IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-C.) // LO I.I 1.25 fM 1.4 M 22 2.0 1.6 V] ^^ CM V >' ^'^ J %.!^'> J-^ '/ -(^ Photographic Sciences Corpomtion ^ iV <V :\ \ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 "% % o\ ^ "<b" fi? CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproducticns / Institut canadien de microreproductions historiques Tachnicfrl and Bibliographic Notes/Notes tachniquas at bibliographiquas The( to th The Instituta has attamptai to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter 'iny of the images in ths reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. E Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur n n D Covers damaged/ Couverture endommag^e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurie et/ou pelMcul^e Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gAographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Pi^.nches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with othe/ material/ Rail* avec d'autres documents Tight binding may causa shadows or distortion along interior margin/ Lareliure serree peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distorsion le long da la marge intdrieure Blank leaves addad during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout^es lors d'une restauration apparaissant dans le texte, mais, lorsque cala 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas iti filmies. Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplimentaires: L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a iti possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sent peut-^tre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier una imago reproduite. ou qui peuven; exiger une modifi:ativ/n dans la m^thode r.ormale de filmage sont indiqu^s ci-dessous. r~n Coloured P2:r««/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagies □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages rentaur^es et/ou pellicui^es r~7 Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ [^Lj Pages ddcolor^es, tachettias ou piqudes I I Pages detached/ Pages d^tachees Showthroughy Transparence Quality of prir Quality inigale de I'impression Includes supplementary materis Comprend du materiel supplementaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible (~T| Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ rn Only edition available/ D Pages wholly or partialli* obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc.. have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Las pagf s totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata. une pelure. etc.. cnt M filmdes i nouveau de facon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. The! possi of th filmii Origi begir the li slon, other first I sion. or iili The li shall TINU whici Maps differ entire begin right i rsquir meth( This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ca document est film* au taux de reduction indiqui ci-dessous. 10X UX 18X 22X J 26X 30X 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X J2X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: The Nova Scotia Legislative Library The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in iceeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or Hiustrated impres- sion, and ending on ths last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ► (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginriing in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'exemplaire film* fut reprodult grA«:e A la g^n^rositA de: The Nova Scotia Legislative Library Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tanu de la condition et de la nettetd de l'exemplaire film*, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimde sont film6s en commen^ant par le premier pint et en terminant soit par la dernldre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par la second plat, salon le cas. Tous les &utres exemplaires originaux sont film*s en commen^ant par la promiAre page qui comporte une empremte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparattra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — *-signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent Atre filmAs d des tau:( de reduction diftArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reprodult en un seul clichA. il est filmA d partir de I'angle supArleur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^' .>■■ \ \ A •"% / '.f ' ♦> ,- <. l^-f ?\ ■*w|. I^oooo ^f^ i i:VEl} --# it. It if, ■p; ■; ;f m r |. 1. . / m tiMMMMMMaeiMilMMip BoJL •-'"TT'"'"" >-. l. ...»., ^ .,«, , M.. .