and God, whose children we are made in Christ, by a conversation void of all intentional" offence either towards God Himself or towards men. Thus the seed remaineth in us, and we cannot sin," designedly and deliberately at least, "because we are born of God." Thus we walk circumspectly along the ways of the world, knowing them to be planted so thickly with snares, that they are termed the "paths of the destroyer," and discovering those snares by the light of the cross which we bear; the cross, which was not only in baptism impressed upon the brow, but is now by the finger of the Spirit of God indented upon the heart, and shines without in reflected splendour. This is the armour of proof, which the lance of death shall only pierce and perforate, in order to unbind the shackled, and liberate the imprisoned soul. This is the foundation of the hope that "is sure and steadfast, and that entereth into that within the veil." Thus to live, and thus to walk, acting upon

principles which are approved of God, and embodying in practice what cannot but be profitable to man; recognizing in ourselves the absolute proprietorship of Christ, and in others the relation of fellow servants, fellow disciples, fellow citizens of the same heavenly Zion, and fellow heirs of the same glorious immortality; doing what we do in Christ's name, and expecting to be accepted as only through Christ's merit;-this is to make the only effectual provision against the manifold contingences of life, and the single certainty of death. He who does this is the wise man, for he has more in reversion than in possession. He is the happy man, for the relinquishment of his possession must be the attainment of his reversion. He is the peaceful man, "for he dwells safely, and is quiet from fear of evil." He is the useful man, for having "received," he is concerned to impart "the good gift of God," and his interests and his duty are the same. Of all that he possesses, nothing, he knows,

is his own; but what he expends on himself temperately, will be allowed; what he employs for his Master, will be returned; and though after all he is an unprofitable servant, yet "blessed is that servant who when the Lord cometh he shall find so doing," and blessed, unspeakably blessed, shall be His recompense. "Thou hast been faithful unto death-I will give thee a crown of life. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful in few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

XXV.

The State of Man after Death.

AN giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" Here a fact is stated, and a question proposed; a fact which no one, however inclined to do so, can deny; and a question which every one, however disinclined to do so, ought to answer. The fact itself, indeed, so far as man's future destinies are concerned, is in truth the only certainty. We cannot tell, as to individuals, who may prosper or who may fall; who may suffer or who may smile; who may weep or who may rejoice; but we can pronounce at once, and without hesitation, that whatever be the temporary abode, there is one house appointed for all men

living: whatever may be the intervening circumstances, one event happeneth to all-MAN DIETH!

We are, however, concerned deeply with the attendant circumstances, and more, far more, with the inevitable consequences of death. Man has scarcely begun to live, when he learns that he is born to die. Like the flower, he carries within him, even from his birth, the principle of his own destruction; nor can any tell how soon it may begin to operate: "Man wasteth away." There is no stage of the developement of the human flower in which we can pronounce with certainty that it is not on the point of withering. And this is especially true, according to the Apostle James, of the rich, the prosperous, the mighty man; the man who is placed in a wider sphere of observation, surrounded with more abundant blessings, and in the greater peril of abusing them; concerning him it is especially declared, that "as the flower of the