THIS Chapter contains the Prophecy which was uttered by Jacob on his Death-Bed, with respect to those things which were to be­fall his Posterity in the latter Days. It hath been observed of many of God's Servants, that God hath revealed more of the Counsel of his Will to them at the close of their Lives, than at any time before; but that which was spoken by the Holy Pa­triarch here, he was moved to speak in an extraordi­nary manner, by the direction of an Infallible Spi­rit. He mentions particular Events relating to several of his Sons, and the Tribes which should come from them distinctly: and in the midst of those predi­ctions he breaks out into this Pathetical passage, I have waited, &c.

The Words seem to be a sudden Ejaculation, having no strict or necessary Coherence with what goes be­fore, or follows after: only (as a Learned Man con­jectures) Charnock vol. 2. p. 1169. Jacob having compared Dan to a Serpent, upon the account of its subtilty, (ver. 17.) this might mind him of that trick which the Old Serpent put upon our First Parents, which laid the foundation of [Page 2] their fall, and so he takes occasion from t [...]e to express his Faith in that Seed of the Wo [...] who was promised to break the Serpent's Head. However this be, we may reasonably suppose, That so eminent a Saint, when he found himself almost tired with speaking to his Children, and the pains of Death taking hold of him, was willing (like Simeon) with open Arms to receive the expected Messiah, and desi­rous to be received by God for the Messiah's sake. This Patriarch is noted to have been exercised with more troubles than any of his Progenitors; and therefore he tells Pharaoh that his days had been few and evil, (chap. 47. 9.) and besides this, he had now the prospect of many Calamities which his Seed would undergo after his Decease, which might make the present Agonies of Death more sharp and bit­ter to him; but he fetches comfort and relief from this great Consideration, That there was a Spiri­tual and Eternal Saviour provided for him and his, whom by dying he should come to enjoy.

Some have been very industrious to exclude the Knowledg of Christ from the Old-Testament times; as if there had been no waiting for the Kingdom of God, and for the Consolation of Israel, before he was Mark 15. 43. Luke 2. 25. manifested in the Flesh; but we have been taught otherwise by Christ himself, who gave that Testimony to Faithful Abraham, He rejoiced to see my Day: And John 8. 56. Jacob's sight (who lived somewhat nearer to that Day) seems to be clearer than Abraham's; for in this last extremity of his life, he makes mention Three times of the Redeemer under three different Titles; he calls him the Angel, (chap. 48. 16.) because he is the Angel of the Covenant, who did both publish and confirm it; and the Angel of Gods Prefence, who [Page 3] was [...]e the Beginning with God, and through whom we have access to God; he gives him the name of Shiloh (ver. 10. of this chap.) that is, the Person eminently sent of God; and in the Text he describes him by that high and Glorious Character, the Salva­tion of God, which is the Stile not only used by seve­ral of the Prophets afterwards in speaking to the Jewish Church, but also by Dying Simeon, when the Luke 2. 30. Infant-Jesus was presented in the Temple.

The Doctrinal Proposition to be raised from these Words, may be this, Doct. That it is the work of Living, and comfort of Dying Believers, to wait for Gods Sal­vation.

I shall handle this Proposition in the following Method.

• I. Shew what is this Salvation which Believers are I to wait for.
• II. How is this Work to be done while they Live. II
• III. How will it yield them Comfort when they III Dye.
• IV. Apply the whole to our selves and the Oc­casion. IV

I begin with the first Thing, to shew, What this I Salvation is, which Believers are to wait for. In general, Christ himself, and the Benefits which come by him, are comprehended under it.

First, Jesus Christ in his Person may very well be (and indeed is to be most principally) understood by this expression: His Coming in the Flesh was the great Promise of the Father, embrac'd and depended on by all the Believers who lived before his time: He was the Desire of all Nations; and in a special Mal. 3. 1. [Page 4] manner the Hope of Israel. O that the s [...]ion of Acts 28. 20. Psalm 14 7. Israel were come out of Sion! was the unanimous voice of that Church in their Publick Worship. Now the second Appearance of this Christ to Judgment, and the Translation of our Souls to him by Death, with the happy Consequences of both, (as will be shewn in the progress of this Discourse) are things still expected by such as remain in the Body. Here particular satisfaction should be given to Three En­quiries.

• 1. Why is Jesus Christ stiled Salvation?
• 2. Why is he called the Salvation of the Lord?
• 3. What is he, who hath this Title, yet to do, which living Believers wait for.

1. Why is Christ Jesus called Salvation? I conceive chiefly for these Two Reasons; because he is the Pur­chaser and Dispenser of it.