- ^ l j, liiii |Up ilp | i( |j,l |l |y pgjp|pj p| l )P I |y |[ Uy i |t|pi^ »i > | | tg » i .iu i li ;m ISRAEL BEREAVED OF HIS CHILDREN. A SERMON PBEACIIED IN ST. PAUL'S C H t7 R C H ON SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 1842. During a Season of tinusual JMLortality among Children. BY WILLIAM COGSWELL, M. A. CURATE. i '* Now he is dead, wherefore should I fast ? Can I bring him back again ? I shall go to him, but ho sh&Il not return to me/' 2 Sam. xn. 23. HALIFAX, N. S. PBINTBD AT THE MORNINO H£BALD OmCK. 1842. ;Ste r /^ t ► f /C S X-^^ * lumimMwniiiiiBiii Miiiiiiaii ■ 'MiiWI,^ > ^ ** Irr Rama waa there a voice heard, 1am(«ntation and great moarning ; Rachel weeping for hor children re- fused to be comforted for her children because they are not." It is a precious portion of the duty of the Min- ister of Christ to offer the consolations of the Gospel to those that are thus bereaved, to attempt to comfort ihosu that mourn, and to bind up the hearts that are brohen by the heavy pressure of calamity. The topics suggested in this discourse have proved consolatory to some afflicted ones : and the hope that their solace may be farther diffused nas lea to its publication. May that Spirit which was without measure upon Him who was anointed •* to bind up the broken hearted,'* vouchsafi^-" — in measure to bless this feeble instrument, and, through its means, to pour the oil and wine of spiritual comfort into the smarting wounds of some brother or sister in th« Lord. ■if^JS,' "Ir "As bean upon taker perit^ arep 'hand 'I Genesis xmi. 14. I " ir I BE BEREAVED OF MY CHILDREN, I AM BEREAVED. " As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to nian.'^* And who can look upon those sketches of the heart o^* man, taken under all its various aspects of pros- perit)' and calamity, of joy and grief, which are presented to us fresh from the Master's hand in the Book of God, and not find depict- ed there, under some form or other, the work- ings of his own ? Never Lath mirror more faithfully reflected back the image that was placed before it, than the faithful volume dic- tated by Almighty Wisdom, and penned by Heavenly Truth, displays to every variety of * Prov. xxvii, 19 A 2 ■w observers an exact picture of their own emo~ tions ill trouble and in joy. There are few cases, perhaps, which pre- sent to us a view of the workings of the human heart under a greater variety of circumstan- ces than that of the patriarch Jacob. His history is recorded with a degree of minute- ness which scarcely marks the record of any other individual's existence in the pages of the Old Testament; and it presents him to us as the subject of so continual fluctuations of prosperity and distress, as could be scarcely found in the more brief career of any one of our fallen race now. We have the comfor: of hoping, that, grievous as was the sin which marked his early years, and led to his becom- ing for a time an outcast from his father's house, he was yet, from the time that the Lci^d manifested himself to him in the wilderness of rr- 1 oft] ing] the rush deat ■iriinirVii I JILIH I BI I OMI II I I Ifc ^n emo- ch prc- bnman mstan- ^ His niniite- of any ages of n lo us ions of carcely one of cm for* ivhicli )ecom- ather's e Lc;d ness of I i Pnran, a (rue servant of the living God : and we may conclude therefore, notwithstandino- the many incoiisistenci'^s which subsequently appear, that his character and conduct irene- rally were those of a child of God, founded upon true , rintiples, aiming at a holy prac- tice. His life, then, while it exhibits many beacons to warn us a^^ainst / mlhv errors, displays also many bright ana beautiful ex- amples of meekness, patience, tenderness and love, which the most advanced Christian may find it well to imitate. The circumstances under which the words of the text were spoken were of a sorely try- ing nature. Some years had now passed, since the patriarch had bowed his head as a bul- rush before the tidings of his beloved Joseph's death, and had mourned, in bitterness of spi- rit, the heavy stroke, whicu, as he supposed, juSsSl- III" riii'iilFiml t . ^ ' .;^ -•* ' ^^^^^^H • ^^^^^^^^^^B v. ' s ^^^^^^S^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B *f -A I 8 had bereft hirri, by a miserable fate, of a child ii» whom the a/Teclions of an old man's heart were centred. Constrained by the necessity which fell upon his family and household in the land of Canaan, he, some twenty years after, sent forth ten of his remaining sons to Egypt to buy corn, and retained with him the son of his old age, his Benjamin, tf.e now only remaining child of the fondly loved Ra- chel. Nine only of his sons returned; and his heart bled as they told of the harshness vvLich they had experienced at the hands of (he Governor of Egypt, and his spirit sank within him as they spoke of having left Simeon in prison, as a pledge that on their next applica- tion for food their youngest brother should go with them. " And Jacob their father said nnto them, Me have ye bereaved of my chil- dren : Joseph is not, and Simeoa is not, and I * f a child 's heart ecessity ^hold in y years sons to th him ho now ed Ra- and his which of (he within eon in )plica- uld go r said ' chil- li and .