:

kind and in the anticipation of it, be it thy prayer that thou mayest "know Him and the power of His resurrection." Be it thy study to live here as one who shall stand before His tribunal, and give an account of thyself to Him. Always remember, that the spiritual resurrection of grace here is essential to the resurrection to glory in the last day.

Look often forward, O my soul, to the morning of the resurrection: and let the remembrance of it inspire thee with peace and joy among the confusion and sorrow of the present state: let it increase thy love to Him who is "the Resurrection and the Life;" and let it urge thee to decision and diligence in the cultivation of all that fits thee to stand before Him at his appearing.

O glorious Morning-the Morning of Eternity! The ills of time will then be forgotten, as though they had never been. Then frail mortality will be swallowed up of life; and henceforth nothing will be known, seen, and felt, but immortality, and blessedness, and heaven. How delightful the thought! How rapturous the prospect!

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But let me carefully attend, for this is the point of true wisdom, to the plain and practical improvement of the subject; giving all diligence to perfect holiness in the fear of God;" holiness both of body and soul; holiness in all my purposes and proceedings; fully persuaded that he will hail most joyfully the day of the resurrection, who dies most completely to sin, and who rises highest into the light of truth and into the life of holiness.

O glorious and blessed God, grant, that by thy word and Holy Spirit, I may truly know thy Son Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the life; that, being here a partaker of Him, and following

Him in faith, love, and obedience, I may in the last day obtain the resurrection of the just, and enter on the fruition of eternal felicity; for the sake, and through the merits of Him who died for our sins and rose again for our justification, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

JONES.

JUDGMENT

"AND I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." Rev. xx. 12, 13.

Various portions of Scripture assure us of a day of account; of a day in which God 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." Acts xvii. 31.

Let me not meditate on the day of judgment to propose questions which no ingenuity can solve, but to strengthen my faith, and to urge me to live more and more in agreement with the gospel.— The day of judgment is the day of universal assembly; of examination; of discovery; of final decision; of everlasting separation. To what serious and awful considerations am I led by each of the expressions which I have here used!

Alas! comparatively few seem properly to medi

tate on this eventful day. How does the rich man use his wealth; the great man his influence; and the scholar his learning? How do men in general use their time and talents in their several stations? Do not most men live as if there were no day of account; as if they might live with impunity ac cording to their own will?

But do serious Christians remember the day of judgment as they ought? They know that the Lord Jesus will come on the throne of His glory, that all men will be assembled before Him, and that He will give to every man according to what he has done in the body. With this knowledge and admission, do they duly remember that emphatical question? "What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God?" We speak of the day of judg ment; and yet we live too much as if we should never be judged.

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Let me bring the subject home to my own soul. "Every man shall give account of himself to God." I shall see that solemn day; I shall behold the Judge; I shall give an account of myself to Him; I shall stand on his right hand, or on his left; I shall hear the summons to glory, or the sentence to banishment and woe.

Surely I ought to think often of these things, and to allow them to sink into my heart, and to influence my conduct and conversation in the world. Can I possibly employ my time and talents vainly and foolishly, when I remember the day of account? My inquiry, in the anticipation of that day, always ought to be, What does the gospel require me to be and to do? Am I acting in such a manner as to be approved at last?

If I look on my former days, I see abundant cause for repentance. Tell me not of my virtues, or of my good actions. My sins, imperfections, omissions, and unprofitableness, are ever before me. Where is my refuge? Where is my hope? "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared."

I look on the present, and then forward to the future. Thou knowest, O Lord, my weakness and corruption. In vain, while thinking on the solemnities of the last day, do I make resolves, unless Thou art pleased to give me power to act in agreement with them. It is only through thy mercy and grace, O Lord, that I can live wisely and faithfully, superior to my spiritual adversaries, and diligent in the improvement of my talents, so that I may finally give an account of myself before Thy tribunal, with joy and honour.

Ye careless Christians! think of the future judgment, and begin to be earnest about your salvation. Here you may shine in splendour, or riot in pleasure, or waste your time in idleness and vanity but what will your condition be in that day, if your life be spent in mere worldliness, and if the momentous concerns of the soul and eternity be now treated with careless and cold indif ference?

Ye faithful followers of Christ! think of the future judgment, and be not "weary in well doing." Improve your talents, as responsible beings. Let your faith be productive of good works. Strive to do good in your day and generation. Be diligent and persevering. Thus your honour will be great before an assembled world. Is it not thus written? "Who will render to every man according to his

deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life."

O my Soul! think thou of the future judgment, and remember that no sin will then escape detection, and no good thing will then go unrewarded. Let all thou art, and all thou hast, be employed to the glory of God. While thou confidest in redeeming mercy, let the consideration of the last day urge thee to be watchful and diligent in working out thy salvation with fear and trembling.

Holy and merciful God, thy word assures me of ȧ judgment to come; may I duly consider that awful day, and be enabled through thy grace so to believe, and to order my conversation in all things, that I may be found to have been a good and faithful servant. Grant this, I beseech Thee, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Redeemer and Advocate. Amen.

JONES.

THE PROBABILITY OF KNOWING EACH OTHER IN A FUTURE STATE.

(In a Letter from the Poet Cowper, to Mrs. Cowper.)

MY DEAR COUSIN,

As in matters unattainable by reason, and unrevealed in the Scripture, it is impossible to argue at all; so in matters concerning which reason can only give a probable guess, and the Scripture has made no explicit discovery, it is, though not im possible to argue at all, yet impossible to argue to any certain conclusion. This seems to me to be the very case with the point in question-reason is