SERMON XVII. ST. LUKE Xxiii. 46. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit; and having said thus, he gave up the Ghost. AVING now observed the progress of HAVING a Christian in his passage through this life from childhood to the brink of the grave, it only remains to consider his situation, and to compare it with that of a wicked man, at the hour of death. This shall be the subject of my present discourse; and at our next meeting I hope to close the whole, by looking with the eye of faith beyond this transitory life, and leading you to reflect on what we are permitted to know of the glories of Heaven. However men may differ in all other respects, there is one event common to all, and that is death; yet it is astonishing to see how seldom they reflect on this subject. Consider, I beseech you, what it is to die. You see it every day, and one day you must feel it; but have you ever seriously reflected on death? To die, is to leave all that is dear to us here on earth. Those pleasures for which we must end at once. must be left behind. too often neglect our duty, The riches we have gained earth the friends we have loved. The strong and vigorous limbs will be stiff and cold; the anxious heart will cease to beat; the bosom which once swelled with pride, will be humbled in the dust; the worm will feed on the cheek of beauty. All that the kindest friend can then do to show his love, will be to lay us in the cold ground, and leave us there to be eaten by worms. Such is the end of human pride, and of human happiness! Such is the fate which power cannot prevent, which wisdom cannot escape. The rich man clothed in purple, and the beggar at his door, must sink alike into the grave, must alike return to that dust of which they were formed. My brethren, have you ever thought of this? Have you reflected, that I who speak, and every one of you who hear, must be in the state which I have described; that it will happen soon; that it may happen now? I may never be allowed to speak to you again. Some of you may never see another Sunday. Before the end of a year, there is every reason to expect that some of those who are now present will be laid in the grave. In a few years, this will probably happen to many. In a few more years it must happen to all. Is it possible we should believe and know this awful truth, and yet that so few should prepare for an event which must befal every one? We try to secure wealth; we say to our soul, "Thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." But who remembers the dreadful answer of GOD? Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee."* O my brethren! these are thoughts to make the firmest tremble; and nothing except religion can support us under them. But let us view these things as Christians, and all is changed. We must die indeed; hut what is death, when viewed with the light of revelation? If we leave * Luke xii. 19. those virtuous friends who are most dear to us on earth, it is to meet them again in heaven. There we hope for pleasures which will never fade, for riches which no rust can destroy. The voice of God will call our bodies from the grave, no more to see corruption; while every sorrow forgotten, every sin forgiven, the heir of immortal glory shall be caught up into the clouds, to meet his LORD in the air, to reign with him for ever! Do not your hearts burn within you at such thoughts as these? Is not every one who hears me ready to exclaim with the Prophet, "let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!"* But in order to this, we must live the life of the righteous. All must die; but whether death is to be the moment of joy or of terror, whether it is to be the beginning or the end of happiness, depends on the state of every man's conscience. For this reason it is, that I have so frequently and earnestly recommended to every Christian the constant practice of self-examination; and advised him never to sleep, till he have endeavoured to obtain the pardon of his sins. Sooner or later he must give an account of his actions; * Numbers xxiii, 10. and dreadful is the state of those, who in age or sickness are forced for the first time to think on their past lives. An hour will come, when every one of us must remember what he would most wish to forget. With what horror will the wicked man then reflect on his unrepented sins, the mercies he has slighted, the time he has lost, and the dreadful judgment hanging over his head! This world does not present an object so shocking as a hardened dying sinner, who having rejected the call of a gracious God to mercy, now trembles at the punishment which he dares not hope to escape. All the torments which he expects in the next world, seem to be already felt. O Father of Mercies, grant that we may all, by timely repentance, escape the horrors of such a death! Yet even that moment of reflection is not allowed to all. Death is sometimes so sudden as to make it impossible for us even to call on God for mercy. We see men cut off in the bloom of youth, nay even in the midst of their sins. The drunkard, the thief, the murderer, may be called before his Judge, even in the act of sin; death may be the immediate consequence of his crime; in a moment, no time allowed for repentance, no pause between the sin and the |