^r: i ye will take Benjamin awaj : all these things \ are against me." * He saw not that all these ; things were accomplishing the Lord's purpos- es of mercy, and working together for his good, and in the darkness of a momentary distrust he perceived in them only the grievous strokes of a hard but inevitable fate. And O ! what Christian is there, has there ever been, in whom, as the waves of accumulated woe come rolling towards him, nature has not for some moment at least resumed its sway; and whose faith has not sometimes sunk baf- fled oy the attempt to pierce the dark clouds which hang around the Providence of God. It was thus with Jacob when the stroke was in anticipation. But the time dre^v near at which he must meet the blow. Again was the supply of his family expended. Again must his sons go down to Egypt, as the/ • Genesis xlii. 36. ••^Itei*!! ■ •V' I (f 10 would avert from their numerous precious ones the horrors of starvation. But to go without their brother they knew would be a fruitless errand ; and they respectfully but firmly refused to stir a step, unless Benjamin were with them. And now, in the hour of real trial, the faith of Jacob triumphed. He found in his own experience the preciousness of the truth, which, in a prophetic spirit, was announced by Moses the man of God toAsher, *« As thy days, so shall thy strength be."* He realized in his own case the precious truth by which the soul of an Apostle was afterwards sustained, *^ My grace is sufficient for thee." t He saw the hand of God in his trials ; he placed himself in the Lord's hands ; and, in the spirit of meek submission to what- ever might be the Lord's will concerning him, •Deut. xxxiii, 25. f 2 Cor. lii. 9. ,11 ill Jill M. 11 precious 5ut to go Tould be tfully but Benjamin hour of led. He ciousness pirit, was toAsher, th be."* precious stie was sufficient rod in his s hands ; to wbat- ninghim, 9. exclaimed, ** If I be bereaved of my chil- dren, I am bereaved.'' How many are the souls in this community, that have been placed by the dealings of God's good providence in the same furnace of (rial, from which Jacob thus came forth as gold ! How many a heart among us hath known the same pressure of bitter sorrow as bore the patriarch down, and, in the anticipa- tion of some coming stroke, hath fainted, as his did, in the weakness of mere nature's strength ! How many, alas ! are they, who, if the workings of their inmost spirits were laid bare, would be found replying in tho depth of their distress to God, * ' Me you have bereaved of my children ; one is not, and you will take another from me j all these things are against me." O that among the many thus sorely, sadly tried by late event* T Hi ! i 12 among us, there may not be one, who shall not, in reco-nizin- the Lord's hand in his distress, and in meek acknowledgment of Hia wisdom and His love, be enabled to exclaim, '' If I be bereaved of my children, I am be- reaved.'> ^' It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good."* *< It is the Lord that gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. " f It is my desire, dearly beloved, and shall, under the Lord's blessing, be my endeavour,' to apply this expression of Israel's submission to the circumstances in which the afflictive hand of God hath placed many members of this flock ; and I would pray the Lord, that, if there be those here, whose hearts have bled beneath any of the varied strokes that Hia providence hath of late inflicted, they may be full, reli: ithe left is Ithe I n ^^ V I] mis£ let I CHJI I con< OF i Thii f AR 1 OF D THia • 1 Sam. iii. 18. + Job. i. 21. ■4 li 13 who shail lied, under the teachings of His word, to a and in his | fuller recognition of His wisdom, a sweeter lent of Hia I reliance upon His love ; and that they, whom the thick-falling strokes of bereavement have h(t for the present unscathed, may be led, in ithe exercise of true Christian sympathy, to I'' bear one another's burdens,"* and to " weep with those that weep."t In taking the expression of Israel's sub- mission as the guide of our present meditations, let U3 consider. First, that the loss of CHILDREN IS INDEED A BEREAVEMENT ; Se- ^ condly, observe the spirit in which a child ambers of ^ op God bows beneath the stroke ; and ^rd, that, . _^ Thirdly, remark upon some of the peculi- ar topics of consolation,which,in the case OP