John 1:29-37

"I shall behold man no more, with the inhabitants of the world." - Isa. xxxviii. 11.

My soul, though thou art, I trust, prepared for thy great change, and in an habitual state for death, whenever the Lord shall come to take thee home; yet there is also an actual state of being on the lookout for it, so that it is proper at times to go down to the grave in imagination, before thou art carried thither in reality; that by earthing thyself, thou mayest consider what will be the immediate consequences of death in those things which are now most about thee, and with which thou art necessarily much occupied. "Thou wilt behold man no more, with the inhabitants of the world:" would it not be proper, therefore, to wean thyself from too great an acquaintance with them now, that the separation may be the less felt? Thou wilt be called upon to enter upon a state altogether new, and a path thou hast never before trodden; and would it not be wise to send forth enquiries concerning them, such as scripture gives the clearest answer to, and study the best way to make preparation in Jesus for thy change? What a blessed example hath the apostle Paul left upon record of his conduct in this particular; "I protest," said he to the Corinthian church, speaking on this subject, "by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily," 1 Cor. xv. 31. Such were both the habitual and actual frames of Paul's mind, that he was every day, and all the day, waiting and looking for his Master's call. The fact was, he knew the certainty of the ground on which he stood; he had no farther questions to ask concerning his safety in Christ; and therefore, he rather wished to bring the hour on, than to put it off. His whole heart, his whole affections, centered in Christ; and as such, though to live was Christ, yet to die was gain. My soul, what sayest thou to this blessed frame? Oh! for the same earnestness, and from the same cause; that whether this night, or at cock-crowing, or in the morning, when the Lord comes, though thou wilt behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world, yet thou wilt behold the face of God in glory; and when thou awakest after his likeness, thou wilt be satisfied with it.