{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_Serious_thoughts_for_the_living/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_Serious_thoughts_for_the_living","id":"wikisource_Serious_thoughts_for_the_living","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Serious_thoughts_for_the_living","summary":null,"tags":["1800s_works","Chapbooks","Christianity","Main_pages_with_authority_control_data","PD-old","Pages_with_illegible_text","Prose","Religion","Scotland","Works_of_uncertain_date","Works_using_categories_parameter","Works_with_non-numeric_dates","Works_with_reconstructed_words_or_phrases"],"text":"CHEAP TRACTS,\n\nCalculated to promote the Interests of Religion, Virtue, and Humanity.\n\nNo. VI.\n\nSerious\n\nThoughts\n\nFOR\n\nThe Living.\n\n\u00a0\n\nFrom Hervey's Meditations among the Tombs.\n\n\u00a0\n\n'Tis equally man's duty, glory, gain,\n\nAt once to shun and meditate his end.\n\n\u00a0\n\n\u00a0\n\nDUNBAR:\n\nPrinted by G. Miller:\u2014at who\u017fe Shop may be had a variety of Pamphlets, Ballads, Children's Books, Pictures, Catechi\u017fms, &c.\n\nWHOLESALE AND RETAIL.\n\n\u00a0\n\nSERIOUS THOUGHTS.\n\n\u00a0\n\n\u00a0\n\nMake the extended \u017fkies your tomb:\n\nLet \u017ftars record your worth:\n\nYet know, vain mortals, all mu\u017ft die,\n\nAs nature's \u017ficklie\u017ft birth.\n\nWould bounteous Heav'n indulge my pray'r,\n\nI frame a nobler choice;\n\nNor living, wi\u017fh the pompous pue;\n\nNor dead, regret tbe lo\u017fs.\n\nIn thy fair book of life divine,\n\nMy God, in\u017fcribe my name.\n\nThere let it fill \u017fome humble place,\n\nBeneath the \u017flaughter'd Lamb.\n\nThy \u017faints, while ages roll away,\n\nIn endle\u017fs fame \u017furvive,\n\nTheir glories o'er the wrongs of time,\n\nGreatly triumphant, live.\n\nO! That they were wife's \u017faid the in\u017fpired penman. It was his la\u017ft wi\u017fh for his dear people: he breathed it out, and gave up the gho\u017ft.\u2014But what is wi\u017fdom? It con\u017fi\u017fts not in refined \u017fpeculations, accurate re\u017fearches into nature, or an univer\u017fal acquaintance with hi\u017ftory. The divine Lawgiver \u017fettles this important point in his next a\u017fpiration: Oh! that they under\u017ftood this! that they had right apprehen\u017fions of their \u017fpiritual intere\u017fts, and eternal concerns! that they had eyes to di\u017fcern, and inclinations to pur\u017fue the things which belong to their peace!\u2014But how \u017fhall they attain this valuable knowledge? I \u017fend them not, adds the illu\u017ftrious teacher, to turn over all the volumes of literature: they may acquire, and much more expeditiou\u017fly, this \u017fcene of life, by con\u017fidering their latter end. This \u017fpark of heaven is often loft under the glitter of pompous erudition, but \u017fhines clearly in the gloomy man\u017fions of the tomb. Drowned is this gentle whi\u017fper amid\u017ft the noi\u017fe of mortal affairs, but \u017fpeaks di\u017ftinctly in the retirements of \u017ferious contemplacion.\u2014Behold! how providencially I am brought to the \u017fchool of wi\u017fdom! The grave is the mo\u017ft faithful ma\u017fter; and the\u017fe in\u017ftances of mortality, the mo\u017ft in\u017ftructive le\u017f\u017fons.\u2014Come, then, calm attention, and compo\u017fe my thoughts; come, thou cele\u017ftial Spirit, and enlighten my mind; that I may \u017fo peru\u017fe the\u017fe awful pages, as to \"become wi\u017fe unto \u017falvation.\"\n\nExamining the records of mortality, I found the memorials of a promi\u017fcuous multitude. They were huddled, at lea\u017ft they re\u017fted together, without any regard to rank or \u017feniority. None were ambitious of the uppermo\u017ft rooms, or chief \u017feats, in this hou\u017fe of mourning. None entertained fond and eager expectations of being honourably greeted in their dark\u017fome cells. The man of years and experience, reputed as an oracle in his generation, was content to lie down at the feet of a babe. In this hou\u017fe appointed for all living, the \u017fervant was equally accommodated, and lodged in the \u017fame \u017ftory with his ma\u017fter. The poor indigent lay as \u017foftly, and \u017flept as \u017foundly, as the mo\u017ft opulent po\u017f\u017fe\u017f\u017for. All the di\u017ftinction that \u017fub\u017fi\u017fted, was a gra\u017f\u017fy hillock, bound with o\u017fiers; or a \u017fepulchral \u017ftone, ornamented with imagery.