First; Because he is the Purchaser and Author of Heb. 5. 9. Salvation; so he is stiled by the great Apostle; inas­much as he deserv'd, procur'd, and wrought it out for us. Our Salvation is founded in his Blood, be­stowed upon the account of his Merit, with a respect to his Satisfaction, and through the virtue of his In­tercession: It is true, we are saved by Grace; but the Question is, What Grace, and how it comes to be Ephes. 2. 8. exercised and conveyed? In relation to this, (though it be originally the Grace of God) 'tis said to be the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ; therefore Salvation by Acts 15. 11. and in Christ, are such very common and frequent expressions in the New Testament; nay we meet with the same sometimes in the Old Testament referring to him. So the Evangelical Prophet, [Page 5] Israel [...]all be saved in the Lord, with an everlasting Isa. 45. 17. ver. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. salvation. What Lord is this, but he besides whom there is no Saviour? He to whom the ends of the earth must look: He to whom every knee shall bow? He in whom we have righteousness and strength; and in whom all the seed of Israel shall be justified, &c. Who is this but Christ himself; and what Salvation is ever­lasting except his? The same Prophet tells us it was his own arm which brought salvation, for there was none chap. 63. 5. to help him in that work: Angels who excel in strength were too weak for such an Undertaking; a man's re­deeming of his brother by any means was much more impossible; for a combination of all the men in the World could not have been serviceable so much as to one: Salvation is the Price of Christs Death, and the Effect of his Power.

Secondly, Because he is the Giver and Dispenser of Salvation; and he hath Authority so to be en­trusted with him by the Father, because it was ac­complish'd by himself. In this sense he is called the God of our Salvation, by the Psalmist; this being the Psal. 68. 19, 20. great Gift which he received for men; for it is most apparent, that Christ is the person spoken of, from the foregoing verse, where we have an account of his v. 18. Ascension into Heaven in the very words which the Apostle Paul uses on that Subject. The Prophet Ephes. 4. 8. Zech. 9. 9. speaks to the same purpose, Behold thy King cometh unto thee, he is just, and having salvation: The latter part of that verse (lowly, and riding upon an ass, &c.) does plainly refer to the means and manner of Christ's famous Journey to Jerusalem, and is therefore applied to him by the Evangelist upon that occasion: When Matt. 21. 5. it is said that Christ hath Salvation, the meaning is, that he hath it to communicate; for though he is [Page 6] just, yet all the Mercy of God comes through his hands. For this reason he is called by Zacharias the Luke 1. 69. father of his fore-runner, an horn of salvation, from whence Salvation is more immediately pour'd out up­on lost and miserable souls. He carried it along with him whithersoever he went; therefore when Zacheus had opened his doors to him, he tells him, This day chap. 19. 9. is salvation come to this house. With respect to this, the times of the Gospel, which are more especially the days of the Son of man, are honoured with that Isa. 49. 8. Character of the day of Salvation. It is the Word of Christ, wherein this Salvation is declared and offered; it is by the Spirit whom Christ now sends into our hearts, that we come to be interested in it; and it is the same Christ who will put us into actual and compleat possession of it at the last.

2. I am to open, Why Jesus Christ is stiled the Salvation of the Lord: Upon what grounds might holy Jacob give him this peculiar discriminating mark, when he was making his last Address to God, Thy Salvation? The same note of Distinction and Pro­priety is frequently set upon Christ by God himself in the Prophetical Books, which any one that diligently examines may easily discover. Among other Reasons of this, these two may be insisted on.

First; Because Christ came with God's Commission; John 6. 38, 39. 40. how many times does he make mention of the Father's will that sent him? Thrice together in one Discourse. The whole transaction of the Recovery of sinful man, was by Divine appointment; the Father and the Son had from Eternity agreed, together with the Blessed Spirit, about what the Son was to undertake and per­form in time: I will give thee (says God, pointing at Isa. 49. 6. Christ) for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be [Page 7] my salvation to the ends of the earth; which Paul re­peating to his Hearers at Antioch, renders thus, I have Acts 13. 47. set thee, &c. The comparing of both places together, shews that Christ was constituted and ordain'd by God, to be what he is, and to do what he did. The work which he was engaged in, is therefore some­times called the Work of God, and he God's Servant in the carrying of it on. Indeed if Christ had not been authorized by the Father, all his Mediatorial Acts had been invalid; we should have been still in our sins, and under the curse; we should have been yet detain'd in the hands of Justice, and obnoxious to implacable Wrath.

