthy, I hope, the solemn attention of the aged.
1. You have heard the character, and the blessedness of the righteous, described: Do you wish to be followers of such? Follow them to the grave you certainly must; and it is impossible to tell, how soon that may be the case. While your passions are moved under a subject, that is in itself deeply affecting, perhaps you are adopting the wish of Balaam, “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!” But do you wish, not only to follow the righteous to the glory that awaits him, but also to tread that path which leads to it? If not, your wishes are insincere, and delusory. The life and death of the righteous will always be of a piece: if that be not holy, this will not be blessed.
2. But, perhaps, subjects of this nature, and the scene to which they refer, are too solemn for the gaiety of your temper. But, O remember, that scene (I mean that of death) in all its solemnity, will very soon be exemplified in yourself, as it constantly is, in the departure of multitudes, that drop beside you on the right hand and on the left. You are young. But youth, in its utmost vigor, is accessible to disease; and the most healthful constitution possesses no infallible antidote against the shafts of death; which make equal havock in the bodies of the youthful and robust, as in those of the aged and infirm:—Surely the sable ornaments of the pulpit, in which I stand, afford a most striking memorandum of this truth.—Death’s cold hand often seizes, and effectually chills the most blooming flower; and either nips it in the bud, or blasts all its full-blown beauties, just as they arrived at maturity. How many go off the stage of life, “in their full strength,” as the book of Job says! How soon might the consumption, that ravager of youth, if commissioned by the sovereign arbiter of life, lay thy blooming constitution in ruins! and reduce thee to such a state of languor and debility, that “the grasshopper should be a burden!” Yea, cannot death find access to thy frame, by innumerable avenues? Are not the seeds of mortality sown in the very substance of our bodies, and mingled with the minutest particles of their contexture? So that, “in the midst of life we are in death?” Are not our end, and our origin, DUST?
If, therefore, health be so fading a flower, and the young are no less liable to disease and death, than the aged: is it wise, is it safe, to squander away your precious, your precarious moments in vice and dissipation? Can you imagine that your business in this world, is nothing more than “to eat and drink and rise up to play?” Remember what was the dreadful fate of those who thought so, in the days of Noah. Is our time so long, that you can spare such a considerable portion of it to vanity? Is it so much at our disposal, that we can even promise ourselves to-morrow? Or, is it of so little value, that we should throw it away upon pernicious lusts?
“—Throw time away?—
Throw empires, and be blameless. Moments seize:
Heav’n’s on their wing. A moment we may wish,
When worlds want wealth to buy!—” [400]
Perhaps you suppose, that youth is the season for gaiety and dissipation, and mature years, the proper time for seriousness and devotion; and, therefore, that you are to seek the salvation of your soul, only in some distant period of life. But this supposition is not more dangerous, than it is erroneous. How do you know, that the time will ever come which you allot for that great work, which is not so much as begun? Have you made a covenant with death? And if you should even arrive at old age; it is ten thousand to one, that your soul’s concerns will occupy your thoughts, in the least, after a long series of previous dissipation, deadness, and delay. Does not the want of certainty, therefore, in this case, furnish a most awful argument against the daring presumption of your conduct? Besides, why should the prime of life be devoted to sin, and only the enfeebled close of it consecrated to religion? Is there any reason, (rather, is there not the most infernal absurdity?) in supposing, that God may be put off with the services of infirm old-age, while the Devil is to be complimented with the blooming honors of health and strength? Dreadful preposterousness!