June 2

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.—Luke 23:46.

LET us consider more particularly what is contained in this blessed privilege. The reception of the soul into God's hands, implies three things:

1. Entire safety. After death the separate soul of the true believer immediately passes through the airy and ethereal regions to the highest heaven, the temple of God, the native seat and element of blessed spirits. The air is possessed by Satan with his confederate army, who are rebels to God, and enemies to the souls of men: he is styled the Prince of the power of the air. He often raises storms and tempests, discharges thunder and lightning, the woful effects of which are felt in the lower world. The numbers, the strength, and the malice of the evil angels to the souls of men, render them terrible. We may conjecture at their number, from what is related in the Gospel, that a Legion possessed one man. They are superior spirits to man, and though stripped of their moral excellencies, holiness, goodness, and truth, yet they retain their natural power at least in degrees. Their malice is unquenchable. It is said of the Devil, He goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. All the joy those malignant spirits are capable of, is the involving of the souls of men in their desperate calamity. And though they know their opposing God will increase their guilt and torment, yet their diligence is equal to their malice, to seduce, pervert, and ruin souls for ever. Now when the saints die, all the powers of darkness would, if possible, hinder the ascension of their souls to God. What David complains of his cruel enemies, is applicable in this case, Their souls are among lions; and if destitute of divine preservation, the danger would be the same; as if a little flock of lambs were to encounter with a great number of fierce lions, or fiery dragons. Anger sets an edge upon power, and makes a combatant of but equal strength to overcome. How dangerous then would the condition be of naked souls, opposed by over-matching enemies, armed with rage against them? How easily would they hurry them to the abyss, the den of dragons, the prison where lost souls are secured to the day of judgment.

But all the potentates of hell are infinitely inferior to God. They are restrained and tortured by the chain of his powerful justice. A legion of them could not enter into the swine without his permission, much less can they touch the apple of his eye. That black prince with all his infernal host can not intercept one naked soul from arriving at the kingdom of glory. Our Saviour assures us, None is able to pluck them out of his Father's hands. The Lord Christ our Head and Leader, having vanquished in his last battle on the cross, principalities and powers, made his triumphant ascension to glory. Thus his members having overcome their spiritual enemies, shall by the same almighty power be carried through the dominions of Satan, in the sight of their enemies, to the place of glorious residence.

I shall also observe, that as the Lord is a God of power, so is he a God of order, and uses subordinate means for the accomplishment of his will. Our Saviour has revealed, that the angels transport the separate souls of the righteous to heaven. Those glorious spirits, who always behold the face of God, such is their exact obedience to him, and perfect love for his children, that they disdain not to protect his little ones in this open state. They rejoice at the conversion of sinners, at their first entrance into the way of life, and with tender watchfulness encompass them here, never withdrawing their protecting presence, till they bring them to their celestial country, and resign their charge to the Lord of life. How safe are the departed saints, when conveyed through Satan's territories by the royal guard of angels that excel in strength!

2. Heavenly felicity. The receiving holy souls into God's hands, is introductory into his presence, which is both a sanctuary to secure them from all evil, and a storehouse to furnish them with all that is good. The Lord is a sun and a shield: he is to intellectual beings, what the sun is to sensitive, communicates light and life, and joy to them. In his presence is fullness of joy, at his right hand are rivers of pleasures for ever. All that is evil and afflicting is abolished—all that is desirable, is conferred on his children. A glimpse or reflected ray of his reconciled and gracious countenance, even in this world, infuses into the hearts of his children a joy unspeakable and glorious. A taste of the divine goodness here causes a disrelish of all carnal sweets, the dreggy delights which natural men so greedily desire. And if the faint dawn be so reviving and comfortable, what is the brightness of the full day? None can understand the happiness that results from the full and eternal sight of God's face and the fruition of his love, but those who enjoy the presence of God in perfection. His goodness is truly infinite; the more the saints above know it and enjoy it, the more they esteem it, and delight in it. His complete and communicative love satisfies the immense desires of that innumerable company of blessed spirits that are before his throne: there is no envy, no avarice, no ambition, in that kingdom, where God is all in all.

The divine presence is an ever-flowing fountain of felicity. The continual reflection upon this makes heaven to be heaven to the blessed. Their security is as valuable as their felicity. They are above all danger of losing it. Methinks the belief of this should cause us, as it were with wings of fire, with most ardent desires, to fly to the bosom of God, the only centre of our souls, where we shall rest for ever.

3. The reception of the soul into heaven is a certain pledge of the resurrection of the body, and its re-union with the soul in a state of glory. The covenant of God was made with the entire persons of believers; therefore under the law the sacred seal of it was in their flesh. To be the God of promise to them, implies his being a blessed rewarder to them. Our Saviour silences the Sadducees, who disbelieved the resurrection, from the tenor of God's covenant, I am the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, which title he was pleased to retain after their death; now God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. The immediate inference from thence is, that their souls did actually live in blessedness, and that their bodies, though dead to nature, were alive to God with respect to his promise and

14* power. If we consider that the divine law binds the outward man as well as the inward, and that during the time of our work and trial here, our service and sufferings for the glory of God are from the concurrence of the soul and body, it will appear that the promise of the reward belongs to both, and that the receiving of the soul into heaven, is an earnest of our full redemption, even that of the body. The bodies of the godly resumed by their souls, shall enjoy a full and flourishing happiness for ever.