Secondly, Because he succeded with God's acceptance. Our Lord hath finished his Reconciling-work, by finishing the Transgression which caus'd the Enmity; He blotted out the hand-writing which was against us, Coloss. 2. 14. and took it out of the way; which implies the consent and approbation of God the Soveraign Judg. He had a trust reposed in him, which he faithfully dis­charged; a burden laid upon him, which he patient­ly bore; whereupon he was justified in the spirit, and 1 Tim. 3. 16. Heb. 2. 9. Isa. 42. 4. crowned with glory and honour: He fulfilled what the Prophet had foretold concerning him, That he should not fail or be discouraged, till he had establisht judgment in the earth; this implies that there would be a great deal of difficulty and opposition for him to meet with, but he should conquer it all by his Omnipotence, and answer the ends of Gods Grace in sending him. All our Enemies were his; Earth and Hell, and (in some sense) Heaven too, were against him; but he came off victorious, and God declared him so, by gi­ving him a Throne to sit on after his Death and Re­surrection. God gave him his name Jesus at the first; Rev. 3. 21. Matt. 1. 21. [Page 8] and God's advancing of him to his own Right-hand, (a place of the highest honour) when all was done, is an evidence that he deserves to wear that Name, for he hath saved his people from their sins. God would not have so dignified his Person, if he had re­jected his Performance: Jesus Christ therefore is God's Jesus, or God's Salvation, as he is both Commis­missioned and Accepted by God on our behalf.

3. I am to shew, What Christ is yet to do, which living Believers wait for. This may be summ'd up in Two Things.

First, He is to receive our Spirits at the end of our lives; the Prayer of Stephen is a pattern for us all; When they stoned him (as his last breath was going forth) he called upon God, and said, Lord Jesus, re­ceive Acts 7. 59. my Spirit: It is true, he was mightily encou­raged to this, by the extraordinary Vision which he had a little before; He saw the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God, in a v. 55, 56. ready posture (as it were) to grant his request, and to receive his Soul as soon as parted from his body. Here was indeed a Glorious Discovery made, even to the Senses of that dying Martyr; but the discoveries which are made to our Faith, are as real as this, tho perhaps not altogether so ravishing; though now we see not Christ, yet believing, we may commend our departing Spirits to him, without the fear or hazard of being refused by him. David in the midst of great straits and dangers does confidently put up this sort of Petition, Into thy hand I commit my Spirit; Psal. 31. 5. and he urg [...] this Argument to back it, Thou hast re­deemed me, &c. Who so fit or so forward to do this for us when we dye, as he that hath already died to obtain our Redemption from the Second Death? He who [Page 9] pour'd out his soul for us, when he was upon the Cross, does thereby encourage us, now he is in Hea­ven, to pour out our souls into his hand; as the poor starved children are said to pour out theirs into the Lament. 2. 12. bosoms of their mothers.

Secondly, He is to come again at the End of the World; this is as much the expectation of Believers now, as his first coming was heretofore. To them that look for him, shall he appear the second time, without sin Heb. 9. 28. unto salvation. This is the appearing which the Church says Amen to, both at the beginning and the close of the Revelation. We expect to see that Jesus who was Revel. 1. 7. & 22. 20. once veil'd in flesh, coming in the Clouds of heaven; we expect to see him who had only the poor retinue of twelve Disciples, coming with ten thousands of his Saints: He that lived upon Alms for the mainte­nance of his temporal life, shall actually distribute eternal life; he that once stood before Pilate's Bar, shall sit down upon a Tribunal himself: And he that was Crucified through weakness, shall be armed with Irresistible power. All this Believers can expect with joy, because the Day of Judgment is their Day of Re­demption. Luk. 21. 28. Ephes. 4. 30. Who among the Children of God would not be glad to see his Saviour again, when he shall bring his final rewards with him! Who would not re­joyce to look upon him as a Judg, that's interested in him as an Advocate! We look for a very glorious re­volution before that day, with respect to the pros­perity and flourishing of the Church; but at that day there shall be such a change and renovation of the whole world, as will exceed in glory. It is not our belief, that Christ will suffer things always to continue as they are; but we believe that this decay­ing frame of Nature shall be dissolved, a new Heaven [Page 10] and Earth spring out of the ashes of the old, every creature be subdued to God, the publick sentence of life or death pronounc'd upon all mankind, and then the Kingdom deliver'd up to the Father. This is what remains to be done by Christ.

Secondly, The Benefits which flow from Christ, may be included in this term of the Lords Salvation; and there are some such, which believers while alive, are not possest of, but waiting for. I grant that they receive several of Christs benefits, when they are made believers, yea even those which are the earnest and pledg of all the rest: They have eternal life abi­ding in them, assoon as their spiritual life is begun; if they become the children of God by faith, at their new birth, then they are at that time the rightful Heirs Rom. 8. 17. of Heaven, and of all that Heaven contains; but still the Inheritance is reserved for them. They have not 1 Pet. 1. 4. the perfect enjoyment of all that God hath promis'd, and that Christ hath purchas'd, though they have the title and the first fruits. The following particulars will shew what they wait for, as the effects of their Saviour's sufferings.

