The Lord's gentle usher

(Thomas Brooks, "A Heavenly Cordial" 1665)

Our life in this world is made up . . .
  of troubles and trials,
  of calamities and miseries,
  of crosses and losses,
  of reproaches and disgraces.

Death frees the Christian from all these things.
It wipes away all tears from his eyes, it turns . . .
  his miseries into mercies,
  his crosses into crowns, and
  his earthly hell into a glorious heaven!

When a godly man dies—he shall never more
be haunted, tempted and buffeted by Satan!

"Death," says one, "which was before the devil's
sergeant to drag us to hell; has now become the
Lord's gentle usher to conduct us to heaven!"

For a saint to die, is for a saint to be eternally happy.
Death is but the entrance into glorious life. That is not
death but life—which joins the dying man to Christ!
Death will blow the bud of grace into the flower of
glory!

Death is not the death of the man—but the death of
his sin. When a believer dies—his sin dies with him.
As death came in by sin—so sin goes out by death.
Death kills sin—which bred it.

The Persians had a certain day in the year wherein
they killed all serpents and venomous creatures. Such
a day as that, will the day of death be to every believer.
All his serpentine and venomous sins will be forever
destroyed! Then he shall never again . . .
  be proud,
  nor passionate,
  nor unbelieving,
  nor worldly,
  nor neglectful of duty,
  nor grieve the Holy Spirit,
  nor wound his conscience,
  nor break peace with God!

When death takes away a godly man, it takes him away
from his sins! And as death rids the believer of all his
sins—so it will rid him of all his sorrows. Death cures all
diseases, the aching head and the unbelieving heart.

Death does for a godly person, that which all ordinances
could never do, and which all their duties could never do,
and which all their graces could never do. It immediately
frees them from . . .
  all their sins,
  all their sorrows,
  all their tears,
  all their temptations,
  all their oppressions,
  all their oppositions,
  all their vexations!

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We have published Thomas Brooks'
38 page sermon, "A Heavenly Cordial"