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533'
SAFETY IN
THE
GRAVE,
CHISC.
XI.
keep thee
in
safety from the
dreadful
trials which perhaps.
would overwhelm
thy spirit.
Sometimes
in
the course.
of
his
providence
'.he
may'
find
it
necessary,
that
Some,
spreading calamity
should overtake
the
place where thou
dwellest,
or
some
distressing stroke
fall
upon
thy
family,
or'
thy
friends,
but
he
will
hide
thee under ground
before
it
comes,
and thus disappoint
all
thy fears,
and
lay every
.
perplexing thought into rest
and
silence.
Reflection
II.
Let
it
be
ever remembered,
that
the
grave
is
God's
hiding-place and
not our
own
:
We
are-
to
venture
into it without.terror
when he calls
us;
but
he does
not
-suffer
us
to break into
it
our
own
way
without
his
call.
Death
"and.life
are
in
the
hands
of-
God, and
be
never
gave
the
keys
of
them to
mortal
men
to
let
themselves
out
of
this world when
they
please,
nor
to
enter
into
his
hiding-place
without
his
leave.
"
Bear up
-then,
0-my
soul,
under
all
thy sorrows
and.
trials
of
this
-
present state
till
God
himself
shall
say,
It
is.
finished
;"
John
xix. 30.
-
till
our
blessed
Jesus,
who
has the
keys
put
into
his
hands, shall
open the
door
of
death, and
give
thee an
entrance
into
that dark
and
peaceful
retreat.
It
is
a
safe
and silent refuge
from
the
bustle and the
noise, the
labours and the troubles
of life;
but
he
that
forces
it
open
with
his
own
hands,
how will ho
dare
to
appear
before
God
in the
world
of
spirits
?
What
will
he answer, when with
a dreadful
frown
the great
God
shall
demand
of
him,
"
Friend,
how
earnest
thou
in.
hither
?"
Mat.
xxii.
12.
Who sent for
thee,
or
gave
thee
leave
to come
?
Such
a
wretch must
venture
upon
so-
rash an action
at
the
peril
of
the wrath
of
God, and
his
own
eternal destruction.
Our
blessed
Jesus,
who has all
the vast
scheme
of
divine counsels before
his eyes, by
having the books
of
his
Father's
decrees
put
into his hands, he
knows how
long
it
is
proper
for
thee, O
christian, to
fight
and labour,
to
wrestle and strive
with,
sins,
temptations
and
difficulties
in
the
present
life
:
He
knows
best
in
what
moment
to
puta
period
to them,
and
to
pronounce thee conqueror;
Fly
not
from
the
field
of
battle
for
want of
holy
fortitude;
though
thy enemies
and
thy
dangers
be
ever
so
many,
nor
dare
to dismiss
thyself
from
thy
appointed
post, till
the
Lord of
life
pronounce the
word
of thy
dismission.
"
Sometimes
I
have
been ready to
say
within
myself,.
2