III. That for the most part, or generally speaking
III. That for the most part, or generally speaking
The purchased people of Christ have a quiet and comfortable passage over the ford of death, into the land of promise and rest
As when the children of Israel went out of Egypt, not a dog was suffered to move its tongue against them; nor any person to give them the least molestation or disturbance; so when they passed over Jordan’s river to go into the land of Canaan, none of the Canaanites appeared to stop their passage, or dispute it with them, but were as still as a stone till they passed over; and when they heard what a wonderful passage they had, the waters of Jordan being dried up until they were clean passed over, their hearts melted within them. And so it is commonly with the saints in the hour of death; their spiritual enemies, who have given them so much uneasiness in life, are not suffered to distress them in their last moments. As,
1. The sins and corruptions of their nature, which dwell in them, and are of all the worst enemies they have; for a man’s enemies are the men of his own house, (Micah 7:5) as these are they are inmates with him, and yet at enmity with him, and give him a great deal of trouble and vexation; they hinder him from doing the good he would, and put him upon and urge him to do the evil he would not; and so break in upon his peace and comfort: they are the law in his members warring against the law of his mind, bringing him into captivity to the law of sin; which greatly grieves him, and makes him cry out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? But the believer perceiving his dissolution drawing nigh, spies deliverance from it through Jesus Christ our Lord; (25) which makes him thankful, and fills him with Joy unspeakable and full of glory. Now he sees those Egyptians that made his life bitter, and brought him into bondage, and induced a spirit of bondage on him, all dead on the sea-shore; having no power over him, and much less any influence to bring him into condemnation and death; now, those croaking toads as Dr. Goodwin called them in his dying hour, he finds and feels falling off from him; and in a short time will hear no more their croaking language, or their disagreeable noise and sound: nor is he in any fear from them, having a comfortable view of the free and full forgiveness of his sins through the blood of Christ; and of his justification before God, and acceptance with him through his pure and perfect righteousness.
2. An evil heart of unbelief is often very distressing to the saints in their present situation: unbelief is a sin that easily besets them; entwines about them, and entangles them; insinuates itself into them, and greatly bereaves them of their peace and comfort, and God of his glory. Their unbelieving hearts, by reason of sin, condemn them, and fill them with doubts and fears concerning their eternal state, and make them very uneasy and uncomfortable; though God is greater than their heart, and knows all things; (1 John 3:20) what love he has in his heart towards them; what provision he has made in covenant for them, and the great salvation his Son is the author of on their account. But often so it is, when they come upon their dying-beds, their unbelief goes off, their doubts and fears are dissipated, and their faith increases, and so their spiritual peace and joy in believing; and they are able to say with the apostle, I know whom I have believed; and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day; (2 Timothy 1:12) and though there may not be in all dying saints, the like degree and exercise of faith, or such as amounts to a full assurance, or holy triumph of it; yet there are some actings of it, and which are attended, more or less, with peace and comfort: These all died in faith; (Hebrews 11:13) in the faith of God, as a covenant-God; in the faith of Christ, as the only Redeemer and Saviour; and in the faith of future glory and happiness: and even a good hope, through grace of these things, is attended with spiritual joy and comfort; and this the good. man has in his death; for when the wicked is driven away in his wickedness, the righteous hath hope in his death; (Proverbs 14:32) and it is such a hope as makes not ashamed, and is never disappointed.
3. Satan is a very busy adversary with his temptations in the present life; and the best of men are not free from them, and are often galled mid grieved with them; and sometimes they have their conflicts with him on their dying-beds; but they come off more than conquerors through him that has loved them. And when this enemy of souls comes in like a flood, threatening to carry all before him, and swallow up the faith and hope of the children of God, and fill them with darkness, doubts, and fears, and black despair; the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him; (Isaiah 59:19) the person, blood, righteousness and sacrifice of Christ, and baffles all his designs, and secures the peace and comfort of the saints. And God can, and sometimes does, chain up this lion and stop his mouth, so that not one hideous roar of his shall be heard while the believer is passing over Jordan’s river, or through the ford of death.
4. The terrors of death are frequently taken off of Christ’s purchased people when they come to die; yea, even such who through fear of death have been all their life-time subject to bondage, are then delivered from it; (Hebrews 2:15) who have been greatly distressed on account either of the pains they shall endure on a death-bed, or of the agonies of their dying moments, or of what shall follow after; these fears have all vanished and disappeared, when death has come in view. Instances of this kind have been many, and well known: many a timorous soul in health, when they are upon the shores of eternity, just ready to launch into it, and are in the full view of it, have sat and sung, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord; (57) and if you mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, you will observe that the end of that man is peace; (Psalm 37:37) not only that his end or death issues in eternal peace; but the last end he makes is a peaceful one, or attended with spiritual peace. I will not peremptorily say, that this calm serene and peaceful frame of soul attends every dying saint; but I believe for the most part it does, if not always. For though the believer may have his darkness, doubts and fears, and many conflicts of soul whilst on his dying-bed: yet usually these are over and gone before his last moments come, and death does its work and office upon him; and from the gracious promises of God to be with his people even unto death; and from the scriptural accounts of dying saints; and from the observations I have made through the course of my life; I am of opinion that, generally speaking, the people of God die comfortably; their spiritual enemies being made to he as still as a stone, while they pass through the floods of Jordan, or the cold streams of death.