Section 1135
IV. To observe the preferableness and superexcellency of this desired happiness
Which is far better, by much the rather better, abundantly exceedingly much better; [5361] there is no comparison between being in the flesh, and being with Christ: it is not indeed better to die than to live; life is preferable to death; but it is better to die and be with Christ, than to live in this world; whilst the saints are in the world, they must expect trouble; God has appointed it, man is born to it; Christ has left it as a legacy to his people; and through it they must enter the kingdom: but at death there is an end put to all; and in the other state there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, nor trouble of any sort, inward or outward; and therefore preferable to this: the present state is a sinful one; there is not a just man that lives without sin; as long as the saints are in this tabernacle, they will be burdened with a body of sin and death, under which they groan; but after death there will be no more sinning, no more of the corruption of nature, or an evil heart of unbelief; but their souls will be among the spirits of just men made perfect, and with Christ, presented to himself without spot or wrinkle, and to his Father faultless. Now they are harassed with the temptations of Satan; but then they will be out of the reach of his fiery darts: now they have only communion with Christ at certain times; but then it will be without any cessation or interruption; wherefore it must be much more eligible to a gracious soul to die and be with Christ, than to live in this sinful, troublesome world.
Moreover to depart hence, and be with Christ, is better than a well-spent life in the service of Christ, and to his glory; yea, than even laboring in the ministry; and that with success, and usefulness to the souls of men, and honor to the Redeemer; for though a minister of Christ may, as the apostle did, take the utmost pleasure and delight in the work of the ministry, and be very useful in it, as no man was more so than he; yet it is a work, and a toilsome and laborious one, and wearisome to the flesh; wherefore dying, and being with Christ, must be desirable, with proper limitations before observed; since then, the servant of Christ rests from his labor, and his works follow him: at least, it must be better for him, though not for others; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions add, by way of supplement, for me; for the apostle to live longer, might have been better, and more to the service of Christ, the glory of his name, and the good of his churches; but to leave the world, and be with Christ, was better for him; which made him incline to desire death.
From all which it appears, that there is a future state after death. Some think, when they die, there is an end of them; and therefore indulge themselves in all manner of sins; but such should know, that after death comes judgment; and that for all these things they shall be brought into it; and thus the soul exists in a separate state, and the body, though laid in the grave, will be raised again, to receive for the things done in it, of which an account must be given: besides, if this was the case, death would not be desirable; it is better to be, than not to be; to have a being, though attended with infirmity, imperfection, and trouble, is more eligible than to have none at all; especially it is much more desirable to a believer, because now at times, he has the presence of God, communion with Christ, the comfortable influences of the Spirit, and delightful conversation with the people of God; all which he would be deprived of, if at death he entered into a state of non-existence; wherefore the apostle, when he expresses his desire to depart, he signifies, it was that he might be, might exist somewhere else; and he tells us where and with whom, with Christ, and where he is. Hence it may be further observed,
That the only happy state after death, is to be with Christ: if a man is not with him, he is with devils and damned spirits, he is in hell, in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone; he is gone to his own place, and is in everlasting punishment; but if he is with Christ, he is happy, he enjoys the beatific vision of God, he sees Christ as he is, in his glory, and is made like unto him, and is in fullness of joy: and this happy state is entered into at once, upon a departure out of this world; hence these two are closely joined together, to depart, and to be with Christ, the one immediately following the other; and so our Lord told the penitent thief on the cross, that that day he should be with him in paradise: (Luke 23:43) and were it not so, was this happiness to be deferred longer, was there any future period fixed when it was to commence, as at the first resurrection, the beginning of the thousand years, and the last judgment, it would be much more desirable to live on earth until that time, than to die; since in the meanwhile some service might be done for Christ, and some enjoyment might be had of him; which would make living in the world, preferable to a state of uselessness and inactivity; wherefore from this desire of the apostle’s, it may be concluded, that the soul does not sleep with the body, in the grave, until the resurrection-morn: had he known anything of this, death would not have been so desirable to him, at least not so soon; it would have been better for him, and better for the churches of Christ, if he had continued to this day, and even to the end of the world, than to be in a sleepy, senseless, and inactive state and condition. Thus have I endeavored to explain and improve the passage of scripture read to you, at the request of my deceased friend and brother, whose character will now be expected from me, and I shall only attend to that part of it which concerns him as a christian and a minister of the gospel.
MR. AARON SPURRIER was born of believing parents, and had the advantage of a religious education; his father was a Minister of the word, who died when he was young, and left him to the care of his religious mother, who brought him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and a blessing it is to be so brought up; for when a child is trained up in the way he should go, he will not easily and ordinarily depart from it: yet so it was, in the case of our brother, as he informed me, that notwithstanding the religious restraints that were upon him, he broke through them, and privately, and unknown to his friends, fell into the sins and vices of the age; which, when his conscience was awakened, and his mind illuminated by the spirit of God, lay with great weight upon him, and filled him with inexpressible horror and terror; under which he continued for some time, until it pleased God to bring and apply unto him, and set home with power upon him, these words of Christ to Peter, I have prayed for thee—and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren (Luke 22:32).
