Arrang

The

readiness to quit it. your worldly concerns. cares you have upon your hand more will your dying thought disturbed, and your last work i rupted. Our deathbed moment solemn ones; and therefore it is desirable to have nothing then but to die.

Above all, let not the work of vation be left undone. Every fun you see or hear of, every pain infirmity you feel, seems to say you, as Isaiah said to Hezekiah, thy house in order.' It is a p thing to leave to the last the so great work. It is often too late seek a Saviour then. The body then perhaps be too weak, and mind too feeble, to begin to seek Lord. Perhaps too the Saviour, wh

we most need Him will then he

e more

ds, the

hts be

inter

nts are

s very

to do

of sal

neral

and

y to

Set

poor

oul's

e to

will

the

the

en

far

and leave us in that trying hour to ourselves. Oh, then, 'seek the Lord now, while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.'

There are many old people, who, if you question them about the future, will say that they hope all will be well. But if you press your question a little more closely, you will find that perhaps they have no ground for their hope. They trust that God will be merciful to them; but they cannot say with the Apostle, 'I have obtained mercy.' They have never sought it in Christ, where alone it is to be found. They have never fled for refuge to the Saviour. They love Him a little, but they have not given Him their heart. All is uncertainty with them. This world is slipping from under them; and they have

G

no sure footing on the he shore.

It is a fearful thing to take t and most important steps o journey alone and in the dark to know where we are going, wł to heaven or hell-not to be whether we have the friendsh God or not. Dear friend, it not be so with you, or your deat will be a cheerless one.

Suppose any one was going to a long journey; he ought to be for it. His travelling clothes sh be prepared. Nothing should b unsettled. Everything should b in order. He ought to know all a the way that he is going to take. ought to have no misgivings abou journey. His mind should be c made up.

And should we be less ready

he last

of our

-not

hether

sure

hip of

must

thbed

o take

ready

hould

e left

e put

bout

He

t his

quite

for

nich

it. Oh, that we may be able to say,
'I die daily;' 'The world is cruci-
fied unto me, and I unto the world;'
'To me to live is Christ; to die is
gain.' Live as a stranger and a pil-
grim upon earth; daily look forward
to your home, and be hastening to-
wards it. Live much with Christ
now; and then, instead of dreading
death, you will heartily welcome it
when it comes. You will not look
upon it as your foe, but as your friend.
It will be to you as the gateway,
through which you will
joyful resurrection. You will feel no
lingering attachment to the world you
are leaving behind
have a desire to depart, and to be
with Christ, which is far better.'

you;

pass to

your

but you will

CHAPTER XI.

THE AGED CHRISTIAN IN DEAT

DEATH Sometimes seizes the Sometimes it overtakes a per he journeys carelessly along th of life. Sometimes it checks th before it springs up. Someti nips the flower as it begins to to the sun.

But death, whilst it has seize and another, has hitherto passe by. You have lived, it may be, three or four score years. But your turn is coming. The sho eternity is not far off.

You feel