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nigh. In my last agonies be not thou far from me; thou art now, and I am sure wilt be then, my only hope, therefore be not a terror unto me. Let me then find that the eternal God is my refuge, and that underneath are his everlasting arms.

I do expect to have my flesh and my heart, within a little while, to fail me; but Lord, be thou the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. Lord, I hope I have chosen thee, long ago, for my portion, and am resolved by thy grace enabling me, to

stick to my choice; therefore be thou pleased

to be with me in my sorest conflict, at the hour of death, and in the day of judgment. Let me not then be left by thee, or forsaken and rejected by thee the great Judge of all the world, whose irreversible dreadful sentence will ere long be passed upon all those that forget and neglect thee; in which number I beg I may not be found.

Seeing time is posting away, and eternity approaching, and none knows how soon death may arrest them, it is highly necessary

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to be often considering what will do us most good, and stand us most in stead at a dying hour, when this world and all its enjoyments will, as Job saith of the white of an egg, have no relish nor savour in them. When we come to the brink of eternity, all our earthly comforts will vanish and disappear, our friends and nearest and dearest relations will bid us adieu, they cannot help us, nor hinder death one moment. Our riches, though we had gained never so much, cannot ease one pain, nor find one remedy for our mortal disease; the serjeant, death, will not be bribed to stay till another year, or day, or hour; no, they must be gone, nill they, will they, they must go into the other world.

Let me, O Lord, be in a posture of readiness, that when thou shalt summons me to appear before thy dreadful throne, I may not be found naked, but may be found in Christ, and not in my sins. Let me, by every Sabbath, sermon, prayer, and sacrament, be brought nearer to thyself, whose I am, and whom I hope to serve here, and

enjoy hereafter in thy heavenly kingdom, where are an innumerable company of angels, and the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven; where is God the judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Who can think of these glorious inhabitants, and not long to be with them? O happy and blessed souls are they that are safe got home, and are now with God and his angels, and this assembly and church of the first-born, whose names were written in heaven. Who would not desire to be with the spirits of the just men, who are made perfect? O the goodness of God to make men perfect, and then receive them to himself, because they are so ! O what thanks should be ascribed to our dear Lord Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, for purchasing at so dear a rate such inestimable privileges and blessings for such vile worms

as men! This blood of sprinkling cries louder for mercy than the blood of Abel did for vengeance. These holy ones have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The Lamb's blood can wash the foulest sinner white, therefore are they brought before the throne of God, and serve himn day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them: they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

O what a blessed employment are the saints engaged in, serving God day and night in his temple, where the everlasting JEHOVAH, that sitteth on the throne, shall eternally dwell among them: the bliss of these heavenly inhabitants is inconceivable. Well may the apostle say, Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, what God hath laid up for

them that love him. It is exceedingly above what we can think, or imagine, or conceive. Who can tell what it is continually to enjoy the comfortable presence of the great God and of the Lamb? When God's people have had but some glimpse of his favour and friendship, and some hopes of dwelling with him, they have impatiently longed for a dissolution. They count this world as a prison in which they are separated from their God, their Christ, and the holy angels, which will be their everlasting companions.

Those that God will admit into his

everlasting glory, he hath told us, shall be exempted from all hurtful evils; never shall they hunger more, nor thirst any more. Lord, too many thoughts do I spend about these outward supplies of meat, and drink, and raiment. O when, when wilt thou bring me to heaven, where these things will be of no use or value to me? Happy, and only happy are they whom the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, will feed, and lead to the fountain of living water, from

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