fore hath God "appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."

Now it is appointed unto men once to die; that is, to have a separation effected between the soul and body, those intimately united and affectionate friends and companions. And this is an act that God, by his omnipotent power, is continually effecting; and he only has a right to exercise that power, as he was the former and the creator. To represent death as personified, or as a tyrant, or under any other form, is only ideal, for death is neither a person, nor a thing, nor a spirit; nor is it either visible or tangible. Death is the extinction of life; it is a ceasing to be in the present state; and therefore, if there is anything terrific in it to us, it must be found either in the uncertainty whither we are going after death, or in the chidings and rebukes of conscience, which augur a dread of judgment to come.

Many of the followers of the Lamb have met death in all its most dreadful forms, and have sung songs of triumph while their bodies were consuming at the stake; and they have been enabled so to do from a sense of pardoned sin, and from having had that pardon sealed to them by the blood of the covenant; and, feeling assured of an interest in the blood of Jesus, from possessing the first fruits of the Spirit, they have hailed death as a friend, which, while it closed their eyes to terrestrial things, opened their enlarged senses to eternal things,-which, while it shut up the springs of earthly supplies, poured into their happy spirits the fulness of Him who filleth all in all.

That there is nothing really fearful in the act of dying, innumerable proofs might be given. How many

young persons have hailed the hour with exhilarating joy! One said, "Oh, rejoice with me; I am going to receive a glorious crown, a crown of many pardons ! Could you offer me the whole universe, I would rather die, and be with Christ." Another said, "My prospects are so bright for eternity, that that alone enables me to bear more than half my sufferings."

When we reflect upon who it is that has appointed that death shall pass upon all, we may rest assured of its certainty; for He is wisdom, and has no need to change his counsels, which were from all eternity; He is truth, in him is no variableness. God, the supreme lawgiver, has decreed irrevocably and unalterably to all the sinful posterity of Adam; and he has passed sentence upon all in the person of apostate Adam as their representative: "The soul that sinneth shall die." This is the sentence of the righteous Judge, which was never reversed but in the cases of Enoch aud Elijah, and which has been fulfilled in every age of time up to this present hour. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they "live for ever"? and shall we expect to escape the fulfilment of the sentence ?

Death, in its consequences. When the messenger arrives, or, in other words, when the time appointed comes, we shall be called to leave present scenes. On the day of our death, it is probable the sun will shine as brightly as ever it shone; his golden rays will gild the enamelled plain, and light up ten thousand glories in our world, but not for our eyes to behold. The glad hearts of those who remain may rejoice in his light; but our day of death is come, and we must go hence, and be no more. The busy world on that day will plunge as usual into all the bustle and business of life;

the giddy and the gay will as usual be hurried in the vortex of public amusements, and seek to dissipate the mind and banish thought. But we, if believers in the Lord Jesus, will then be going to make new discoveries of his love, to see new and unearthly sights, and to partake of fresh and untiring joys.

We shall then be called to quit our many comforts, and those of us who have possessions must part with them. And how easily will such things be abandoned, when they have not proved to be the things on which our hearts were set. We shall also be called to forego the ties of kindred, the ties of affection, and the ties of friendship. Those for whom we quitted father and mother must then be abandoned by us; those who are endeared to us by so many ties must then be left on this world's rude coast; and we who have children must part with them, those rudiments of men and women, who have so knit themselves to our hearts that it must be a rending asunder to separate us; but the day of our death is come, and there is no discharge in that war. In detaching our hearts, and forming our minds to this separation, we may remember that we shall meet again; for after death, the judgment— and we shall meet there! It is true, the assembly will be very great, but that will not form a barrier to our meeting both our partners and our children, for their presence as witnesses will be necessary either to our acquittal or condemnation before an assembled world, and therefore it is quite certain that we shall meet after death. We may also be able to give a pretty shrewd guess whether or not we shall meet them at the right hand of the Judge; for if we have the evidence in ourselves now, and if "by their fruits ye shall know them," then may we pretty accurately determine both

our and their reward; our consciences also bearing witness, and our thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing us.

Another consequence of death will be an end of all our various pursuits. Those who are daily toiling for the meat that perisheth will then have occasion to toil no more, but will be called to rest from their labour in the house appointed for all living. He who is making gold his hope, and saying unto fine gold, "Thou art my confidence," and is adding daily unto his store, will learn, that naked came he out of his mother's womb, and naked must he return thither; for the day of his death is come, and he can carry nothing away with him. The man, also, who is toiling up the hill of science or of literature must abandon all when death's summons arrives.

The day of grace will likewise be ended, and therefore the means of grace can be enjoyed no more, notwithstanding those means may have been often trifled with in seasons of health. A dying nobleman, who had lived a dissolute life, offered his vast estate for one quarter of an hour of time, that he might pray in that short space for mercy and pardon; but his wealth could not bribe the grave; his glass had run out, and go he must to meet his Judge. Who can tell how fearful a thing it is to trifle with life, and how far more fearful to slight the means of grace ? "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?" In whatever circumstances an individual may be placed when the hour of death arrives, whether he be holy or whether he be unholy, whether he be in the pursuit of the world or whether he be striving diligently for the faith, whether he be increasing his worldly possessions or making attainments

in the divine life, whether he be revelling in this world's pleasure or giving all diligence to make his calling and election sure, whether he be scoffing at religion or delighting in the ordinances of God's house, as death finds him, so it will fix him! Death will put a seal upon him, so that none can change or alter him; and in this state, whatever it may be, the individual will be handed over to his Judge. "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he who is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." "Therefore, whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."

"As death leaves us, so judgment finds us." Does not this form a forcible argument for employing diligence in preparation for death? Do we know that we shall die, and that we shall remain eternally in the same state as that in which death finds us? Do we know that there is no returning a second time to this earth, to amend that which may be found wrong after we have made our exit? Do we know that our lives are ever on the wing, that we are hourly, yea, momentarily, making rapid strides towards an eternal state? Should not our minds, then, be wholly absorbed in making preparation for death? Should we not be diligent in making our peace with God, through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Were we to take a retrospect of our past lives, what should we find, of all our doings, of all our acts of worship-what in all our prayers, in all our religion, on which we could lean for support in death, or that