\n\nWhy then, \u017faid my working thoughts, O! why \u017fhould we rai\u017fe \u017fuch a mighty \u017ftir about \u017fuperiority and precedence, when the next remove will reduce us all so, a \u017ftate of equal meanne\u017fs? Why \u017fhould we exalt our\u017felves, or deba\u017fe others; \u017fince we mu\u017ft all one day be upon a common level, and blended together in the \u017fame undi\u017ftingui\u017fhed du\u017ft? Oh! that this con\u017fideration might humble my own and others pride: and \u017fink our imaginations as low as our habitation will \u017fhortly be!\n\nAmong the\u017fe confu\u017fed relics of humanity, there are, without doubt, per\u017fons of contrary intere\u017fts, and contradicting \u017fentiments: But death, like \u017fome able day\u017fman, has laid his hand on the contending parties, and brought all their differences to an amicable conclu\u017fion. Here enemies, \u017fworn enemies, dwell together in unity. They drop every embittered thought, and forget that they once were foes. Perhaps their crumbling boues mix as they moulder; and tho\u017fe who, while they lived, \u017ftood, aloof in irreconcileable variance, here fall into mutual embraces, and even incorporate with each other\nin the grave.\u2014\u2014\u2014Oh! that we might learn from the\u017fe friendly a\u017fhes, not to perpetuate the memory of injuries; not to foment the fever of re\u017fentment; nor cheri\u017fh the turbulence of pa\u017f\u017fion; that there may be as little animo\u017fity and di\u017fagreement in the land of the living, as there is in the congregation of the dead!\u2014\u2014\n\n\u2014One is tempted to exclaim again\u017ft the king of terrors, and call him capriciou\u017fly cruel. He \u017feems, by beginning at the wrong end of the regi\u017fter, to have inverted the laws of nature. Pa\u017f\u017fing over the couch of decrepit age, he has nipped infancy in its bud; bla\u017fted youth in its bloom; and torn up manhood in its full maturity.\u2014Terrible indeed are the\u017fe providences, yet not un\u017fearchable the coun\u017fels:\n\nFor us they \u017ficken, and for us they die*.\n\nSuch \u017ftrokes mu\u017ft not only grieve the relatives, but \u017furpri\u017fe the whole neighbourhood. They found a powerful alarm to heedless dreaming mortals, and are intended as a remedy for our carnal \u017fecurity. Such pa\u017f\u017fing bells inculcate loudly our Lord's admonition: \"Take ye heed, watch, and pray; for ye know not when the time is.\u2014\"We nod, like intoxicated creatures, upon the very verge of a tremendous precipice. The\u017fe a\u017ftoni\u017fhing di\u017fpen\u017fations are the kind me\u017f\u017fengers of heaven, to rou\u017fe us from our \u017fupinene\u017fs, and quicken us into timely circumspection. I need not surely accommodate them with language, nor act as their interpreter. Let every one's conscience be awake, and this will appear their awful meaning:\u2014\"O! ye sons of men, in the mid\u017ft of life you are in death. No \u017ftate, no circum\u017ftances, can ascertain your preservation a \u017fingle moment. So \u017ftrong is the tyrant's arm, that nothing can re\u017fi\u017ft its force; so true his aim, that nothing can elude the blow. Sudden as lightning, sometimes is his arrow launched; and wounds and kills, in the twinkling of an eye. Never promi\u017fe your\u017felf \u017fafety in an expedient, but con\u017ftant preparation. The fatal \u017fhafts fly \u017fo promi\u017fcuou\u017fly, that none can gue\u017fs the victim. Therefore, be ye always ready; for in \u017fuch an hour as ye think not, the final \u017fummons cometh.\"\n\nBe ye always ready; for in \u017fuch an hour as ye think not.