creased; to have by degrees, new strength, and new supplies of grace given you from God, to fit you for the last conflict with your spiritual enemies, and especially the last enemy, death.-2dly, It imports a stirring up of the oil, and raising the wick some higher:" So there must be an excitation of grace, which may be in a low declining condition; you must endeavour to stir and raise it up to a more lively exercise, and more elevated acts. Stir up the gift that is in thee :> make the oil burn clear and shine bright. Bring faith, love, repentance, and holy desires to a lively exercise. 3dly, This trimming imports the cleansing of the lamp, by taking away the dead ashes that hinder the light, or prevent its burning so clearly as otherwise it would.. So you must labour to take away the dead ashes of corruption, that hinder the shining of grace; remove all unbelief, earthliness, deadness, self and formality, and whatever doth suppress the exercise of faith, love, and heavenly-mindedness. Let all these dead ashes be snuffed away by repentance and mortification. As you ought to strive earnestly against all these heartevils in time of health, so now labour to give them a dead stroke when death's harbinger gives you a sum

mons.

5thly, Be diligent in gathering and summing up all your evidences for heaven and eternal life, that so you may not venture into the dark valley at an uncertainty. The comfort of dying will much depend on the clearness of your evidences; it is therefore your wisdom to examine them carefully, and see if you can say, "I know in whom I have believed; I have consented with my soul to the method of salvation laid down in the covenant of grace, I am desirous that the glory of it should be eternally ascribed to the free grace of God, and the creature be wholly abased in his sight." I have chosen God for my portion, and Christ for my only Saviour; and the happiness which I aim at, is to enjoy God in Christ for ever. "And in order thereto, I depend on the Holy Spirit, to apply the redemption which

Jesus Christ hath purchased to me, and to sanctify me perfectly. There is no sin but what I hate and desire to part with. I would rather have more holiness than to have health, wealth, and all the pleasures in the world. I earnestly desire the flourishing of Christ's kingdom and prefer Jerusalem to my chiefest joy." If these your evidences be clear, you may cheerfully take death by the cold hand, and welcome its grim messengers, and long to be gone, that you may be with Christ. You may say as Psalm xxiii. 4. "When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me." You may go off the stage with the Psalmist's words in your mouth, Psalm xxxi. 5. "Into thine hand I commit my spirit; for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth."

6thly, Labour earnestly to overcome the love of life and fears of death, so as to be content to part with all things here at God's call. O believer, what is there in this earth to tempt thee to hang back, when God calls thee to depart? While you are here, you may lay your account with many losses, crosses, disappointments, griefs, and calamities of all sorts. Friends will fail you, enemies will hate you, lusts will molest you, Satan will tempt you, and the world will deceive you. Death is the way that the dearest of God's saints and all the cloud of witnesses, hath gone before you; yea, the Lord Jesus, your Head, hath trod this path, and hath taken the sting out of death, and hath paved a way through its dark valley, that his people may safely follow him. Hath the Captain of your salvation gone. before you, and will any of his soldiers shrink to follow him? Art thou content to remain always at the same distance from him, and to enjoy no more of his presence than now you have? Are you satisfied to live for ever with no more knowledge of God, no more love to Christ, no more holiness or heavenly-mindedness than at present you have? Do you not groan under your remaining ignorance, deadness, wanderings, pride, passion, unbelief, selfishness, worldliness, and other sins

and lusts that here beset you? And are you not desirous to go to the place where you will be eternally free of them all, and where you will never complain of a dull, dead, or senseless frame of heart, or of any heart-weariness, nor wandering in duty any more? For the heart shall then be as a fixed pillar in the temple of God, and shall go no more out; the eternal adoration and praises of God shall be the soul's delight and element for ever. By such considerations strive to conquer the fears of death, and desires of life, which are often great clogs to the people of God in their preparations for flitting.

