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of its Creator? will he be content, when fin has marred the frame, and defaced the glory of it, to recover it to himself again, by the death of his own dear fon, and after all this, caft it way, as if there were nothing in all this? "Father, into thy "hands I commend my fpirit:" I know thou wilt have a respect to the work of thy hands; especially to a redeemed creature, upon which thou haft expended fo great fums of love, which thou haft bought at so dear a rate.

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Thirdly, Nay, that is not all; the gracious foul may confidently and fecurely commit itself into the hands of God when it parts with its body at death; not only because it is his creature, his redeemed creature, but because it is his renewed creature also and this lays a firm ground for the believer's confidence and acceptance; not that it is the proper cause, or reason of its acceptance, but as it is the foul's beft evidence, that it is accepted with God, and fhall not be refused by him, when it comes to him at death: for, in fuch a foul there is a double workmanship of God, both glorious pieces, though the last exceeds in glory: A natural workmanship, in the excellent frame of that noble creature the foul; and a gracious workmanship upon that again; a new creation upon the old; glory upon glory: "We are his workmanship, created in Chrift Jefus," Eph. ii. 10. The Holy Ghoft came down from heaven on purpose to create this new workmanship; to frame this new creature; and, indeed, it is the top and glory of all God's works of wonder in this world; and muft needs give the believer encouragement to commit itself to God, whether at fuch a time, it shall reflect either upon the end of the work, or upon the end of the workman; both which meet in the falvation of the foul fo wrought upon, the end of the work is our glory: By this we are made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the faints "in light," Col. i. 12. It is alfo the defign and end of him that wrought it, 2 Cor. v. 5. "Now he that hath wrought us

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for the felf fome thing, is God." Had he not defigned thy foul for glory, the Spirit fhould never have come upon fuch a fanctifying defign as this: furely it shall not fail of a reception into glory, when it is caft out of this tabernacle: fuch a work was not wrought in vain, neither can it ever perish: when once fanctification comes upon a foul, it fo roots itself in the foul, that where the foul goes, it goes; gifts indeed, they die all natural excellency and beauty, that goes away at death, Job iv. alt. but grace afcends with the foul; it is a fanctified, when a feparate foul: And can God fhut the door of glory upon fuct

a foul, that by grace is made meet for the inheritance? O it

cannot be !

Fourthly, As the gracious foul is a renewed foul, fo it is alfo a fealed foul; God hath fealed it in this world for that glory, into which it is now to enter at death. All gracious fouls are fealed objectively, i. e. they have thofe works of grace wrought on their fouls, which do, (as but now was faid), ascertain and evidence their title to glory; and many are fealed formally; that is, the Spirit helps them clearly to difcern their intereft, in Chrift, and all the promises. This both fecures heaven to the foul in itself, and becomes alfo an earnest or pledge of that glory in the unspeakable joys and comforts that it produces in the foul: So you find, 2 Cor. i. 22. "Who hath fealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." God fealing us gives high fecurity; his objective feal makes it fure in itfelf, his formal feal makes it fo to us; but, if over and above all this, he will please, as a fruit of that his fealing, to give us thofe heavenly inexpreffible joys and comforts which are the fruit of his formal fealing-work, to be an earnest, a foretafte and hanfel of that glory, how can the foul that hath found all this, doubt in the least of a rejection by its God, when at death it comes to him? Surely, if God have fealed, he will not refuse you; if he have given his earnest, he will not fhut you out; God's earnest is not given in jest.

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Fifthly, Moreover, every gracious foul may confidently caft itfelf into the arms of its God, when it goes hence, with "Father,

into thy hands I commit my fpirit." Forafmuch as every gracious foul, is a foul in covenant with God; and God stands obliged, by his covenant and promife to fuch, not to caft them out, when they come unto him. As foon as ever thou became his, by regeneration, that promife became thine, Heb. xiii. 5. "I will never leave you, nor for fake you." And will he leave. the foul at a time, when it never had more need of a God to stand by it, than it hath then? Every gracious foul is entituled to that promife, John xiv. 3." I will come again, and receive you "to mylelf." And will he fail to make it good, when the time of the promise is come, as at death it is? It cannot be. Multitudes of promifes; the whole covenant of promifes, give fecurity to the foul against the fears of rejection, or neglect by God. And the fouls dependance upon God and his promife; its very cafting itself upon him, from the encouragement the word gives it, add to the encouragement upon God. When he fees a poor foul that he hath made, redeemed, fanctified, fealed, and by folemn promife engaged himself to receive, coming

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to him at death, firmly depending upon his faithfulness that hath promiled, faying, as David, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. Though Lord, there be many defects in me, yet thou haft made a covenant with me, well ordered in all things, and fure; and "this is all my falvation, and all my hope." Lord, I am refolved to send out my soul in an act of faith: I will venture it upon the credit of thy promife. How can God refufe fuch a foul? How can he put it off, when it fo puts itfelf upon him? Sixthly, But this is not all; the gracious foul fuftains many intimate and dear relations to that God into whofe hands it commends itself at death. It is his fpoufe, and the confideration of fuch a day of efpoufals, may well encourage it to cast itself into the bofom of Chrift, its head and hufband; it is a member of his body, flesh and bones, Eph, v. 30. It is his child, and he its everlasting Father, Ifa. ix. 6. It is his friend. Henceforth, (faith Chrift,) I call you not fervants, but friends," John xv. 15. What confidence may thefe, and all other the dear relations Chrift owns to the renewed foul, beget, in such an hour as this is! What husband can throw off the dear wife of his bofom, who in diftreffes cafts herself into his arms! What father can fhut the door upon a dear child that comes to him for refuge, faying, father, into thy hands I commit myself!

