who are not righteous, and are fully convinced they never can be so by the law, and, consequently, plead, that in the Lord they have righteousness and strength, shall have His righteousness imputed to them, and legally accounted theirs; and they, firmly and heartily believing this, and resting upon it, shall be accounted righteous, and be thereby justified and fully acquitted; and being born again and sanctified by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the word of truth, shall be righteous, even as He is righteous, and be completely prepared for the inheritance of the saints in light. These were the righteous persons with whom Balaam wished to die, and to have his last end like theirs. Unto such persons shall the Judge say in the last day, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Having briefly pointed out the righteous, let us now attempt to describe the nature of his death.

In the first place, The death of the righteous is a safe death. Death is an object of terror to almost all mankind. There must be something real which causes this universal horror at the prospect of dissolution. It cannot be instilled into every mind by the tales of the nursery; nor is it altogether, if at all, produced by the illusions of fancy. Could we foresee all the calamities which await us in this short and uncertain state before we entered the porch of life, we would shrink back, and refuse to open the door, and, perhaps, adopt in prospect the language uttered in retrospect by one of the most patient of men, and most disconsolate of prophets, (Job iii.; Jer. xx. 14-18.) It is, doubtless, owing to what we dread in the world to come, that makes blackness, at the near prospect, to overspread every countenance, and palpitations strong to seize every heart. It is not merely the leaving this world, and all that it contains-it is not the putting off the worn-out garment of mortality-it is not even the tearing asunder the exqui site sensibilities of soul and body-it is the hereafter, the concealed, the untrodden hereafter, at which we recoil—it is the awful, the eternal reality beyond the grave, that appals the bravest of the human race. Fools may rush madly upon the glittering sword and the spear, to leave behind them an empty name; and worse than fools may rush, unprepared, with seeming composure, into the presence of the searcher of their hearts, and the fixer of their everlasting destiny; yet it is an awful thing to fall into the hands of the living God-of that God who is a consuming fire. For who knoweth the power of His anger? yet, according to His fear, so is His wrath. But though the half of mankind were like the harmless, senseless sheep,

to rush blindfold into the devouring flood, would they be free from danger and from death? And though a few fixed in unbelief, and hardened in impenitence, and overloaded with disobedience, have mocked at death, and jested with damnation, is there, therefore, no hell into which the wicked shall be turned? and are there no torments which they shall eternally endure? Did not the rich man (and his crimes are not represented as being of the deepest dye) in hell lift up his eyes, being in torments, and earnestly call for a drop of water to cool his tongue, because he was tormented in everlasting flames?

When the thunder's awful voice is likely to rend the azure vault of heaven, and the lightning's vivid flash will apparently pierce the centre of the solid earth, who, then, would assert, that he is totally destitute of fear? And when we are going into the presence of Him who holds in His omnipotent hand all the elements of nature, and says to them, with effect, Hitherto shall ye go, and no farther, is it likely, or is it proper, that we should be totally divested of fear? Who, for the first time, ever approached majesty on earth without feeling some anxiety? And can it be expected, or is it to be wished, that we should have no awe upon our minds when we enter, for the first time, into the immediate presence, and appear before the awful tribunal, of the sovereign Judge of angels and of men, -the King of kings, and the Lord of lords? When a country is under martial law, a loyal subject may have some fear when he is apprehended, as well as a traitor, lest he should not be recognized as a friend; yet their treatment shall be very different when their several practices and dispositions are evolved. The friends of Christ may dread, as well as His enemies, to appear before Him whose eyes are as a flame of file, whose countenance is like the sun shining in his strength, who searcheth all hearts, and trieth all the imaginations of the thoughts, and who will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil, and whose award is irreversible; yet to the one He will say, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; "while He will denounce in the astonished ears of the other, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. The former is, therefore, perfectly safe, while the latter is in the greatest possible danger. The one shall have the ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation to convey him safely into Abraham's bosom; while the other shall have the ministering spirits of the heirs of damnation to

