waking. If God bid thee awake by the flames of justice, he will have no nay. The first sight and feeling which will surprise thee when thou hast left this flesh, will awake thee to eternity, and do more than we could do in time, and convince thee that there is no sleeping state for separated souls.

Doct. V. Christ doth receive the spirits of his saints when they leave the flesh.

Here we shall first tell you what Christ's receiving of the spirit is. The word signifieth, to take it as acceptable to himself; and it comprehendeth these particulars.

1. That Christ will not leave the new-departed soul to the will of Satan, its malicious enemy. How ready is he to receive us to perdition, if Christ refuse us, and receive us not to salvation. He that now seeketh as a roaring lion night and day, as our adversary, to devour us by deceit, will then seek to devour us by execution. How glad was he when God gave him leave but to touch the goods, and children, and body of Job. And how much more would it please his enmity to have power to torment our souls? But the soul that fled to the arms of Christ by faith in the day of trial, shall then find itself in the arms of Christ, in the moment of its entrance upon eternity. O, Christian, whether thou now feel it to thy comfort or not, thou shalt then feel it to the ravishing of thy soul, that thou didst not fly to Christ in vain, nor trust him in vain to be thy Saviour. Satan shall be for ever disappointed of his desired prey. Long wast thou combating with him; frequently and strongly wast thou tempted by him. Thou oft thoughtest it was a doubtful question, who should win the day, and whether ever thou shouldest hold out and be saved: but when thou passest from the flesh, in thy last extremity, in the end of thy greatest and most shaking fears, when Satan is ready, if he might, to carry thy soul to hell; then, even then, shalt thou find that thou hast won the day. is he that hath been victorious for thee, even as when thou livedst the life of faith, it was not thou, but Christ, lived in thee, (Gal. ii. 20.) Thou mayest fear at thy departure, and leave the flesh with terror, and imagine that Satan will presently devour thee; but the experience of a moment will end thy fears, and thou shalt triumph against thy conquered foe. He that saved thee from the dominion of a tempting devil, will certainly save thee from him when he would torment thee. Here he would have us that he may sift us, and get advantage on our

And yet not thou, but Christ

weakness; but Christ prayeth for us, and strengtheneth us, that our faith may not fail. (Luke xxii. 31.) And he that saveth us from the sin, will save us from the punishment, and from Satan's fury, as he did from his fraud.

2. Christ's receiving us, doth include his favourable entertainment and welcoming the departed soul. Poor soul, thou wast never so welcome to thy dearest friend, nor into the arms of a father, a husband, or a wife, as thou shalt be then into the presence and embracements of thy Lord. Thou hearest, and readest, and partly believest, now how he loveth us, even as his spouse and members, as his flesh and bone. (Eph. vi.) But then thou shalt feel how he loveth thee in particular. If the angels of God have joy at thy conversion, what joy will there be in heaven at thy entrance into that salvation. And sure those angels will bid thee welcome, and concur with Christ in that triumphant joy. If a returning prodigal find himself in the arms of his father's love, and welcomed home with his kisses, and his robe and feast, what welcome then may a cleansed conquered soul expect when it cometh into the presence of glorious love, and is purposely to be received with such demonstrations of love, as may be fitted to magnify the love of God, which exceedeth all the love of man, as omnipotency doth exceed our impotency, and therefore will exceed it in the effects. Though thou hast questioned here in the dark, whether thou wert welcome to Christ when thou camest to him in prayer, or when thou camest to his holy table, yet then doubt of thy welcome if thou canst.

O had we but one moment's sense of the delights of the embraced soul that is newly received by Christ into his kingdom, it would make us think we were in heaven already, and transport us more than the disciples that saw the transfiguration of Christ; and make us say, in comparing this with all the glory of the world, "Master, it is good for us to be here ;" but in consideration of the full, to say, 'It is better to be there ;' but it must not be earth must not be so happy as to have a moment's sense of the unconceivable pleasures of the received soul; that is the reward and crown, and therefore not fit for us here in our conflict.

But low things may, by dark resemblance, a little help us to conceive of something that is like them in a low degree. How would you receive your son, or husband, the next day after some bloody fight, where he had escaped with the victory? Or your

child, or friend, that arrived safely after a long and a dangerous voyage? Would you not run and meet him, and with joy embrace him, if he had been many years absent, and were now come home? I tell thee, poor soul, thy Saviour hath a larger heart, and another kind of love than thou, and other reasons of greater force to move him to bid thee welcome into his presence.

