TERM. xrl.] THE DEATH OF SAINTS IMPROVED. 20 derive a blessing from it, by the instructions of the gos- pel, and the aids of grace. " Thou hast heard the lessons that the death of man- kind in general should teach thee : Enquire now what thou hast learned of them Hast thou seen the vanity of man as a mortal dying-creature ? It is an easymatter to say, " Alas, we must all die : But hast thou felt the penetrating force of this truth ? And does it influence thy' whole conduct ? Art thou not still, at every turn, put- ting thy confidence in one creature or another, whose breath is in his nostrils, and whose death disappoints thy hope ? Or hast thou removed thy dependance from all creatures to God, and fixed thy hope in him that lives for ever ?.O blessed effectofthe meditation of death ? " Again, hast thou seen the heinous evil ofsin in the spreadingdesolation that death has made over this lower world ? Remember that it received its commission from the justice of God, almost six thousand years ago, and from his law which sin had broken : The dreadful execu- tion proceeds to this day, and it will proceed till there be no sinner upon earth. Sin is the spring of all this ha- voc of the lives of men. It is sin that has deserved all these tremendous executions of wrath : And yet, Omy soul, howoften hast thou indulged this mischief, to play about thy bosom, like a harmless thing? Corne, view the dismal effects of it, in the death of millions, and learn to hate and renounce it for ever. It is no small evil that could awaken the indignation of God at this rate, and diffuse it so widely, over so large and so glorious a part of his creation, as the whole nature and race of man. " Again, I would enquire, has the death of mankind taught me effectually, that I must shortly die ? And have I been excited, to make a suitable provision for this aw- ful and important hour, since I must not, I cannot escape it? " Not only the death of mankind in general, but the death of wicked men, may instruct me in some useful lessons too. Here I learn howGod rescues his children from the rage ofoppressors, when he smites them down to death, and lays all their fury silent in the dust. Thus death itself becomes a deliverer to the saints, by destroy- ing their cruel persecutors. " I learn also, that when early or sudden death haste
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