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SP}Lb4
dCLIJ.]
'FEE DEATH
OF
I£fNDitED INFROV.fiD.
211
from the
sinful
practices
of
the world,
and
I
will
receive
you, and
I
will
be a
Father
to you,
and
ye shall be
my
Aons
and
my
daughters, saith the Lord
Almighty,"
2
Cor.
vi.
17,
18,.
Has death entered into a
family,
and taken
the
head, the
husband
away?
The
words
of Isaiah
grow
ßweeter
than ever
;
Is.
liv. 5.
"
Thy
Maker
is
thy
-Ius-
band, the
Lord
of
Hosts
is
his
name,
even
the
God
of
the
whole
earth." Are the
widows
and the
fatherless
children
in
danger
of
oppression, because they have
lokt
:their
defender
?
They run
to the lxvlii.
Ps.
an,. live
upon
the 5th verse
of
it
;
"
A
Father of
tfia
fatherless,
and
Judge
of
the
widows,
is
God
in
his
holy
habitation."
Is
a
brother
summoned
away
by
the stroke
of
death
?
.13ut
the
Lord Jesus
is
alive
still
:
He
that
took
.flesh
and blood
upon
him,
that
he
might
be
made like
:the
rest
,of
the chil-
dren
of
God
"
He
is
not
ashamed
to call
them
brethren,"
lieb.
ii.
11.
This
is
a
brother that
was .born
for the day
of
our adversity
;
this
is
the
friend
that
sticks closer
than
a brother,
and
abides
with us
when a
brother departs,
according
to
the expression
of
the
wise
man
;
J
rov.
xvii.
17.
.and xviii. 24.
Thus
the names, and
çharaeters, and
relations
of God
the
Father,
and
of our Lord
Jesus
Christ,
acquire a
new
sweetness,
and
appear
with
greater
love and glory
in
them,
at
the
death
of
our
earthly
relatives.
There
is many
,a
christian
can speak
feelingly,
and
say,
"
Never
did
I
live
so
much
upon
my
God, I
never
knew
nor
loved
my
Saviour
so well,
never conversed
so
much
with,
his
word,
never did
I
find
such sweetness in his
names,
.nor
_his
promises,
nor
such pleasure
in
secret
converse
with
him,
as
I
have
done
since the day
I lost
such
.a
friend,
or
such
a
dear
relation
by
the
stroke
of
death
:
,I
have
learned
now
to
put no trust
in
creatures
;
"
for their
breath goeth forth, and
that
very day
their
thoughts
of
kindness
perish,"
Ps.
cxlvi.
3-3.
Now
rc-
fuge
fails me, no
man seems to
be
concerned
for
me,
since the
death
of
such
a
friend
;
" I
say,
therefore,
to
my
God, thou
art
my
refuge,"
Ps.
cxlii.
4,
5.
III.
The death
of our
dearest
friends
,calls us
to
a no-
ble
trial
of
our
love to
God,
and
our
submission to
his
sovereignty.
Human nature
indeed
is
afraid
of
trials
;
but
when the
present
aids
of
divine grace
give
us
the
vic-
tory,
then
"blessed
is
the man
that endureth
temptation