be enough to us that we hope that we have that Grace which possibly may bring us to Heaven at last but we should labour to have that Grace that may reign in the Heart now and bring all into a due Order As in a Family when the Governors are Wise you shall have them if there be but the least Disturbance speak but a word and all is quiet And you shall have other Families that where the Reins of Government are loose if there be but a little Disturbance it grows more and more and to such a height that it 's tedious for one that hath a quiet Spirit to be in the Family and so it is in the Heart though the best hath some Disturbance But now where Grace Rules and Governs it stills all presently without any great ado But now in other men though they have some Grace yet if the Heart begins to be in a Disturbance it 's a long time before it can be quieted My Brethren I have gone through these Points briefly and you will say 'T is a harder thing to do this than to speak it It 's true it is yet some of the Saints have done it They have through the Mercy of God been brought to these things that have been spoken and it 's possible to be done Some have attained it and there is strength enough in Christ for the weakest to attain it And He delights as much to Communicate His strength in helping of His poor Servants in the times of Affliction as at any time Consider what hath been said in these several Truths and lay them up against the Day of your Affliction that you may say It is the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good A Sermon Phil. 1. 21. For to me to Live is Christ and to Die is Gain THis blessed Apostle Paul had in the Course of his Life many things befel him that seem to be very Cross much Opposition great were his Sufferings even unto Bonds And much hard Usage he had not only from open Enemies but from false Brethren whose Spirits were full of Envy against him And who can stand before Envy They were vexed to see how his Ministery prevailed in the Hearts of People to see what great Esteem he had how precious his Name was among the Saints They knew not what course to take to Darken him and therefore among others some of them would set upon Preaching Christ as well as he and see what they could do that way they would be as forward as he Well saith Paul all this makes for my Good and I rejoyce in it so be it I may be any occasion that Christ may be Preached whether of Good-will or Envy I am glad Christ is made known by this and this shall turn saith he to my Salvation to the Glory that I expect from Christ and with Christ That shall be furthered by it so long saith he as Christ is Honoured I shall never be ashamed No matter what becomes of my Body of my Life so that Christ may be Magnified in my Body whether it be by Life or by Death For to me to Live is Christ and to Die is Gain And this is the Coherence of the Words Here then we have a Man of brave Resolution of a truly Noble raised Spirit while other men are Grovelling here in the World in seeking Contentment unto the Flesh Here 's the Spirit of Paul raised above Life and Death To me to Live is Christ to Die is Gain To me to Live is Christ You have it in your English only so To Live and to Die But those that understand the Original know that besides the Word that signifies To Live There 's an Article in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And besides that word there 's an Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that if you would have it Translated according to the Propriety and Elegancy of the Greek it is thus To me the thing that is to Live is Christ and the thing that is Death is Gain As if he should say That thing that you call Life is nothing but Christ If Christ may be Magnified in me if I may be of any Service for Him any way then I am content to Live but if so be that He may be no more Served by me here let me Die and I shall lose nothing by that neither For that same thing you call Death the thing that People keep such a stir about and are so scar'd withal That to Die it 's nothing to me but that which will be Gain So that the words they speak out the frame of Gracious Heart blessing it self in Jesus Christ both in Life and Death To me to Live I 'll not make any curious Definition nor raise more Points than I shall go through at this time and the Points will be nothing but the opening of the Text in both Parts First That a true Godly man accounts Christ to be his Life And Secondly To a Godly man Death is Gain For the First To me to Live is Christ That same thing that you call life It 's Christ all is wrapt up in him I account nothing Life but Jesus Christ As for my natural Life that 's no way considerable but so far as Christ is in it Christ is the life of the Saints It 's more indeed then if he should say Christ is my life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the thing that is to live is Christ It 's a greater Elegancy than to say Christ is my life Christ is the life of the Saints First in this That they are by him freed from a Legal death Every man by nature is under the Curse of the Law he is a dead man as we say of a man that is condemn'd he is a dead man dead by the Law But now the Saints in Christ are dead to the Law Gall. 2. 19. But they live to God they are freed from that Legal death and so Christ brings life to them Secondly Christ is the principle of Spiritual Life in them It 's Christ that brings me to the Fountain of Life that unites my Soul again to God and puts me in a principle of Life to inable me to live to God and to injoy communion with him I in my self am as a dead Carkass without Jesus Christ To me to live is Christ Thirdly Christ is the preserver of this life of mine Notwithstanding all the corrupt and silthy and dead stuff that is in me yet Jesus Christ preserves this life in me And then in the Fourth place which I take to be the chiefe meaning of what the Apostle intends To me to live is Christ that is the great comfort of my Life that 's Christ A man doth not live except he hath Comfort in his Life For so the Scripture calls Life when a man hath Comfort Joy and Contentment in his Life Psal 38. 19. But mine Enemies are lively so you have it in your Books Mine Enemies are living so you
