592 'DEATH IMPROVED. sweet serenity of his soul under the agonies of his flesh, would force Balsam himself to say, Let me the the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his; Numb. xxiii. 10. But the christian goes further, and with holy zeal, and humble dependance upon divine grace, establishes himself in the ways of holiness : He resolves thathe will live the life of the righteous too, and tread in the paths of piety with utmost watchfulness and care that he may lay a foundation for the same peaceful reflections on his death-bed, and the same joyful prospect. 3. The death of fellow- saintsis for our benefit, as it weans us from this world, as it makes earth and this life less pleasant to us, and heaven more desirable. Every holy soul that leaves the world, carries away so much grace and goodness from it. What would this world be if all the saints had left it, but a cage of unclean birds, a nest of serpents, a wilderness of savage beasts, a habitation of Satan, and his sons and daugh- ters ; a dwelling of devils, and a region of darkness a-kin to hell? Did not converting grace turn sinners into saints, and make a constant succession of christians, this would be the dismal character of this world in the space of one generation. But, blessed be God, as bad as this world is, divine grace is still at work, andmakes it a sort of nursery for heaven by new con- versions. Yet stillthe death of the saints is the loss ofso much'of hea- ven out of our sinful world ; and the fewer friends God has here, therewill be the fewer communications between heaven andearth. The absence of Christ and his saints, spreads a sort of dim shadow over all the fairest colours of this lower creation ; the beauties of it fade, and the flowers of it, in our esteem, languish and hang their head, becauseJests, ,and so many ofhis holyones, are departed. When we see one pious friend after another, tale- ing their leave of us, and ascending to the upper world, we are ready to say, " What should we stay here for? Our God is on high, our Saviour is- on high, multitudes of our friends are departed from us, anddwell on high. Farewell earth, and time, and sensible things : We long to be with our best friends, and with our God; we are ready, O Jesus, forthy first summons ; takeus whenthoupleasest into heaven and eternity. 4. The comfortable death of .a saint instructs 'us how to die, and makes deatheasy. When we see and hear a fellow-christian examining hisheart, searchinghis soul to the bottom, turning all his secret thoughts outward, and looking over the past conduct of his life ; when we behold him reviewing his own follies and iniquities, and recalling tomind also all his sacred transactions with God; when we see him surveying all these most important
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