DEPAilTED little ONES, MAY MINISTER TO THIS SPIRIT OF SUBMISSION. And may the • Gal. vi. 2. t Row. xii. 16. exclaim, , I am be- n do what Lord that f; blessed and shall, ndeavour, Libmission afflictive lave bled that His Y may be 21. B I I r I 14 good Spirit of our God be with us to apply and sanctify the teachings of His word. I- We shall confine our present remarks entirely to the subject of such visitations as have of late so abounded ia this community, the strokes which have removed so many children from their fond parents' arms, and may observe, in the first place, that the loss OF SUCH PRECIOUS 0N8S IS IN TRUTH A VZ- «EAVBMENT. What I mean is not the mere trivial remark, that such a stroke inflicts a wound ; but that there is nothing in the Gospel, in the motives it inculcates, or the consolations it suggests, which urges npor. any one to look upon such a visitation in any other light than as a sore affliction, a heavy bereavement. There is nothing in the Gospel inconsistent with such an expression as that of the text, even if it conveyed no more than enlai fecti strik been tered be ;- mere what ' ' W ill -am nMt i . w —. I Ml, mf_ -— 1| apply and it remarks itations as ommunity, so many arms, and ' THE LOSS JTH A liE- the mere inflicts a ^ in the s, or the ges upon m in any a heavy le Gospel 1 as that ore than m exclamaiion of bitter grief, *' If 1 be be* feaved of my children, J am indeed bereaved,^* It is no part of the Gospel teaching to in- ;Culcate that stoical hardness of heart, which trould enable one to bear the strokes of heaviest calamity unmoved. The heart that is most truly influenced by Christian princi- ples, far from being hardened against the af- fections of earth, runs over with a peculiar fondness for all whom the Lord hath bound iipon it. The charities of domestic life are enlarged and not contracted by the saving in- fluence of the Gospel. The roots of those af- fections which God hath Himself implanted strike deeper and deeper in the heart that has been warmed with the love of Christ, and wa- tered with the dew of His spirit. And can it be ; — I appeal not to the conceptions of the mere natural heart concerning God, but to what the Lord has Himself revealed concern- # fill i! 16 ing His own character ;-can it be that the heart, which has become most truly aiire to the ties with which He hath bound it, must suffer the bitter rending of those ties asunder, and neither mourn nor wenp? Nay, not so ! There is nothing in the revealed character of God, there is nothing in the teachings of His word, that can lead us to imagine such cal- lousness as this to be the demand of God. There is a difference indeed between the sor- row of the Christian's heart under the pres- sure of such strokes as these, and the sorrow of the world ; but if there be any difference in (he tenderness of feeling which such a visit- ation awakens in the heart of one and of the other, it is that the heart of the Christian feels more deeply than the world. What can be sweeter than the tie which binds a parent's love to (he litttle ones whom the Lord hath lent him ? What can be fonder W I ihi th( to the h'u 0f( ed, resj sna thoi ,,honn he J so (1( neec the I such dreu drj ] and ^ i«p^ I 1? >e that the ily aliVe to it, must s asunder, ^ not so ! aracter of igs of His «uch cal- of God. n the sor- the pres le sorrow difference 3h a visit- nd of the tian feels e which es whom )e fonder than the hold with which the affections,which the gift of these precious ones awakens, cling to a father's or a mother's heart ? And are they called upon to look upon these little ones, ^ laid low before their eyes by the swift stroke of death, and not feel ihat:he heart is wound- ed, its affections to.n ? Are they bidden to resign without a tear the precious babes snatched from the fond embrace of love, even though it be to transfer them to a heavenly home ? Oh no ! What stricken parent shall be afraid, that to sorrow for the loss of those so dear to him is sinful ? What mother's heart need fear, that the tears, which flow beneath the anguish of, perhaps, a first bereavement such as this, can be displeasing unto Him, who drew near to the weeping widow of Nain,^ to dry her tears by the restoration of her child, and who wept in genuine bitterness of grief • Lake vii. 13. g 2 ■ i! ■»s»rt^- ■J with ihose to whose embrace He was even on | the point of restoring the lost one whom I they niournedr* A If. Yet we are led, in the second place, to remark, that, thou^jh the sorrow of the Christian's heart unc'ersuch a bereavement differs only, as regards its bitterness, from that of the worldl}', in its deeper intensity, yet it "^ IS MARKED BY A DIFFERENT SPIRIT, EVEN THAT OF mkek submission to his heavenly Fa- ther's WILL. This appears to be the meaning | of the patriarch's declaration in the text. | Long as he could, he put off from him the ^ dread necessity of parting with his beloved Benjamin j — and what Christian is forbidden to use every means which science can suggest | f or ?kill employ to avert a stroke whicli ' threatens to deprive him of his child .