Let it be remembered, that such feelings as these do not argue an inferior degree of religion. Even the apostles themselves were not strangers to these sensations. "For in this, said they, we groan earnestly; desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swal lowed up of life." They wished to enter heaven without dying.-But to us this is impossible. To death as an inevitable doom we all look forward. It is the way, and the only way to the city of habitation.

as this, it is probable, would men have passed | tracted, and that it was perfectly harmles from earth to heaven had they never sinned. who could put it into his bosom without shudIn some such way as this will those living at dering? the last day be qualified for glory. "Behold, says the Apostle, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Elijah died not, but he was changed. And in whatever way we pass into heaven, a change analogous to death and the resurrection must pass upon us. The reason is obvious. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." Were the body removed with its present animal properties, it would require food and sleep and medicine even in heaven. The eye would be unequal to the splendour of the glory, the Let us not however blaspheme death. Let ear to the melody of the sounds, the taste to us rather see what there is to reconcile us to the exquisiteness of the joy, the powers to the it. Let us compare Elijah's mode of removal constancy of the work. Our senses and or- with our own, and see whether the difference gans are adapted to our present state, but not be so marvellously great. to our future condition. We now see how little we can bear. When an angel appeared to Daniel, he was instantly seized with a stupefaction which he could not resist. When John in his exile saw Jesus, though he had been familiar with him, and had leaned on his bosom, he "fell at his feet as dead." And by the way, this regulates the dealings of God with his people, while they are in the body. Moses asked for a sight of God, which would have proved his death-"Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live." The disciples, in the mount of transfiguration, "fell asleep." It was not so much a moral, as a natural infirmity: the animal frame was overpowered with the glory of the scene. Were He to afford to his people such discoveries and communications as they may sometimes desire, it would unhinge them from earth, indispose them for the duties of their stations, and disorder their whole frame.

IV. We may regard it as A MODE OF TRANSITION MUCH TO BE DESIRED. Death is not a pleasing subject of meditation. It is called "an enemy." It is said to be "the king of terrors." Even exclusive of the future consequences, there is much to render it formidable. Nature cannot be reconciled to its own dissolution. Who loves to be taken to pieces?

"The pains, the groans, the dying strife,
Fright our approaching souls away;
Still we shrink back again to life,
Fond of our prison and our clay."

Its forerunners and its attendants are dismaying. I have heard of a very good man, who often said he was not afraid of death, but of dying he was chilled with the thought of corruption and worms. If we saw a viper, and knew that the poisonous fang was ex

You have to die. But consider the names attached to death by him who perfectly knows the nature of it. He tells us, "If a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death"-it ought to be called something else—so quali fied and softened is it with regard to him. Call it a departure-the departure of a prisoner from his prison, of a traveller from his inn of a scholar from his school-" The time of my departure is at hand. I long to depart." Call it a sleep sleep is inviting to the wearied labourer, who has borne the burden and heat of the day.

They sleep in Jesus and are blest: How sweet their slumbers are; From suff'ring and from sin releas'd, And freed from every care!" "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." You have to die. But the sting of death is removed-for "the sting of death is sin""and he bore our sins in his own body on the tree." Death stung him; but, as it is fabled of the bee, left his sting in him. It is harmless now. It may terrify, but it cannot injure.

m

You have to die. But God promises to be with you there. "For he hath said, I will NEVER leave thee nor forsake thee"-and therefore be assured he will not leave you this time of need. To this the promise is peculiarly made: "I will be with him in i trouble." Hence David triumphs, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they com fort me."

You have to die. But the soul will be im mediately disposed of infinitely to your advantage. Death will carry you from the same vain world, the same vexing world, the same defiling world-as Elijah's chariot car

ried him. Death will carry you to the same | They slew a
rest, to the same fulness of joy, to the same
glorious company as Elijah's chariot carried
him. Absent from the body, you are present
with the Lord.

You have to die. But the body will certainly follow. Though you do not take it along with you, but leave it in the grave, it shall not be lost there. He will come and inquire for your dust. It is redeemed. "If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."

You have to die. But by death you may glorify God, more than by such a removal as Elijah's. It affords opportunity to display the influence of divine grace under suffering, to bear witness to the goodness of the Master you serve; to commend the ways of godliness; to convince some, to encourage others. One dying Christian has often made many in love with death. While witnessing such a scene, they have been ready to say, "Let us go away that we may die with him."

It matters therefore little how the believer departs from this world to a better.

But the event is always worthy of our ob servation. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace."

And whether he ascend to heaven in a whirlwind, or be removed by a fever or a dropsy, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!"

DISCOURSE L.

THE PUNISHMENT OF ADONI-BEZEK

IMPROVED.