Delights he knows not how to deny himself in them but now a Man that hath another Life beyond this he can deny himself in these things 2 Cor. 14. 11. See what the Apostle saith there concerning himself For we saith he who live are alwayes delivered unto Death for Jesus sake that the Life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our Mortal Flesh Even this Mortal Flesh that must Die ere long in suffering for Christ here it doth manifest the Life of Christ And is it not a greater good to us to have our Mortal Flesh to manifest the Life of Christ than to have our Mortal Flesh to live here a Natural life We would be loath to have this flesh of our Bodies to be dead flesh While we are willing to suffer for Christ this flesh of ours doth manifest the very Life of Jesus Christ Therefore the Saints are dead to the World but they are alive to Jesus Christ But thus much for this first Part To me to live is Christ And to die is Gain To whom Christ is to live to them Death is gain The more we enjoy Christ and live to Christ here the more gainful will death be to us and the more shall we be able to look upon death as Gain And here we have a Scripture if we had no other sufficient to prove the Immortallity of the Soul How could death be Gain unto the Apostle if so be that the Soul should die together with the Body Indeed Christ would be Gain for another Life hereafter that is at the Day of Judgment there Christ would be Gain And those that do deny the Immortallity of the Soul yet they are not so vile as some take them To think that Man should Die like a Beast and there 's an end of him and that there shall be no Resurrection No But those that do deny the Immortallity of the Soul they say That though the Soul dies with the Body yet at the Day of Judgment both Soul and Body shall rise again and live for ever But all they deny is this That the Soul between Death and the Day of Judgment shall live They think that the Soul between Death and the Day of Judgment shall die and then by the Almighty Power of God they shall be both raised again That 's their Opinion But though it be not so bad as some would make it yet an Opinion false For this Text shews that Paul was in a straight he knew not whether to live or die but that was the conclusion that it was better for him to die for then he should be with Christ He could not mean that when he was dead he should be with Christ when the general Resurrection comes but he must needs mean that he should be with Christ immediately after his death and enjoy another manner of communion with Jesus Christ than he did here while he was living And it is upon this account that he saith It is gain for him to die Why Paul enjoyed much communion with Jesus Christ here and though he had some sin in him yet considering the Grace he had and the Service he did for Christ certainly it were better for him to live than to be in a condition where he should enjoy nothing of Christ and do no Service for Christ But the Apostle lookt upon the State of death before the day of Judgment to be a better Estate than that he had while he lived Though saith he I have the Grace of Christ and I do Service for Him yet there is a better condition between Death and Judgment If my Soul were gone from my Body it would be in a better Estate than now it is To me to die is gain and so you have it in 2 Cor. where the Apostle speaks of his departing out of the Body in Chap. 5. Therefore we are alwayes confident knowing that whilst we are at Home in the Body we are absent from the Lord. We are confident in verse 8. I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. So that 't is apparent that upon the Souls absence from the Body it is present with the Lord. Now if the Soul did die as the Body doth it were not present with the Lord no not so much as when it is in the Body But now the Apostle saith That when it is out of the Body then it 's present with the Lord and when it is in the Body it is absent from the Lord. And so it is upon this Ground especially that the Apostle saith That to him to die was Gain Because he should be absent from the Body but present with Christ which is best of all To be with Christ it is more than to have Christ with us The difference lies here For us to be with Christ it is for us to be brought to Christ where He is like Himself in all His Glory and Excellency and for us to enjoy Him in a proportionable way But now for Christ to be Immanuel God with us it is for Christ to come down as it were to us and to manifest so much of Himself as is sutable to our condition Therefore Christ humbles Himself to come to be with us For there He is a Man of Sorrows He is with us sutable to our Mean and Low condition but when we come to be with Him we are there sutable to His High and Glorious condition There lies the difference Mark The Apostle doth not here say To me to die is Gain Upon this Ground Because I shall be delivered from my Troubles As a great many are ready to think it were well for me to be Dead If they be but a little discountented their outward Trouble makes them willing to go out of the World Yea and if their Bodies be weakly and their Stomachs gone and cannot Eat as others do or Sleep as others do or are very Poor and Live in a mean Condition they are weary of this World Now to think death Gain upon such a poor Ground as these is not according to the Spirit of Paul Paul suffered as much as many of you do for outward things in this World and yet he did not desire to die O then I shall be Afflicted no more be Persecuted no more in the World no but when I die I shall be with Jesus Christ and shall enjoy Communion with Him and it 's this that makes me look upon Death with comfort and in this respect it's Gain Though Paul had enjoyed all the World at will yet he would have accounted Death to have been Gain to him And though Paul was a Man of great Esteem among the Saints though Persecuted by others yet death was Gain to him Yea though Paul enjoyed all Ordinances yet Christ was Gain to him And though he did a great deal of Service for Christ as I verily believe there was never any Man since the World was made did more Service for Jesus Christ