\u2014Important admonition! Methinks, it reverberates from sepulchre to sepulchre, and addre\u017f\u017fes me with line upon\nline, precept upon precept. The reiterated warning, Iacknowledge, is too needful; may co-operating grace render it effectual! The momentous truth, though worthy to be engraved on the tables of a mo\u017ft tenacious memory, is but \u017flightly \u017fketched on the tran\u017fient flow of pa\u017f\u017fion. We \u017fee our neighbours fall: we turn pale at the \u017fhock; and feel, perhaps, a trembling dread. No \u017fooner\nare they removed from our fight, but driven in the whirl of bu\u017fine\u017fs, or lulled in the langours of plea\u017fure, we forget the providence, and neglect its errand. The impre\u017f\u017fion made on our un\u017ftable minds, is like the trace of an arrow through the penetrated air, or the path of a keel in the furrowed wave. Strange \u017ftupidity!\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nHow thin is the partition between this world and another. How \u017fhort the tran\u017fition from time to eternity!\n\nLegions, legions of di\u017fa\u017fters, \u017fuch as no prudence can fore\u017fee, and no care prevent, lie in wait to accompli\u017fh our doom. A \u017ftarting hor\u017fe may throw his rider; may at once da\u017fh his body again\u017ft the \u017ftones, and fling his \u017foul into the invi\u017fible world. A \u017ftack of chimneys may tumble into the \u017ftreet, and cru\u017fh the unwary pa\u017f\u017fenger under the ruins; even a \u017fingle tile, dropping from the roof, may be as fatal as the fall of the whole \u017ftructure.\u2014So frail, \u017fo very attenuated is the thread of life, that it not only bur\u017fts before the \u017ftorm, but breaks even at a breeze. The mo\u017ft common occurrences, tho\u017fe from which we \u017fu\u017fpect not the lea\u017ft harm, may prove the weapons of our de\u017ftruction. A grape-\u017ftone, a de\u017fpicable fly, may be more mortal than Goliath, with all his formidable armour. Nay, if God give command, our very comforts become killing. The air we breathe, is our bane! and the food we eat, the vehicle of death.\u2014That la\u017ft enemy has unnumbered avenues for his approach: yea, lies entrenched in our very bo\u017fom, and holds his fortre\u017fs in the \u017feat of our life. The crim\u017fon fluid, which di\u017ftributes health, is impregnated with the \u017feeds of death. Heat may inflame it, or toil oppre\u017fs it, and make it de\u017ftroy the parts it was de\u017figned to cheri\u017fh. Some un\u017feen impediment may, ob\u017ftruct its pa\u017f\u017fage, or \u017fome unknown violence may divert its cour\u017fe; in either of which ca\u017fes it acts the part of a poi\u017fonous draught, or a deadly \u017ftab.\n\nAh! in what perils is vain life engag'd!\n\nWhat \u017flight neglects what trivial faults de\u017ftroy\n\nThe hardie\u017ft frame! Of indolence, of toil,\n\nWe die; of want, of \u017fuper\u017fluity.\n\nThe all \u017furrounding heav'n, the vital air\n\nIs big with death.\n\nSince then we are \u017fo liable to be di\u017fpo\u017f\u017fe\u017f\u017fed of this earthly tabernacle, let us look upon our\u017felves only as tenants at will; and hold our\u017felves in perpetual readine\u017fs to depart at a moment's warning. Without \u017fuch an habitual readine\u017fs, we are like wretches that \u017fleep on the top of a ma\u017ft, while a horrid gulph yawns, or furious waves rage beow. And where can be the peace, what the \u017fatisfaction of \u017fuch a \u017ftate? Whereas, a prepared condition will in\u017fpire a cheerfulne\u017fs of temper, not to be di\u017fmayed by any alarming accident, and create a firmne\u017fs of mind, not to be overthrown by the mo\u017ft threatening dangers.\n\nHere lie their bodies in \"peaceable habitations, and quiet re\u017fting-places.\" Here they have thrown off every burden, and are e\u017fcaped from every \u017fnare. The head achs no more; the eye forgets to weep; the fle\u017fh is no longer racked with acute, nor wa\u017fted with lingering di\u017ftempers. Here they receive a final relea\u017fe from pain, and an everla\u017fting di\u017fcharge from \u017forrows. Here danger never threatens them with her terrifying alarms; but tranquillity \u017foftens their couch, and \u017fafety guards their repo\u017fe.