he beholds death approaching, he rather chides its tardiness, than deprecates its advent. He " knows in whom he has be- lieved;" and, in the hour of his departure, commits his soul with confidence into the hands of his ever-living and adorable Redeemer. Thus Stephen^, thus Paul% and innumerable others, have died ; and David tells us, that it is the privilege of all true believers to expect and enjoy such a death as this : " Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright ; for the end of that man is peace''."]
3. In eternity —
[As soon as the ungodly enter into the eternal world, whether they were conceited or callous, whether confident or trembling, they know the truth of all that God's word has declared. The Rich Man that fared sumptuously no sooner breathed out his soul, than he understood and felt the evil of neglecting his eternal interests ; he then found his misery irremediable, and incapable of the smallest alleviation. He knew his five surviving brethren were living in the same thoughtless way, and hastening to the same fatal end ; and \vished that they might be apprised of their danger, ere it were too late : he knew by bitter experience that to those who lived and died in sin, nothing remained but unintermitted everlasting misery ; " they drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation ; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have 7io rest day nor night '^." How diflferent is the state of true Christians! They enjoy "the rest which here remained for them ; " they rest in the bosom of their Saviour, free from all sin and temptation, from pain and weariness. The peace which they enjoyed in this world, was but a taste of that banquet on which they feast continually, a drop of " those rivers of pleasure which are at God's right hand for evermore."]
Address —
1. The votaries of pleasure —
[There are two fatal mistakes under wliich you labour : the one is, that you think religion (according to the Scriptural representation of it), will afford nothing but pain ; the other is, that it will consist with an enjoyment of all the pleasures of the world. With respect to the former of these, we hope that nothing need be added to what has been already spoken : we hope that religion, if it have a dark and gloomy side, has also, like the pillar and cloud, a bright and cheering aspect : it is only on God's enemies that it casts a gloom : to his friends it affords a reviving light, a refresliing shade, a sure and safe
z Acts vii. 59, 60. a 2 Tim. iv. 6—8.
^ Ps. xxxvii, 37. " Rev. xiv. 10, 11.
d2