But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, 80 God hath requited me.-Judges i. 6, 7. DESTRUCTION had long been denounced upon the inhabitants of Canaan for their sins. At length the measure of their iniquity is full; and the Jews are appointed to be the executioners of the Divine vengeance. Moses dies before they enter on the dreadful task; but Joshua succeeds him, and becomes the scourge of this devoted race. But even he dies before the complete reduction of the promised land. Immediately after his death, Judah and Simeon assemble their forces, and attack the nemy at Bezek, and gain a dreadful victory.

Z

bezek prison inflict a pur vere—" Th toes." Thi you have score and their grea under my requited

This passage.

me hold it up to view, anu cu..
mark the principal contents of the represe
ation.

I. See in it THE INSTABILITY AND UNCERTAINTY OF WORLDLY GREATNESS. Look at this man-and behold in what slippery places God sets the mighty and noble. How great was he in the field-where armies fled before him! how great in the palace-where a number of vanquished princes fed under his table! But behold him now-dethroned, insulted, dismembered; and his present extremity of wretchedness imbittered by the recollection of the prosperity that once crowned his head. "And seekest thou great things to thyself? Seek them not. Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day will bring forth."

99

From the eagerness with which mankind pursue the distinctions of life, we should conclude, not only that they were very valuable in themselves, but that no kind of precariousness attached to them. We should suppose that they were able to ensure durable possession-and God, who in his word always gives language to actions, tells us, "Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling-places to all generations: they call their lands after their own names. But let not the strong be secure; let not the honourable be vain; let not the rich be high-minded. Connect certainty with the motion of the wind, or with the waves of the sea-but do not trust this treacherous, this changeable world. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal." "Riches make to themselves wings and fly away." "Man being in honour abideth not; he is like the beasts that perish." What is all history but a narrative of the reverses to which all earthly things are liable, however firmly established they once appeared to be: of the revolutions of empires; the destruction of cities; of the mighty put down from their seats; of counsellors led away spoiled, of politicians disgraced, generals banished, and monarchs put to death!

II. See in it JUDGMENT OVERTAKING THE SINNER IN THIS LIFE. Nor does Adoni-bezek stand alone as an instance of the present punishment of sin. Behold Adam and Eve driven out of Paradise. See the Flood sweep.

the

as this, it is proorld of the ungodly. See the fear. They yield to vile passions and appe from earth to Cities of the Plain. Remember tites, and then they groan by reason of bondIn some sug the last deshe looked back, contrary to the age. They violate all the rules which conommand, and "she became a pillar duce to the welfare of the community, and says the shall The servant of Elisha enters his then they are expelled from the esteem and iner's presence-tells a lie-and goes out regard of their fellow-creatures. And what leper as white as snow." Ananias and can hinder all this? Sapphira utter a known falsehood before the So that sin does not recompense or even Apostle, and are both instantly numbered indemnify the sinner here. The way as with the dead. And of such importance is well as the end of transgressors is hard." As truth to the welfare of the community-and the righteous here have some foretastes of so hateful is it to the Supreme Being-that their future happiness, so the wicked have not only are all liars to have their portion in here the beginnings of sorrows. As godlithe lake which burneth with fire and brim-ness has the promise of the life that now is, stone, which is the second death-but in these as well as of that which is to come, so sin has instances we see "hell from beneath moved the curse of this world, as well as of another. to meet them at their coming!"

III. See in it PUNISHMENT INFLICTED AFTER It may however be necessary to observe LONG DELAY. Behold the career of this sinthat this is not always the case. The misery ner! "Threescore and ten kings" he had of the sinner is principally reserved for a fu- thus inhumanly mangled. Thus he repeated ture world, and we are now in a state of pro- his crime again and again-even until sevenbation. But God would confirm our faith in ty times! What a lengthened course of inhis adorable providence. If all sin was pun-quity was here!" So long and so often had ished here, we should look no further; if no sin, we should not easily believe in the power, the holiness, the truth of God. He therefore sometimes signally interposes; and will be known by the judgments which he executeth: "so that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth."

Present punishment, too, is less frequently executed under the gospel than under the law; and the reason is that a future state of retribution was not so clearly and fully revealed to them as to us. Hence their threatenings are often filled with expressions of temporal evils, while ours only announce miseries beyond the grave. Then an adulterer was to be stoned; now he is to bedamned.

I done this, that I thought God had not seen, or did not remember. But he has found me out; and I live long enough to be a miserable instance of this awful truth-that however long punishment may be delayed, it will at last be inflicted-As I have done, so God hath requited me."

The wonder is not that he was overtaken so soon-but that he was spared so long; and seemed to be allowed to triumph in his inquity. The flourishing condition of sinners for a time, and especially for a long time, unchecked by calamity, is an event which has often perplexed even pious minds. Thus Jere miah exclaims "Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee; yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: wherefore, doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously!" David also tells us: "As for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped; for I was envious at the foolish, when saw the prosperity of the wicked."