\u2014Re\u017ft then, ye precious relics, within this ho\u017fpitable gloom; re\u017ft in gentle \u017flumbers till the la\u017ft trumpet \u017fhall give the welcome \u017fignal, and \u017found aloud, through all your \u017filent man\u017fions. \"Ari\u017fe, \u017fhine; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is ri\u017fen upon you.\"\n\nTo the\u017fe, how calm was the evening of life! In what a \u017fmiling \u017ferenity did their \u017fun go down! When their fle\u017fh and their heart failed, how reviving was the remembrance of an all \u017fufficient Redeemer; once dying for their \u017fins, now ri\u017fen again for their ju\u017ftification: How chearing the well grounded hope of pardon for their tran\u017fgre\u017f\u017fions, and peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord! How did this a\u017f\u017fuage the agonies, and \u017fweeten the bitterne\u017fs of death?\u2014Where now is wealth, with all her golden mountains? Where is honour, with her proud trophies of renown? Where are all the vain pomps of a deluded world? Can they in\u017fpire \u017fuch comfort, can they admini\u017fter any \u017fupport, in this la\u017ft extremity? Can they compo\u017fe the affrighted thoughts, or buoy up the departing \u017foul, amid\u017ft all the pangs of di\u017f\u017folution?\u2014\u2014The followers of the Lamb \u017feem plea\u017fed and triumphant even at their la\u017ft ga\u017fp. \"God's everla\u017fting arms are underneath\" their fainting heads. His Spirit whi\u017fpers peace and con\u017folation to their con\u017fciences. In the \u017ftrength of the\u017fe heavenly \u017fuccours they quit the field, not captives but conquerors; with \"hopes full of immortality.\"\n\nAnd now they are gone.\u2014\u2014The \u017ftruggles of reluctant nature are over- The body \u017fleeps in death, the \u017foul launches into the invi\u017fible \u017ftate.\u2014But who can imagine the delightful \u017furpri\u017fe, when they and them\u017felves \u017furrounded by guardian angels, in\u017ftead of weeping friends? How \u017fecurely do they wing their way, and pa\u017fs through unknown worlds, under the conduct of tho\u017fe cele\u017ftial guides!\u2014The vale of tears is quite lo\u017ft. Farewel, for ever, the realms of woe, and range of malignant beings! They arrive on the frontiers of inexpre\u017f\u017fible felicity. They \"are come to the city of the living God.\" while a voice, \u017fweeter than mu\u017fic in her \u017fofte\u017ft \u017ftrains, \u017fweet as the harmony of hymning \u017feraphim, congratulates their arrival, and be\u017fpeaks their admi\u017f\u017fion: Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everla\u017fting doors, that the heirs of glory may enter in.\n\nHere, then, let us leave the \u017fpirits and \u017fouls of the righteous, e\u017fcaped from an entangling wilderness, and received into a paradi\u017fe of delights! escaped from the territories of disquietude, and settled in regions of unmole\u017fted security! Here they \u017fit down with Abraham, I\u017faac, and Jacob, in the\nkingdom of their Father. Here they mingle with an innumerable company of angels, and rejoice around the throne of the Lamb; rejoice in the fruition of present felicity, and in the a\u017f\u017fured expectation of an inconceivable addition to their bliss; when GOD \u017fhall call the heavens from above, and the earth, that he may judge his people.\n\nFools accounted their life madness, and their end to be without honour; but they are numbered among the children of GOD, and their lot, their di\u017ftingui\u017fhed and eternal lot, is among the saints! However,\ntherefore, an undiscerning world may di\u017fpise, and a profane world vilify, the truly religious; be this the supreme, the invariable de\u017fire of my heart! \"Let me live the life, and die the death, of the righteous. Oh! let my latter end, and future \u017ftate, be like theirs.\"\n\nThe only infallible way of immortalizing our characters, a way equally open to the meane\u017ft and mo\u017ft exalted fortune, is \"to make our calling and election \u017fure;\" to gain \u017fome \u017fweet evidence, that our names are written in heaven. Then, however they may be di\u017fregarded or forgotten among men, they will not fail to be had in everla\u017fting remembrance, before the Lord.