Chapter I
Of the blessedness of a dying believer.
And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. REV. XIV. 13.
MY design is to discourse from this text concerning death, which is the
shooting the gulf into the separate state of souls.
1. It is apparent from the words immediately preceding, that the season, and so the occasion of these, was an imminent danger of saints suffering unto death, and all other persecutions accompanying the keeping the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. This is pointed at as with the finger, and that twice in that 12th verse. Here, says he, are
they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. That
particle here, in historical narration, is set to note out the time when some observable thing fell out, as well as it doth a place, wherein Piscator
glosseth upon that word thus, In hac parte prophetic, for an historical pro phecy began anew at the 12th chapter, which from thence goeth over all
times, viz., from the primitive till the day of judgment. And this particle here accordingly points at some special succession and occurrent that falls out in a particular time, as a time wherein there would be extraordinary trials of the patience of saints to the utmost ; the word patience, by a metonymy, signifying the objects or matters of the exercise of patience; the particle here likewise points at such sad occurrences to fall out at that time as would try every vein of their hearts who kept the commands of God, and also denotes that God would then vouchsafe such measures of
patience to his people as should be signally eminent and singular, and
deserving this remark, Here is the patience. If you be desirous to know the time wherein these things are to fall out, look back to and compare herewith another passage in the 13th chapter
foregoing, wherein you have at once an entire scheme or representation of the rise, power, and cruelty of Christian Rome, when turned antichristian, and of her followers and adherents. And there you find a note of animad-
340 OF THE BLESSED STATE [CHAP. I.
version inserted i ver. 10X He that leadeth into captivity, shall go into
captivity ; he that killeth with the sword, must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and faith of the saints. And suitably to this, next
ensuing 14th chapter-, there is given another like entire map and represen tation of an opposite company, that followed the Lamb.,, in a succession all
along contemporary with the times of that beast s reign, and of his
associates. And you find in the middle part of that story there the same
reflections for substance that are here given, and there first uttered ; and
here in the appointed time marked out, when death and all cruelties were
to be executed on these saints. It is again repeated here in verse 12 of
this chapter, as that which occasioned these words of my text in verse 13, where you find death and dying also spoken of, answerably to their being
killed in that passage of the former chapter. So then we know where we
are, and the persons whom the words concern ; and withal a punctual
designation of the time, all which the 7th to llth verses do instruct -us
in, teaching us to reckon from the beginning of the breaking forth of the
light of the everlasting gospel in the height of antichristran darkness that went afore, preached by three angels, each after another, age after age, and more clearly the latter than the foregoing, discovering Rome to be
Babylon, and ordained to ruin ; and crying louder and louder against their
idolatries, and calling upon men -to worship God alone ; and also detecting their unwritten traditions, which they had mingled with the gospel. All which you may observeto be apparently reflected upon in those verses
6-11, And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue* and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him ; for the hour of his judgment is come : and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and sea, and the fountains
of waters. And there followed another angel, s-aying, Babylon is fallen, is
fallen, that gr.eat city, because she made all nations drink of the wrath of her fornications. And the third angel followed them., saying with a loud
voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark
in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his
indignation ; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the
presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb : and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever : and they have no
rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever
receiveth the mark of hi name. And the notice of this, as the special season, will conduce towards the understanding some things of irioment in
the text, as you will more clearly discern when I come to open that word
henceforth in the text. This for the season and occasion.
2. The scope and, ultimate design of the words was to comfort, hearten, and strengthen those saints in their suffering death, when any of them should be called thereunto for Christ. And as to comfort, so withal to direct and
excite them, that in their dying for the Lord and. his cause, they should
especially look to this, to die in the Lord. And that also all other saints, who were expectants of death every moment, should live as dying men, and
put and keep their spirits into a posture of dying daily, as those that might be hurried to death they know not how soon, and therefore ought to be
daily in thecontinual exercis.e of faith in the, Lord Jesus Christ. And
though it might be their lot to die in their beds -a natural death, yet they should see to it that they exert and -put forth all so*ts of dying graces,
CHAP. I.] OF THE SAINTS IN GLORY. 341
whereby to glorify Christ their Lord and God in their hearts in their
dying, to the utmost they were able ; as much a*s possible-, as if they were
dying at a stake for Christ.
