they have continued strangers to repentance to- | demned already, because he hath not believed in wards God, and to faith towards our Lord Jesus the name of the only begotten Son of God. And Christ, there awaits them--not the crown of right- this is the condemnation, that light is come into eousness, but the cup of trembling. To as many as the world, and men loved darkness rather than receive him Christ gives power to become the sons light, because their deeds were evil.' While we of God, even to them that believe on his name, who rejoice that it is written, 'He that believeth on the are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, Son hath everlasting life,' O let us never forget nor of the will of man, but of God. But what the no less truthful record, that 'he that believeth is to be the final doom of those who do not re- not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of ceive him, who do not live by the faith of the God abideth on him.' Son of God? He that believeth not, is con

APRIL.

FIRST DAY.-MORNING.

‹ Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit; and having said thus, he gave up the ghost,' Luke xxiii. 46.

He died. How wonderful! The Prince of life groaned, and bled, and died. All of him that could die, died. He assumed our nature that he might be capable of dying. Sin brought death into the world; and death passes on all, for that all have sinned. But behold the wonder! here death passed with far more than his usual terrors on one who had never sinned. But he was made sin—a sin-offering for us: on him was laid the iniquities of us all. Every sinner deserves to be forsaken of God. That he might feel the heavy load of our sins which he had undertaken to bear, he was deprived for a time of a sense of his Father's support, while the vials of wrath which we had merited were poured on his head. But the Father's love, which was ever the same-now that our debt was paid-shone forth in unclouded brightness. And the love of the Son, which the bruising of his soul could not abate, now rose into re-assured confidence; and having cried with a loud voice, to show that life was yet strong in him, and that his enemies could not have taken it away; but that he willingly laid it down; his work being finished, he said, 'Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit; and having said this, he gave up the ghost,'-gave up, or sent away his spirit, yielding a willing victory, that by dying he might conquer death; and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage.'

Naturally, there is something almost overwhelming in the thought of death. It is an un

tried work, which has never been described by any who have accomplished it, for none ever returns to tell us what it is to die. It makes us shudder to think that this body, which we have so carefully cherished, is to become the prey of corruption-the food of worms. Death breaks asunder the dearest ties; it brings to a close every earthly pursuit; it ushers us into the presence of God, and it fixes our doom through eternity.

O what a privilege, through faith in Christ, to have death unstinged; and to have ‘a strong consolation' in these trying circumstances. How encouraging to remember that Christ said, 'I go to my God and your God, to my Father and your Father; that, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, we may say to this reconciled God, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,' in the full persuasion that he will save those that trust in Him.

Meditation on this wonderful decease which Christ accomplished at Jerusalem would be of little avail, were we not led daily to commit the keeping of our souls to God in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator;-and unless we keep constantly in view that he was thus lifted up from the earth' on the cross that he might draw all men to him.' O should it not be our desire that we may be drawn with cords of a man, and with bands of love?'. And when we pray, 'Draw us, and we will run after thee,' should we not strive unflinchingly to follow him ourselves, and to be instrumental in inducing others to follow him? Should we not say to those advancing in the path of ruin, Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die; turn to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope, turn ye, turn ye, that your souls may live? Should we not beseechingly say to those over

whom we may have influence, We are journey-work by unholy suggestions. His fiery darts ing to the place, of which the Lord said, I will can be shot unseen; and their venom, when felt, give it you: come with us, and we will do you should speedily be counteracted by fervent ejacugood?' Then, when our hour cometh, may lations. each of us say, 'Into thy hand I commit my spirit thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.'

"The hour of my departure's come,
I hear the voice that calls me home;
Now, O my God! let trouble cease;
Now let thy servant die in peace.'

FIRST DAY.-EVENING.

'I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living, Job xxx.

23.

NOTHING is more certain than that we shall all descend into the grave. Adam was doomed to it for his transgression; and his descendants having inherited his nature, and walked in his steps, have been involved in his sentence; for it is written, By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death has passed upon all, for that all have sinned.' Our fathers, where are they? Of the thousands who occupied our places a century ago, not one remains; they have been brought to the house appointed for all living,' and the place that once knew them, knows them no more.' When we are surrounded by the trophies of death, and know that ere long we shall be numbered among his victims, how wonderful is it that so many should think lightly of so solemn an event, as if it were a matter in which they were not personally interested. O may we feel its great importance, and consider our latter end, and apply our hearts unto wisdom.

our joys and our sorrows, and our attachments in this fleeting world, speaks of all as the pageantry of a procession, which, whether joyful or mournful, whether magnificent or the reverse, passes, vanishes, and is seen no more. 'But this I say to you, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth that they who have wives be as though they had none; and they who weep as though they wept not; and they who rejoice as though they rejoiced not; and they who buy as though they possessed not; and they who use this world as not abusing it, for the fashion of this world passeth away.'

'It

The certainty of death should lead us diligently to prepare to meet the Lord our God. is appointed unto men once to die, but after death the judgment.' O the blessedness of being able to say in faith and hope, when the last moment comes, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit!' These were the last words of the dying Saviour, and they can become ours, only when by faith in his name we can look up to God as our reconciled Father through Christ Jesus. Without faith it is impossible to please God;— impossible to live in peace, to die in peace, to appear before him in peace. Jesus is our peace; by him alone the Lord's merited anger can be turned away. If we have laid hold on Christ as he is offered in the gospel, and have experienced the renewing efficacy of the Holy Spirit, then have we passed from death unto life; and being adopted into God's family, it will be our study to walk as the children of God. If the certainty of death has led us to flee to him who has conquered death, and who can give us the victory, then may we regard death as among the blessings of the covenant: and knowing that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ his Son, we may often look forward to death; and welcome its approach without dismay, saying, know in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he will keep that which I have com-* mitted to him against that day.'

