Page:Great importance of a suitable preparation for death (1).pdf/4

( 4 ) deſire, Philip. I. 23. “I am in a ſtrait betwixt two, having a deſire to depart, and to be with Chriſt, which is far better.” And, 2 Cor. v. 2. “We groan earneſtly, deſiring to be clothed upon with our houſe which is from heaven.” I long greatly till the twenty-firſt year of my age come, when my minority ſhall be overpaſt, that I may enter heir to that matchleſs inheritance. But to clear in what caſes it is lawful to deſire to die.

1. I ſay, It is lawful to deſire to die, when it floweth from a deſire of uninterrupted fellowſhip and communion with Chriſt and conjunction with him; this is clear. 2 Cor. v. 6. “Knowing that whilſt we are at home in the body, we are abſent from the Lord.” Therefore, ver. 8. “We are willing rather to be abſent from the body, and to be preſent with the Lord.” And it is clear, Philip, I. 23. “I am in a ſtrait betwixt two, having a deſire to depart, and to be with Chriſt, which is far better.” It was his great end to have near and unmixed communion with Chriſt. What aileth you Paul (might one have ſaid,) may ye not be content to ſtay a while here? Nay, ſaith Paul, “I deſire to be gone, and to be with Chriſt.” Waſt thou never with him here, Paul?— I have been with him, ſaith he, but what is all my being with him here, in compariſon