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DLSC.
ni.]
SURPR-TZE
IN
DEATH.
38T.
not
in
the
_hand
of
their Maker
:
But the
watchful
christian
lives
upon
that
principle
which
David professes ;
GPs.`
xxxi.
15.
"
My times
are
in
thy
hand, O
Lord
;"
inrl
they
never
give
rest to
themselves,
.
till
they can
re-
joice
with
him,
and
say to
the Lord, thou
art
my
God,
into
thy
hands
I
commit
my
spirit, for. thou
hast
re-
deemed
it,
and
I
leave
it
to
thy appointment,
when
thou
wilt
dislodge
me
from this body
of
flesh
and
blood,
and
call
we
into thy
more immediate presence:
Verse
5.
If
we
could
but
resist the messenger
of
death,
.
when
the
Lord of
hosts has
sent
it,
if
we
could
shut
the mouth
of
the
grave, when
the
Son
of God
has
opened it for
us,
with the
key
that
is
entrusted
in
his
hand,
we
might
say
then
to
our
souls,
"
sleep on
your
bed
of
ease,
and take
your
rest:"
But
wo
be to those, who will
venture
to sleep
m an
unholy
and
unpardoned
state,
or
even allow
them-
selves
the indulgence
of
short
and sinful slumbers,
when
they
cannot
resist
death
one moment, when they
cannot
delay the summons
of
heaven, when they
cannot defer
their appearance
before
that Judge,
whose
sentence
is
eternal
pleasure, or everlasting
pain.
Our
holy
watch
must not
be
intermitted
one moment,
for every
following
moment
is
a grand uncertainty.
There
is
no
minute
of
life,
no point
of
time,
wherein
I
can
say,
"
I
shall
not
die
;"
and
therefore
I
should not
dare
to
say,
"
This
minute
I
will
take a short slumber."
What if
my
Lord
should summon
me
whilst he
finds
me
sleeping
?
His
command
cannot
be
disobeyed,
the
very
call
and
sound
of it
divides me from
flesh
and
blood, and all
that
is
mor-
tal,
and sends
me
at
once,
into
the
eternal
world
;
for
it
is
an almighty
voice.
Remark IV.
As
it
is
a
foolish
and
dangerous
thing,
for
any
of
the
sons
and
daughters
of
men,
to presume
upon
long
life,
and neglect
their watch;
so
"persons under
some
peculiar
circumstances, are eminently called to be ever
-
wakeful."
Give
me
leave
here
to
reckon up
some
of
them,
and
make
a
particular
address to the persons concerned.
I.
Is
your constitution
of
body
weak
and
feeble
?
You carry
then
a perpetual warning
about
you,
never
to
indulge sinful drowsiness.
Every languor
of
nature
assures
you,
that
it
is
sinking to the
dust
:
every
pain
you
feel
should
put
you in mind,
that
the
pains
of
death
are
ready to
seize
you
:
You
are tottering
upon the very
c 2