pain by the sudden exclamation—"The Master is come, and calleth for thee!" Come, happy Christian! come away. But either way. O man! is no concern of thine: thy duty is straight before thee; it is patiently and resignedly to do the will of thy Father, and when thou shalt have finished the work that He gave thee to do. He will then, and not before, call thee home and bless thee for ever! Is it said that the argument is good for the prepared, or ask we what shall be said for the unprepared? Nothing need be said, but that he instantly repent of his past folly, and begin to prepare; all will then be well. Trouble not thyself, then, about the how or when you shall die, but how to live, so as to die the death of the righteous, and obtain his end. Let thy life be holy, and thy mind adorned with pure truth, then shall thy garments be always white, and thy head shall lack no ointment. (Eccl. ix. 8.) Let us pray the Lord to teach us so "to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom." (Psalm xc. 12.) For
"Those who live well, and pious paths pursue,
To man and to their Maker true!
Let them expire in age or youth,
Can never miss
Their way to everlasting bliss."
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; for they who thus die, live instantly in Him who is the Resurrection and the Life.