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Seventhly, and Laftly, The unchangeableness of God's love to his people, gives confidence they fhall in no wife be cast out. They know Chrift is the fame to them at last as he was at first : the fame in the pangs of death, as he was in the comforts of life: having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end, John xiii. 1. He doth not love as the world loves, only in profperity; but they are as dear to him when their beauty and ftrength are gone, as when they were in the greatest flourishing. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord: fo then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's, Rom. xiv. 8. Take in all these things, and weigh them both apart, and together, and fee whether they amount not to a full evidence of the truth of this point, that dying belicvers are both warranted and encouraged to commend their fouls into the hands of God: whether they have not every one of them caufe to fay as the apoftle did, 2 Tim. i. 12. "I know "whom I have believed, and am perfuaded that he is able to "keep that which I have committed to him against that day." The improvements of all this you have in the following practical deductions.

Deduction 1. Are dying believers, only, warranted and encouraged thus to commend their fouls into the hands of God? What

a fad ftrait then must all dying unbelievers be in about their fouls? Sach fouls will fall into the hands of God, but that is their mifery, not their privilege: they are not put by faith into the hands of mercy, but fall by fin into the hands of justice: not God, but the devil is their father, John viii. 4. Whither

fhould the child go but to its own father? They have not one of thofe forementioned encouragements to caft themselves into the hands of God, except the naked relation they have to God as their Creator, and that is as good as none, without the new creation. If they have nothing but this to plead for their falvation, the devil hath as much to plead as they. 'Tis the new creature that brings the firft creation into repute again with God.

O difmal! O deplorable cafe! A poor foul is turning out of house and home, and knows not where to go: it departs, and immediately falls into the hands of juftice. The devil ftands by, waiting for fuch a foul (as a dog for a cruft) whom God will throw to him. Little! ah little, do the friends of fuch a one think, whilft they are honouring his duft by a splendid; and honourable funeral, what a cafe that poor foul is in that lately dwelt there; and what fearful ftraits and extremities it is now expofed to! He may cry, indeed, Lord! Lord! open to me, as in Mat. vii. 22. But to how little purpose are these vain cries! Will God hear him when he cries? Job xxvii. It is a lamentable cafe!

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Deduction 2. Will God graciously accept, and faithfully keep what the faints commit to him at death? How careful then should they be to keep what God commits to them, to be kept for him while they live? You have a great truft to commit to God when you die, and God hath a great trust to commit to you whilst you live you expect that he fhould faithfully keep what then you fhall commit to his keeping, and he expects you should faithfully keep what he now commits to your keeping. O keep what God commits to you, as you expect he should keep your fouls when you commit them unto him. If you keep his truths, he will keep your fouls. "Becaufe thou haft kept the word "of my patience, I alfo will keep thee, &c." Rev. iii. 10. Be faithful to your God, and you shall find him faithful to you. None can pluck you out of his hand; fee that nothing wrefts his truths out of your hands. "If we deny him, he alfo will Take heed left thofe eftates you

deny us," 2 Tim. ii. 12. have gotten as a bleffing, attending the gofpel, prove a temptation to you to betray the gospel. Religion (faith

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* Religio peperit divitias, fed filia devoravit matrem

one)

"brings forth riches, but the daughter devours the mother." How can you expect acceptance with God, who have betrayed his truth, and dealt perfidiously with him?

Deduction 3. If believers may fafely commit their fouls into the hands of God, how confidently may they commit all leffer interefts, and lower concernments into the fame hand? Shall we truft him with our fouls, and not with our lives, liberties or comforts? Can we commit the treasure to him and not a trifle? Whatever you enjoy in this world, is but a trifle to your fouls. Sure, if you can trust him for eternal life for your fouls, you may much more truft him for the daily bread for your bodies. I know it is objected, that God hath made over temporal things to his people upon conditional promises, and an abfolute faith can never be grounded upon conditional promiles.

But what means this objection? Let your faith be but fuitable to thefe conditional promifes, that is, believe they fall be made good to you fo far as God fees them good for you: do you but labour to come up to those conditions required in you, and thereby God will have more glory, and you more comfort: if your prayers for these things proceed from pure ends, the glory of God, not the fatisfaction and gratification of your lufts: If your delires after them be moderate as to the measure, content with that proportion the infinite wifdom fees fittest for you If you take God's way to obtain them, and dare not ftrain confcience, or commit a fin, though you should perish for want: if you can patiently wait God's time for enlargements from your ftraits, and not make any finful hafte, you shall be furely fupplied: and he that remembers your fouls, will not forget your bodies. But we live by fenfe, and not by faith: present things ftrike our affections more powerfully than the invifible things that are to come. The Lord humble his people for

this.

Deduction 4. Is this the privilege of believers, that they can commit their fouls to God in a dying hour? Then how precious, how ufeful a grace is faith to the people of God, both living and dying?

All the graces have done excellently, but faith excels them all: faith is the Phaenix grace, the queen of graces; defervedly it is filed precious faith, 2 Pet. i. 1. The benefits and privileges of it in this life are unfpeakable: and as there is no comfortable living, fo no comfortable dying without it.

First, While we live and converse here in the world, all our comfort and safety is from it; for all our union with Christ, the

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