tions at such gloomy times, are frequently and severely felt, the cloud of unbelief arises, and the sensible presence of God is withdrawn, so that, like Job, the suffering man goes mourning without the sun. Besides, the old body of sin dies hard, and its corrupt nature and influence is now very sensibly experienced, tending to lead the sufferer from the very God and Saviour he wishes to love and serve. These are a few of the painful afflictions frequently attendant on the aged Christian while taking his last steps out of time into eternity; and it is highly desirable that we should learn what good uses he makes of them. No doubt the disappointments and sorrows of life teach him the uncertainty and vanity of all created enjoyments, and gives him a better relish for those which are spiritual and divine; while they seldom fail to produce in his bosom a sympathetic tone of feeling for the misfortunes and distresses of his fellow creatures. He is anxious to see the hand of his heavenly Father upon him in every afflictive event of providence, to be still, and know that he is God; and that he apportions all his afflictions in infinite wisdom and love, and thereby he is assisted to cultivate patience and cheerful obedience. The loss of his worldly property serves to prompt him to lay up his best treasure in heaven; and although his friends may either grieve or forsake him, he makes the more use of that blessed Saviour, who is a faithful friend that sticketh closer than a brother. When groaning under the weight of his inward imperfections and depravity, frequently exclaiming, O wretched man that I am!

who shall deliver me from the body of this death? it not only weans him from his sinful self, but in faith and gratitude to reply, I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Confident that when the Lord hath tried him, he shall come forth as gold, how consoling and refreshing is it to his weary spirit, to believe this promise from his God, Even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. Isaiah xlvi. 4. Who then but will say, The aged Christian improves most, and shines the brightest, in the furnace of affliction!

IV. Let us not forget to examine the VIRTUES of the aged Christian, for our Lord has given us this invariable direction, By their fruit ye shall know them. The wicked are compared to grass, but the godly are described as trees of righteousness, planted by the Lord. Although the trees of the garden, when passed their maturity, speedily decay, produce less fruit, and generally lose their flavour;, it is not so with the trees of righteousness, for the Lord in the ninety-second Psalm has promised, that they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; to show that the Lord is upright: he is their rock; and there is no unrighteousness in him. The Spirit of the Lord, like the vital sap in the root, feeds and enlivens the powers and passions of the soul; the rain and the dews of God's loving-kindness fall upon his heart, while the rays of the Sun of Righteousness ripen

his fruit unto holiness, thereby proving the truth of his word, From me is thy fruit found. Hosea xiii. 9. Viewing the virtues and good fruit of this old Christian, we cannot but admire the strength of his FAITH in the God of his salvation, and the expressions of his LOVE and GRATITUDE are charming to our ears. Although his pains are sometimes severe, yet in PATIENCE he possesses his soul, and bows with HUMILITY to the will of his God. While this good man believes every part of the truth of Christ to be infinitely precious, and that he is under the most solemn obligation to his God to hold fast the profession of his faith without wavering, still he possesses CANDOUR and Christian LOVE for those who profess to love and worship the Saviour, though they may differ from him in their modes of expressing it; believing that the rights of conscience are sacred, and that they also are accountable to God alone, for he delights to see any traits of the image of Jesus in whomsoever they may appear. To all that surround him he is an example of MEEKNESS and KINDNESS, and according to his means, he fails not to extend his CHARITY to the poor and the needy. From the stock of information and experience which he has long been collecting, he is ready to communicate WISDOM with PRUDENCE and AFFABILITY to all who solicit his advice. And although from his age and infirmities he can have little activity in the business of life, his HONESTY and INTEGRITY are strongly marked in all his concerns. If these good fruits are so estimable in the character of the aged Christian, we cannot but more highly esteem the

spirituality of his domestic and public devotions. Morning and evening he delights to unite with his family when offering their prayer and thanksgiving at the altar of mercy, which produces a charming effect upon his temper and conversation through the whole of the day. When his infirmities permit his attendance on the house of his God, such are the pleasures he enjoys, that he calls it his best home upon earth, for there his Saviour grants him his smiles. Impressed with the solemnity of soon passing away to the reigons of immortality, no sooner does he hear of the conquest of grace and the increase of the visible kingdom of Christ, whether at home or abroad, than it elevates his soul with exquisite delight! And if these virtues and good fruit be visible to every beholder, could we be admitted to his chamber, no doubt we should find him, like David, giving himself unto prayer, mixing faith with the word of his God, girding up the loins of his mind, piously trimming his quivering lamp, and thus waiting the signal of his Lord to call him away to the regions of eternity! This description of the virtues of the aged servant of the Lord, is not too highly wrought, it is what an old Christian should be, and what Christ by his grace has produced in thousands; and may the reader pray, and aim, to be like him.

V. Aged as the Christian may be, he is still an EXPECTANT while upon earth. Indeed, man universally is a creature of expectation, and is perpetually looking for some good, either to supply

his wants, or to gratify his desires. The Christian, especially in his last days, finds the most charming realities presented to his mind in the Scriptures, warranted by the faithful promises of his God, for the employment of his faith, and the ground of his expectations. As the mouth of a river passing out into the expanse of the ocean, the mind is filled with ideas of its extent and grandeur! no wonder that an aged person, having so far arrived at the end of his course, should realize the ocean of eternity, and more solemnly excite his expectations for a future state of existence. Whatever good things, whether temporal or spiritual, a Christian may have received from the Lord, he still can say, My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. Psalm lxii. 5. Let us follow his expectations, and we shall find that they extend TO DEATH. That whatever may relate to his temporal concerns, he knows that the Lord is his Shepherd, he shall not want, and is perfectly satisfied to wait the issue. But he is more earnestly concerned for the sanctification of his soul, to be conformed in holiness and love to the will of his Lord; and in this, his expectation, will not be disappointed, for he is assured that the God of peace will sanctify him wholly in spirit, soul, and body, and preserve him blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and faithful is he that called him, who also will do it. 1 Thessalonians v. 23, 24. AT DEATH, the time when, the place where, and the means by which it shall be produced, all these he leaves to the good will and pleasure of the Lord