3. Christ's receiving the departed soul includeth the state of blessedness into which he doth receive it. If you ask what that is, I answer it is unto himself, to be with him where he is, and that in general is full of comfort, if there were no more, for we know that Christ is in no ill place; he is glorified at the "right hand of the Majesty on high." (Heb. i. 3.) And that the souls of the righteous, and at last their bodies, are received to himself, he often telleth us: "If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be." (John xii. 26.) "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." (John xiv. 2, 3.) And, in the mean time, when we once are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord, (2 Cor. v. 8,) and that is in "the building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (Verse 1.) Paul, therefore, desired" to depart, and to be with Christ" as being far better; (Phil. i. 23 ;) and Christ promised the converted thief, "This day shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke xxiii. 43.) And our state after the resurrection hath the same description, " And so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thess. iv. 17.) And what it shall be he declareth himself, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.' (John xvii. 24.) The soul of Lazarus (Luke xvi.) was received into Abraham's bosom, where he is said to be comforted. The heavens receive Christ, (Acts iii. 21,) and therefore the heavens receive the spirits that go to him, even the spirits of the just made perfect; (Heb. xii. 23;) that is, that are crowned with Christ in glory, and freed from the imperfections and evils of this life. And so that is plain, though some would pervert it, that " whether we wake or sleep, we may live together with him." (1 Thess. v. 10.) Not whether we wake to righteousness, or sleep in sin, for such sleepers live not with him; nor whether we wake by solicitude, or sleep in security; nor whether we naturally wake or sleep

only, but whether we live, or die, and so our bodies sleep in death, yet we live together with him. In a word, Christ will receive us into a participation of his joy and glory; into a joy as great as our nature shall be capable of, and more than we can now desire, and that the largest heart on earth can justly conceive of or comprehend. And because all this tells you but to the ear, stay yet but a little while, and experimental sight and feeling shall tell you what this receiving is, even when we receive the kingdom that cannot be moved, (Heb. xii. 28,) and when we receive the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls. (1 Peter i. 9.)

Doct. VI. A dying Christian may confidently and comfortably commend his spirit to Christ, to be received by him.

Though he have formerly been a grievous sinner, though at the present he be frail and faulty, though he be weak in faith, and love, and duty, though his body by sickness be become unfit to serve his soul, and as to present sensibility, activity, or joy, he seem to be past the best, or to be nothing, though the tempter would aggravate his sins, and weakness, and dulness to his discouragement, yet he may, he must, with confidence recommend his spirit to Christ to be received by him.

O learn his doctrine, Christians, that you may use it in the hour of your last distress. The hour is near; the distress will be the greatest that ever you were in. As well as we seem now while we are hearing this, our turn is nigh. The midwife is not so necessary to the life of the child that receiveth it into the world, as Christ's receiving will be then to our everlasting life. Το say over heartlessly these words, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," will be no more than a dead-hearted hypocrite may do. Such formal lip-service in life or at death doth profit nothing to salvation; now make such necessary preparation, that at death you may have well-grounded confidence that Jesus Christ will receive your spirits.

1. And first, let me bring this to the carnal, unprepared sinner.

Poor sinner, what thoughts hast thou of thy dying hour, and of thy departing soul! I wonder at thee what thoughts thou hast of them, that thou canst sin so boldly, and live so carelessly, and talk or hear of the life to come so senselessly as thou dost! Thou mightest well think I wronged thee, if I took thee to be such a brute as not to know that thou must die. Thy soul that brought thy body hither, that causeth it now to

hear and understand, that carrieth it up and down the world, must very shortly be required of thee, and must seek another habitation. What thoughts hast thou of thy departing soul? Will Christ receive it? Hast thou made sure of that? Or hast thou made it thy principal care and business to make sure! Oh, what doth intoxicate the brains of sensual, worldly men, that they drown themselves in the cares of this life, and ride and run for transitory riches, and live upon the smoke of honour and applause, and never soberly and seriously bethink them whether Christ will receive their departed souls! That they can fill their minds with other thoughts, and fill their mouths with other talk, and consume their time in other inconsiderable employments, and take no more care, and spend no more thoughts, and words, and time about the entertainment of their departing souls! When they are even ready to be gone, and stand, as it were, on tiptoe; when fevers, and consumptions, and many hundred diseases are all abroad so busily distributing their summonses, and when the gates of death have so many passengers crowding in, and souls are making such haste away, will you not consider what shall become of yours? Will you say that you God had appointed you

Will

hope well, and you must venture? If nothing to do to prepare for your safe passage and entertainment with Christ, you might then take up with such an answer; but it is a mad adventure to leave all undone that is necessary to your salvation, and then to say, you must put it to the venture.' If you die in an unrenewed and unjustified state, it is past all venture, for it is certain that Christ will not receive you. You may talk of hoping, but it is not a matter to be hoped for. Hope that God will make good every word of his promise, and spare not; but there is no more hope that Christ will receive the souls of any but of his members, than there is that he will prove a liar. He never promised to save any others, and that is not all, but he hath declared and professed frequently that he will not. And you are no believers if you will not believe him; and if you believe him, you must believe that the unbelievers, the unregenerate, the unholy, and the workers of iniquity, shall not be received into the kingdom of heaven, for he hath professed it. (John iii. 3, 36; Heb. xii. 14; Matt. vii. 23.)

If Christ would receive the souls of all, your venture then had reason for it; or if he had left it as a thing that depended only on his unrevealed will, and not on any preparations of our own, we might then have quit ourselves of the care, and cast