The certainty of death should wean us from an undue attachment to this world's enjoyments. Were the good things of this life to continue ours for ever, and were there nothing better on which we could set our hearts, then would we do well to seek them as our chief treasures. But when blessings of far greater value are held out to us, and when the good things of time cannot satisfy an immortal spirit, and when, moreover, they cannot be ours long, how foolish would it be to give them the first place in our hearts! Would the traveller, who is returning from a long sojourn in a distant land, be so delighted with the accommodations of an inn, as to wish to continue there, though a few stages more would bring him to the end of his journey-to the embraces of his kindred, and to the happiness of a long-wished-advantage thou hast ever derived from the pracfor home? And should not we then-if amidst the world's allurements we should at any time feel disposed to say, 'This is our rest, and here will we abide, for we do like it well,'-should not we reflect that this cannot be our rest; that there remaineth a rest for the people of God in a far happier country, to which, with alacrity, we should bend our steps? The apostle, to moderate

Reader! Hearer! Ponder the paths of thy feet. Hast thou not only entered, but continued long to advance in the paths of the wicked? Look back, I beseech thee, on the dark record of departed years, and consider what permanent

Will it

tice of iniquity. Has it rendered thee happy,
peaceful, respectable? Does the remembrance of
it soothe thee in the hour of sorrow?
afford any consolation when heart and flesh are
beginning to faint and fail? Will it avail thee in
that hour, when the silver cord shall be loosed,
and the golden bowl broken; when the dust
shall return to the earth as it was, and the spirit

to God who gave it? Was there ever a person known to rejoice at the hour of death that he had led a life of ungodliness? And has there ever been one, when stretched on his death-bed, known to lament, that 'in simplicity, and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, he had his converation in the world?' Many, however, through the hope set before them in the gospel, have been enabled to rejoice even amidst the agonies of the last conflict. We have this, among many others, as the dying testimony of a faithful servant of Christ, who, in his journey towards Zion, had not been exempted from the trials of life: 'you have been accustomed,' said he to a friend who was weeping over him, 'to take notice of the sayings of dying men, and this is mine:—That a life spent in the service of God, and in communion with him, is the most comfortable and pleasant life which any man can lead in this world.'

At that awful moment when departing life is glimmering in the socket, when the glazed eye is fixed, when the faultering pulse has almost stopped, and when the pale countenance is beginning to change,-even the infidel might be convinced that the believer has the advantage of him. The believer not only rejoices in hope; but he can say, Though my hope should be illfounded-though there should be no hereafter, and though life should be but a dream, my faith has rendered that dream unspeakably more delightful. It has guided me through life; it is cheering me at death; and if it be true, as I most firmly believe it is, it shall gladden and bless me through eternity. How different in these circumstances is the state of the infidel! Even though religion were false, he has not been a gainer by rejecting it; for, in doing so, he has rejected what alone could have enlightened the dark stages of his journey; and what alone could have shed a radiance on the clouds that hang over its close. And if it be true, (and the most determined infidel cannot be sure of the contrary) then for less than nothing and vanity he has neglected the great end for which he was created, and has sealed the eternal ruin of his immortal soul.

SECOND DAY.-MORNING.

And laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre,' Mark xv. 46.

NEVER had the grave opened to receive such a victim. Deeply interesting is the affecting record;

may the Holy Spirit teach us to answer, according to his word, the following questions

Where did they lay the blessed Saviour when they had taken him down from the cross? They laid him in a sepulchre hewn out of a rock.' Had the sepulchre been less secure, it would not have been so easy to gainsay the enemy, when it was said that the body was stolen away. As the sepulchre was under ground, (for they went down into it), and as it was hewn out of the solid rock, there was neither inlet nor outlet, but by the door, to which a great stone was rolled, and as the stone was sealed by those in authority, there could be no collusion betwixt the guards and his disciples. 'It was a sepulchre wherein never man before was laid; so that it could not be said that it was some other person than Jesus who arose; neither could it be said that he had been quickened by touching some holy prophet's bones.

Alas!

How was he buried? Openly. There was no secrecy; friends and foes might come. there were few friends; but they were sufficient to perform this last mournful duty, and to bear witness that he had been committed to his grave. When his disciples had fled, some faithful and affectionate women were found at the cross, and at the grave. There also do we find those who had once been faint-hearted-Nicodemus, who had come to the Saviour by night; and Joseph of Arimathea. Now, however, by strengthening grace, 'the weak were as David, when the strong were as tow.' Now, the lately timid Joseph, went in boldly unto Pilate and craved the body of Jesus; and he and the equally strengthened Nicodemus, having taken their revered Master from the cross, without fear of the consequences, laid him in Joseph's own sepulchre; so that by this, and his suffering as a malefactor, the prophecy was fulfilled that he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.' There also his enemies were on the alert, their malice following him even to the grave; and the next day after the preparation, (and as the Jews reckoned their day from sunset to sunset, this was immediately after Jesus was laid in the grave), they went to Pilate, and telling that he had said when he was alive that he would rise again the third day, they sought and obtained a guard, and placed it at the sepulchre, and having sealed the stone, they probably dismissed their fears.

Why was he buried? To complete his humiliation. When a monarch dies, great is the descent from the palace to the tomb; but how much greater, when it is from the glory of heaven to the darkness of the grave! It was the