2. Their works do follow them.
1. They rest from their labours.
The word labours may include all the harassing occupations and afflictions of the world. Man, by the condition of his birth, is of few days and full of trouble: every rank in society, and every period of life, have their several trials; and we shall not be released from them till we find a shelter in the tomb. To all the ordinary afflictions of mortality, the servants of Christ are as fully exposed as the rest of mankind: and we know that they have likewise troubles peculiar to themselves. For, look into the New Testament; examine the representation there given of the nature of the christian calling; consider the exhortations, precepts, promises, so abundantly scattered through the sacred pages, to stimulate and encourage us to fight the good fight of faith: observe yet further in what manner the Apostles prosecuted the work of their salvation; with what zeal, vigilance, self-denial, perseverance, they encountered the hostility of the world, the evil propensities of their own nature, and the spiritual adversaries of their peace: with what energy they pursued their race, with what armour they were girt for the christian conflict; and then judge how arduous are the labours which belong to that heavenly calling! We grant, that in many respects, those were days of singular hardship; but the spiritual enemies, and the spiritual trials of the child of God, are in all ages essentially the same; and with regard to the world, according to the scriptural use of that term, while the great springs of human action remain unchanged, and so long as there is a visible distinction between the children of this world and the children of light, the christian will always find himself in a hostile land; and will prove, in his own person, that through much tribulation he must enter into the kingdom of God. For, observe any individual of exemplary piety; how stands the world affected to him? Does it favour his principles? Does it follow his example? Does it rejoice in his light? Only let him be as heartily in earnest on matters of religion, as sober reason must itself admit that he ought to be: only let him abound in the work of the Lord with a spiritual as well as with a temporal object in view: only let him seriously and conscientiously endeavour to walk worthy of his vocation, and sooner than he shall be exempt from troubles, his foes shall start up, as it were, from his own household; he will find enemies among those with whom he might hope to take sweet counsel, and walk to the house of God as friends.
But it is the happiness of them which die in the Lord, that they rest from their labours.
There is an important sense, in which rest may be attained, even during this present life; it is the promise of Christ to all that take upon them his yoke and learn of him; and that promise is fulfilled in our reconciliation with God, in peace of conscience, and in that meekness, patience, and contentedness of mind, which are among the fruits and evidences of Christ’s religion.
But the rest, of which the Spirit in this place assures us, commences at the hour of death. And how beautiful is the image! To the man wearied with labour, what prospect is so pleasing as that of repose? What sound so sweet as the promise of rest? Observe, then, the disciple of Jesus Christ; tossed amidst the waves of this troublesome world: harassed, not merely by the common afflictions of mortality, but by troubles exclusively his own: conscious, moreover, that while he remains on this stage of being, his vigilance never must be relaxed, and his warfare never can cease: how welcome to him must be the end of his probation! A deliverance from sin, and care, and temptation, and pain! An escape into that peaceful abode, where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest!
Let it not be inferred from these statements, that life and its labours are regarded by the Christian as a grievance hard to be borne; and that there is in his mind an impatient eagerness to be released from them. Although, in this earthly tabernacle, he may groan being burthened, and earnestly long to be dissolved, yet are these feelings and desires kept within the bounds of christian resignation. Convinced that all his trials are permitted by infinite wisdom and infinite goodness, he learns to be content with his state, to run with patience the race set before him, and cheerfully to commit himself to the divine disposal. Still, however, he cannot but be painfully sensible of the perils and troubles of his earthly pilgrimage; and we may imagine with what holy pleasure he will look back, when landed in a better world, upon that dark and tempestuous ocean which he so lately traversed! With what inexpressible joy he will turn from the scene of his afflictions, to the rest which remaineth for the people of God! Where is the reasonable man among us who would not devoutly pray, according to the language of our Church, that when he shall depart this life, he may rest in Jesus? Happy to each of us will be the day which shall release us from our earthly troubles, and call us to a state unmixed with pain, and undisturbed by apprehensions of evil!
2. The second ground of happiness to them that die in the Lord is this, that their works do follow them.
Faith, working by love, as we have already remarked, is the characteristic distinction of the children of God; and it is here expressly assumed, that they adorn their profession by the performance of good works.
The phrase, their works, must be understood of that entire course of conduct, which has its foundation in christian principles; of well-doing, whether it respects the duty which we owe to God, to our neighbour, or to ourselves; of obedience to the commandments; of the exercise of all christian dispositions, and especially of that love and of those works of mercy, which our Saviour has so strikingly inculcated, both by his precept and example.