229.]
evil habits in which we have lived, or fulfil some duties which we have hitherto neglected. We may have thought, that to repent us of our sins, and to seek for mercy through Christ, and to give all diligence to the concerns of our souls, was the path winch true wisdom dictated ; and that we would speedily commence that salutary course. But death, having once re- ceived its commission to transmit us to the presence of our God, can take no cognizance of any good intentions : it exe- cutes its office without favour to any ; and, in the instant that he inflicts the stroke, his victim, whoever he may be, falls ; " his breath goeth forth, and he returneth to Ins earth; and in that very day all his thoughts perish c."]
3. A fixing of our eternal doom —
[Whatever be the state of our souls in the instant of death, that it will continue to all eternity : "As the tree falleth, so it must He." If we have lived a life of penitence and faith, and devoted ourselves truly unto God, it is well : death vail be to us only like "falling asleep" in the bosom of our Lord. But, if we have neglected these great concerns, or not so far prosecuted them as to have found favour with God, death will be to us only like the opening of our prison-doors, in order to the execution of eternal vengeance on our souls. Prepared or unprepared, we must go into the presence of our God, and receive at his hands our eternal doom. Oh, fearful thought ! But so it must be ; and, the instant that the soul is separated from the body, it will be transmitted either to the paradise of God, or to the lake that burnetii with fire and brimstone. The day of judgment will make no difference, except that the body will then be made to participate the portion of the soul ; and the righteousness of God, in the sentence awarded, will be dis- played to the admiration of the whole assembled universe.]
Let this subject be improved by us,
1. For the humbling of our souls in reference to the past —
[We have known the uncertainty of life ; and have seen, in the mortality of those around us, the approach of death : but how marvellous is it, that these sights should have pro- duced such little effect upon our souls ! Verily, if we did not know the insensibility of man under circumstances of such infinite moment, we should scarcely be able to credit what both our observation and experience so fully attest.]
2. For the quickening of our souls in reference to the future —
[That " the day of death approaches" we are sure : at
c Ps. cxlvi. 4. H h 2