First, (to begin with the least and lowest of their Expectations) A full deliverance from temporal and ex­ternal evils; such as pain and sickness, Providential disappointments and losses, unjust and violent Per­secutions, &c. which they are more or less, at one time or another, subject to in this life. Though these burdens are comparatively light, yet many times they make a Believer to groan under them, while he is in this Tabernacle. They lye so heavy some­times, 2 Cor. 5. 4. especially when several kinds of them meet together (like various Rivers which run into one [Page 11] Sea of trouble) that they make a man bitter in soul, and put him upon longing for death, which other­wise Job 3. 20, 21. he would be most desirous to shun. Though these are lesser evils, yet they are real; and so long as we labour under them, we cannot but look up­on our selves as miserable in part. Who can doubt that our blessedness is imperfect while our bones are vexed, while Gods arrows stick in our flesh; when so many Diseases are ready to assault us, and unseen Casualties to fall upon us; where our riches, and all other worldly glory (like birds upon the wing) are prepar'd to fly away from us; where our finest Hos. 9. 11. garments are so quickly moth-eaten, and our most valuable Goods corrupted; where our whole inheri­tance is liable to the spoiler's hands, and the Sons of blood (if God at any time let them loose) may arise and take possession? How uncertainly is our health, or ease, or plenty, or tranquility prolong'd, while we are here! in how small a moment may all the contrary mischiefs overtake us! But we wait the time, when God will finally save us out of all.

Secondly, Deliverance from the remainders of In­dwelling Corruption, and the Temptations of Satan. Here a Believer is often crying out with Paul, Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from Rom. 7. 24. the body of this death? He hath not yet actually obtain'd such a deliverance, but he waits for it: I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We ma­ny Ver. 25. times feel the tyranny and force of sin, though it hath lost its constant and allowed Dominion; we are led into an unwilling Captivity, though we have renounc'd the voluntary service. Satan, [Page 12] though he cannot command us, does frequently over­come us; though we do not yield our selves to him, we are prevail'd upon by him: He entangles us, though we do not run into the snare; he pur­sues and overtakes us, when we shun him, and fly from him. How troublesome and tedious is this to a child of God! that he cannot go from the evil spirit, nor stifle the lusts of his own heart! What a sad exercise is this to a Saint, that he should not only have Principalities and Powers to wrestle with, but be divided against himself! Indeed the sin­cerity of all those is to be suspected, who can bear this with any quietness or satisfaction. But the Heavenly state admits of no such disturbances; we wait for an absolute freedom both from sin and tem­ptation in the next world.

Thirdly, A Declared Justification from the Guilt of every sin. This was the motive to Repentance and Conversion, which Peter laid before the Jews, whose hands were stained with the blood of Christ: That your sins may be blotted out, wben the times of Act. 3. 19. refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. It is true, that every sin is now blotted out to every true Believer; but in the day of Christ, he will shew that it is so. The Books when they are open'd, shall be visibly crost, and we pronounc'd before An­gels and men as Righteous (by the sinless Obedience of the second Adam) as if we never had offended. There is a private act of Oblivion (as it were) al­ready past, but then it shall be publickly read in the hearing of the World. Our pardon is now certain (upon the supposition of repentance and faith) then it shall be as evident as certain, and universally [Page 13] known both to others and our selves: We are indeed Justified by Faith at present, and abundant­ly Rom. 5. 1. John 5. 24. secur'd from future Condemnation; but there will be a Judicial Declaration of our Righteous­ness at the appearing of our Lord Jesus, which will tend more to the Honour of God's Grace, and to the Increase of our Everlasting Joy: All that we have done amiss shall be so absolutely forgiven, that Christ will then audibly say in the General Assembly of Mankind, Well done; and will Matt. 25. 21, 23. not that be a joyful sound? We cannot conceive what Glory will redound hence to God, and what Triumph of Spirit it will cause in us.

4. A nearer view of God, and Converse with him. While we are sojourning here, we are at a Distance, and so see but darkly, and enjoy but little: We are nigh to God, in comparison of the Unregenerate part of this World, but we are afar off from God, in comparison of the glorified Inhabitants of the next. What signifies our sight of God in the San­ctuary, compared with that sight which they have in Heaven! How far short does our beholding in a Glass, come of seeing God face to face! What Com­munion have we in Ordinances, worthy to be named with the immediate Fruition of the Divine Presence! We wait for more open vision, and more intimate fellowship; for such a state wherein God himself Rev. 21. 3. shall be with us; not the Word of God, and other Instituted Means of Grace, but God himself: We cannot yet know (by speculation) how great such an happiness is; but we expect to know by experience; we are like persons standing at the door, who cannot see what is within the house; [Page 14] Death is the pulling of this door aside, and then all things will be nakedly exposed to our per­fected Understandings. To what good purpose shall we lift up our Eyes above, after our Friends have closed them for us here below! What a Glory will be revealed in us then, which is hid Rom. 8. 18. from us now! How much more of God will be communicated hereafter without means, than is or can be by them in this present state! We sit under Shadows now, then we shall sit down by the Foun­tain of Light.