3. The substance of the matter itself spoken, Sufficiently sheweth this to be the scope of the words : Blessed are the dead, says he, that die in
the Lord, &c. Which matter is summarily resolved into these three
things :
(1.) That there is a state of full and perfect blessedness to be entered
into, and possessed by the souls of saints, as soon as they are dead ; which
is the mind of that first saying, Blessed are the dead. Which blessed ness is further amplified in the latter clause, because they then shall rest from their labours, and their works follow them. Unto which the voice from heaven super-adds a pronouncing, them blessed that die in the Lord ; that is, that die in a lively faith, and stedfast hope in the Lord.
(2.) That this might be effected in the hearts and spirits of dying believers ; and thereby that full blessedness, promised in the first saying,
attained, and believers hearts established in it, the Holy jSpirit hath
passed a promise of his own) to make it good in those suffering times ; and from thenceforth to bless multitudes of his dying saints so to die in faith, and hope, and the exercise of other dying graces.
* Yea, saith the Spirit ; which I take to be an engagement and further promise of the Comforter
himself, undertaking more than ordinarily to accomplish in believers
hearts what the voice had spoken, testifying to the truth of it, and engaging his word to see it performed.
(3.) With all these, take in the importance of that small word, from
henceforth, as denoting a special privilege of suffering saints, in those
persecuting, bloody times ; and so running along thorough the succeeding
gospel times downwards.
All these things mixed together with, and digested by faith, having been
spoken, and thus spoken 1, by an immediate voice from heaven ; 2, com manded to be registered into the sacred canon ; and, 3, attested over and
besides by a personal warrant of the Holy Ghost, may perhaps be esteemed
as one of the strongest and most spiritful cordials that ever was com
pounded for men that are a-dying, or that live in a continual expectation of death, they know not how soon. And perhaps it may come to be so valued by those, if not in this, yet in following generations, whom the
, takes hold of, it reaching and extending to the end of the world, and for ever, for our comfort, if we would apprehend it ; but for certain unto theirs upon whom the latter ends
efficacy of this following word, from henceforth,
of the world are acoming, in which the light of the everlasting gospel will
grow. So as what the apostle says upon his own having discoursed of the
resurrection and glory that follows thereupon, in 1 Thess. iv. 18, Com
fort one another with these words, the same you may write upon this
alabaster box of cordial, the outscription on it, Comfortfor dying saints. And
the precious ingredients within do speak it. It is no wonder, then, that
this voice from heaven should so solemnly command the recording of this
: The voice said unto me, Write ; which puts a singular remark
saying
of honour upon it, in that this single passage should have so particular a command concerning it, to write it. Whereas in chap. i. 11, at the entrance
of this whole revelation, pthere had been a general command, Write, once
for all. And by virtue of that command it was, he still did write what he saw or heard revealed to him ; unless once when he was forbidden to write,