\u2014\u2014This is, of all di\u017ftinctions, far, the noble\u017ft; this will i\u017f\u017fue in never-dying renown. Ambition, be this thy object, and every page\nof \u017fcripture will \u017fanctify thy pa\u017f\u017fion; even grace it\u017felf will fan thy flame.\u2014As to earthly memorials, yet a little while, and they are all obliterated. The tongue of tho\u017fe, who\u017fe, happine\u017fs we have zealou\u017fly promoted, mu\u017ft \u017foon be \u017filent in the coffin. Characters cut with a pen of iron, and committed to the \u017folid rock, will, ere long, cea\u017fe to be legible. But as many as are inrolled \"in the Lamb's book of life,\" he him\u017felf declares, \u017fhall never be blotted out from tho\u017fe annals of eternity. When a flight of years has mouldered the triumphal column into du\u017ft; when the brazen \u017ftatue peri\u017fhes, under the corroding hand of time; tho\u017fe honours \u017ftill continue; \u017ftill are blooming and incorruptible, in the world of glory.\n\nCould we draw back the covering of the tomb; could we di\u017fcern what tho\u017fe are now, who once were mortals?\u2014\u2014\u2014oh! how would it \u017furpri\u017fe and grieve us! Surpri\u017fe us, to behold the prodigious transformation which has taken place on every individual; grieve us, to ob\u017ferve the di\u017fhonour done to\nour nature in general, within the\u017fe \u017fubterrancous lodgments!\n\nHere the \u017fweet and winning a\u017fpect, that wore perpetually an attractive \u017fmile, grins horribly a naked, gha\u017ftly \u017fcull.\u2014The eye, that out\u017fhined the diamond's brilliancy, and glanced its lovely lightning into the mo\u017ft guarded heart, alas! where is it? Where \u017fhall we find the rolling \u017fparkler!\u2014How are all its \u017fprightly beams eclip\u017fed, totally eclip\u017fed!\u2014The tongue, that once commanded all the \u017fweetne\u017fs of harmony, and all the powers of eloquence, in this \u017ftrange land has \"forgot its cunning.\" Where are now clo\u017fe \u017ftrains of melody, which ravi\u017fhed our ears? Where is that flow of per\u017fua\u017fion, which carried captive our judgements? The great ma\u017fter of language, and of \u017fong, is become \u017filent as the night that \u017furrounds him.\u2014The pampered fle\u017fh, \u017fo lately clothed in purple and fine linen, how is it covered rudely with clods of clay! There was a time when the timorou\u017fly nice creature would \u017fcarce \"adventure to \u017fet a foot upon the ground, for delicatene\u017fs and tenderne\u017fs, but is now enwrapped in clammy earth, and \u017fleeps on no \u017fofter a pillow than the rugged gravel\u017ftones.\u2014Here \"the \u017ftrong men bow them\u017felves;\" the nervous arm is un\u017ftrung; the brawny \u017finews are relaxed; the limbs not long ago the \u017feats of vigour and activity, lie down motionle\u017fs, and the bones, which were as bars of iron, are crumbled into du\u017ft.\n\nHere the man of bu\u017fine\u017fs forgets all his favourite \u017fchemes, and di\u017fcontinues the pur\u017fuit of gain. Here is a total \u017ftand to the circulation of merchandize, and the hurry of trade. In the\u017fe \u017folitary rece\u017f\u017fes, as in the building of Solomon's temple, is heard no \u017found of the hammer and axe. The winding-\u017fheet, and the coffin, are the utmo\u017ft bound of all earthly devices; \"Hitherto may they go, but no further.\"\u2014Here the \u017fons of plea\u017fure take a final farewel of their dear delights. No more is the \u017fen\u017fuali\u017ft anointed with oil, or crowned with ro\u017febuds; he chants no more to the melody of the viol, nor revels any longer at the banquet of wine. In\u017ftead of \u017fumptuous tables, and delicious treats, the poor voluptuary is him\u017felf a fea\u017ft for fattened in\u017fects; the reptile riots in his fle\u017fh; \"the worm feeds \u017fweetly on him\".\u2014Here al\u017fo beauty fails: bright beauty drops her lu\u017ftre here. O! how there ro\u017fes fade, and her lilies langui\u017fh, in this bleak \u017foil! How does the grand leveller pour contempt upon the charmer of our hearts! How turn to deformity, what captivated the world before!