Lead me, O thou heavenly friend;
Keep a trembling child from sinking. 
O, I cannot bear this glory! 
Angel brother! how canst thou? 
Angel.  I will tell thee all my story;
I was once as thou art now. 
Child.  When some sorrow did befall me,
Or I felt some strange alarms,
Then my mother’s voice would call me,
To the shelter of her arms. 
Now what bids my heart rejoice,
Clasped in arms I cannot see? 
Hark, I hear a soothing voice
Sweetly whispering, Come to me. 
Angel.  Yes, it calls thee from on high;
Come to God’s most holy mountain;
Thou hast drunk the stream of life;—­
I will lead thee to the fountain.”

Some dread the thought of being out of the body and finding themselves spirits.  This is wholly without reason.  The soul will not suffer from losing this body of sin and death; it will have as perfect a consciousness, it will know where it is, and what is passing before it, as seems to be the case in a vivid dream when the bodily senses are locked in slumber.

As to the natural repugnance which we have to the thoughts of burial and the grave, it is probable that the soul of a redeemed spirit thinks and cares as little concerning these things, so far as painful sensations are concerned, as we do about our garments when we are falling asleep.  The vesture which we formerly wore gives us no solicitude.  It is wonderful to hear the sick, long before they die, give directions, or express desires, respecting their burial.  So far from thinking of the grave as a melancholy place, no doubt the departed spirit will often think of it in the separate state with pleasure, as the place where it is hereafter to receive a form like Christ’s; and the thought of resurrection adds greatly to the joys of heaven.

* * * * *

There is something still which affects the minds of many Christians with fear as they think of dying; and that is, their appearing before God.  They cannot imagine the possibility of seeing him without distraction; his infinite majesty, and their own sense of unworthiness, make them afraid.

But who is God?  Is he the Christian’s enemy?  Will he sit like a king on his throne, and see his subject come trembling into his presence?  Is this the God who loved him?  Is this the Saviour that died for him?  Is this the Holy Spirit who awakened, converted, sanctified, comforted him, and promised to present him faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy?  God will not have done so much to bring him to heaven, and, when he comes there, make his appearance before his throne a matter of fear and uncertainty.  He who fell on the neck of the returning prodigal and kissed him, will not keep him at a distance when, with the best robe, and the ring, and the shoes, he comes into his father’s house.  Our first apprehensions of God will be happy beyond our present comprehension.  What an image have we, in these words, of a man helping a child, by the hand, through a dangerous or dark way:  “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”  If “I will be with thee,” is the reason, which he himself assigns why we should not be afraid, why should we fear to come into his presence?