sudden death, so much as to take them at their own imaginations, and to remind them, that if they live to threescore and ten years, as they think they shall—yet even then that the time is exceedingly short to prepare for those great and awful changes which are approaching: that even seventy years are as nothing, when compared to eternity and that the longest life, when a man comes to look back upon it on his death-bed, appears indeed exceeding short.

Now in all this there is much truth; but yet it is not the case that holy Scripture takes pains, as it were, to set before us, not only the vanity and the shortness of the life of man, even at the longest-and the little value of things temporal, compared with things eternal-but also the uncertainty of life, and the frequent suddenness of death? For instance, in the Old Testament the many examples of the sudden vengeance of God overtaking the wicked, as in the case of Sodom; and in the New, in the account of the rich man, who was building new barns, when it was said to him, "Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee"-and in the parable of the unprofitable fig-tree, where the Lord of the vineyard came three years seeking fruit, and found none, when it was said, "Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" And for one year more the dresser of the vineyard interceded, saying, "Lord, let it alone this year also." For which of us can tell whether this may not have taken place respecting ourselves; that for us God has so diligently watched until now, and that his word has already gone forth, "Cut it down!"

But above all things is this suddenness of death set before us in the warnings which are so repeatedly given us, respecting the day of judgment and our Lord's coming. For although all these are spoken of the day of judgment, we cannot but suppose that they are also in some degree spoken of our own deaths also.

For we read "as it was in the days of Noah”—and as it was in the days of Lot"-"so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man"-not only we may suppose in the days when he comes to judgment, when all these

warnings shall be more signally fulfilled-but also in all the days of the Son of Man, the days of Christianity, is it being fulfilled. To every one it is said, and perhaps in the case of every one it is fulfilled, Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every man as his work shall be." We cannot doubt but that to all it is said, 66 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is." And, "Watch ye, therefore-for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning: lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all,

watch."

These four watches of the night, we may very well suppose to be four seasons of the night of this life (for this life is often called night), childhood, and youth, and manhood, and old age at whichever period we are called away, doubtless it is in general very awfully sudden when it does come, whether it be at even, or at midnight, or at cock-crowing, or in the morning.

And are not all these words, in which our Lord's coming is described, applicable to death: "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye, therefore, and pray always!" For we must remember that where the tree falleth, there it must lie, and therefore wherever death overtakes a person, there judgment finds him, so that in this sense, even if in no other, it is in the days of the Son of man, as it was in the days of Noah.

And not only does holy Scripture thus press upon us the great necessity of being always ready, as knowing not any day or night, that we may not hear the sound of the archangel's trumpet, and see "the judgment set, and the books opened:" but moreover there is no fact which our experience does more fully assure us of than this, that death is constantly overtaking one or other among us, and that, too, very often, suddenly; those

who have eaten, and drank, and talked, and lived among us, and who humanly speaking had no cause to expect so great a change more than ourselves, yet on whom the book of life has for ever closed-and an unchangeable eternity has already opened-persons who but the other day had the same pursuits, the same feelings, the same hopes and fears, and earthly expectations and projects as ourselves: nor can we give any reason why we should not be now where they are; and they instead speaking of us as we do of them. Not one of us can tell how soon others may not thus have to speak of us, But however this may be, of one thing, I think, we may be assured, that, whether we die soon or late, yet death will overtake us before we expect it; and he that looks out for it, and expects it daily, will find that he is much nearer the truth than he who does not. So that in which ever way we take it, it must be allowed that the veil or curtain which is drawn between us and the eternal judgment, is so thin, that any day of our lives we may find ourselves on the other side of it :-the door shutthe time of trial for ever gone and past-eternal unchangeable ages begun. Now this being the case, there is no use whatever in our turning our minds away to other things, in order to forget it; for it remains quite as true, whether we think of it or not. The sun is in the sky all the same-though we might force ourselves to believe it was not, and that it was night. There is nothing in the world more easy than to do this: we have only to engage our thoughts, as soon as we depart from church, or from the grave of a friend, with some little trifles which are sure to present themselves before us, or rather I should say to be presented to us by the evil spirit, which is ever on the watch-and we shall soon forget all about it. But as there is nothing more easy, so there is nothing more foolish than this, for we must think of the great realities sooner or later; and the less we do think of them now, the more we shall have to be sorry for at our death and through a long eternity. The end is unavoidable-you may look around you to the world-you may look above or below-yet

you must

nevertheless it is ever straight before you, and every day and every hour nearer and nearer; and at last look it in the face-and see Death and Judgment standing before you not to be avoided, nor evaded, turn yourself away, this way or that to any objects you like, think of it or not-you must be one day nearer to it every day you live.

If, therefore, the serious and timely consideration of these things is so necessary for every one who has to die, what is the reason why we are, each of us, so determined, as it were, to put it aside; and in fact take all the means in our power to drive it away; when any moment of our lives we may be overtaken by the reality of that from the very thoughts of which we shrink and turn away?

The reason in great measure is, because we consider such contemplations as unpleasant, and therefore are ever ready to get away from them. But why should they be so unpleasant; indeed, so gloomy and terrible? It is we ourselves that make them so in a great measure. These frequent intimations and warnings respecting our speedy, and sudden, and certain death, are doubtless given to us by our heavenly Father out of his great mercy and love to us; and all his gracious and kind dealings with us, even though they be warnings and cautions-yet ought to be made by us in some sense a matter of comfort and encouragement. Not unpleasant duties which we would turn away from, but thoughts that we would embrace and cherish as coming from him.

Now the state of the case is this: we are here placed in circumstances of considerable hazard and danger, on account of the various temptations which surround us. These temptations are of a nature far greater and more manifold than anything we could have supposed, were it not for what the Bible informs us respecting them. Especially from some wonderful influence, which we are taught to believe that evil spirits possess over our minds-if, by a careless life, we put ourselves out of God's good protection. Whether it is by throwing bad VOL. II.-4

thoughts into our minds, and so by degrees, if these are not resisted, obtaining a hold more and more, and the possession of our heart, so as not to be without great difficulty, expelled; or by bringing before us from time to time, those temptations which they know we are most liable to be led by; or whether it be by turning away and diverting our minds from prayer and works of charity, and from meditating on Christ's sufferings and the communion of his body and blood; however it be, there is no doubt of the fact, that they are thus very busily employed about every human soul with exceeding craft and cunning; and always gaining an advantage over us, so far as we are not constantly seeking God's care and protection by all the means of grace, by watchfulness and prayer.

And beside the power which these evil spirits have on our minds, when we forget God, by their own wicked influence on our thoughts, they have two great instruments or means, which they too often successfully employ; one of these is the world, which is so much in their power, that it is called in the catechism the wicked world, and Satan is called in Scripture the prince of this world. Now what a powerful instrument the world is in the hands of our great adversary is often allowed in words as a matter of course; as, for instance, when we speak of worldly people, or worldly principles, we mean the opposite to Christianity: but yet its influence on ourselves, we very little consider. For instance, by the power of its example, for the broad way is the way that leadeth to destruction; the power of its temptations, for a rich man can scarce enter into the kingdom of heaven the danger of its good opinion, for the "friendship of the world is enmity against God;" its pleasures, for he "that liveth in pleasure is dead." And yet although this be true and allowed in words, yet we cannot calculate how much influence the world has on our own minds; how much it mixes itself with our thoughts so as to lead us to form an untrue judgment of things; to look on those objects as matters of importance, which are mere trifles, and to consider the things we hear and