do in order to his eternal salvation, if lie were asszired that he had not one day more to live ? And would not the j^^'obable nearness of death influence him in like manner in proiwrtion as it was felt ?]
The whole world standing greatly in need of this caution, we proceed to,
II. Enforce it —
The reason urged by Solomon commends itself im- mediately to our hearts and consciences :
1. We know not what shall be on the morrow —
[We are to-day perhaps enjoying all that our hearts can wish ; our bodies are vigorous, our spirits gay, our friends nu- merous, our means of gratification greatly diversified, and acces- sible at all times. To-morrow we may be cast down from our pinnacle of happiness; our honour maybe laid in the dust; we may be languishing on a bed of sickness ; and deprived of all the comforts of life ; and our reverse of fortune may be yet fur- ther aggravated by the loss of all our friends. The case of Job, if more recent instances were wanting, would sufficiently shew what may happen to us all ^ Shall we then be promising our- selves years of happiness in the enjoyment of earthly thhigs, when we consider how unstable they are ? Again : to-day we are sinning in expectation that we shall, at some future period, repent. To-morrow possibly we may, like Nebuchadnezzar, be deprived of reason; or, like Pharaoh, be sealed up by God under final impenitence. Now is it not madness to risk the salvation of our souls uj)on the hope of having every thing that can conduce to our eternal welfare continued to us to the latest period of our lives ? Should we not rather set ourselves to re- deem the present time, and to " work while it is day, lest the night should come wherein no man can work^?"]
2. We know not whether we shall even live to see the morrow —
[What man is there that has " made a covenant with death, and an agreement with the grave " so as to be assured he shall live another day? Has he this assurance /rom withi/i himself, or from, those around him, or from God ? Not from within himself, since neither youth nor health is any security against the stroke of death : not from others, since physicians, however useful in their place, can aflbrd us no help, when God shall call away our souls : not from God ; for though he pro- mised to protract Hezekiah's life for fifteen years, he has not engaged to preserve ours so many minutes. If, with the Rich
^ Job i. Sec, in spiritual concerns, the case of David,Ps. xxx.6, 7. " Eph. v. IG. John ix. 4.