5. Believers wait for the transforming of their Bodies into the likeness of Christ's at the Resur­rection. The raising, and quickening, and new beautifying of our Dust, (which, when we dye, is scattered in the Grave) is a work which re­quires an exceeding greatness of Power; but yet it is a work which we expect to be done: We groan within our selves, waiting for the adoption, to Rom. 8. 23. wit, the redemption of our body: The Redemption of our Bodies from the power of Death into a condition of endless Life, is called the Adoption, because it is the manifestation of the sons of God, ver. 19. as the Apostle speaks a little before, as Christ himself was declared to be the Son of God, by his chap. 1. 4. rising from the dead. The same Apostle speaking upon this Subject elsewhere, says, We groan ear­nestly, desiring to be cloathed upon, with our house 2 Cor. 5. 2. which is from heaven: A Glorified Body may be stiled our house which is from heaven, in opposi­tion to the earthly house mentioned in the fore­going ver. 1. verse, because it will be of a more spiri­tual and lasting frame; Distempers shall make no [Page 15] Breaches in it, and Death shall not pull it down. Infinite Goodness observes a method herein, which is suitable to Infinite Wisdom; first God advances the Inhabitant, and then, after a time, he repairs the habitation; first he unites the Soul more close­ly to himself, and afterwards the Body to the Soul: This is that admirable Change, which Job says, that he would wait all the days of his ap­pointed Job 14. 14. time for; that is, of his continuance in the state of the dead (as an Excellent Author How 's Bless. of the Right. p. 210, 211, 212. hath largely cleared.) Thus when we lay down our Mortal flesh in the bosom of the Earth, we leave it to rest in hope of a certain Immor­tality.

I proceed now to the Second Thing which was II proposed; and that is to shew, How this Work (of waiting for God's Salvation) is to be done by Believers while they live. Three Things seem to be included in it.

1. It includes Fervent Desires: Waiting for Christ from Heaven, and loving his appearing, in 1 Thes. 1. 10. 2 Tim. 4. 8. Scripture are the same thing; some things are unwillingly expected by wicked men; they fore­see that death will come, and they are afraid of it; so there is a fearful looking for of Judgment, Heb. 10. 27. (which follows after death): This is an Expecta­tion accompanied with fear, which hath a great deal of uneasiness and torment in it; they that have it, could wish to be disappointed and mista­ken: Hope is somewhat more than bare Expecta­tion, because it implies Desire, and that we have an Affection to the same thing, which we have [Page 16] a Prospect of. Sisera's Mother was eagerly desi­rous to see her Son marching home in Triumph, and therefore she lookt out at a window, and cried out through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long Judg. 5. 28. in coming? The Creature which groans under the Curse for our sin, is very desirous of ease and restitution, and therefore we read of its earnest Rom. 8. 19. expectation waiting for such a time. When the Church was waiting for God, they tell him, The desire of our soul is to thy name, &c. Do we then Isa. 26. 8. wait for the Salvation of the Lord, from a Prin­ciple of Love to him, and to the Spiritual good things which we expect from him? Can we say (as David did), That we wait for God more than Psal. 130. 6. they that watch for the morning? (Some think that the Psalmist alludes in that place, to Centinels in an Army or City, who many times being wea­ried with their tedious Service in the night, long till the day breaks, that they may be reliev'd and discharg'd by others). It is a necessary Question, Are our hearts directed into such a passionate wait­ing for Christ?

2. It includes stedfast Hopes: It is a Fruit that springs from Faith, for if that be shipwrack'd, no­thing will fix the soul in a waiting posture: To hope, and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lam. 3. 26. Lord, are things which always go together; so the great Apostle speaks, If we hope for that which Rom. 8. 25. we see not, then do we with patience wait for it: The Inference is grounded upon the preceding Supposition, we wait if we hope, but else we do not: Infidelity overthrows every thing of this kind, as is manifest from that woful Instance of [Page 17] the King of Israel, when the Famine was so great in the Land; This evil is of the Lord, wherefore 2 Kings 6. 33. should I wait for him any longer? q. d. I have no such confidence either in God's Power or Goodness, as to think that he can or will remove this Cala­mity, though he hath inflicted it; I never look for a return of plenty, any more than the opening of windows in Heaven, as one of his Courtiers ex­prest chap. 7. 2. himself afterwards. Do we therefore heartily believe the record which God hath given us of his Son? Are we firmly perswaded of Christ's Ability and Willingness to save? Are we deeply convinc'd how securely we may trust in him, how freely we may rowl our burdens on him, how boldly we may make our applications to him, when we are most terrified with the sense of sin and wrath? As he that comes to God, must believe that he is; so he that waits for God's Salvation, must believe that there is such a thing, and rest satisfied in its reality: A steady assurance of that which we expect, will bear up our expectation; but otherwise it will sink.