chap. x. 4 ; but this, and none but two more other, have such an indigi-
342 OF THE BLESSED STATE [CHAP. I.
tated redoubled command for them. And the one of them is the invitation of the Lamb s bride to her marriage with Christ : Rev. xix. 9,
* And he saith unto me, WRITE, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriagesupper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the, true sayings of God. And the other is, when the marriage is consummated, Rev. xxi. 5. And read with them the verses afore and after, for they contain the sayings he was to write: ver. 3, 4, And I heard a great voice out of heaven, say
ing, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them : and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be anymore pain: for the former things are passed away. Then
* And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega
: the
ver. 6, 7,
beginning and the end : I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. This is the blessedness of the new Jerusalem, which John saw come down from heaven, ver. 2,
* And I John saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And this, in my text, is the blessedness of souls separate, who, in the mean while, go to heaven. Both are proclaimed by a voice from heaven ; and I believe it
is the voice of God himself, that sits upon the throne, that uttereth both. And if of the whole scripture it be said, that whatever was written, was written that we, through the scriptures, might have hope, as Rom. xv. 4, then surely this single piece, the words of my text (which is commanded
to be written), above many other scriptures; for over and besides its
coming from heaven immediately, it hath also the broad seal of the grand witness on earth, the Spirit, 1 John v., set to it; after it is written and
spoken, Yea, saith the Spirit, &c. And it so directly and solemnly speaking to the point of blessedness in heaven, to be presently enjoyed by dying souls, must needs be intended to give us hope, the hope of all
: That blessed hope, Tit. ii. 13. Obs. That for dying saints to have their souls enabled to exercise faith and hope on the Lord Christ in the hour of death, is a singular and superadded blessing, over and above that of being blessed in heaven.
hopes
Blessed are the dead, that is the common inheritance of the saints in
light ; but Blessed are those that die in the Lord is an additional privi
lege. Even as to believe is a gift common to all saints, but to you, says the apostle to the Philippians, Philip, i. 29, is given not only to
believe, but to suffer ; and yet to believe is far the greater gift of the two, for in that is our salvation, and it is absolutely necessary thereunto ; but
so is not suffering, for a saint may be saved without it, though not without
believing. Yet in that manner, and upon the same account that the apostle magnifies suffering when added to believing, and that it is a farther special
privilege over and above believing, so it is here in this case of the blessed ness of a believer who dieth in the Lord. I do not say that to die in the Lord is in itself a greater blessing than the glory that follows in heaven, or that no saint comes to enjoy the blessedness of heaven unless he dies in
the full exercise of faith. There are many cases fall out to the contrary, and it may in that respect serve as a relief, that the blessedness of heaven
is spoken of as distinct from this of dying in the Lord. But yet still it is
a blessing in itself alone considered, to whomever it is vouchsafed, and it is
a blessing over and besides that of heaven. And we may comfort such a
CHAP. I.] OF THE SAINTS IN GLORY. 848
saint so dying with this thought, that God hath given not only to enter into
heaven when he dies, but hath blessed him in his dying with a lively faith, and stedfast hope in the Lord Jesus.
1. It is a great blessing, comparatively to the case of many other saints in
dying, whose happy lot it is not to have such vigorous actings of faith and
hope at that hour. And therefore such dying in the Lord is pronounced as
a blessedness in the second place, after the declared blessedness of all
believers who die in a state of salvation, and as additional to it.
2. It is a martyrs blessing, who are the eldest sons of blessedness among
all the sons of adoption, and unto them it is generally vouchsafed. The
design of this voice from heaven, Rev. xiv. 13, is to speak unto martyrs, and to comfort, encourage, and direct them in their dying, and to make a
promise to them of their being extraordinarily blessed in the most violent
and torturing death. And to bring a Christian s heart (especially in time
of youthful or manly years) to be cheerfully willing to die in the ordinary
way, there is need of great supplies of the Spirit ; and the apostle had
great expectation of them, whether he lived or died, Philip, i. 19, 20. And
therefore to be in any measure assisted at such a moment is a special and
singular blessing to a man. But to have faith overcoming unbelief, and
triumphant in the victory, and to have the whole soul filled with joy
unspeakable and full of glory, not only to hold his trust and confidence in
Christ to the end, Heb. iii. 14, so as to die quietly and composedly, having
his heart stayed on the Lord Jesus, as knowing on whom he hath believed, but to be filled with all joy and peace in believing, and to
* abound in
hope, Rom. xv. 13, this is a martyr s privilege and portion. And now
then, for any Christian to have a martyr s confidence and joys, without a
martyr s sufferings, how inestimable a blessing must this be !