Therefore surely it 's Gain to die for a Godly Man 7ly Further It 's Gain in this respect When they receive immediately they shall receive all United in one and all together They shall have such Influence from Christ as hath all Good united in one Beam of Excellency and so receive it all together As now a Man may take the Quintesence of several Herbs there 's this Herb hath this Virtue another another and a third a third but now if you Still all these Herbs together you will have the Virtue and Quintesence of all in one Drop So Christ here scatters His Excellencies one in one Creature another in another but when we come to enjoy Him immediately then we shall have all in one because all His Excellencies whatsoever is united in one in Him Eighthly Further all our Good shall be in continal Act. Here we have a great deal of Good in the Habit but now when we come to have this Immediate communion with Christ there all our Graces shall be Acted continually The Sun you know how it doth Act the Earth whatsoever there is in the Earth it draws it forth and makes it flourish So the Presence of the Sun of Righteousness Oh how Gloriously will it Act all our Graces In Numb 17. 7. We read of Aarons Rod it Blossom'd And the Text saith It Blossom'd before the Lord. When the Souls of the Saints shall be before the Lord and be in the Presence of the Lord Christ O they shall Blossom and Flourish and all their Graces shall Flourish in a most Glorious manner Ninthly And then lastly We shall enjoy what is in Christ without any Intermission What 's the reason of any Intermission here But something that comes between Christ and our Souls But now when there shall be nothing between Christ and the Soul then there will be no Intermission That Sweetness and Comfort thou hast in communion with Christ at any time thou shalt have it at all times And how good is that O saith many a Soul could I have but the communion with Christ at all times as I have at some times O that would be comfortable Now when the Soul hath Immediate communion with Christ it shall have it at all times What 's the reason of Ecclipses It is the Interposition between the Moon and the Sun or some Interposition between the Sun and us So our Ecclipses of the Light that we have from Christ it is some Interposition Take away the Interposition and then there will be no Intermission Now put all these together and is it not Gain to Die and to be with Christ Now by way of Use It is Gain thus to be with Christ Hence then If it be Gain for one that doth so much Service for Christ as Paul did surely than those that are Believers and are made little Use of in any Service for Christ they will get by their Death Paul was a Man that one would wonder how the Churches could spare him he did so much for Christ and yet Paul would get by Death If thou beest a Believer thou shalt have thy Immediate communion with Christ as Paul had Alas here while thou Livest thou hast but little communion between Christ and thee and doest Him but little Service in the World Then why should you so much desire to Live in the World that have nothing to Countervail the Trouble that you have and the Sin that is committed in the World O surely it will be gain for you Secondly Hence it follows That it is a Self-denial to a Believer to be willing to Live here in the World You will say If it be so much Gain why should any be so desirous to Live It 's this first Nature will have its work though in their Judgments they are convinc't that it 's better to be with Christ yet the Body will be working and the Affections will follow the Body very much Further Though they be convinc't that it is Gain yet God lays a Tie upon them to preserve their Lives as long as they can here in this World in Obedience to God They do desire to avoid Dangers and Preserve their Lives It is not for them to be where it is best for them to be but to be where God would have them to be and therefore God doth charge them to seek to Preserve their Lives and to go on till He Himself shall Dissolve the Body and Soul It 's God that is the Lord of our Life and as God gave us our Lives so it is He that must take them away and not any Body else But yet I say there is some Self-denial in it We must look upon our selves here as in a very Low and Mean condition in comparison of what we hope to be within a while after Therefore observe this one Note Those that do believe the Gain of Death they had need Labour what they can to countervail the Forbearance of the Gain by somewhat or other If a Man hath a great Gain and it comes not in his present Possession he thinks What shall I have for my Forbearance You will say What is it that any Believer can have in lieu of his Forbearance of that Gain Truly the most Excellent thing is this that he may do Christ Service while he Lives Now then Is that the main thing O learn from hence to be of as much use in your Lives as possibly you can for you have nothing else to speak of in Forbearance of that great Gain Why Lord I expect to enjoy Thee for ever before long but thou art pleased to Prolong my Life here for a while in the mean time I meet with many Temptations and Troubles and Vexations and much Sin I have But yet Lord thou knowest it 's my desire to Honour Thee and Serve Thee and through Thy Mercy I am some way or other Serviceable to Thee in the Place where Thou hast set me and Lord this is the thing contents me while I am absent from Thee Thirdly Hence we see the great Difference that there is between the death of a Believer and the death of a Wicked Man I shewed you I remember in the death of an Ungodly Man when the siery Serpent comes with his Sting and takes him in his Natural Estate Death is not Gain to such a one O no death takes away all his Gain But now death is the greatest Gain to the Saints That 's an excellent Scripture you have in 1 Cor. 3. the latter end Whether Paul or Appollos or Cephas or the World or Life or Death or Things present or Things to come all is yours In Christ Death comes to be made yours Death is part of the Possession of the Saints O the difference between the death of the Saints and the death of Wicked and Ungodly Men Do but put two Men a Wicked Man and a Godly Man lying both together upon their Death-Beds you must take a wicked Man that hath an enlightned