31ST DAY. "Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh."-Matt. xxiv. 44. The Salemu A MINISTER was once called to visit a young lady, who was seriously ill. On enterWarning. ing her apartment, he asked her how she felt? I am dying, was the reply she gave. He then said to her, If you think you are dying, how do you feel in prospect of another world? Her brief but mournful answer was, Not prepared; and in a short time she expired. Reader! it will be a fearfully solemn thing if death should come and find you not prepared. To be in the grasp of the King of terrors; to enter upon the dread realities of an unending eternity; to stand, single and alone, before the great tribunal, and yet unprepared! Is it likely to be so? If you are living regardless of your immortal interests, you have great reason to ap prehend that it will, for the summons may come at an hour when it is least expected. What is the preparation that is required, in order to secure a happy death and a blissful immortality? All is included in "winning Christ, and being found in him." Those who possess this one blessing are saved, and they will not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. United to the Lord Jesus by a living faith, their guilty persons are accepted of God; they enjoy His favour which is life, being reconciled to Him by the death of the cross; from the condemnation of that holy law which they have broken, they are fully discharged; their sins, which are many, are all forgiven; their hearts are renewed by the quickening energies of the Divine Spirit, and by His effectual working their natures are sanctified, whereby they are led more and more to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. Should we be asked, then, What is thy petition, and what is thy request? Let us not hesitate to say, in the language of the apostle, "That I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” To the true Christian, death, whatever form he may assume, and at whatever season he may appear, will be a messenger of joy and peace. In his case the day of death will be better than the day of his birth. It will be the day when, as a weary traveller, he shall arrive at home; when, as a tempesttossed mariner, he shall reach the desired haven; and when, as an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ, he will take possession of his promised inheritance. If we are in Christ, we have thus nothing to fear in looking forward to the coming of Christ--His coming at death, or His coming at judgment. We ought rather to long, with an ardent longing, for His appearing. In the meanwhile it is our duty to serve Him, not hiding our talent in the earth like the unprofitable servant, but to be up and doing, having our loins girt, and our lamps burning. Constrained by His matchless love, seeking continually to glorify His adorable name, following the perfect example which He has set before us, and taking His sacred precepts as our daily directory, we shall, while pursuing such a course, possess the surest evidence ourselves, and afford the most conclusive proof to others, that when the hour of our departure shall have arrived, it will be to quit a world of sin and sorrow, and enter upon that blessed state where we shall be "with Christ, which is far better." THE END. |