his life or by his death: and feeing that living in the flesh, and labouring in the miniftry a little longer would be more neceffary, ufeful, and profitable to the churches of Chrift; and so be for the honour of his name; and to die and be with the Lord, were better for himself, this put him in a strait between life and death, a defire to live for public usefulness, and a defire to die for private and perfonal gain, as David was on another account, and which fome think there is an allufion to here, 2 Sam xxiv. 14. I have not read to you the former part of the text, for I am in a firait betwixt two; because I obferved, your paftor left it out, when he gave me the words read, and defired me to preach from them: for whatever difficulty he might have had in his mind, as doubtless he had, which to defire, life or death, whether to live longer, that he might be more useful to you, this church of Christ, and be more serviceable in the intereft of religion, or to die and be with Jefus; it was all over then, he faw his work was done, it was the will of the Lord to call him home, and he was defirous of going, that he might be with him. In the paffage before me, I obferve, I. The phrase by which death is expreffed, to depart. II. The defire the apostle had to depart, or die, having a defire; III. The ground of that defire, what raised or moved it, to be with Chrift. IV. The preferableness and fuperexcellency of what is defired, dying and being with Chrift, which is far better. I. I fhall confider the phrafe by which death is fignified, to depart; and I obferve, ift, The word used avaavour, has the fignification of a diffolution or loofening, and is by fome rendered, to be diffolved, to be loosened, and to loofe; and may be fed by the apostle, 1. In reference to the folution, refolution, or analy fis of a compound being, into its parts; and fuch a being is man, he is compofed of spirit and matter, of foul and body, thefe are the two integral, effential, and conftituent parts of man, and are very different in their original formation; the body was first formed out of the duft of the earth, the foul was breathed into it by the Lord; in their continual production, the body is by natural generation, is born of the flesh; the foul is created by God, and infused into the body. Hence one of the epithets of Jehovah is, that formeth the spirit of man within him: in their nature, the body is material, and consists of flesh, blood and bones, of arteries, veins and finews; the foul is immaterial, and poffeffes fuch powers and faculties, we call the 3 N 2 a Zech. xii. 1. the understanding, will and affections; the body is mortal and dies, the foul is immortal and never dies. Now between these two there is a nexus or bond of union by which they make one compofition, one being, one individual perfon, which is denominated fometimes from one part and sometimes from another; when from the body, man is said to be of the earth, earthly; and when from the foul, he is faid to be foxx, an animal, a fouly man; when from the former, he is called a mortal man; and when from the latter, a rational intelligent being; these two parts, though fo widely different in their nature, are closely united together; of this union God is the author, and what he has joined together no man ought to put afunder; but what is the band of this union, what it is that ties and keeps body and foul together; what are the bands and ligaments by which they are fastened to each other, none can tell, nor account for it; how it is the fpirit and matter fhould operate upon one another: and by the way, this may ferve to abate the pride, vanity, and infolence of fome objectors to myfteries in the gofpel, and the mysterious union of the three perfons in the Godhead, and to the mysterious union of the two natures, divine and human, in the Son of God: let them first fit down and try whether they can give an account of the union of their own fouls and bodies, and tell us what that is that unites them together; and then let them go on to object to the above, and other myfteries of the chriftian religion. But to return; Death now is the diffolution of this compofition, a feparation of foul and body, a difunion of these two parts, a loofening of the bond of union between them; hence the apostle James fays, that the body without the fpirit, wes, separate from it, is dead; death is no other than an untying of the knot or band, a diffolving of the union that holds foul and body together, nor can it diffolve any other. As it could not diffolve the hypoftatical or personal union of the two natures in Chrift, divine and human, only the union that was between his four and body; fo it cannot diffolve the union between the person of a believer and God, Father, Son and Spirit; the bond of which is everlasting love: death cannot separate from the love of God, nor from the love of Chrift, or difunite him and his people; for then when they depart they could not be with him, as the words of our text fuggeft, nor from the fpirit who dwells in the mortal bodies of the faints, and by whom they will be quickened. 2. The word in the text may be used in allusion to the loofening of the stakes and cords of tabernacles or tents when taken down; with respect to which the apoftle fays, for we know, that if our earthly boufe of this tabernacle were diffolved, zahun, a word akin to that in the text. The body is compared to a taber nacle, James ii, 26. с 2 Cor. v. 1. nisbeth away': death is a departing this life; and when a good man departs out of it, he enters into another, even into eternal life. When a man dies, he departs from his relations, friends and acquaintance, and they see him no more; the place where he lived, and the men of it, know him no more; he returns no more to this prefent world, into this frail mortal ftate his friends fhall go to him, but he fhall not return to them, as David faid of his child; and at the refurrection-morn there will be a glorious meeting of the faints, when they fhall come together, both living and raised ones, and fhall ne ver part more, but fhall be together for ever with Chrift. Death is, as it were, no other with the faints, than a departing or removing from one house to another, from the earthly houfe of this tabernacle, the body, to the oufe not made with hands, eternal in the heavens: from houfes of clay which have heir foundation in the duft, to everlafting habitations, to those manfions of joy nd blifs, which are in Chrift's Father's houfe. Now all this may ferve to make death eafy and familiar to us, and take off om the terror which it naturally induceth; it is but like going from one house another, and that a better, an houfe in heaven; from one city to another, and at a