tinues to live the life of the unrighteous: we must therefore resolve immediately to forsake our favourite sins, and aim at holiness in all we think, and say, and do. We must not indulge the ruinous thought, that we may go on in our sins the greater part of our lives, and leave to a few weeks or a few hours, at the close of life, that amendment which is so necessary to a holy life. Unspeakable is the danger of leaving this duty to a distant day, when before to-morrow's setting sun, God may end life and all its means of reformation. And who can suppose that "Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid," will be deceived by a mere temporary and superficial holiness, which may have been occasioned by the horrors of approaching death, and which may be forsaken as soon as the heavy hand of sickness shall have been withdrawn? Full of grace and comfort is the truth, that "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord;" but a life of wilful sin, so long as it is persisted in and unrepented of, is the way to deprive us of the gift. The most prudent and safe preparation consists, therefore, in the daily exercise of faith, and the habitual cultivation of holiness, from the dawn of reason to the time when we close our eyes in death; so far as that state can be attained by us, in this

our imperfect condition. Far be it from us to affirm that it is absolutely hopeless for any one to receive admission after death into eternal happiness, who has not invariably endeavoured to live a life of holiness; that indeed would be most discouraging to all, and not according with the invitations of Holy Scripture. But this we do affirm, that holiness deferred fearfully perils our eternal happiness, and therefore, that the life of holiness cannot be commenced too early. If we have endeavoured, and are now endeavouring to live this holy life, blessed are we, for we have the prospect of a happy death and a joyful resurrection. But if we have not in times past lived this holy life, we ought to seize the present opportunity and begin it now, for "there is neither work nor device in the grave," whither we are hastening.

The third rule is, to examine our conduct and compare it with the written word of God. Self-examination is, no doubt, essential to a holy life and a happy death: but if we never inquire into our principles and motives, never scrutinize our thoughts and actions, never compare them with the Divine commands, so far from "perfecting holiness in the fear of God," we

6 2 Cor. vii. 1.

shall become heedless and unconcerned in all our ways, and, at last, contract the evil habit of omitting the most important duties, and committing the most fatal sins without one sigh of regret, or one pang of remorse. When we consider our constant proneness to sin, the many transgressions of our past lives, and the offences of each returning day, the multitude of idle words, the great portions of time given up to unprofitable and vain pursuits, the hourly forgetfulness of duty, the coldness of our prayers, public and private, the blameableness of our motives, the subtle influences of pride, the pharisaical self-satisfaction in our most imperfect actions, the sinful compliances with a world lying in wickedness, the failings in the performance of relative duties, the idolatry with which we renounce God by bestowing our affections on worldly objects, the tendency to habitual thoughtlessness about the state of the soul, and the nature of her prospects after death; when we consider all this, we cannot surely want another argument to convince us of the need of immediate self-examination. If we have never yet practised this duty, we should first take in the whole compass of our lives, trace out the entire map of our personal history, throughout youth, manhood, and age, so as to call to remembrance our most hidden principles, thoughts, and motives,

and bring before the bar of impartial judgment, our boldest and most presumptuous, as well as our most secret and most cherished sins. But to do this faithfully and efficiently, the mirror of conscience must be cleansed and so brightened, that the reflection therein of our sins and follies may be clearly, truly, and strongly presented to our eyes. Nor is this primary and general examination of our whole lives sufficient preparation for a dying day. Self-examination should be one of our stated, one of our daily duties, without which we shall live and die in the most lamentable ignorance of the state of the soul when called before the judgment-seat of Christ; therefore to give an application of the uses of self-examination in the words of one of our old Church divines, "As every night we must make our bed the memorial of our grave, so let our evening thoughts be an image of the day of judgment"." If we do not practise self-examination with some degree of regularity and strictness, or if we postpone it to the close of life, and leave it as a death-bed duty, then all our unnoticed and unrepented sins will, in the mean time, have accumulated fearfully in number and magnitude; so that if the Holy Ghost commission the conscience to rise before us on

7 Holy Living and Dying.

a

our death-bed as an accusing, instead of a consoling spirit, and to "bring all things to remembrance," as He frequently does, then "we shall think it better to pull the napkin before our eyes, than to stare upon the circumstances of our death"." But what reasonable or prudent man, who knows the value of his soul, and foresees all the consequences of its loss, would wish so to blind himself and take a leap into eternity? Yet this conduct, with all its irreparable evils, would seem to be the natural result of neglecting self-examination for the present, and postponing it to a death-bed. On the other hand, a daily self-examination, though it may have its difficulties at first, yet, like the practice of every other religious duty, the sooner it is commenced, the easier will be the performance of it, the greater the delight, and the more evident the advantages.

The fourth rule to be observed in a due preparation for death is, that we repent us truly of our former sins. Self-examination must not end in self-knowledge: it should proceed to sincere repentance and earnest desires of amendment; for without this we have no good ground to expect the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. The necessity of repentance must be admitted when we re

8 Rom. ii. 15.

Holy Living and Dying.