and confidently to say, "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Sickness, suffering, and death itself surely may be cheerfully undergone, if, with the spouse, we can say, "His right hand is under my head, and his left hand doth embrace me."

8. Affliction prepares us for greater measures of future glory.

Though in heaven all are happy and glorious, they possess very different degrees of honour and of joy. For one star differeth from another star in glory: and so also is the resurrection of the dead. The degrees of glory in general, are conferred according to the diligence and devotedness displayed in the service of God. "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many unto righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." But there are cases in which the rewards of that better world, are proportioned to the sacrifices which have been made, and the faith and fortitude with which sufferings have been sustained for the Saviour's sake. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding, even an eternal weight of glory." And shall the student patiently bear all the fatigues of literary toil, and the soldier all the privations and perils of the campaign, for a little fading worldly renown? And shall you shrink from the pressure of those temporary and short-lived sufferings, when you have nothing less in view than the fulness of celestial felicity, and all the triumphs of eternal joy?

Are these things so? Is it true that affliction is a powerful preservative from sin; that it shuts the heart up to the faith, and preserves us from wandering from the God of love? that it unfolds the meaning, and displays the excellence of the promises? that it enhances the value of our spiritual mercies, and makes us more sensible of the importance of an interest in the provisions of the everlasting covenant? that it gives life and fervour to prayer?

that it brings more plentiful supplies of spiritual strength and consolation? that it affords us the most frequent and refreshing visits of the Spirit of God? and works out for us a far more exceeding, even an eternal weight of glory? Then under all your trials learn resignation to the appointments of your heavenly Father. Be patient, stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Inquire into the lessons of humility, self-denial, submission to the Divine will, and diligence and zeal in duty, which your troubles are intended to enforce. Say unto God, "Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me." And until you discover the lessons that they are intended to inculcate, in patience possess your souls. Under the guidance and direction of the God of love, all things are working together for your good. Your severest trials are sent in mercy; and will yield you the peaceable fruits of righteousness. What you know not now you shall know hereafter. In the meantime you know enough to convince you that they come from a friend, are the effects of his love, and intended for your profit. Will the patient submit to the treatment which gives a temporary increase to his sufferings, when he knows that it will ultimately remove his complaint, and restore him to health and soundness? Will the mariner calmly endure the violence of a storm, when he knows that it is carrying him from a pursuing rancorous foe, and bringing him more speedily into a safe and friendly port? And yet will you tremble or despond under your trials, which are raising you above a world that would undo you, and fitting you more rapidly and fully for the purity and peace of heaven?

"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."

CHAPTER XII.

ON DISTRESS ARISING FROM THE FEAR OF

DEATH.

"Do flesh and nature dread to die?

And timorous thoughts our minds enslave?
Yet grace can raise our hopes on high,
And quell the terrors of the grave!"

ON contemplating death and the glory beyond it, many Christians act a most unreasonable and inconsistent part, and do the grossest injustice to our Divine and adorable Redeemer. They feel that this world is not their rest. They are harassed with the trials and calamities of life They find that their sanctification is far from being com plete, and their spiritual enjoyments pure and perfect. They profess to love the Lord Jesus Christ; to delight in his society; to long for complete conformity to his image; to mourn his absence; and to be desirous to see him as he is, and to possess close and uninterrupted communion with him.

But though death will put an end to all their sufferings and sorrows, place them in the immediate presence of their Lord, and the full enjoyment of his glory; they eagerly cling to life, and deprecate the thoughts of dying. They tremble at the approach of Christ, and dwell with reluctance and regret on the prospect of being presented before him. They are terrified lest the bustle and business of life should be interrupted by the signals of his descent, and they should be transported too speedily into his kingdom and joy. And when the summons of death is actually put into their hands, they instinctively recoil

from its sight, and pathetically exclaim, Spare us, O Lord, that we may recover strength, before we go hence, and be no more.

But, my dear Christian friends, ought this to be the case? If you have laid up your treasure in heaven; if you have fixed your affections on the things that are above; if you are living by faith on the Son of man; and making him all your salvation and all your desire; what is there which ought to inspire a dread of dissolution, rivet your attachment to the things of earth and time, or excite alarm at the view of coming and appearing before your God?

To a man of the world, who has lived without God, who has his portion here, whose affections grovel in the dust, whose soul is a stranger to the sublime delights and elevating employments of religion; life must be possessed of inexpressible charms, and death of inconceivable overwhelming terror. He has no acquaintance with God, nor any inheritance in heaven. However gaily and merrily he may trip along this world's brief journey, he is hastening to woe unutterable. He is running upon the thick bosses of the Almighty's buckler, and rushing to endless ruin. Careless and unconscious as he is of his situation, it is one of unmeasurable wretchedness. Of all the awful spectacles which we are called to witness, none is so agonizing and insupportable, as to stand by the death-bed of a fellow-immortal, who has frittered away the short, but invaluable day of his visitation. The ravages of earthquakes, the devastations of volcanoes, and the flames of a burning universe, shrink into insignificance before the misery of the man, who dies after having passed his life in disregarding the precious entreaties of mercy, and resisting the renewing influences of the Holy Ghost. His breath departs: and in that moment the delusive vision of his bliss for ever vanishes. Confronted with that God whom he has forgotten, and that Judge whom he has despised, and insulted; he is banished from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power, into the accumulated horrors of that eternity, for which he made no preparation, and which by his carelessness and crimes he has

armed with wrath and filled with anguish. Who knows the power of the Almighty's anger? Who can conceive the dreadfulness of being turned into hell, and subjected to its never-ending weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth?

Men who are living without the power of godliness, have infinite cause to deprecate appearing before the Son of God, and to cling tenaciously to that world which contains their all. But if you are resting your hopes on the atonement, delighting in Jesus after the inward man; if you are imploring conformity to his image, and longing for the full enjoyment of God: why should you desire to lengthen out the period of your exile and bondage? recoil from the approach of death? or dread to enter the rest and joy of your Lord? Is there any thing repulsive in the person, or formidable in the presence of the Immanuel? Is there any thing terrible or appalling in the passage from earth to heaven? Is there any thing fascinating in the world to excite your admiration, and rivet your affections?

Since you cleave to life and recoil from the thoughts of dying, will you say that,

I. There is any thing repulsive in the person, or formidable in the presence of Him before whom death places you?

Death introduces you into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And is he an enemy or a stranger? one who has treated you with haughtiness and severity? grieved you by his coldness and unkindness? or exhausted and oppressed you by his tasks and his rigour?

He is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person: the Creator and preserver of all: of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things. Who filled the earth with its riches, and garnished the heavens with their beauty? Who brought you into being? watched over your infant years? guided you in the intricate and dangerous paths of youth? furnished your table? anointed your head with oil? made your cup to run over? and followed you with goodness and mercy