It is not without reason that the Christian may invite the sceptic and unbeliever to come and see how a believer in Christ can die, or is enabled by grace to die. The record of Christian triumphs on the death-bed, and not merely at the stake of what is commonly called martyrdom, could it be written, would be one of the most signal demonstrations of the truth of Christianity ever given to the world. In ordinary pastoral work it is our privilege to witness not a few of these, while it is also our sad lot to witness the collapse of worldly hope, and the fearfulness and horror that sometimes fill the minds of the dying, who, when it is too late, discover that, as they have lived without God, they must die without hope. In such cases what can we do? We can weep and pray, and whisper a word about Jesus and his love, Jesus and his grace, Jesus and his blood and righteousness,―about Jesus, the life and the light of men. But "Give me your hand, mother; it is getting dark, very dark," have I heard the dying young man say as he was leaving earth and time, mother and kindred, with life in the present, for the immediate future of an eternity, from which no light streamed in upon his dark and benighted soul. "There lies another hypocrite buried in A-1 kirkyard, will be said by them," meaning his surviving fellow-sceptics, was among the words of a man of considerable intelligence, reading, and thoughtfulness, who had for years been a confirmed sceptic and secularist, but who in his last illness, in the midst of his days, when his strength was weakened in the way, and the hand of God was upon him, professed to me, in the presence of witnesses, that he died believing that Jesus was the Christ, and hoping for mercy through his blood and righteousness; and who, by my advice, left it as an injunction and charge-his last will and testament that his only little son should be "trained in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;" and not bound down by the peculiarities of the denomination to which his grandfather belonged. "There lies another hypocrite," but "they will come to the trial by and by," added the converted sceptic, on his death-bed. Yes, death is fitted to test our principles. And the testimony of the dying is, that to die as becomes a manand so to acquit ourselves in that last conflict and adventure as to vindicate our sense of the grandeur of the transition from evanescent time to abiding eternity-we must die as Christians. But, to die as Christians we must live as Christians, who live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved them, and gave himself for them. It is sheerest folly, as it is most sinful and hazardous, to delay preparing for death and judgment till we be laid on a bed of sickness. "Always ready," should be the maxim of our life, if we would die in peace, and dying, be for ever with the Lord. He, and he only, who can say, "For me to live is Christ," may warrantably add, "and to die is gain." "I am keeping my eye on the ark of the covenant, and on the great High Priest, as I am going down to the passage of the Jordan," said a devout Christian man to me when I visited him a short time before he died. "Don't hide that from me," said a simple-hearted young Christian woman to the friend in whose house she was a-dying, and who was carrying in her hand, and endeavouring to conceal, the prepared winding sheet and grave clothes; "Don't hide that from me; I am soon to be clothed with a different and far more beautiful dress, even with the fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of the saints." Is not this a hope to be envied by thousands who profess themselves Christians, but to whose apprehensions death is still armed with its sting, or regarded as the king of terrors? It is a hope which neither the apathetic, the lukewarm, the formalist, or the hypocrite can have, cherish, or entertain. "I see the pearly gates opening for me, mother, and Jesus waiting to welcome me home," said a little child, not more than three years old, as she took farewell of her mother whom she was soon to meet at home. For that mother having given birth to twins, the sorrowing father presented the dear little ones for baptism among us, in this place of worship, with their white dresses and little caps trimmed and traced with fringes and bands of black ribbons. Their mother had joined her other little one, and gone in by the "pearly gates," into the Father's house and home. Habitual preparation for this last part of the untrodden way will not be in vain. There may be no ecstacy, no transport of joy, no singular elevation, as if expressing contempt of death; but if, with genuine humility and holy resignation to the will of God, there be unshaken and firm confidence, with good hope, in Christ, the mind and heart will be kept in peace by the God of peace, and calmly will the man fall asleep in Jesus. He dies, a sinner saved, through grace forgiven: "Redeemed from earth to reign in heaven, His labours of unwearied love, By him forgot, are crown'd above- Blessed are all those who thus die in the Lord. But the Lord may be pleased to give even more grace. At the advanced age of nearly eighty-eight years, fifty-two of which were spent as an itinerant preacher, while sixty-five in all were spent in the labours of the ministry, John Wesley, shortly before his death, made an effort to speak; but finding that the friends present could not understand him, he paused a little, and then with all his remaining strength cried out, "The best of all is, God is with us!" Lifting up his withered, worn-out, and dying arm, in token of victory, and raising his now feeble and faltering voice in a holy triumph not to be expressed, he again said, "The best of all is, God is with us!" Fear not, O weak, trembling, timid, and disquieted disciple. Not only is the way marked by the footsteps of the flock of Christ, but it is imprinted with his own footmarks. He walked in the way unknown to you, and as yet by you untrodden. He opened for you the way. He is himself to you even in the Jordan the way to the Father. "Follow me" is his voice; "Fear not, only believe," and, believing, sing STRONG RODS BROKEN AND WITHERED: A SERMON ON THE DEATH OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE ALBERT, THE BELOVED CONSORT OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA. Preached on Sabbath, the 22nd of December, 1861.* "Her strong rods were broken and withered."-Ezek. xix. 12. In the context, as in many other places in Scripture, Israel is compared to a vine. "Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, * PREFATORY NOTE.-This sermon, like most of the others, is given verbatim as it was written at the time of the universal sorrow caused by the death of His Royal Highness the Prince Albert. Loyalty becomes all those who profess true godliness. "Honour to whom honour is due. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the King." And in the case of all right-hearted British subjects, of whatever degree they be, their loyalty is not only given willingly to Her Majesty as the supreme earthly sovereign of the realm and empire, but it is given as blended with a feeling of almost sacred veneration and esteem for the character and virtues of the wife, the mother, the widow, the woman, as well as the queen. May God from his glorious throne abundantly bless her and all the royal house, and hear the prayers offered in behalf of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, that, restored to health, he may long live in the fear of God, in whose hands is the breath of princes and kings, as well as of subjects and people. By righteousness and the fear of God may the throne be established, and may God bless this people with prosperity and peace! G. M. OLD KILPATRICK, December, 1871. planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches." This figurative language gives a most graphic and vivid representation of the progressive advancement of Israel to that prosperous and powerful state which excited the admiration and the envy of surrounding nations. From small and inconsiderable beginnings, from a condition feeble and helpless as that of an infant in its blood cast out into the open field, Israel, under the care and blessing of God, became a nation great, populous, and strong. The boughs of this vine were like the goodly cedars; the branches like royal sceptres, the symbols of eminence, authority, and dominion, were exalted in height and seen from afar. The hills were covered with their shadow. This vine became strong as the oaks of Bashan, and lofty as the cedars of Lebanon; so that it yielded strong rods for the sceptres of those that bare rule. Her judges and kings, her prophets and priests were renowned through all lands by reason of their integrity and their power, their faithfulness and their sanctity; for they were a holy nation, a peculiar people. Happy were they as a people; happy, because Jehovah was their God. From him all their prosperity proceeded. "From me is thy fruit found." In contrast with all this the text before us presents to our view a scene of ruin and desolation. The goodly vine is plucked up in fury, cast to the ground, and the east wind has dried up her fruit; her strong rods are broken and withered, consumed by the fire. The vine itself is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground. Fire out of a rod of her own branches hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. In all this we have vividly described the fall and overthrow of Israel's prosperity. "This," says the prophet, "is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation." Contemplating Israel's deep and protracted adversity as here delineated, and as realized and actual, through a long series of ages, with another prophet, we may raise the lament, |