Psalm xi. 6. Awful considerations! Only a step between you and death; only a step between you and hell; and still you linger in the plains of Sodom, in the path of sin; and folding your hands together, you lull your conscience to sleep, by promising that to-morrow, you will seriously think of God, your soul, and eternity. Hear what God saith, Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.' Prov. xxvii. 1. Thousands have been thus deluded and come short of salvation, through the stratagem of Satan. 'Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.' 2 Cor. vi. 2.

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What is that I hear? Is it a sigh from the heart awakened to feel its guilt? What is that I see? Is it the tear of repentance flowing down the withered cheek? Whither are you going, aged sinner? Are you going to bend your knee to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ; and are you going in the spirit and language of the Prodigal thus to address God, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as an hired servant Luke xv. 18, 19. Is this the thought, is this the purpose and determination of your heart? Well, then, arise and go, and God himself will receive you! Hear his kind and gracious language, 'Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near; Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will abundantly pardon.' Isa. lv. 6, 7. Are you discouraged? Does your conscience, acting the part of an accusing witness, rise up against you? Does it say that you are an old sinner; that your sins are many and great, that they have been committed against such light, against such distinct and frequent calls of God, that the aggravations thereof have exceeded those of any sinner you ever knew, or of whom you ever heard? Is this true? Then plead guilty to the charge; throw yourself upon the mercy of the King of Grace: He so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' John iii. 16. Jesus Christ himself says, 'Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Matt. xi. 28. He is both able and willing to save the greatest of

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sinners; his blood cleanseth from all sin; he has saved sinners as vile and miserable as you; he has brought back wandering souls from the very gates of hell; look unto him; trust in him as your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Look to the word of God, which says, 'Come now,' just as you are; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be waite as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' Isa. i. 18. Thus the word of God answers every objection, and should consequently remove your fears, and encourage you to cast your guilty soul at his feet, saying, 'If I perish, it shall be here, looking to, and calling upon Jesus to pardon and to save me.'

But it may be, this Tract has fallen into the hands of a real christian, whose hoary hairs are found in the way of righteousness. Venerable servant of the most high God, suffer the word of exhortation, while I congratulate you as one highly-favoured of the Lord; I desire to be a helper of your faith and joy; I would call you to go up, yea, I would fain accompany you, to Mount Pisgah, to view the Land of Promise; may the Lord enable you as you approach the hour of your last conflict, to imbibe the spirit, and use the exulting language of the Psalmist My flesh and my heart faileth me, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.' Psa. lxxiii. 26. I have only now to remind you of the prospect which is opening to your view, and encourage you to fix your attention upon it with a calm and joyful frame of mind. Death, judgment, and eternity are at the door, your race is nearly run, you are already on the banks of Jordan, and not many days hence, peradventure, Jesus will beckon you over. How do you feel under your present eircumstances? I hope you do not regret that you are so near the end of your pilgrimage, nor yet feel alarmed at its concluding scene. Many have groaned in bondage for years, under an apprehension of the storms and tempests they should have to encounter on the passage. Instead of which, the sky has been serene, the waters perfectly smooth, Jesus has taken them by the hand and gently led them through, and as they went enabled them to sing; 'O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 1 Cor.xv.55. Turn over the sacred pages, aged believ er, and see how the saints of God have died in times past.