7thly, Be oft meditating upon the heavenly glory which shortly all believers will see and enjoy. Be much in the contemplation of the glorious company above, behold Christ upon his glorious throne at the right hand of God, and Abraham, David, Peter, Paul, and all the rest of the faithful ones, with their crowns of righteousness, triumphing about their Redeemer. Think, O believer, how happy will that day be, when thou shalt meet with thy father and thy brethren, and when thou shalt see thy elder brother on the throne ready

to pass sentence in thy favour! What melody will that sentence sound in thine ears, "Come, ye blessed of my Father," &c. What frame wilt thou be in, when he sets the crown of glory on thy head? O eternal free love! wilt thou cry, "O Saviour, thou didst wear a crown of thorns, that I might wear a crown of glory, thou didst groan on the cross, that I might now sing. Wonderful free love that chused me, when thousands were past by; that saved me from ruin, when my companions in sin must burn in hell for ever." Think, how ravishing it will be to meet with your godly acquaintances in heaven, with whom you prayed, and praised, and conversed here! Will you not then cry out, "O, my brethren, what a change is here! This glorious place is not like the poor dwellings we had on earth; this body, this soul, this state, this place, our clothes, our company, our language, our thoughts, are far unlike those we had then! The

bad hearts, the body of death, the corruptions and temptations we then complained of, are all now gone. We have no more fears of death or hell, no more use for repentance or prayer, faith or hope; these are now swallowed up in immediate vision, eternal love, joy, and praise." And for thy help, O believer, in meditating on these things, read some parts of the book of Revelation, or cause them to be read to you; and suppose with yourself, you had been a companion with John in the Isle of Patmos, and had got such a view of the glorious majesty, the bright thrones, the heavenly hosts, and shining splendour which he saw; the saints in their white robes, with crowns on their heads and palms in their hands, and heard them singing the song of Moses and the Lamb, and trumpeting, forth their eternal hallelujahs: what a heavenly rapture wouldst thou have been in: Well then, O believer, thou shalt shortly have clearer and sweeter sights than all these which John or any of the saints, ever saw here upon earth. Surely that heavenly glory is a subject worthy of thy thoughts, and most suitable for thee to meditate on in time of sickness, and when in the view of death.

8thly, It would be also very suitable at this time, in order to your actual readiness for death, to be frequently looking out and longing for Christ's coming; as Abraham stood in his tent-door ready to go forth to meet the angels that were sent unto him, so should the believer keep himself in a waiting posture at this time. He should be like the loving wife, that longs and looks for the coming of her absent husband, according to his letters to her by this time (thinks she) he will be at such a place, and against such a time he will be at another place, and so in a few days I shall see him. It is the character of believers, they are such as love his appearing, 2 Tim. iv. 8. They desire his coming, Cant. viii. 14. "Make haste, my beloved, even so, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly." Believers should look upon themselves as pilgrims here, wandering in a wil

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derness absent from home, and at a distance from their Father's house; and in a time of affliction it is very proper for them to be crying, as David doth, Psal. lv. 6. "O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I flee away, and be at rest: I would hasten my escape from the windy tempest." "O when shall the time of my pilgrimage, and the days of my banishment be finished, that I may get home to my country, and friends above? Oh! my Lord is gone, my Saviour hath left the earth, and entered into his glory; my friends and brethren are gone to their blessed rest, where they see God's face, and sing his praise for ever: and how can I be willing to stay behind when they are gone? Must I be sinning here when they are serving God above? Must I be groaning and sighing, when they are triumphing and dividing the spoil? Surely I will look after them, and cry, O Lord how long? When shall I be with my Saviour and my God?

DIRECT. V. Let believers in time of sickness endeavour all they can to glorify God and edify those that are about them, by their speech and behaviour.

IF

Fever a child of God be active to promote the honour and glory of God, it should be in time of sickness; and when death may be approaching; and there is good reason for it: for, 1st, This may be the last opportunity that ever thou shalt have to do any thing for God, and therefore thou shouldst study to improve it to the utmost. Heaven, to which thou art going, is the place where thou shalt receive thy reward; but thou canst have no access there to advance God's glory, by commending God and Christ and religion to sinners or weak believers. Upon this account, many of God's children have been content to suspend their heavenly happiness for a while, and to stay upon the earth for some longer time. I have read of a certain martyr, when going to suffer, who expressed some sorrow, that