3. It includes diligent endeavours of preparation for the thing that we desire and hope: The Salvation of God is not to be hoped for out of the road of duty: In the way of thy Judgments (so the Com­mands Isa. 26. 8. of God are sometimes called) have we waited for thee: Such as walk irregularly (in their usual and ordinary course) are not persons in a salvable state. To him that ordereth his conversation Psal. 50. arigbt, will I shew the salvation of God; that is, to him, and him only. They cannot rejoice in the hope of glory, who do not live in the exercise of grace. A man that is dead in sin while he lives, may flatter [Page 18] himself with an imagination of dying the death of the righteous at the last; but the miserable event will undeceive him, when the time of Reformation shall be no more; I charge thee therefore (oh sinner!) before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, that thou ex­pect nothing but vengeance from him, till thou yieldest up thy self in a way of dutiful subjection to him. If you pretend to wait for God's Salvation, you must shew that it is more than a pretence, by taking care to work it out your selves: Consider those words of our Saviour, Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and you your selves like Luke 12. 35, 36. to men that wait for their Lord, &c. Are they that give Indulgence to Spiritual sloth, that live in the customary neglect of unquestionable Duties; that let themselves loose in their Conversations, to the same vanities with the children of this world, and perhaps to some of the same vices; that suffer their lamps to go out (having not Grace in their hearts to supply and feed them); and behave themselves as if Eternity (like the morrow) would take thought Matt. 6. 34. for the things of it self; are they indeed like to such men? Do these sluggards and licentious persons de­serve the name of Waiters? No surely; Salvation will never c [...]me home to any, but such as diligently seek it, and labour after it; Heaven will not drop in­to our Mouths, though we open them never so wide, as long as our hands lye folded together: Our Duties must prove our hopes legitimate, and our Obedience must justifie our Expectation: He that would sleep in Jesus at Death, must watch with him in his life; and whosoever thinks of dying to the Lord, must resolve against living to himself.

I come now to the Third Thing, which is to open III (briefly), How this waiting for the Salvation of the Lord, will yield comfort to Believers when they come to dye. This may appear in two Respects.

1. A Reflection on our own Act (of waiting) will be comfortable to us at that time: Hezekiah when he was sick unto death, refreshes himself with the view of his past Conversation, and appeals to God, Remember now, oh Lord! how I have walked before Isa. 38. 3. thee, &c. When Death finds a man in his proper place and work, in that station and employment which belongs to him, the Terror and Force of it is very much broken; but when it surprizes him in his sin, and comes upon him while he is fighting against God, no wonder if his Flesh tremble, and his Heart fail: he cannot look back without sad confusion, nor look forward without dreadful amazement. A Believer that hath liv'd long in the expectations of a Sum­mons to remove, and made suitable provision, may calmly shoot the gulph; the exercising of himself to God­liness beforehand, is a means to prevent all trouble or affrightment in his passage to Blessedness: Not that any of our Services are our Saviours, or that we can build a Tower of our own works, whereby to reach to Heaven, (for multitudes in attempting this, have tumbled into Hell); but the Fruits of Sanctification Rom. 8. 23. are a kind of First-fruits, with respect to Glorifica­tion; and our living unto God here, is a certain token of our being ordain'd to live with him hereafter: If we have kept the Precepts, we may know that we are Heirs of Promise; it yields comfort as a sign, [Page 20] though not as a cause: The Lord is good (says the Lam. 3. 25. Prophet), to them that wait for him; we do not by our waiting merit to partake of the Goodness of God (any more than a beggar would deserve an Alms, by standing at our doors) but God hath ordered, that we shall be thus qualified and disposed for it.

2. The consideration of the Object (God's Salva­tion) is very comfortable to a Believer, when he is at the point to dye. How sweet is it to think of being with Christ, when the Soul is standing (like Abra­ham) in the door of its tent, ready to depart out of Gen. 18. 1. the body! What a vigorous Impression must the Powers of the World to come, make upon the Soul, when it is stepping out of this! How strong a Cor­dial must the prospect of Heaven be to a Saint, that's just leaving of the Earth! What Comfort so great, as to know that our Redeemer lives, when these vile Carkasses are dying, and the Worms ready to destroy Job 19. 25. them! How little satisfaction is the having of goods laid up for many years, to one that must leave them all behind him in a few moments! What miserable Com­forters in a mans last distress, are bags which wax old, and treasures which fail! Therefore when holy David had been meditating on our common frailty and folly, Psal. 39. 6. (how we walk in a vain shew, and yet disquiet our selves in vain, &c.) he adds, And now, oh Lord! what ver. 7. wait I for? my hope is in thee: q. d. I cannot hope to be delivered from death, nor supported in death, nor made happy after death, by such perishing and corruptible things as silver and gold; but my eye is towards thee, as my Everlasting Portion, and upon the durable riches which thou hast to bestow; the sense whereof is sufficiently reviving, though I were [Page 21] now drawing my last breath, and falling into the hand of the Grave. Dying Believers are mightily supported when they consider how much nearer their Salvation now is, than when they were first uni­ted Rom. 13. 11. unto Christ.

