In truth, the proper representation of the matter is this; “the Lord’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,” that which He has won by His victory over sin and death and the grave, that which He has opened to all believers, that of which every abiding believer is an actual and irremovable member. It is a kingdom never ceasing or suspended; reaching onward without a broken link, from time to eternity. The present state of being should be regarded as the threshold of this boundless kingdom; as but the foreground of trial, in which the Lord’s servants are exercised and matured and made meet for their full and final inheritance. Death is called the gate of life, that life for which the present is but a prelude and preparation. Earthly graces will be perfected in heaven. The Lord’s dominion over us is whole and uninterrupted: He calls us from one division of His kingdom to another, from one state to another, at His own time and in His own way: “He has the keys of death and hell,” of death and the unseen world. “He openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth.” “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” He keeps them by His almighty power, keeps them in His wisdom and mercy, till they are ripe for glory. None can delay and none can hasten his work. And what faithful soul would desire it? Nay, Lord, come and call when Thou wilt; but make Thy servant ready. O how refreshing, delightful, encouraging to us, on our way to Zion, to perceive around us those who are “living unto the Lord,” with their eyes and hearts fixed upon the heavenly inheritance. And O still happier sight, and yet an awful rejoicing, to behold a brother “dying unto the Lord;” to witness the triumph of our holy faith, in nature’s last hour and Satan’s last buffeting; to observe the trophies of divine love adorning and cheering the melancholy bed—the tranquil smile, the unwearied trust, the patient contented thankful resignation; the uplifted hand and eye, the illuminated countenance, the peaceful spirit all the while ready to wing its flight. Go boastful science, go vain philosophy, and visit the death-beds of your votaries; mark well the doubts and fears betraying themselves under the mask of a bold profession; mark the impatience and vexation; the present burden and the miserable foreboding; go and discover your infidel champions, the proud Goliaths of your kingdom, trembling and quailing under the lifted stroke of death; and despairing under the load of unforgiven sin, under the terrors of an insulted and avenging God. Go to your despisers of the crucified Jesus, to those who have been too wise to seek or too busy to find Him; see them, as I have seen, stretching out their hands in agony, and saying, “Is there none to save a fellow-creature from destruction?” Then, when ye are sickened with such scenes, repair to the bedside of a departing saint, and see how a Christian can die. Go and study a lesson, more