J. Church

“ He is the very glory of the place. We say at times, of some persons, they are the very life of the company—Christ will be the very bliss, the very joy, the very life of the church above for ever, when he is surrounded with all his blood-bought throng, and with all his holy loving angels; p. 19the lamb in the midst will make all their heaven; his person, his glory, his looks, his smile, his love, will feast their happy minds to all eternity; while the glorious majesty of God shall be enjoyed, through the all glorious body of Jesus Christ, as the rainbow round the throne, to behold this glory. ”

“ But amidst the dissolutions made by death, what an unspeakable mercy it is for the Lord’s dear people, the union betwixt Christ and their souls can never be dissolved: they are his property, his children, his bride; he is precious to them in life and death, as the blessed effect of his love to them, and their value in his sight. Hence, it is said, “Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee;” ”

“ The day of life—of the world—and the professing church—is far spent—the sun is going down over the prophets—the birds are hastening home—the labourer returning—the substance of religion declining, and the shadows of it are stretching out. With these solemn reflections, well may we entreat the company and presence of the dear Redeemer, as the disciples did. ”

“ What a mercy for the people of God they cannot die unprepared—none unfit; the grace that provided the kingdom has provided a fitness for it, in the person and work of the dear Redeemer, and in the effectual operations of the holy-making God the Divine Spirit; and without this holiness no man shall see the Lord—without this holy change of state, of principle, and of pursuit, none can enjoy either the liberty of the Gospel now, or the glory beyond the grave ”

“ I consider, therefore it is our duty to pay attention to this present affliction, for the loss of a spiritual friend, a pious and steady member of the church, an affectionate wife, a kind mother and a good neighbour. Although it is her eternal gain, it is a grief and affliction to us; but I trust that this, as well as every other appointed trial, was sanctified for us in the eternal covenant of grace, and as an evidence of it, produce in our minds its suitable effects. Death is at all times solemn and affecting in the world, in the neighbourhood, and amongst our acquaintance ”

“ Many, when exalted, forget their former poor acquaintances; but our ever-living, ever-loving, everlasting friend, has sworn by himself as the living God—“I will not forget you;” he lives in heaven for his people; by his death he paid the debt; by his resurrection he came out of prison; and by his ascension he shews himself openly to God, the creditor, and pleads satisfaction; he in acting in heaven as our advocate with the Father; he is the faithful friend at the bar of justice, answering all the charges that sin, natural conscience, and Satan, can accuse us of. ”

“ He is in the bosom of the father, the only begotten of the Father, the express image of the Father, the son of God, without the consideration of the human nature, either body or soul. He was a divine person: the human nature did not make him a person; but the p. 11Son of God did take the human nature into union with himself, and though possessing two natures he is but one person. As the adorable son of God, he lived before all the world, a life with the Father—a life of inconceivable delight. ”

“ Christ as head, and his people were chosen together; He first, in order of nature, as the head, and they as members; as in the womb, head and members are not conceived apart, but together, so was the church and Christ in the womb of eternal election. God views us in him, and never did, nor never will, consider his dear people separate from him as the chosen head of the chosen body. All other blessings flow to us from, and by virtue of, this union. We live in Christ, we have a covenant subsistence and representative being in him ”

“ God the Holy Spirit opens the grand subject to us, we receive it in the mind and affections. Conscience testifying this, we have peace with God. In this righteousness the church is perfected; in it they stand justified before God, and shall never come in to condemnation. But in his glorious character as Mediator, his having become surety for his people, he had to pay the dreadful debt of suffering the awful penalty. As the consequence of the sins of his church, he engaged to endure the hell we had merited. ”

“ While he lived upon earth, he lived a life of faith, hope, dependance, love, humility, and holy zeal, and the believer’s privilege is to live and say, as he lives, “The life I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God”—a life of faith, dependance, hope, confidence, love, humility, and zeal, though daily interrupted, and the subject of much deadness, carnality, and unbelief; yet as fresh life is given from his fulness, I possess a life that will never die. The Lord has promised to water his people every moment—“every thing liveth where this water comes ”

“ Let us notice the life of our most adorable Saviour. First, as God—He liveth from eternity; he is the living God, he is emphatically called life, the true God, and our eternal life; and this is the eternal life which John says was manifested: the very knowledge of whom is eternal life begun in the soul. In his divine essence, his eternal nature, he is the self-existent, independent Jehovah ”

“ Justifying, pardoning, and regenerating grace, is brought to light in the word, and often brought to light in the souls of God’s children, and they by virtue of union to their covenant head, live—live in the love, favour, mind, purposes, decrees, covenant, and promises of God—live in Christ, secured, hid, locked up—where Christ is hid as head, there they are hid—live representatively before God—live spiritually by quickning power, and this life in the soul is the holy spirit as the spirit of life. ”

“ And blessed are the dead which thus die in the Lord: all the Lord’s people die safe—all die in faith. They all die in peace and friendship with God and conscience. p. 26But this is meeting death, and finishing the warfare in militant glory. May the dear family, who were kind, affectionate, and perpetually attentive to her, experience the like grace in death—sweetly sleep in Jesus; and whatever may be their fears in life—Oh, that their end may be blessed. ”

“ Eternal election gives us a subsistence, a representative being, in Christ; he lives in God’s eternal mind and love, as p. 12the head of the church, and his people live in him, and shall live for ever in him; nor sin, nor time, nor death, can part them. ”

“ All beside, the Lord’s people as well as the world at large, must pass through the gloomy territories of this king: but, the dear Saviour has engaged to go with all his people, and conduct them safely through; and though all do not go through with the same joy, yet all are led on safely. Their enemies keep still as a stone, while the purchased people passed over. ”

“ Sin is abolished; the guilt is gone.—It has been said, that when a bee has fastened its sting in a man’s flesh, it is lost for ever after, and becomes a drone. Death, like such a bee, can only hum and affright, but never sting or hurt: it may, it must destroy the body, but it cannot hurt; like a fierce dog, whose teeth are broken out, it can bark and tear a mere tattered coat, but it cannot p. ”

“ Our great high priest bears all the names of his dear people upon his heart, and though exalted above all principalities and powers, he cannot forget his poor relations on earth. The days of his passion are ended, but not of his compassion. Our spiritual Joseph, though Lord of all, p. 18is not ashamed to own his brethren, the poor. ”

“ Among the many awful charges brought against backsliding Israel by the prophet Isaiah, this was reckoned not the smallest. “The righteous perisheth, (sleepeth) and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come.” ”

“ Legions of Angels can’t confine me there.”
p. 29An old divine of the last century remarks that “mankind are like sheep grazing upon a common—death is the butcher appointed to take away first one and then another.” ”