when I will give you a crown of life." And when is that time so much to be welcomed and wished for? when is that happy period of freedom from suffering, and of entrance into everlasting rest, and unalloyed happiness? It is the hour of death. "Be thou faithful unto The hour of death is no longer to be dreaded and feared, now that Jesus hath destroyed him who had the power of death, i.e., the devil, and hath delivered them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

death."

Oh! death, where is thy sting? Oh! grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

"When the world my heart is rending
With its heaviest storm of care,
My glad thoughts, to God ascending,
Find a refuge from despair.

"There's a hand of mercy near me,

Though the waves of trouble roar ;

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There's an hour of rest to cheer me,
When the toils of life are o'er.

'Happy hour! when saints are gaining That bright crown they longed to wear; Not one spot of sin remaining,

Not one pang of earthly care.

"Oh! to rest in peace for ever,

Join'd with happy souls above;
Where no foe my heart can sever
From the Saviour whom I love!

"This the hope that shall sustain me
Till life's pilgrimage be past;
Fears may vex, and troubles pain me,
I shall reach my home at last."

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[13TH SUNDAY.

"He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."-REV. ii. 11.

THERE is a tradition among the Mohammedans that the spirits of the righteous have to pass at death over a bridge composed of a single hair, representing, as it were, the difficulty with which the righteous shall be saved. It is said here," He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." The righteous are scarcely saved, that is, they are saved with difficulty; they just escape with their lives, but they

shall not be hurt of the second death.

It is indeed calculated to make us watchful and prayerful when we think of the doom from which we hope to escape. The second death! oh! what is it? It is to die eternally, to die to hope, to die to happiness, to be separated for ever from God, to live in perpetual remorse and anguish in that place where the worm dieth not, and

the fire is not quenched. Yet, if we overcome through the blood of the Lamb, we shall not be hurt of the second death. The conflict is sharp, the victory most difficult, owing to the evil of our hearts, the deceitfulness of the world, and the wiles and malice of the devil. But the believer can say, "Thanks be to God, for He hath delivered my soul from the nethermost hell." Is this our experience? Have we been taught that, but for redeeming grace, the second death must have been ours? Have we been taught that, but for restraining grace, we should even now fall from the narrow and difficult path to heaven? Or do we think that we deserve eternal happiness, and that hell can never be our portion? Even the full assurance of hope which is given to the advanced believer, does not dim his sense of the danger from which he has been snatched, and of the necessity of constant fear lest he

should come short of the promised rest. The way of fear and trembling is the way of safety. But while we work out our salvation with fear and

trembling, let us rejoice in the Saviour's assurance- "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."

"A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify,

A never-dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.
To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfil;

O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master's will.

"Arm me with jealous care,
As in thy sight to live ;
And, oh! thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give.
Teach me to watch and pray,

And on thyself rely;

Assur'd if I my trust betray
I shall for ever die."