^— but when he saw that the necessity could be no long * John xi. 33-35. er ha or, wi wi H'u se< in( ho It fe ro m hi w di vi iV w vas even on one whom cond placCy OW OF THE sreavenient 5, from that isity, yet it EVEN THAT VE.NLY Fa- be meanino: the text, m him the fiis beloved s forbidden can suggest oke whicli hild ?-~but I be no long- 19 I er controlled, he placed his son in the liord'a hands, exclaiming, '' If I be bereaved, I am, or, let me be, bereaved ! If such be the Lord's wii!, Amen ! So let it be ! I bow to His I wisdom; I kiss the rod which Hia love in- flicts. It is His hand : let Him do what ^ seemeth Him good." " And such \s the spirit which the Gospel inculcates upon all that profess -to be aware . how God hath loved them in Christ Jesus. It forbids not sorrow,— nay, if no sorrow be. felt, how can submission be exercised ? It roots not out the tender affections which bind man's heart to the loved ones that surround him,— for if these affections were eradicated, where would the power of the Holy Spirit be displayed in bringing every thought into capti- vity to the will of God? But it speaks through thofse affections to his inmost soul ; it appeals i ■'i 20 through these very sorrows .0 the mourner's heart .and enjoins on him, even in the midst ; f "'•'"''' "" "^^^ acquiescence in .he bather-swill, and incu.cates a sweet sub- ».3s.on to His dispensations who ordere.h all *h'ngs wisely., and doeth all things well. All sorrow then, beneath the stroke of the L d s hand .s not repining ; the bursts of J;t er gnef. with which the heart of the af- fl'ctedonebreaks out in the time of its be- reavement, are not all murmurs. It m.y he feared, that many, though they cannot avert 'he stroke with which the Lord afflicts them and are therefore compelled to submit to His sovereign will, ^et are ready to charge Him ^.;h unkindness. to question the reality of H-'ove,andtocon,pIain of the hardness of ''t ''''" '' '^"'"'"^^ *•>«- are the ^o^ktogs of a murmuring spirit ; these the t f v' ) » mourner's 1 the midst nee in the meet sub- rderelh aJl well. »ke of the bursts of f the af- )fits be- t maybe lot avert ts them, it to His rge Him ality of dness of are the ?se the 71 complainings of a rebellJous h^art. There iare those, it may be hoped, who, though they 'would strive as anr.iousl^ as others to avert the blow, and put off, as Jacob did, by every possible mea*^* the threatened dispensation, yet, when they see that it is the Lord's will, bow the head before His visitation, and re^ 5«gn the precious ones the Lord hath lent them, again L Him, in meek acquiescence with His wisdom and His love, &s well as His sovereignty and power. This is the sub- mission which the Gospel teaches ; — this the spirit in which the true Christian meets the chastenings of his Father's hand. HI. In the case, however, of the removal of such little ones, as those of whom so many have been lately gathered into the cold grave, there is something more than that persuasion o{ the Father's loye which the Christian's heart ifi i III w ■5* if 22 enjoys, to comfort those that mourn. Let u« contemplate, in the itiird place, some of tnt TOPICS OP CONSOLATION WHICH SURROUND AN tswAST'$ DEATH, and teach submission to the will of God to the bereaved parents' hearts. 1. And how consoUrtf^ is (he consciomness, thai the little ones thus renoved are delivered from all apprehension of future evil, and placed in a condition of safety from all harm. I speak not of those anxieties for the personal beauty, and the worldly prospects of their children, which too often form the substance of the mere worldly parents' -ares for the lit- tle ones that surround them. To such anx- ielies as these Ih'^re is no solace in the thou«^ht of their departure. But what Christian parent can look upon his happy child, and not trem- ble with anxious apprehension of the manj .K. i. Let ua E OF THE lOUNO AN ission to parents' ^cxousness, delivered nd placed mrm, I personal of their ubstance r the lit- ich anx- ! thought n parent at trem- B manj '23 dangers that shall beset his opening path, of Jthe many temptations that shall lure him into ^a forgetfulness of the teachings of a parent's love, and urge him, by the exaggerated charms of sin, to exchange the innocence and happi- ness cf heaven for the fascinations of ungodly .pleasure, and the haunts of vice? Alas! that there can scarcely