The Fourth and last thing propounded, was the IV Application of this Doctrine. Several Inferences might be gather'd from it, agreeable enough to the Text, and the occasion: I shall only hint a few.

First, We may learn hence, that it is a mercy to be taken notice of, both by living and dying Be­lievers, that Christ did not consult the saving of him­self; for if he had, he could not have been the Salvation of God to us. If our Lord had follow­ed his Disciples counsel, and spared his own life, we must have liv'd and died in remediless despair. A little of that self-love in him, which reigns so much in us, would have ruin'd all our confidences, sub­verted our hopes, and left us to lye down in sorrow without recovery. To what mountains or hills should we have lookt for salvation, if he had declin'd the drinking of the bitter cup?

Secondly, This teaches us, that the present world was not design'd for the place of our abode, or ultimate fe­licity. It is our travelling way, but not our Country and our Home. Expectation ceases in a state of perfect fruition; why should we wait, if our hope were in this life, and not beyond it? We must put a stop to all our desires and thoughts of a future happi­ness, if the state which we now are in, were the state of full enjoyment. Take your measures of this [Page 22] world from the nature and quality of that work, which God hath given you to do in it. We walk by faith, 2 Cor. 5. 7. and not by sight; therefore here is not our continu­ing City, or the Center of our rest.

Thirdly, What a wretched case are the neglecters of this Salvation in! What will they do in their own last moments, and how shall they escape in the Heb. 2. 3. last day of the world! How sensibly worse will their condition be, when they have finished their course, than it is now! and yet what vast numbers of such fill up every place! men that prefer their own sins to God's Salvation, that set up worse Thieves and Murderers than Barrabas in competition with Christ, I mean those lusts whereby they rob God of his right, and destroy their own souls. Oh, that they would yet learn to be asham'd of themselves, and think of some of those who have liv'd in the same times and places with them, who (if they re­pent not) will rise up in judgment and condemn them! Before the Tree falls (Oh sinner) thou mayest alter thy posture, and turn a waiter for Christ, who art yet a Rebel against him; for now is the day of salvation. 2 Cor. 6. 2. I bespeak Conscience to do its office, in observing and recording, that this day the word of Salvation was again sent to thee; and therefore refuse or despise it at thy peril.

Fourthly, How should we be instructed by this, to converse with our living comforts, as dying crea­tures, as those that are waiting to be gone from us! How should we rejoice in their society, as tho we re­joyced not, considering that they are making them­selves 1 Cor. 7. 30. wings, and in a very little while, either they [Page 23] will leave us alone, or we shall leave them so! How easie is it then to overlove these mortal things! only He that hath immortality, cannot be lov'd too much. What folly is it to bind up our lives in the lives of our fellow-creatures (as Jacob's was said to be in Ben­jamin's) Gen. 44. 30. Col. 3. 3. when our life, and theirs, is hid with Christ in God, and upon that account they are always ex­pecting an opportunity to exchange their weary Pilgrimage with us, for a glorious residence with him! Our best Friends, and Holiest Relations are not to be reckon'd as living fountains, but as leaking and broken cisterns; and though we have the more mat­ter of thankfulness, the longer we enjoy them, yet this must not tempt us to presume, that we shall have them always with us.

Lastly, How should this lessen and abate of our trouble, with respect to those who are remov'd from us already! Their time of waiting is swallow'd up in an Eternity of full participation; their work is done, and their reward receiv'd; we are still running of our race, they have reacht the mark, and are sat down; we are praying to be visited with God's salvation, but Psal. 106. 4. it is no sin with them to restrain prayer, because they have possession. If therefore we loved them (as Joh. 14. 28. Christ says to his Disciples, in reference to his own departure) it should incline us to rejoyce; we should as well bless the Lord, when he takes them away in Job 1. 21. mercy to themselves, as when he gives them in mercy unto us. I readily grant, that this is an Hard saying, and that which will not be digested, and cannot be complied with, by Flesh and Blood; But I speak of moderating sorrow, not of extinguish­ing it; 'tis unnatural not to mourn, as 'tis Ʋnchristian [Page 24] to mourn like men without hope. Many things were represented and describ'd in Vision to the Prophets of old, which were never really put in practice; and among such things some have supposed, that That Injunction may be numbred; Son of man, be­hold Ezek. 24. 16. I take away from thee the desire of thine Eyes with a stroke; yet shalt thou not mourn, nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. The limited expression of our Grief upon such occasions, is agreeable to Na­ture; but this must not run so far, as to contradict the Principles of Grace. Grieve not, as if you envi­ed them the consummation of their Joy, and wisht their return to you. If we should choose death ra­ther than life for our selves (supposing that it were put to our choice) let it please us, that God in his Providence hath chosen this for them.

