and Phineas his sons were slain, and that the ark of God was taken, the old man fell backward and brake his neck and died!

Death may come to those who least expect it, as it came to Absalom; the handsome young man who, by his fair speeches and winning ways, stole away the hearts of many of the people from his father. Little thought Absalom on that morning when he went forth to battle against David's army, vainly imagining perhaps, that ere long he would be victorious and reign in the stead of his father, doing greater deeds than David; little thought he, I say, that before that day was done, he, not in open warfare, but caught by his hair, his bright and beautiful hair, his pride and glory, in the boughs of an oak, would be thrust through and through by Joab's darts, and slain; and that thus, by an altogether unlooked-for incident, his sun would go down at noon, and his course be suddenly ended! Death may come to those who least expect it, as it came to the rich farmer of whom Christ spoke. His grounds brought forth plentifully; he was troubled as not many modern farmers are--he had so much he did not know what to do with it! Then came to him the happy thought, "This will I do, I will pull down my barns and build greater; I will say to my soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, and be merry." Many years! That was his estimate of life. God said to him, "Thou fool, to-night thy soul shall be required." It may be so with some of us; we may have plans, hopes, schemes for many years; God's time for us to leave them all may be to-night. Or death may come to those who are prepared for it-ready fearlessly, hopefully to meet it as it came to the first martyr Stephen, who, bruised, bleeding, dying, with his malignant and cruel enemies standing round about him, could pray, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge; who looking up to heaven, saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, waiting to welcome home his martyred servant, and cried, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," and fell asleep. Fell asleep! in pain and suffering, with bitter persecutors round about; but what a waking! In the beautiful paradise of God, surrounded by holy angels, standing in the presence of Christ, seeing His face, becoming like Him, to dwell in joyfulness and peace for ever! Or death may come to those whose lives have been spent in sin, who are afraid to die, who are doing their utmost to escape it; as it came to that godless king, Ahab, whose life was stained by so much that was wrong and wicked. At the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, afraid of what might come, he disguised himself, and went into the battle. Dressed as another man, surely his life would be safe, especially as the orders given to the enemy by their king was to fight with none, neither small nor great, save only with the king of Israel. And the king of Israel was disguised; but God saw through the disguise! "And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of his harness. and the king died at even." Died-afraid to die; died after a life spent in sin! Death may come to us in the midst of

usefulness, just when we are doing much good, as it came to Dorcas, the good woman who made clothes for the poor, and about whose bier stood a weeping company showing the coats and garments she had made; or it may come to us in the very act of our sin, as it came to that impious king, Belshazzar, on the very night of his splendid feast, when the sacred vessels were brought forth and idols were "toasted" with wine drunk from those hallowed cups; the night when the mystic hand wrote upon the wall the coming doom-in "that night was Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans slain." Death may come to any of us-any how, any when: to the thoughtless and careless; the godless, the good, or the evil; the young or the old. It may come to us suddenly; we may be changed in a moment, without warning; or death may come after many wearisome hours of pain and sickness. It may come soon, to our terror, or to our relief; it may be soon, it may be many years hence, it may be to.night! What then? Be ye always ready. "Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." "Work while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work!" Work now, rest in heaven! Seek ye the Lord now, to morrow you may be-where?

But after this—after death-what then? The body is laid in the grave, and the soul goes-where? Does the soul of man go to the place of departed spirits, there to rest in unconsciousness till the blast of the archangel's trumpet on the resurrection morning? or does it pass away from the world, to its destiny-to its eternal dwellingplace? I think the latter. We read that when Jesus Christ was transfigured, that Moses and Elias "appeared in glory," and talked with Him; and surely they came from the "glorious land," from heaven itself; not from a state of unconsciousness. In reply to the prayer of the penitent malefactor, Jesus Christ said, "To-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise ;" and in that wondrous prayer of the Saviour's for His Church, He pleads, "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory." And the Redeemer has not gone to the place of departed spirits-not lapsed into an unconscious state-but is gone into heaven itself, and is sat down at the right hand of God and if His promise has been fulfilled and His prayer been answered, then His followers, too, when they pass away into eternity, enter into the same bright home with Him. I think the Apostle Paul firmly believed this, for he wrote to the Philippians saying he had a "desire to depart, and to be with Christ;" and in his letter to the Corinthian Church, the noble old Christian soldier writes: "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." "Fallen asleep" in Jesus, our Christian friends doubtless have, but only to awaken in the sunshine of Paradise. But this is only. one side of "after death." Over and over again Jesus Christ speaks in His parables of two classes of men. They are spoken of as wheat and tares; good fish and bad fish; sheep and goats. He speaks also

and Phineas his sons were slain, and that the ark of God was taken, the old man fell backward and brake his neck and died!