be a community any where found, in which there is more room for such apprehensions, than in this ? And will J a parent find no consolation, under the stroke I with which the Lord hath visited him in the I reflection that these fesrs are forever silenced, these anxieties for ever hushed,-— in the thought, that the little ones, who have been ^ the subject of so much anxiety, are there safely housed, where sin cannot enter, where temptation cannot lure them, where no false pleasures can seduce them from the fountain- bead of joy ? Beloved, are there those UPP- It I, : i! 24 among you, that hav3 been called to mourn your bereavement by some of the late numer- ous strokes, — and doth it minister to you no comfort amid your tears, to think that your ^| loved, your precious ones, are taken away from so much evil to come ? 2. Hoio yet more comforting is ^ secondly y the assurance, in the case of such little ones the certainty f of their beings not only removed from evil, but of their being transplanted in their early ^ bloom to the garden of the Lord, the family of the blessed ones above. However bright the hopes which sometimes cheer the hearts of the bereaved in the case of those cut off in riper year3, yet there are perhaps few cases in which in hours of depression a fear will not creep in, whether they had indeed so ta- ken hold of Christ, whether they had been in- deed so sanctified by His Spirit, as to be made !^ ■■ aSMMB.-- 25 mourn numer- you no at your | n away mdlxjyihe )nes the ed from leir early ^ ^amily of ght the learts of t off in meet for the enjoyment of His kingdom. But what doubt can possibly find entrance into the heart, that the little ones, removed ere yet they have known how to refuse the evil and to choose the good,* are transferred from the arms that cling to them on earth to the joys which greet them in the bosom of the Fa- ther ? *' Of such," saith the blessed Jesus, '* is the kingdom of Heaven ;"t and who can even question, that takes the Scripture for his guide, that the children, so lately snatched from the tearful embraces of mourninir friends, ar-* now, in the perfection of glorified spirits, hymning the eternal praises of the Lamb that was slain for them ? Early admitted mto covenant with God through Him who commanded infants to be brouo-ht to Him, can any doubt that they are now tronspluntcd from the temptations and trials of the Church =^ Isaiah vii. 15. f iMaU. xix. 14 C i i. i 26 on earth to the radiant glories of the Church in heaven ? And is a parent's love . t sel- fish thing, which seeks only its own gratifica- tion in the presence of those precious ones on earth, and does not rather find its highest joy in the greatest happiness of those so dear to ii ? And can a parent's heart but contem- plate that blessed portion, which is now his child's unchanging lot in heaven, and com- pare it with the largest purest fund of happi- ness that could have been its portion upon earth, and not feel, amid the tears which the bereavement calls forth, that his beloved one might address to him the words of the bless- ed Jesus to His followers, «* If you loved me you would rejoice, because I go to my Fa- ther.'^* - Mother!" was not long since the sweet remonstrance of a dymg child, *f why do yo. »veep ? 1[ I ^vere spared, I shall pro- * John xiv. 29. When [When [Oh ! \ ■■H-n 1 5 27 5 Church u;C"t sel- jratifica- 0# bably be separated from you, and then how incessant would be your anxiety to hear of my well-being, how continual your fears lest some ill tidings of me should reach your ear ? Now I am going where you knoio I shall be blest ; you will need no letter to assure you of my happiness ; you will dread no tidings which can tell you ill of me. And do you weep that God is able to make me so much happier than you, with all your fond affec- tion, can even conceive ?" May not each lit- tle one transferred to the bliss of heaven urge on his parents' heart the adoption of these sweet reflections of a Christian poet * as he thinks of his departed child : «* Wlien we think of what our darling ig, and \ihat we still must be ; When we muse on that world's perfect bliss, and this wc-ld's misery ; When we groan beneath this load of sin, and frel thif grief and pain, Oh ! we'd rather lose the other two, than have him back again !" * Rev. J. Moultrie. 