I can with great courage and boldness recom­mend this Duty at this time, having such good grounds whereon to perswade my self of the blessed Condition of Our Departed Friend; I will not say, that this Sheep of Christ was without spot, (because this is peculiar to the Lamb of God himself) but without the least doubt or jealousie of the con­trary, I do affirm, that Her spot was the spot of Deut. 32. 5. God's Children; and therefore whatever lamented Infirmity she had, I am sure, that it ought not to be objected against her Name and Memory by us who dwell still in Houses of Clay, who, if we say that 1 John 1. 8. we have no sin, deserve to be branded for Lying Hy­pocrites. As all that knew her, so especially we in this Congregation, that survive her, have great rea­son to call her back into our Thoughts, as a Worthy Pattern and Example for our future imitation. She [Page 25] was one that kept the Law as the Apple of her Eye; she was very tender and cautious in avoiding the doubtful appearances of evil; and discover'd a re­markable hatred of sin, and zeal against it. More particularly, she was a very strict observer of the Christian Sabbath, and exceeding fearful of doing any thing, which might but seem to pollute or pro­phane it in the least degree. (I could wish, that the Generality of Professors took as much care to abstain from what is plainly sinful upon that Holy Day, as she did to forbear what was really innocent in its nature, lest it should accidentally give offence.) She took great delight at all times in approacing unto God, and it was with a more than ordinary desire, that she desired to joyn in the last Sacrament with us before she died, (in imitation of Christ's desiring to Luk. [...]2. 15. eat the Passeover with his Disciples before he suf­fer'd.) As if she had met with some secret Inti­mation from God (tho there was no open suspicion) how near the time drew, that she must dye; and as if after this, she could have said, It is enough now, O Lord; Let thy Servant depart in peace. She was an Chap. 2. 29. hearty lover of God's Word and Ways, of his Messen­gers and People; and she did not only sit before him as a Reverent Worshipper of him here, but she walkt Joh. 9. 31. with him in her whole course, as a Conscientious Doer of his will. She embrac'd the Doctrine of faith, and liv'd a life of faith, by which she adorn'd the Doctrine; and now I am not afraid to pronounce, that she hath receiv'd the end of her faith, the Sal­vation 1 Pet. 1. 9. of her soul. While we are yet singing in the tune of Lamentations, I question not but that her Song is, This is my God, (and my Christ) I have Isa. 25. 9. waited for him. She that a Week ago sat among [Page 26] us at God's Foot, is now among Angels and the Spirits of just men about his Throne; she who then stood as a Learner at Wisdoms gates, hath now much more un­derstanding than all her Teachers, and is a Pillar in the Heavenly Temple; she who kept the last Sabbath with us, is now keeping an Eternal one with God; and she who then feasted with some of us at the Table of the Lord, is now an actual Guest at the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb. I scruple not to parallel her with dying Jacob in the Text, for in Christ Jesus there is neither Male Gal. 3. 28. nor Female; (that is, no distinction as to Spiritual Privileges between the one and the other.) And she was a true Daughter of Abraham, according to the Faith, and one of the holy Seed of Jacob; there­fore she is now sat down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob (and all the rest of the Old and New Testa­ment-Believers) in the Kingdom of God. Matt. 8. 11.

What is now the Language of this surprizing Pro­vidence to us? The voice says, Cry; but what does it Isa. 40. 6. cry? All flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. Here was one of a strong and active, sound and healthful Constitution, in a few hours (after the fatal Distemper seized her) depri­ved of Sense and Ʋnderstanding, and in a few more deprived of life. When we lose the comfort of the Lives of our Friends, let us not also lose the benefit which God intends us by their Deaths. What Joy will there be in heaven where she is, if this Sermon, occasioned by her sleeping in the dust, prove the awakening of any one Soul to Righteousness! That word is fulfilled among us this day, One shall be taken, Matt. 24. 40. and another left; she is snatcht out of the body, and we are continued in it; boast not your selves of to mor­row, Prov. 27. 1. [Page 27] much less of a week to come; but spend every day, and especially sanctifie every Lords day, as per­sons who are not sure of living till the next. Consi­der how quick a stroke cut off this Servant of God, who within the compass of little more than a Natu­ral Day, was Well and Dead. Her place in this As­sembly will now know her no more: You cannot tell how soon your Seats (like that of David) will also 1 Sam. 20. 18. be empty; empty of you, though they may be filled with others. Remember that the time is short, and your passage to Eternity may be sudden; therefore se­riously look after the things of your peace, so as to ac­quaint your selves with God, and make him your Friend, before you see Death, which to all unprepa­red Souls is the worst, as well as the last Enemy.