which affect the hearts of all men with trouble and sorrow. In these kinds of affliction there is little respite or intermission."* One trouble

is scarcely gone before another succeeds, and sometimes an accumulation of afflicting dispensations occur at the same time. There is also much secret sorrow known only to Him "to whom all hearts are open," and to the individual who is exercised therein. There is a sorrow as well as a "joy in which the stranger intermeddleth not." Those who are truly religious must feel the troubles of a guilty conscience, and, indeed, all of us whether religious or not, are no strangers to pain, disappointment, and vexation of spirit. "Often, when the countenance is lighted up with a smile, the soul within is darkness and desolation; and often, while the outward man seems to be in the perfect enjoyment of health, prosperity, and happiness, the inner man is discontented and unhappy; harassed by fears or pierced through with sorrows, acknowledging in silence the truth of the inspired writer's declaration, that man who is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of misery.'"† How great, then, are the consolations held out to us by the Gospel of Truth! "There remaineth a rest for the people of God." "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours." A happy death sets us free from all the troubles, and sorrows, and afflictions

Richardson, Vol. iii. 318. + Warner, Vol. iii. 243.

which appertain to us here below, and admits us into the society of the blessed above, there to dwell for ever with Him "in whose presence there is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

It is not, therefore, the mere cessation of pain and sorrow which renders a change from time to eternity acceptable to good men, but the expectation of enjoying advantages the most glorious and unspeakable, makes it even an object of desire; for "their works do follow them." God has, in his infinite wisdom, appointed, that by the exercise of good works in the faithful discharge of our christian duties here, we should fit and prepare ourselves for a more exalted service in the world to come. And when we consider the eternal rewards which are promised by God to the faithful through the merits and sufferings of his blessed Son, there surely ought to be no hesitation on the part of God's people to prefer death to life, that is, to prefer those good things which God in his mercy has provided for his accepted servants in the life to come, to the best happiness which this world is capable of affording. St. Paul entertained a settled conviction that it was better for him (as a christian believer) to be "absent from the body, and present with the Lord." He said, indeed, that "to him to live was Christ," but at the same time, he also said, that "to him to die was gain." And therefore he had a desire to depart and be

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with Christ, which was far better" than to remain in this mortal life. The Apostle, we

know, had "a great fight of afflictions" to contend with, but under the aid of "Christ who strengthened him," he "held fast the profession of his faith," and therefore he could say with an assured confidence, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto them that love his appearing." The good deeds of the faithful which originate in a true and heartfelt reception of the Gospel, are all recorded in the volume of God's remembrance. Their "labours of love," their zealous endeavours to extend the religion of Christ, and their due performance of their respective duties, in humble obedience to the will of their heavenly Father, shall by no means fail them in the world to come. All the works of the righteous shall then be duly acknowledged. The meekness, resignation, and gratitude with which they were endued, shall accompany them, and remain with them for ever. Not one act of kindness done towards one of the least of Christ's brethren (for his sake) shall be overlooked, when "the books shall be opened, and the dead, small and great, shall stand before God, in order to be judged out of the things written in the books according to what they

have done in the body." They who have acted with fidelity and integrity in their respective stations shall then have praise of God.

But let it not be supposed from these and similar expressions found in scripture, that any works or obedience of ours are to be placed in the room of Christ, or to supersede his merits ; let it not be inferred, that "we can do any thing as of ourselves," or that any thing we can do can merit heaven, or entitle us to eternal happiness: for when we have done all, we must acknowledge ourselves to be but "unprofitable servants." "All have come short of the glory of God;" and "no flesh could be justified" if judgment and not mercy were the standard of his proceedings. "But the meaning is, that according to the terms of the Gospel covenant, which for the sake and sufferings of Christ, promises pardon for sins repented of, compassion for infirmities not indulged, and a recompense for those good actions, which by God's grace we have performed, every sincere Christian shall not fail to be abundantly considered in proportion to what he has done and suffered."* Such will be rewarded for the trials which they have undergone, and the devotion and obedience which they have paid to the commands of their heavenly Master; but in a measure far exceeding the value of their best services, and the degree of their severest trials and afflictions. For we are assured that "the sufferings of this present time * Langhorne, Vol. ii. 243.

are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us;" and that "our light afflictions which are but for a moment, shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Nor does there seem any reason to believe that the spirits of the just are detained for any time in suspense, for surely we have good incidental testimony in the scriptures to convince us that immediately upon their being absent from the body they are present with the Lord. Our blessed Lord who came down from heaven, and therefore knew how to instruct us in the mode of procedure as to our reception into the heavenly regions, describes the labourers, in the parable, as receiving their wages immediately upon the completion of their work. And he also represents Lazarus upon his decease, as being at once carried by angels into Abraham's bosom, and comforted for the evil things which he had received during his life on earth. Our blessed Lord's promise also to the penitent thief was, "To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." These testimonies, selected from the Scriptures, are surely sufficient to convince us that "the souls of the faithful after they are are delivered from the burden of the flesh," are in "joy and felicity."

But however cheering the prospect of death must be to those "who die in the Lord," that is, to the faithful servants of a righteous Redeemer, the anticipation of its approach to the wicked