Page:Sermons preached in the African Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Thomas', Philadelphia.djvu/247

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ser. xii.]
servants of god.
243

death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!"[1] But how vain was such a wish unaccompanied with the necessary qualifications. However strong the desire of the ungodly may be to die the death of the righteous and to have a glorious end like theirs, it can never be realized. The only way to this, is to live the self-denying and pious life of the righteous. We must here like them be raised from a death of sin unto a life ot righteousness by the power of the Holy Spirit. And being thus quickened to life, we must walk "as those that are alive from the dead: seeking for glory, honor and immortality, by a patient continuance in well-doing: being careful to Maintain good works, that are good and profitable unto men." A firm foundation of peace and comfort at the closing scene of life is laid, only, after we have thus served our generation by the will of God. Such was the character and end of our late friend

  1. Num. xxiii., 10.