decrees, to call me from this world by a sudden and unforeseen death (O great God, may Thy holy will be done! Here I am, Thy poor creature, altogether in Thy hands, ready to die when, how, and where Thou pleasest! I give myself up to Thy fatherly providence, and throw myself, living and dead, into the lap of Thy boundless mercy!), then I shall have the consolation of not dying without the holy Viaticum, since I shall have received it already in the holy Communion; and thus (as I trust with child-like confidence) Thou shalt be my food on my journey to Thy joyful paradise. Amen.
NINTH SERMON.
ON THE PREMATURE DEATH OF THE IDLE.
Subject.
The idle man is of no use in the world; therefore he deserves that God should take him out of it by a premature death.—Preached on the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost.
Text.
Offerebant ei paralyticum jacentem in lecto.—Matt. ix. 2.
“They brought to him one sick of the palsy, lying in a bed.”
Introduction.
Truly pitiable is the state of one in a palsy! Afflicted in every member of his body, he can scarcely move a finger, much less can he walk or stand, or help himself in any way; all he can do is to lie in bed. He is of no use to any one, to himself or to others, but is rather a burden; and unless he is cured in some extraordinary way the only thing that he can hope for is a speedy death. My dear brethren, the paralytic man is a true picture of the idle man, who wastes his precious time doing nothing or squanders it in useless occupations; he is of no good to himself or to others, and if he does not amend his life what else can he expect from God but to be called away by a premature death? So it is, as I now proceed to prove.
Plan of Discourse.
The idle man is of no use in the world; therefore he deserves that God should take him out of it by a premature death. Such