Death may come to those who least expect it, as it came to Absalom; the handsome young man who, by his fair speeches and winning ways, stole away the hearts of many of the people from his father. Little thought Absalom on that morning when he went forth to battle against David's army, vainly imagining perhaps, that ere long he would be victorious and reign in the stead of his father, doing greater deeds than David; little thought he, I say, that before that day was done, he, not in open warfare, but caught by his hair, his bright and beautiful hair, his pride and glory, in the boughs of an oak, would be thrust through and through by Joab's darts, and slain; and that thus, by an altogether unlooked-for incident, his sun would go down at noon, and his course be suddenly ended! Death may come to those who least expect it, as it came to the rich farmer of whom Christ spoke. His grounds brought forth plentifully; he was troubled as not many modern farmers are--he had so much he did not know what to do with it! Then came to him the happy thought, "This will I do, I will pull down my barns and build greater; I will say to my soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, and be merry." Many years! That was his estimate of life. God said to him, "Thou fool, to-night thy soul shall be required." It may be so with some of us; we may have plans, hopes, schemes for many years; God's time for us to leave them all may be to-night. Or death may come to those who are prepared for it-ready fearlessly, hopefully to meet it as it came to the first martyr Stephen, who, bruised, bleeding, dying, with his malignant and cruel enemies standing round about him, could pray, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge; who looking up to heaven, saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, waiting to welcome home his martyred servant, and cried, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," and fell asleep. Fell asleep! in pain and suffering, with bitter persecutors round about; but what a waking! In the beautiful paradise of God, surrounded by holy angels, standing in the presence of Christ, seeing His face, becoming like Him, to dwell in joyfulness and peace for ever! Or death may come to those whose lives have been spent in sin, who are afraid to die, who are doing their utmost to escape it; as it came to that godless king, Ahab, whose life was stained by so much that was wrong and wicked. At the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, afraid of what might come, he disguised himself, and went into the battle. Dressed as another man, surely his life would be safe, especially as the orders given to the enemy by their king was to fight with none, neither small nor great, save only with the king of Israel. And the king of Israel was disguised; but God saw through the disguise! "And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of his harness and the king died at even.' Died—afraid to die; died after a life spent in sin! Death may come to us in the midst of

usefulness, just when we are doing much good, as it came to Dorcas, the good woman who made clothes for the poor, and about whose bier stood a weeping company showing the coats and garments she had made; or it may come to us in the very act of our sin, as it came to that impious king, Belshazzar, on the very night of his splendid feast, when the sacred vessels were brought forth and idols were "toasted" with wine drunk from those hallowed cups; the night when the mystic hand wrote upon the wall the coming doom-in "that night was Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans slain." Death may come to any of us-any how, any when to the thoughtless and careless; the godless, the good, or the evil; the young or the old. It may come to us suddenly; we may be changed in a moment, without warning; or death may come after many wearisome hours of pain and sickness. It may come soon, to our terror, or to our relief; it may be soon, it may be many years hence, it may be to.night! What then? Be ye always ready. Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." "Work while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work!" Work now, rest in heaven! Seek ye the Lord now, to-morrow you may be-where ?

But after this—after death-what then? The body is laid in the grave, and the soul goes-where? Does the soul of man go to the place of departed spirits, there to rest in unconsciousness till the blast of the archangel's trumpet on the resurrection morning? or does it pass away from the world, to its destiny-to its eternal dwellingplace? I think the latter. We read that when Jesus Christ was transfigured, that Moses and Elias "appeared in glory," and talked with Him; and surely they came from the "glorious land," from heaven itself; not from a state of unconsciousness. In reply to the prayer of the penitent malefactor, Jesus Christ said, "To-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise ; and in that wondrous prayer of the Saviour's for His Church, He pleads, "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory." And the Redeemer has not gone to the place of departed spirits-not lapsed into an unconscious state-but is gone into heaven itself, and is sat down at the right hand of God and if His promise has been fulfilled and His prayer been answered, then His followers, too, when they pass away into eternity, enter into the same bright home with Him. I think the Apostle Paul firmly believed this, for he wrote to the Philippians saying he had a "desire to depart, and to be with Christ;" and in his letter to the Corinthian Church, the noble old Christian soldier writes: "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." "Fallen asleep" in Jesus, our Christian friends doubtless have, but only to awaken in the sunshine of Paradise. But this is only. one side of "after death." Over and over again Jesus Christ speaks in His parables of two classes of men. They are spoken of as wheat and tares; good fish and bad fish; sheep and goats. He speaks also

and Phineas his sons were slain, and that the ark of God was taken, the old man fell backward and brake his neck and died!

Death may come to those who least expect it, as it came to Absalom; the handsome young man who, by his fair speeches and winning ways, stole away the hearts of many of the people from his father. Little thought Absalom on that morning when he went forth to battle against David's army, vainly imagining perhaps, that ere long he would be victorious and reign in the stead of his father, doing greater deeds than David; little thought he, I say, that before that day was done, he, not in open warfare, but caught by his hair, his bright and beautiful hair, his pride and glory, in the boughs of an oak, would be thrust through and through by Joab's darts, and slain; and that thus, by an altogether unlooked-for incident, his sun would go down at noon, and his course be suddenly ended! Death may come to those who least expect it, as it came to the rich farmer of whom Christ spoke. His grounds brought forth plentifully; he was troubled as not many modern farmers are-he had so much he did not know what to do with it! Then came to him the happy thought, "This will I do, I will pull down my barns and build greater; I will say to my soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, and be merry." Many years! That was his estimate of life. God said to him, "Thou fool, to-night thy soul shall be required." It may be so with some of us; we may have plans, hopes, schemes for many years; God's time for us to leave them all may be to-night. Or death may come to those who are prepared for it—ready fearlessly, hopefully to meet it as it came to the first martyr Stephen, who, bruised, bleeding, dying, with his malignant and cruel enemies standing round about him, could pray, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge;" who looking up to heaven, saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, waiting to welcome home his martyred servant, and cried, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," and fell asleep. Fell asleep! in pain and suffering, with bitter persecutors round about; but what a waking! In the beautiful paradise of God, surrounded by holy angels, standing in the presence of Christ, seeing His face, becoming like Him, to dwell in joyfulness and peace for ever! Or death may come to those whose lives have been spent in sin, who are afraid to die, who are doing their utmost to escape it; as it came to that godless king, Ahab, whose life was stained by so much that was wrong and wicked. At the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, afraid of what might come, he disguised himself, and went into the battle. Dressed as another man, surely his life would be safe, especially as the orders given to the enemy by their king was to fight with none, neither small nor great, save only with the king of Israel. And the king of Israel was disguised; but God saw through the disguise! "And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of his harness and the king died at even.' Died-afraid to die; died after a life spent in sin! Death may come to us in the midst of