212 TAE DEATH OF KINDRED IMPROVED. DSERM. XLri, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him,' .James i. 12. And upon this account, he exhorts chris- tians in the second verse, to a very sublime and difficult practice, " My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall intò divers temptations, knowing this, that the trial of your faith worketh patience, and if it endures the trial, it will be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the .appearing of Jesus Christ," 1 Pet. i. 7. When God sends his messenger of death, and takes a dear and beloved creature from our arms, or our bosom, the divine question is like that of our Lord to Peter, " Simon, lovest thou me ?" John xxi. 15-17. " Chris- tian, lovest thou me more than thou lovest this creature? Art thou willing to resign this comfort at my call ? Hast thou not given thyself to me, and does thy heart refuse to give up thy son, thy brother, or thy dearest friend ? Hast 'thou not called me thy sovereign ? I am corne now to enquire into thy sincerity. Dost thou resign thy most beloved objects to my disposal ? I gave up my Son to death for you ; and have you any thing so dear to you as my Son was to me? What says your heart in answer to these solemn questions ? Do you love meabove all things, or no ? Is your will bowed down to my foot ? Can you now repeat from your very souls the same language, in which you have often addressed me in your closets, and in my sanctuary, " I am. thine, Lord, I am thine; all that I have is thine? " Or do you murmur and quarrel at my providence, when I send my servant death to your house, to try whether these professions of yours %ere sin- cere or no ?" Happy the christian that comes off with honour in this hour of trial, and who can say heartily, " Lord, I resign what thou demandest, and am angry with myself that I should find so much reluctance in my heart, to surrender any thing at the call of God !" What a shining evidence of our sincerity is obtained at such a season ? What a noble proof of our supreme love to God? And it shall be recorded in heaven for our honour, and produced in the day of the Lord Jesus ? There is nothing in all the history of Abraham, the fa- ther of the faithful, that gives him a more shiningcharac- ter., on earth, or, perhaps, in heaven, than that he gave up .5
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