28 Let us, in conclusion, turn our attention, tiearly beloved, to one or two of the lessons which the sufferings and death of young chil- dren address to every heart* I. Am], first, HOW solemn is the proof thus AFFORDED OF THE NATURAL CORRUPTION, THE INBORN SIN, OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL OF OUR RACE. Who can look upon the sufferings of a dying child, often apparently greater in the merest infant than would have brought down ma- ny a well-nerved frame, and as he gazes can withhold his assent from the remark, * ' Thou wast shapen in iniquity, conceived in sin, born into the world a polluted creature." '^Sin came into the world, and death by sin;''* 'ind such is the connexion between sin and suffering, that, where there is no sin, there can be no death. The Lord Jesus himself is no exception to this rule ; for, though in Him there was no sin, yet He was made sin for * Romans v. 12. I 29 tention, lessons ix\Z chil- 30F THUS ON, THE JR RACE. a dying I merest jwn ma- izes can **Thou in sin, eature." y sin;*'* sin and n, there imself is I in Him 5 sin for us, and under the burden of our sins He died. And when we see death pass, sometimes in its most frightful form, upon those little ones that have not sinned wilfully, after the simi- litude of Adam's transgression,* we see there a proof that the nature is polluted, and the soul of the mere infant of an hour is stained with sin. Are there then any souls, that, al- most questioning God's mercy, ask, "Why is it that these infants should be subject to such agonies, — how is it that such innocents should die?" Dear fellow-sinners! when ye are call- ed again to gaze upon some dying child, O learn from its sufferings the solemn truth of your own innate depravity. Learn, as ye look upon its anguish, that ye too were born in sin, and leave not the sight, I pray you, till ye have put to yourselves and answered the momentous question, ^' Have I been born again to newness and holiness of life ?" * Romans v. 14. I I 50 8. How STRIKING IS, Sfcotldly, THE Pic- TUKE WHICH THE SIGHT OF A UVINO CHILD PRESENTS OF THE CHARACTER OF THOSE THAT ALONE SHALL ENTER INTO THE LoRd's KINO- DOM. "Verily, 1 say unto you," are the words of the Lord Jesus. '■ whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein."* We look indeed upon the simplicity, the faith, the de- pendance upon a parent's teaching and help, which are manifested in a young child's life as threading features in which this resemblance may be traced. But we may look also upon the calm sweet beauty of a little one's repose in death, as a picture of the peace that the Lord Jesus gives His people,-of the rest up- on which they enter who have faiih in Christ, and which remaiueth in the fulness of its en- joyment for the future portion of God's people. *MarIc X. 15. 91 HE ric- CHILD E THAT I KINO- are the ;r shall a lliilQ e look he de- ! help, fje as jlance upon epose t the t up- hrist, s en- ople. Are there any, in whose minds the question has been awakened, how far the child, cut off in the first hours of its brief career, has an- swered the end of its being, or the doubt aroused, whether the tender infant's soui is ca- pable of appreciating and bearing its part in Ihe glories of Eternity ? 0! rather, dearly beloved, when ye hear in what terms the Lord hath spoken, ask, as ye gaze upon its silent form, whether ye have been so changed into its image^ that ye could have as good hope for yourselves of going, where its spirit hath winged its flight, to the mansions of the blest. S. How SWEET 's, thirdly^ the additiokai. 310T1VE WHICH THE DEPARTURE OF SOME PRECN OUS LITTLE ONE ADDRESSES TO A CHRISTIAN PA- HENi's HEART for greater diligence in making his own calling and election sure. I say, ^hc additional motive ; ^£or that heart is not n '—"1*5^- \ 32 truly warmed with the love of Christ that does not look forward to His presence as the chief charm of heaven, the great motive for diligence in seeking aa entrance there. Yet other and subordinate motivos may not impro- perly oe urged in their due place, and what sweeter thought can mingle itc influence with the motives to watchfulness and zeal than this, ** I have a little one in heaven. Some precious babe hath gone before me thither ; some darling child hath found its rest in the mansions of our Father's house. And shall I not strive to ket^ in the strait path that leads to the same home ? Shall I not aim to be found meet to be greeted by my glorious child to the paradise of its joys ?" Dearly belov- ed ! have y^ have any of you, some precious ones in heaven ; and O ! shall not the sweet thought urge vou on to greater zeal for Christ, T 33 ist that J as the live for 3. Yet impro- id what ce with il than Some lither ; t in the shall I it leads to be IS child beiov- recious sweet Christ, that you may meet your little ones above ? Then, if ye be bereaved of your children, the very bereavement shall be turned into a bless- ing, and the separation which hath torn your hearts on earth shall minister to your reunion with your loved ones in that blissful scene, whither no sin, no sorrow, and ao death shall come. Amen. ■rj