think how God can dispel your fears in a moment, by the application of a single promise. Recall the promises to your mind, and depend upon the Spirit to make them effectual, to the comfort of your soul. Recollect that God

has often at the very last, manifested himself to the soul, which for years previously had been in darkness and doubt. Wait for him and he will come unto you, and ere you leave this world, will cause you to sing, "Thanks be to God, who giveth me the victory." Think also of the Saviour in connection with death. Look at death, but look also at him who hath conquered death, who has abolished it with regard to the believer, and brought life and immortality to light. Death can never injure you, for Immanuel has triumphed over him. Place the monster Death, and the monarch Christ, both before you, and you will not fear the former, while you trust in the latter. Commit all into the hands of Jesus. He will be with you in the hour of your extremity, and by the shining of his grace, and the exertion of his power, he will render you both safe and happy.

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My lord, you have forgotten that Jesus Christ is a Saviour." True," was the answer, "but how shall I know that he is a Saviour for me?" My lord, it is written; 'Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out."" "True," said the bishop, "and I am surprised, that though I have read that scripture a thousand times over, I never have felt its virtue till this moment, and now I die happy."

Is this fear taken away ? Be thankful. You are rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God. You long to be dissolved. Your language is 'Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.' Oh what a debtor to divine grace and mercy! What obligations doubtless you feel to him, who has taken away the sting of death. How delightful to think that the blessed Redeemer has rendered the last foe harmless to the Christian. He has sucked out the venom from the viper death, though at the sacrifice of his own life, that it might not injure his beloved people. O what mercy, grace and love! Rejoice in the conqueror and spoiler of the grim tyrant. You need not fear the stroke of the enemy, you need not dread the shaking of his spear, for you know whom you have believed, and are persuaded that he is able to keep that which you have committed unto him against that day.

PRAYER.

O Lord, thou art ever merciful and gracious. Thine ear is ever open to the cry of the distressed, and hast encouraged thy creatures to apply to thee in all their anxieties and fears. Oh shut not out our prayers which we make before thee at this time. Especially regard our supplications for him, who is in a state of affliction both of body and mind. He is fast approaching an invisible and eternal world,

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but without that cheerful confidence and lively hope, which those who know thy name and enjoy thy presence experience in their dying A feeling of guilt, and a fear lest it is unforgiven, produces an agony of soul, which nothing can remove but the knowledge and experience of thy salvation. O Lord thou knowest the fears which agitate his heart in the prospect of the conflict with death. Thou knowest what alarm is felt at the thought of entering into thy awful presence in an unprepared state. And O may these alarming anxieties be the means of leading him to the appointed refuge of sinners, May he be thoroughly awakened to a sense of the evil of sin, which has arrayed death with all its horrors, and given it all its sting, and rest his soul on Jesus for the pardon of his sins. Nothing is too hard for thee. We believe that no burden of iniquity is too heavy for thee to remove, that no enemy is too strong for thee to subdue, that no fear is too great for thee to dispel. O bring his soul out of its present imprisonment. Rescue him by thy all-sufficient grace, from all his darkness and despondency. Thou hast mercifully promised that thou wilt not cast out any that come unto thee by Christ. Thou hast said thou wilt not turn away thine ear from the voice of distress. Oh be pleased to have mercy and compassion upon him. Magnify thy grace, and manifest thy love, in affording him a cheerful hope of forgiveness, which will tend to illuminate the dark valley

through which he is passing. Olet thy Spirit be given, to lead him with all his fears and all his conscious sin, to that Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. May the pardoning and cleansing blood of Christ be so applied by the Spirit to his conscience, that he may enjoy an antidote to all his fears; and ere he leaves this world, have some evidence of personal interest in the divine Redeemer, and depart with humble faith in Jesus, and a hope of final escape from that eternal punishment which he now so fearfully anticipates. Being justified by faith, may he have peace with thee. Flying for refuge to the only hope set before him in the gospel, may he have a good hope through grace here, and everlasting consolation in the world to come. And the presence of Jesus being with him, may he fear no evil. These important blessings we earnestly implore in the prevailing name of Jesus, the friend of sinners. Amen.

ANOTHER, FOR THE BELIEVER.

Father of mercies and God of all peace and consolation, thou dost comfort them that are cast down, and by the light of thy countenance dost cheer the souls of thy people when dejected and disquieted within them. Thou dost permit thy people often to walk in darkness and to have no light; thou art acquainted with their fearfulness and misgivings of mind, and their proneness to write bitter things against

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themselves. Encouraged by thy gracious promises, we come to thy throne in the name of the blessed Redeemer, who in his dying moments exclaimed in agony of soul, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? and who having himself passed through scenes of distress and been subject to the sorrows of the mind, is able to sympathize with his brethren under their mental and bodily afflictions.

Look down with that favour which thou bearest to thy children, upon thy dear servant before thee; thou hast brought him to the verge of Jordan, but the swellings thereof terrify his heart; a thick cloud obscures his evidences of interest in the Redeemer, and hides his title to mansions in the skies. O Lord of light and salvation, who art the confidence of thy people and the refuge to which they can repair amidst all their grief and groundless fears, condescend to disperse the darkness of the mind and give him joy and peace in believing. While he feels deeply humbled that any evil of heart and life, and that any neglect of the means of grace or departures from thee should have lessened that cheerful confidence and supporting presence, at a season when he most needs them; may he still exercise faith in thee as his covenant God and Father, who hast promised, that notwithstanding the imperfections of thy people and their grievous backslidings, thou wilt not suffer them at last in trouble to sink. Make him, ere