to-day, who will forsake us to-morrow. We may have friends in the day of prosperity, who in the day of adversity fail us; but Jesus is not such a friend. He is "the same yesterday, to-day and forever." They who have him, have an eternal friend. He will be with them "when the elements shall melt with fervent heat;" when the heavens shall pass away "as with a mighty tempest, and when the earth and the works that are therein shall be burnt up."
How great the honor of having such a friend! For you will then have angels, and saints; yes, and God himself; that being whom you have offended by your sins, he will be your friend.
II. Consider the particular commendation contained in the text. He "sticketh closer than a brother." I would make two or three remarks on this expression. 1 It intimates that a day of tribulation, a season of anguish and distress awaits the sinner, in which he shall greatly need a friend. This is the day of death; that dark day, sinner, or that dismal night, in which you must die. And O, what an awful time! You may be planning for a long life, when death has already commenced his work of destruction in your frail tenement of clay. Little did the foolish virgins think that they were so soon to be called by the bridegroom; they hoped, at least that he was not coming that night, and therefore they slumbered and slept; but "at midnight," when it is least expected, a cry is heard which disturbs their slumbers. The sinner must die, though unprepared. His days are numbered, and all the physicians in the world can not spare his life. He feels that he must die; a solemn conviction rests