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You will there read they have found grace and strength equal to their time of need. When the time of Jacob's departure approached, with how much calmness did he anticipate the event! Sending for his children, he advised, admonished, and blessed them; conversed with them freely about his death and burial; and, instead of lamenting that his hour was come, he rejoiced at it, as a period he had long desired, saying, 'I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.' Gen. xlix. 18. When the Lord said unto Moses, 'Get thee up unto this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, which is over against Jericho, and behold the land of Canaan which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession, and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother died in Mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people. Deut. xxxii. 49. Moses uttered not a single murmur, he asked no respite from the sentence, but yielded a prompt obedience to his heavenly Father's will, and with a firm step, and a placid mind, walked up to the appointed place, looked with high satisfaction at the promised land, and was gathered to his fathers in peace. One instance more claims your attention, my aged friend; it is that of the apostle Paul, whe in the immediate expectation of sealing with his blood the doctrines he had preached, discloses the feelings of his mind, on the near prospect of that trying hour, to his son Timothy. What a lovely scene does this part of sacred history exhibit! What an enviable man is the christian hero! He is every hour expecting to be put to death by the hands of cruel per-› secutors, and yet he not only alludes to the circumstance with calmness and fortitude, but makes it the subject of exultation and triumph; and in a strongly impassioned and inimitable strain of eloquence, exclaims; 'I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand: 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 all them also that love his appearing.' 2 Tim. iv. 6, 7, 8.

Remember, aged christian, that God who supported them in the hour of death is also your God and Father. The same Jesus, whose presence and grace strengthened them.

is the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever.' That gracious Spirit, whose light and comfort cheered their passage through the dark valley, is also in and with every other true believer; take then as your motto, the animating language of the Psalmist, This God is our God forever and ever, and will be our guide even unto death.' Psa. xlviii. 14.

HYMN.

My God, my everlasting hope,
I live upon thy truth;

Thy hands have held my childhood up,
And strengthened all my youth.

Cast me not off when strength declines,
When hoary hairs arise;

And round me let thy glory shine,
Whene'er thy servant dies.

A SERIOUS VIEW OF DEATH,

Proper to be taken as we lie down on our beds.

O, MY soul, look forward a little with seriousness and attention, and learn wisdom by the consideration of thy latter end. Another of my mortal days is now numbered and finished: and as I have put off my clothes, and laid myself upon my bed for the repose of the night; so will the day of life quickly come to its period; so must the body itself be put off, and laid to its repose in a bed of dust. There let it rest; for it will be no more regarded by me than the clothes which I have now laid aside. I have another far more important concern to attend. Think, O my soul, when death comes, thou art to enter upon the eternal world, and to be fixed in heaven, or hell. All the schemes and cares, the hopes and fears, the pleasures and sorrows of life, will come to their period, and the world of spirits will open upon thee. And O how soon may it open! Perhaps before the returning sun brings on the light of another day. To-morrow's sun may not enlighten mine eyes, but only shine around a senseless corpse, which may lie in the

place of this animated body. At least the death of many in the flower of their age, and many, who were superior to me in capacity, piety, and the prospects of usefulness, may loudly warn me not to depend on a long life, and engage me rather to wonder that I am continued here so many years, than to be surprised if I am speedily removed.—And now, O my soul, answer as in the sight of God, Art thou ready? Art thou ready? Is there no sin unforsaken, and so unrepented of, as to fill me with anguish in my departing moments, and to make me tremble on the brink of eternity! Dread to remain under the guilt of it, and this moment renew thy most earnest applications to the mercy of God, and the blood of a Redeemer, for deliverance from it.

But if the great account be already adjusted, if thou hast cordially repented of thy numerous offences, if thou hast sincerely committed thyself by faith into the hands of the blessed Jesus, and hast not renounced thy covenant with him, by returning to the allowed practice of sin, then start not at the thought of a separation it is not in the power of death to hurt a soul devoted to God, and united to the great Redeemer. It may take me from my worldly comforts; it may disconcert and break my schemes for service on earth: but, O my soul, diviner entertainments, and nobler services wait thee beyond the grave. Forever blessed be the name of God, and the love, of Jesus, for these quieting, encouraging, joyful views! I will now lay me down in peace; and sleep, free from the fears of what shall be the issue of this night, whether life or death, may be appointed for me. Father, into thy hand I commend my Spirit; for thou hast redeemed me, O God of truth, and therefore I can cheerfully refer it to thy choice, whether I shall wake in this world or another.

ANDOVER:

PRINTED FOR THE NEW ENGLAND TRACT SOCIETY

BY FLAGG AND GOULD.

1820.

[4th. edit. 6000.