We may add that the punishment of sin in this world is sometimes unavoidable. Thus, if nations are punished at all, they must be punished in time-for they have no existence in eternity; there men exist only as individu-I als. And nearly the same may be said of a family. Hence we read "the curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just."

But what is more to be lamented is, that hereby the unhappy creature himself is frequently deluded. He is apt to mistake for bearance for connivance; and what God does Yea, the present punishment of sin is in not immediately punish, he concludes that he some measure natural. For how frequently entirely neglects. "He hath said in his do men's sufferings arise from the very sins heart, I shall not be moved; for I shall never they commit! Extravagance breeds ruin- be in adversity." "Because sentence against indolence, poverty-intemperance, disease. an evil work is not executed speedily, there"Who hath wo? Who hath sorrow? Who fore the heart of the sons of men is fully set hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who in them to do evil." But we should rememhath wounds without cause? Who hath red-ber the end of providence in such a dispensaness of eyes? They that tarry long at the tion. He frequently spares the ungodly wine; they that go to seek mixed wine." the sake of the godly: the extraction of the Why are men so unhappy--but because they tares would injure the wheat. By forbear are unholy. They walk contrary to God, and ing the blow, he would give space for repentGod walks contrary to them. They trans-ance: "the longsuffering of our God is salvagress his commands, and expose themselves tion." He has therefore ends to answer to his wrath; and then they are alarmed with worthy of himself. But be convinced of this

for

-that he never designed to cherish in you a hope of impunity. His patience is not forgiveness. "Be sure your sins will find you out. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." He is patient; but he is faithful, and the Scripture cannot be broken. He is patient but patience has its limits; and the year of trial granted to the barren figtree will expire, and then, if unfruitful, it shall be cut down, and cast into the fire. He is patient: but if his patience end not in your conversion, it will be glorified in your destruction. "These things hast thou done, and I kept silence: thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver."

SIN AND SUFFERING.

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Haman? "Then said Zeresh his wife and
all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be
made of fifty cubits high, and to-morrow
speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may
be hanged thereon; then go thou in merrily
with the king unto the banquet. And the
thing pleased Haman, and he caused the gal-
lows to be made." What was his doom?
And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains,
said before the king, Behold also the gallows,
fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for
Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king,
standeth in the house of Haman. Then the
king said, Hang him thereon.
So they
hanged Haman on the gallows that he had
prepared for Mordecai. And to mention no
more, in the very place where Jezebel caused
the dogs to lick the blood of Naboth, the dogs
licked her blood!

But there is a future conformity still more dreadful; and of which the Apostle speaks when he says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." The man who sowed thistles, and expected to reap wheat, would be deemed a fool. But are we not equally foolish? What are the principles we imbibe, the dispositions we cultivate, the pursuits in which we are engaged, that we are concluding they will issue in glory, ho

IV. See in it a CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN "What I have inflicted upon others, is now inflicted upon me: and in my very punishment I read my crime as I have done, so God hath requited me!" Our Saviour has said, "With the same measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." And Eliphaz tells us, that he had particularly remarked this even in his days. "I have seen they that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same." From the nature of their suffering, men may often learn the character of their sin. God sometimes sends our troubles with a label upon them-nour, and immortality? Is there any relait seems impossible to mistake their design. We are commanded to "hear the rod;" it says many things-but it frequently tells us the very sin for which we smart: it thunders or whispers, "this is the duty you have neglected. This is the idol you have adored. Hast thou not procured this unto thyself?"

Between sin and punishment there is sometimes a comparative conformity. This is the case when we suffer things which have some resemblance to our crimes. Thus the Jews, for serving strange gods, were compelled to serve strange masters. Forty days the spies were employed in exploring the land of promise, and forty years the people are condemned to wander in the wilderness for believing them.

Sometimes there is also between them a direct conformity. This is the case when we suffer in the same way and in the same things in which we sin. Thus it is said of the Chaldeans, “Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee." Thus it is said of the Church of Rome, "For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy." What was the subject of David's sin? The numbering of his people. In this he suffers: a pestilence carries off seventy thousand of his subjects. What was the design of wicked

tion between these? Do not the steps of the road we travel take hold on hell? Misery is not only the reward of our works, but the very tendency of our sin. Hear this, ye covetous and unfeeling. Your hard-heartedness is not punishable by any human tribunal-but see your crime meeting you at the bar of God: "he shall have judgment without mercy, that showed no mercy." Think of this, ye despisers of the Gospel-he now addresses you in vain; "Because I have called, and ye refused: I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof."-And hereafter you shall address him in vain: "I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you: then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me."

Finally. See in this Scripture THE HAND OF GOD ACKNOWLEGED, WHILE MEN ONLY ARE EMPLOYED-" God hath requited me.' But who saw any thing of him? Did not the sons of Judah and of Simeon cut off his thumbs and his great toes? Yes-but "ig there an evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" "I form the light, and create