better, a city which has foundations, whofe builder and maker is the great d; from one country to another, and that a better, even an heavenly one. So b fpeaks of death in fuch language as this, and to fuch a purpose, to render more agreeable to him; if I wait, the grave is my houfe: I have made my bed be darkness: I have faid to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou my mother and my fifter, Job xvii. 13, 14. ༣ nd from this account of death, it may be obferved, that it is not an annihi- › confider the defire the apoftle had of departing or dying; having a défire which phrafe, as a learned man obferves", fignifies, a vehement and perpetual: mes iv. 14. m Zanchy in loc. the understanding, will and affections; the body is mortal and dies, the foul is immortal and never dies. Now between thefe two there is a nexus or bond of union by which they make one compofition, one being, one individual perfon, which is denominated sometimes from one part and sometimes from another; when from the body, man is faid to be of the earth, earthly; and when from the foul, he is faid to be foxx, an animal, a fouly man; when from the former, he is called a mortal man; and when from the latter, a rational intelligent being; these two parts, though fo widely different in their nature, are closely united together; of this union God is the author, and what he has joined together no man ought to put afunder; but what is the band of this union, what it is that ties and keeps body and foul together; what are the bands and ligaments by which they are fastened to each other, none can tell, nor account for it; how it is the spirit and matter fhould operate upon one another; and by the way, this may serve to abate the pride, vanity, and infolence of fome objectors to mysteries in the gofpel, and the myfterious union of the three perfons in the Godhead, and to the mysterious union of the two natures, divine and human, in the Son of God: let them first fit down and try whether they can give an account of the union of their own fouls and bodies, and tell us what that is that unites them together; and then let them go on to object to the above, and other myfteries of the chriftian religion. But to return; Death now is the diffolution of this compofition, a feparation of foul and body, a difunion of these two parts, a loofening of the bond of union between them hence the apostle James fays, that the body without the fpirit, wees, separate from it, is dead; death is no other than an untying of the knot or band, a disfolving of the union that holds foul and body together, nor can it diffolve any other. As it could not diffolve the hypoftatical or personal union of the two natures in Christ, divine and human, only the union that was between his four and body; fo it cannot diffolve the union between the person of a believer and God, Father, Son and Spirit; the bond of which is everlasting love: death cannot feparate from the love of God, nor from the love of Chrift, or difunite him and his people; for then when they depart they could not be with him, as the words of our text fuggeft, nor from the fpirit who dwells in the mortal bodies of the faints, and by whom they will be quickened. 2. The word in the text may be used in allusion to the loofening of the stakes and cords of tabernacles or tents when taken down; with respect to which the apoftle fays, for we know, that if our earthly boufe of this tabernacle were diffolved, hun, a word akin to that in the text. The body is compared to a taber nacle, ▷ James ii. 26. < 2 Cor. v. 1. nacle, the human nature of Chrift is called a tabernacle: and the apostle & Peter speaks of his body under the fame metaphor, and which is ufed by other authors; the reference may be to the tents or tabernacles of travellers and foldiers, who carry them with them, and pitch them, and take them down, as is convenient for them; and which is the case and condition of the people of God in this life, whose state is a pilgrimage and a warfare; and their bodies are the tents they dwell in, which are pitched for a while, and then taken down; fo that this fimile denotes the short continuance of the faints here; there is no abiding for them, bere they have no continuing city; this is not their reft, it is polluted: now death is a diffolving of this tabernacle, a loosing of its filver cord, an unpinning its feveral parts, and a removing of it elsewhere; as Hezekiah the royal faint said, mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherds tent: and as Peter calls it, it is a putting off this tabernacle, as a man puts off his cloaths; and it may be obferved, that the apostle Paul ufes the fimile of unclothing, at the fame time he fpeaks of the diffolution of the tabernacle of the body, 2 Cor. v. 1, 4. 3. The allufion may be as fome think, to failors loofing the fhip, and departing from one port to another: fo we read of loofing from one place, and failing by another; and departing in a ship, A&s xiii. 13. and xxvii. 13,21. and xxviii. The port from whence we loose at death, and lanch into the ocean of eternity, is this world, which fome leave with great reluctance, and others with great chearfulness; as it is with failors who have been long at a port, used to it and delighted with it, and the accommodations they find there, do not care to fet fail and go from it; fo it is with many who are glued to this world, and have their affections fet on the things of it, who are taken and delighted with what is in it, the last of the flesh, the luft of the eyes, and the pride of life; they do not chufe to quit it and go into an eternal world: but as others, who know it is their intereft to be gone, make all neceffary preparations for their voyage, and are in readiness to depart at a proper and convenient time, so fuch who are crucified to the world and that to them, and know that their true riches, pleafure, profit and honour, lie elsewhere, are willing to loose from hence, and go where it is moft for their intereft and happiness. The port or haven men are bound unto at death, and to which their course is steered and directed, is either heaven or hell, either they go to Abraham's bofom with Lazarus, and to paradife with the penitent thief, or to hell with the rich man, who, as foon as he died 2 Pet. i. 13, 14. e Wisdom of Solomon ix. 15. Democrat. fentent. p. 13. Ed. Gale. f Ifai. xxxviii. 12. & Illufione facta ad nautas qui quando e portu alio fui graturi funt folvunt navim & fimpliciter etiam avahva, dicuntur. Sic Chryfoftomus, fic Syriacus, fic Beza & alii. Zanchius in loc. Perinde eft five per verbum folvendi, five per verbum migrandi reddetur proprie tamen de navibus dicitur, quæ folutis rudentibus e portu navigant. Vorft. in loc. |