\n\nShould one of the\u017fe gha\u017ftly figures bur\u017ft from his confinement, and \u017ftart up in frightful deformity, before me;\u2014\u017fhould the haggard \u017fkeleton lift a clattering hand, and point it full in my view;\u2014\u017fhould it open the \u017ftiffened jaws, and, with a hoar\u017fe tremendous murmur, break this profound \u017filence;\u2014\u017fhould it acco\u017ft me, as Samuel's apparition addre\u017f\u017fed the trembling king,\u2014\"The Lord \u017fhall deliver thee al\u017fo into the hands of death; yet a little while, and thou \u017fhalt be with me\"\u2014The \u017folemn warning, delivered in \u017fo \u017ftriking a manner; mu\u017ft \u017ftrongly impre\u017fs my imagination; a me\u017f\u017fage in thunder would \u017fcarce \u017fink deeper.\u2014Yet there is abundantly greater rea\u017fon to be alarmed, by that expre\u017fs declaration of the Lord God Almighty, \"Thou \u017fhalt \u017furely die\"\u2014Well then, \u017fince \u017fentence is pa\u017f\u017fed, \u017fince I am a condemned man, and know not when the dead warran may arrive; let me die to \u017fin, and die to the world, before I die beneath the \u017ftroke of a righteous God. Let me employ the little uncertain interval of re\u017fpite from execution, in preparing for a happier \u017ftate, and a better life; that, when the fatal moment comes, and I am commanded to \u017fhut my eyes upon all things here below, I may open them again, to \u017fee my Saviour in the man\u017fions above.\n\nSince this body, which is \u017fo fearfully and wonderfully made, mu\u017ft fall to pieces in the grave; \u017fince I mu\u017ft \u017foon re\u017fign all my bodily powers to darkness, inactivity, and corruption; let it be my con\u017ftant care to u\u017fe them well, while I po\u017f\u017fe\u017fs them!\u2014\u2014\u2014Let my hands be \u017ftretched forth to relieve the needy; and always be \"more ready to give than to receive.\"\u2014Let my knees bend, in deepe\u017ft humiliation, before the throne of grace; while my eyes are ca\u017ft down to the earth, in penitential confu\u017fion, or devoutly looking up to heaven for pardoning mercy\n\nIn every friendly interview, let the \"law of kindne\u017fs dwell on my lips;\" or rather if the \u017feriousne\u017fs of my acquaintance permits let the go\u017fpel of peace flow from my tongue. O! that I might be enabled, in every public concour\u017fe, to lift up my voice like a trumpet; and pour abroad a more joyful found than its mo\u017ft melodious accents, in proclaiming the glad tidings of free \u017falvation!\u2014Be \u017fhut, my ears, re\u017folutely \u017fhut, again\u017ft the malevolent whi\u017fpers of \u017flander, and the contagious breath of filthy talking; but be \u017fwift to hear the in\u017ftructions of wi\u017fdom, be all attention, when your Redeemer \u017fpeaks; imbibe the precious truths and convey them carefully to the heart.\u2014Carry me my feet, to the temple of the Lord; to the beds of the \u017fick, and hou\u017fes of the poor\u2014May all my members, devoted entirely to my divine Ma\u017fter, be the willing in\u017ftruments of promoting his glory.\n\nThen, ye embalmers, you may \u017fpare your pains: the\u017fe works of faith, and labours of love; the\u017fe \u017fhall be my \u017fpices and perfumes. Enwrapped in the\u017fe, I would lay me gently\ndown and \u017fleep \u017fweetly in the ble\u017f\u017fed Jesus; hoping that God will \"give commandment of concerning my bones;\" and one day fetch them up from the du\u017ft, as \u017filver from the furnace, purified, \"I \u017fay not, \u017feven times, but \u017feventy times \u017feven.\"\n\nRe\u017furrection! that chearing word eases my mind of an anxious thought, and \u017folves a mo\u017ft momentous que\u017ftion. I was going to a\u017fk, \"Wherefore do all the\u017fe corp\u017fes lie here, in this abject condition? Is this their final \u017ftate? Has death conquered? and will the tyrant hold captivity captive? How long wilt thou forget them, O Lord? For ever?\u2014\u2014\"No, saith the voice from heaven, the word of divine revelation; The righteous are all \"pri\u017foners of hope.