promised thy flock, and I hope I am one of them"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." O thou good shepherd, let me trust in thy love, and feel thy supports, that whatever lies before me to be done or suffered, I may be enabled to do it, and to suffer it by the continual supplies of thy Spirit. And by his influence help me to persevere, till I win the prize of my high calling, and be admitted to join that great company, whom no one can number, who stand before the throne of God and the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; These are they who came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb: Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sitteth upon the throne shall dwell among them; They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun smite them, nor any heat: For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. O my Jesus, I bless thee for this most glorious prospect; It is of thy mere grace that I am in any measure enabled to join that great company: It is entirely of thy special favour that I have any good hope to come to their glory; For this, and for all thy mercies, to thee, with the Father, and the eternal Spirit, the three in one Jehovah, I give honour, and glory, and thanks, to-day, and I hope to do it without ceasing for ever and ever. Amen and Amen.

CHAP. VIII.

The believer's triumph over the infirmities of old age.

It is appointed unto all men once to die. The time is fixed by an immutable decree. The days of our years are threescore years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow: For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. If some be permitted to live longer, yet the infirmities of old age must arrive, bringing with them labour and sorrow, the forerunners of death. Circulation will become languid. The senses of the body will grow dull and heavy. The faculties of the mind will be impaired, and will discover it by not remembering proper names. In this decline of life believers are subject to the same infirmities with other men: They have no exemption from pain, or sickness, or death; but they have that which keeps up their spirits, and makes them patient and joyful. The consolations of God are then most needed, and he has promised them, and he is faithful: he never failed them, who trusted in him. He has suited his promises to all the infirmities of age. He knows our frame perfectly, and has described it with an unerring pen, Ecclesiastes, chap. xii. that when we feel the signs of old age, we may apply to him for grace to profit by them. The symp toms there given are infallibly true and just, and are as so many monitors, warning the man, that the vigour of life is declining, and that the body is returning to the earth from whence it came. Happy is he who takes this warning, and remembers his Creator in the days of his youth, before the wearisome days come, of weakness and pain. He has fled to Jesus for refugeand finds and experiences what he has engaged to do for his people, when heart and flesh begin to fail them. Blessed be his grace for the abundant provision

66

66

which he has made for their faith and patience: he says to them, "I will be with you, I will never leave you, nor forsake you: so that you may boldly say, "The Lord is our helper, and we need not fear what "the infirmities of age can do unto us." One of them, the Christian hero, thus encouraged himself in the Lord his God-" Thou art my hope, O Lord "God, thou art my trust even from my youth: by "thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou "art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee-I am a wonder "unto many, but thou art my strong refuge." This was his trust: and God did not forsake him. He remembered his word unto his servant, wherein he had caused him to depend. There failed not aught of any good thing, which the Lord had spoken unto him. O what great encouragement have believers to follow the steps of his faith! For his God is their God, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, to young and old, who put their trust in him. His promise to the Israel of God cannot be broken. Thus he pledges his word of truth to them, giving them a warrant to pray unto him, "My mouth shall be filled with thy praise, and "with thy honour all the day long: for thou wilt not “cast me off in the time of old age, thou wilt not for"sake me when my strength faileth." To this prayer the Lord inclined his ear, and vouchsafed this gracious answer: "Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and "all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are "borne by me from the belly, which are carried from "the womb, and even to your old age I am he, and eyen to hoary hairs will I carry you, I have made " and I will bear you, even I will carry, and I will "deliver you." These are some of his rich cordials for the aged: he provided them in his love, and he is sensibly touched with the feeling of their infirmities, in administering them; for he himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses. His compassions bind

66

66

66

66

they apply to him in the time of need, he is ever present to grant them his promised help: yea, so suited to their case, as to make them grow in grace, as they grow in years. They bring forth fruit in their old age, the rich fruit of humility, and the ripe fruit of thankfulness: fruit that endureth unto everlasting life. We have an happy instance of this in God's goodness to an ancient believer, who lived to be an hundred and seventy-five years old. old. He was the friend of God, who had blessed Abraham through life, and that in all things, and who even to hoary hairs loaded him with blessings. For God had promised him, "Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, thou shalt be buried in a good old age;" and the sacred historian relating the fulfilling of the promise, says, "He gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and "full of years, and was gathered to his people." His old age was good, in body and soul. Whatever infirmities he had, they were intended for good, and actually did him good. He was a very cheerful, pleasant old man. The peace of his mind had a sweet influence on his temper and behaviour. It kept him from being fretful and peevish in his family. He was loving to his children, and kind to his servants: God himself being witness. He was also happy in his last years: for he spent them in faith, and when they came to an end, he died in peace; with his last breath he committed his spirit into the hands of him who had redeemed it, full of years: it is in the original one word -he was satisfied: so it is rendered, Psalm xvii. 15. "As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness: "I shall be satisfied when I awake up after thy likeHe was satisfied with what he had enjoyed of the favour and friendship of his God; who had been his shield to defend him from all sins and enemies, and also had promised to be his exceeding great reward: this he obtained, when he was gathered to his people, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, and to the most blissful communion of the Three

"ness.

in Jehovah. All the children of faithful Abraham, treading in the steps of his faith, have the same God to deal with, who keepeth promise for ever. It is recorded of Isaac, the heir of the same promise with his father, that he, died in the same faith, an old man. He was tried with many infirmities, but we read of no complaints, though he was an hundred and eighty years of age. He expired in praise and thankfulness, satisfied with life, and happy in the prospect beyond death. And his son Jacob, an hundred and forty-seven years old when he was dying, declared that he had waited for the salvation of God; waiting faith is strong faith: and after he had blessed his children, and had given commandment concerning his bones, he quietly, as if he had been going to sleep, gathered up his feet into the bed, and died in peace, an old man, and satisfied. All these lived in the world, strangers and pilgrims, looking for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God: and they were not disappointed of their hope, they all died in faith-in an act of faith, and were gathered to their people, to the general assembly and church of the first-born. When they came to the end of their faith, they came to heaven. The moment they expired, they entered the city, which God had prepared for them: and their bodies, sleeping in the dust, are in the covenant of life, and shall be raised and glorified in the morning of the resurrection: for our Lord proves that the dead shall rise from this very circumstance: He says to the Jews" Have ye "not read in the book of Moes, how in the bush God "spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and "the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: He is not "the God of the dead, but the God of the living." In this faith the patriarchs died: being children of the resurrection, they left their bodies in the hand and care of a covenant-God, well assured that he would raise them up to glory, and life everlasting, according to that good word, wherein he had caused them to put their

trust,