3. The soul is blessed who dies in the Lord, because in that very hour
Christ admits him into the actual possession of the eternal inheritance which
he had purchased. It was this reception which Stephen prayed for : Acts
* Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit. And he not only receives it into
vii. 59,
his own bosom, but he brings it to God, and presents it to him with a
joy infinitely more abounding than can be in us. So that then it is that
Christ is glorified and rejoiceth in us, and so we may be said rather to die
to the Lord and his interest than to ourselves. And therefore,
4. The believer is blessed who dies in the Lord; that is, who dies in the
lively exercise of faith and hope, because Christ is infinitely more glorified upon us by such our dying than ever he was in our whole lives. We do
not only then take up from him a new estate, and are removed into it, and
as truly admitted by him as our gracious Lord unto that eternal house
above, not made with hands, as ever any tenant is admitted by the lord
of the manor ; but he then makes us completely qualified for our new
glorious habitation. He consumes all our lusts, and makes our spirits
perfect, and perfectly meet for the eternal inheritance, 2 Cor. v. 1-5.
5. The believer is blessed who dies in the Lord, because he hath the
Spirit to support him in that hour, which would otherwise be dark and
gloomy. The Spirit was given us for that hour, as a friend is said to be
* born for adversity, Prov. xvii. 17. And certainly he who was given for
a comfort to thee all thy life long, and hath delivered thee out of all thy distresses and fears, will certainly carry thee through this; and though thy heart should for a while fail thee together with thy flesh, yet God and his
Spirit will not fail thee, Ps. Ixxiii. 26. And truly the interest of the
Spirit s own glory (besides that he is that good Spirit to do good to us),
344 OF THE BLESSED STATE [CHAP. II.
his interest, I say, moved him. No merchant more rejoiced to bring his adventure home into the haven, after he had carried the same safe through so many storms, than the Spirit doth rejoice to bring a soul he hath wrought upon, and who was committed to his trust, safe to heaven. If a Christian be but reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you ; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you, 1 Pet. iv. 14 ; that is, the Spirit of God becomes a Spirit of glory upon them, and in them, viz., as he enables them to bear it with a glorious joy, surpassing what the
greatness and heroicness of a natural spirit would do ; yea, exceeding that
extraordinary assistance the same Spirit gives upon other occasions to the same persons. And thus the Spirit of glory rests upon the soul of a dying believer, and this is made good in many believers with joy at their death ; and yet it is more ordinarily seen in supporting at the least the spirits of
all, and in giving supplies of the Spirit to the most, as the apostle s word
is, Philip, i. 19. And he speaks it in relation to death as well as life, as will appear by comparing vers. 20, 21.
Use 1. Let us look to it, that we die so as to be blessed, that we die in the Lord. To die is a business no man doth but once, and is a business of the greatest moment of any we ever performed ; and therefore, to be directed and assisted in it, is answerably a great blessedness. If we mis
carry, and fail much in some acts that are of great consequence in our lives
(as who hath not done ?), yet we relieve ourselves with this thought, that we hope to be more assisted, and to do better at other times in our following course. And oftentimes errors in our lives are sanctified by the Spirit to be a good warning, and provocative to do better afterward. But if we miscarry in dying, we shall never have an opportunity to amend the fault. If we were indeed to revive, and die a second time, the error might be rectified and repaired ; but, alas ! it is appointed for all men but once to die ; and therefore to transact that well, must needs be a blessing indeed. Use 2. Let us regard it as the end, and the last act which will finish the whole. Let us regard it as the conclusion, that shuts up the story of our days past, and through which we enter upon eternity. Let us regard it as the centre of all the promises that are made to us for this life, in dis tinction from the life to come. Let us look on it as the point, whereon we stand, between the life we have passed, and that other we are entering into. It is the end that crowns all, which is foregone in doing well ; yea, dying in the Lord is the crown of perseverance. That and conversion are the two greatest blessings ; and as the one is the Alpha, so the other is the Omega. Conversion puts us into Christ ; but death, and holding our confidence to the end, possesseth us of Christ : Heb. iii. 14,
* For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.