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drag him down to the prison of eternal perdition. To the one, the gates of heaven will open wide their everlasting doors, while his ears shall be ravished with the melodies and symphonies of the redeemed; while the other shall be driven into the strong-barred grating doors of hell, horrified with the wailing and gnashing of teeth of the workers of iniquity. To the one, the Judge will look with a more complacent countenance than that of a father who caresseth the children in whom he delighteth, and will say, in cheering accents, Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord; while, to the other, He will look with a more terrible countenance than that of astern inexorable tyrant; while these awful words will pierce his very soul, Take him, and bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The wicked may have no bands in his death-his countenance may never change-his heart may never palpitate, when it is said to him, This night shall thy soul be required of thee-he may rush into the presence of his Judge, as the horse rusheth into the battle, without the least seeming dismay; but this shall he have of the hand of his Judge-he shall lie down in sorrow. The righteous may, through fear of death, be all his lifetime subject to bondage. He may go mourning all the day, because of the oppression of the enemy. He may say, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me; yet the expostulation is still in force, Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yea, she may forget; yet will not I forget thee. The promise still remains-and faithful is He that hath promisedFear not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee by the right hand of my righteousness. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thon walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. The way before him may seem dark as the valley of the shadow of death; but God's rod and His staff shall be with him to comfort him; and in the even-time it shall be light. The old serpent may muster all his legions, and beset his path—thousands may seem to set themselves in array against him; but the Lord will soon open his eyes, and he will see himself encompassed with horses and chariots of fire; so that those who in reality are with him, will be far more than those who apparently are against him. He may then endeavour to set his sins in array against him, and may

aggravate them by every expedient of hell, and then say, There is no hope in God for him; but the reasoning of a child of God will be brought to his recollection,-If one died for all, then were all dead. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died; yea, rather, that is risen again; who is even at the right hand of God; who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. He who walked with the three children in the midst of the fire-He who shut the mouths of the lions in their den-He who prepared a great fish to preserve Jonah -He who hath done marvellous things, and unsearchable without number, shall feed them and lead them to fountains of living waters; and God Himself shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. The swellings of Jordan may rise exceedingly high-the river of death may seem awfully rapid, and exceedingly broad; but the eternal God shall be his refuge, and underneath shall be the everlasting arms. The angel of the covenant will take the mantle of his power, and smite the waters hither and thither, and they two shall pass over. ship that carries you carries Cæsar. It is Alexander that fights with you, would once have dissipated every apprehension of danger on the raging ocean, and on the ensanguined plain; and shall not the voice of the Maker and Judge of Alexander and of Cæsar, saying, It is I, be not afraid, inspire with the greatest courage every doubting believer, even amid the agonies of dissolving nature? Scarcely will he need to say to them, O ye of little faith, wherefore do ye doubt? I am He that liveth and was dead, and am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. The awful tribunal may rise in his view -the great white throne, and Him that sits on it, may dazzle and overpower his sight, and create a momentary trepidation; but the promise will be brought to his remembrance, and be made sure, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him wil I confess before my Father, and before His angels. In a word, death is unstinged-the grave is unlocked-the gates of hell are shut-Satan is cast down-God is reconciled-the

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mansions of heaven are prepared ; and sooner shall the promise and oath of God fail,-sooner shall the power, and wisdom, and goodness of God be rendered of no effect, than any of His children shall be hurt.

Secondly, The death of the righteous is an easy death.

All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked in their journey to the grave. Trouble, the forerunner of death, seems often to be as severe to the righteous as to the wicked. The earthly house of this our tabernacle must be dissolved. The prison walls must be cast down in which the soul is confined; and it requires often as severe a shock to dislodge the soul of the righteous as of the wicked. God, who more or less marks out His children before they leave this world, could have given them all, had He pleased, a quiet and easy passage to the tomb. In this respect, He has, however, in general, made no difference between the good and the bad; and we must, with acquiescence, say, Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. He did not, if He could, take away the bitter cup even from His only begotten and wellbeloved Son; and can we complain if He deals in the same manner with His followers? They must fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in their flesh for His body's sake, which is the Church. We, in general, however, endeavour to support, with fortitude, present pain, if we hope that it is to be succeeded by future pleasure. Who almost ever refused to submit to the amputation of a limb, when he was assured that it was to be the means of preserving his life? A woman, when she is in travail, hath sorrow, because her hour is come; but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. As these pains are never remembered, and cannot be recollected, when health is restored, and long enjoyed; so let the pangs of dissolution be ever so severe, they will never be thought of when the harps of Paradise have worn out their sensations. Should death be equally severe to all as a remembrancer of sin, and the last remembrancer to the righteous, it will be no longer remembered by those who sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. The dangers of the shipwrecked mariner, and of the war-worn soldier, heighten their enjoyment, when they are not only delivered from the perils of the sea and of the sword, but have returned to their youthful scenes, and reaped their hard-earned fruits and honours. In like manner, he who has fought the king of terrors, and has escaped the wrecks of the ocean of death, will enjoy, afterwards, greater pleasure, than if he had never felt