Two things he concluded from hence, one was, that he had an interest in Christ, an interest in his heart’s love, and in his powerful and prevalent mediation and intercession; which eased him of his burden, and gave him comfort: and the other was, that he saw it was the mind and will of God, that when he was converted, he should be a preacher of the gospel, and so be an instrument of comforting and strengthening others: wherefore when he came to a settled composure of mind, and to be satisfied about his spiritual and eternal estate, he gave himself up to the study of the scriptures, and of the doctrines of the gospel, to be learned from them, and to meditation and prayer, and to the reading of useful books, with a view to the work of the ministry; his qualifications for which, in process of time, being taken notice of, he was called to exercise his gift, by the church to which he belonged; what difficulties he met with in coming forth into the ministry, and the source of them, I shall not touch upon; they are well known to many of you: however, these in time, were happily got over, and he was comfortably settled as a pastor among you, this church of Christ; the good effects of which you soon felt in the increase of your audience, and in the addition of members to your society.
Few young ministers come forth with such seriousness and solidity, with such spirituality and experience, with such humility and modesty, with such fervency and affection, with such clearness of light and foundness of judgment, as he did, considering his years, and some disadvantages he labored under; he was a burning and a shining light, and his light was more and more increasing, which promised a great deal of usefulness to the church of God; and ye for a season rejoiced in his light; (John 5:35) and it was but for a season, and for a short season too; a great deal of work was done by him among you in a little time, in the conversion of sinners, in the instruction of your minds, and in the regulation of the discipline of the church: but the all-wise disposer of all things thought fit to lay his hand upon him, and to afflict him with a lingering illness, which laid him aside from his work for some time, and at last issued in death. During his illness, he was for the most part very comfortable in his soul; at two several times that I visited him, I found his faith in Christ very strong and steady, built upon the Rock of ages, the sure foundation God has laid in Zion; there being no other Savior, or better foundation, as he observed, to be proposed instead of him; to him he looked, on him he depended, in him he trusted; and could with pleasure reflect upon the doctrines he taught others, as yielding the most solid consolation to himself on a dying bed: but at my last visit, and when he sent for me, I perceived he had had a conflict with Satan; the enemy of souls came in upon him like a flood, putting him upon it to prove, that he ever knew what growth in grace was; which he not being able to answer at once, he was tempted to question whether he had experienced any work of grace at all; which threw him into great concern and distress, until the Lord was pleased to relieve him by a powerful application of these words, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee: (Jeremiah 31:3) which filled his soul brimful of comfort, with a joy unspeakable, and full of glory, and which continued with him to his last moments; when he sweetly and easily, without a sigh or a groan, fell asleep in Jesus. And now give me leave to close this service with a few words to you, the members of this church, to which he was a pastor: and,
1. To the younger members of it; you that were converted under our brother’s ministry, and were the first-fruits of it, you have lost your spiritual father indeed, who would have had a watchful eye over you, and a tender regard for you; but consider, Christ your everlasting father still lives to care and provide for you, and supply all your wants; your prophet is gone, who, you might have expected, would have instructed you more largely in the truths of the gospel, and in what would have made for your peace and comfort; but remember, that though the prophets do not live for ever, yet the word of the Lord lives and abides forever, to nourish you up to everlasting life; your under shepherd is no more to feed you, the lambs in Christ’s flock: but the great and chief shepherd and bishop of souls is still with you, and he will feed his flock like a shepherd, gather the lambs in his arms, carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young: (Isaiah 40:11) he does not despise the day of small things, (Zechariah 4:10) nor will he break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoaking flax; (Isaiah 42:3) you may be confident of this, that the good work of grace begun in your hearts, shall be performed until the day of Christ: what one minister has been the instrument of planting, another will water. But a few words,
2. To the elder members of this church, and the officers of it, who have been of long standing in it: you have seen various changes and alterations in it, the several steps and methods of divine providence towards you, and his hand upon you in many respects: your ancient pastor, [5362] that was many years over you in the Lord, was sorely afflicted for a long time; frequently interrupted in his work, and at last wholly laid aside; though before that a young man [5363] of good abilities and promising usefulness was settled among you, and was soon snatched away from you by death; and now another young man in like manner; so that within these five or six years you have lost no less than three pastors! An awful dispensation this! It should put you upon search and inquiry what should be the reason of the Lord’s coming forth against you in such a manner, and of his controversy with you; and it might be reasonably thought you would be saying one to another, Is there not an Achan in our camp? and that everyone would be putting the question that the disciples of Christ did in another case, Is it I? Is it I? Have you nothing to charge yourselves with? No disrespect to the doctrines of the gospel? No want of attendance on the ordinances of it? No negligence in the affairs of the church and the discipline of it? No unsuitable and unbecoming walk and conversation in any of you? No declensions and backslidings among you, not taken notice of; and the laws of Christ against delinquents not put in execution? Something of this latter kind I understand was matter of concern to your late pastor; who, as I am told, has left you his dying charge. May it be of use unto you to stir you up to be more active and diligent, to be stedfast and immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; and to recover backsliders, and bring them back to the fold, or put you upon doing your duty to them. And,
3. To the church in general, I close with a word or two: do not be discouraged in your melancholy circumstances; though the Lord has stripped you of one pastor after another, the residue of the Spirit is with him: who knows but that a double portion of it may fall upon some Elisha or another, that may be sent among you: our exalted Lord and King has received gifts for men, and he bestows them on them, to qualify them for pastors and teachers, that they may be useful in the work of the ministry, and for the edifying the body the church: and he has a sufficiency of these to give; pray to him for them: I understand you are a praying people, that there is a spirit of prayer of late among you; I rejoice to hear it; you may hope for a blessing and expect it: go on praying to him who has promised to give pastors according to his own heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and with understanding; (Jeremiah 3:15) and considering what a number of ministers have been removed by death, how few there are that are come forth in their room, how many churches are destitute of pastors; it becomes us all to lay it to heart, and earnestly and fervently to pray the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into his harvest, (Matthew 9:38) faithful, diligent, and useful ones.