them be the most excellent and useful who ever lived. Death is not

bosom, into paradise, into the "New Jerusalem," into the joy of his

Lord.

And thus much for the doctrinal part. You see that it is clear, by

these six things, that a believer's dying-day is his best day, and the

day of his death better than the day of his birth.

Practical Application

I might by many other arguments demonstrate this truth to you—but

let these suffice; because I would not willingly keep you longer from

the Practical Application of the point—application being the life of all

teaching.

1. Never mourn immoderately at the death of any believer, let

them be the most excellent and useful who ever lived. Death is not

the death of the man—but the death of his sin. Death is to them the

greatest gain; and it speaks out much selfishness in us to be more

absorbed with the gain and benefit which redounds to us by their

lives, than with the happiness and glory that redounds to them by

their deaths. In the primitive times, when God had passed the

sentence of death upon their dearest comforts, Christians behaved at

a more high, sweet, and noble rate than now-a-days they do.

Remember this—death does that in a moment, which no graces,

no duties, nor any ordinances could do for a man all his lifetime!