\" There is an hour (an awful \u017fecret that, and known only to all-fore\u017feeing wi\u017fdom) an appointed hour there is, when an act of grace will pa\u017fs the great \u017feal above, and give them an univer\u017fal di\u017fcharge, a general delivery from\nthe abodes of corruption.\u2014Then \u017fhall the Lord Jesus de\u017fcend from heaven, with the \u017fhout of the archangel, and the trump of God. De\u017ftruction it\u017felf \u017fhall hear his call, and the obedient grave give up her dead. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, they \u017fhake off the \u017fleep of ten thou\u017fand\nyears, and \u017fpring forth, like the bounding r\u043e\u0435, \"to meet their Lord in the air.\"\n\nAnd, O! with what cordial congratulations, what tran\u017fporting endearments, do the \u017foul and body, tho\u017fe affectionate companions, re-unite! But with how much greater demon\u017ftrations of kindne\u017fs, are they\nboth received by their compa\u017f\u017fionate Redeemer! The Ancient of days, who comes in the clouds of heaven, is their friend, their father, their bridegroom. He comes with irre\u017fi\u017ftible power, and infinite glory. But they have nothing to fear from his maje\u017ftic appearance. Tho\u017fe tremendous \u017folemnities, which \u017fpread de\u017folation and a\u017ftoni\u017fhment through the univer\u017fe, \u017ferve only to inflame their love, and heighten their hopes. The Judge, the awful Judge, amid\u017ft all his magnificence and \u017fplendour, vouch\u017fafes to confe\u017fs their names; vouch\u017fafes to commemorate their fidelity, before all the inhabitants of the \u017fkies, and the whole a\u017f\u017fembled world.\n\nHark! the thunders are hu\u017fhed. See! the lightnings cea\u017fe their rage; the angelic armies \u017ftand in \u017filent \u017fu\u017fpen\u017fe; the whole race of Adam is wrapt in plea\u017fing or anxious expectation.\u2014\u2014\u2014And now that adorable per\u017fon, who\u017fe favour is better than life, who\u017fe acceptance is a crown of glory, lifts up the light of his countenance upon the righteous. He \u017fpeaks; and what ravi\u017fhing words proceed from his gracious lips! What ec\u017fta\u017fies of delight they enkindle in the brea\u017fts of the faithful! \"I accept you, O my people! Ye are they that believed in my name. Ye are they that renounced your\u017felves, and are complete in me. I \u017fee no \u017fpot or blemi\u017fh in you; for ye are wa\u017fhed in my blood, and clothed in my righteou\u017fne\u017fs. Renewed by my Spirit, ye have glorified me on earth, and have been faithful unto death. Come, then, ye \u017fervants of holine\u017fs, enter into the joy of your Lord. Come, ye children of light, ye ble\u017f\u017fed of my Father, receive the kingdom that \u017fhall never be removed; wear the crown which fadeth not away; and enjoy plea\u017fures for evermore!\n\nThe wicked\u2014My mind recoils at the apprehen\u017fion of their mi\u017fery. It has \u017ftudiou\u017fly waved the fearful \u017fubject, and \u017feems unwilling to pur\u017fue it even now.\u2014But, 'tis better to reflect upon it for a few minutes, than to endure it to eternal ages.\n\nThe wicked \u017feem to lie here, like malefactors in a deep and \u017ftrong dungeon, re\u017ferved again\u017ft the day of trial.\u2014\"Their departure was without peace.\" When the la\u017ft \u017fickne\u017fs \u017feized their frame, and the inevitable change advanced; when they \u017faw the fatal arrow fitting to the \u017ftrings; \u017faw the deadly archer aiming at their heart; and felt the envenomed \u017fhaft fa\u017ftened in their vitals\u2014Good God! what fearfulne\u017fs came upon them! what horrible dread overwhelmed them! How did they \u017ftand \u017fhuddering and agha\u017ft upon the tremendous precipice; exce\u017f\u017fively afraid to plunge into the aby\u017f\u017f of eternity, yet utterly unable to maintain their \u017ftanding on the verge of life.\n\nO! what pale reviews, what \u017ftartling pro\u017fpects, con\u017fpire to augment their \u017forrows!\u2014They look backward, and behold, a mo\u017ft melancholy \u017fcene! