these powerful words, "Behold, for peace I had great bitterness.'

Not that such a one as I now speak of has at present any genuine peace of mind, far from it. He may have his heart hardened; he may have his conscience seared; he may be used to say to himself, "Peace, peace, when there is no peace." (Jer. 6. 14.) But when death stares him in the face, he can deceive himself no longer. It is of no use to say to himself, Peace, peace, now. He must now part with all the goods, in which here he has trusted, with all the pleasures in which here he has delighted. This he now sees plainly. He must leave the friends whom he has most dearly loved; and they who took most pleasure in his presence, will now shrink from looking on his fallen countenance, his sightless eyes, his limbs without motion, his body without breath. They must take him, at least his body, and put him out of sight; in a place of darkness, and in the grave. They must leave him to be the food of corruption.

It is to this that death will bring his body.

But to what will death bring the sinner's soul? I shall not all die: this is his sad reflection; sad to him who is now ready to wish that his soul might die also. I shall not all die; but when I leave this world, my soul will become sensible to the impressions of a world of spirits. What shall I feel, what shall I be, when there? What shall I see, what hear, what suffer? How will my past sins then rise up in judgment against me! How shall I then loathe the remembrance of my unbelief, and wilfulness, and selfishness! My pride, what will it be then? Not my glory but my shame. My riches, if I am now spending them wastefully, if I am now hoarding them covetously, if I am not using them for God's glory, will then be abomination in my sight, as they are already in the sight of God. My angry temper, so fine a thing as I have thought it to resist evil, and to repay strife with strife, my angry temper will then appear in all its deformity, as the very opposite of that love, which Christ so urgently enjoins, (see John 13. 34,) and

which God so truly is. (See 1 John 4. 8.) And must I upon my death encounter all these things? Is there no possibility of escaping? Cannot I at any rate put off the hour? Is my sentence sealed? Is my summons come? Is this the day, this the moment, fixed for my departure? Oh folly, to have loved so greatly what I now must altogether lose! Oh madness, to have cared so little, for that which is now all in all! Save me, oh save me, from the terrors of eternity! Hide me, oh hide me, from the presence of the Lord!

These are the thoughts which await the wicked at the approach of death. God forbid, my brethren, that when you have to die, you should thus fear dying! This is the way, in which, for peace they have great bitterness. God grant, that in that hour you may have for bitterness great peace! As long however as sin is still apt to cleave, in some degree, even to God's most faithful servants, we must not be surprized to find, that thoughts like these are oftentimes suggested by the enemy of souls, to interrupt, as far as

possible, the holy joy with which Christians are privileged to breathe their last. But notwithstanding all the wiles of Satan, it is our happiness at such an hour to know, that God makes all things work together for our good; even the pains of death, even the apprehensions of judgment. We may be inclined, at first, to pray with David, "O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence." (Ps. 39. 13.) But we shall soon be able to conclude, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." (Luke 2. 29.) And though for a moment we may say, as Hezekiah said, "For peace I had great bitterness," we shall testify, as he did, straightway afterwards, but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back."

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By these words the king of Judah meant no more, than that God had prolonged his life on earth, instead of punishing him, as he deserved by death. He was thinking of the word of the Lord, revealed by Isaiah : "behold I will add

unto thy days fifteen years." (Ver. 5.) But when we view the passage with the help of Gospel light, when we consider that it is recorded in the book of that prophet, who seems to have foretold, more distinctly than any other, not only the facts but also the doctrines of the Gospel, we shall feel inclined to take the words in a spiritual sense. We shall understand them of life everlasting. And we shall thus find them full of comfort, provided for that solemn hour, when the life which now is shall cease.

"Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." These I say are words most suitable for expressing the feelings of a Christian, in the hour of apprehended death; when God seems to say to us, not, "Behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years," but, behold, I will turn thy days and years into the countless ages of eternity. When therefore any one of you shall hereafter, like Hezekiah, be lying on the bed of mortal sickness, these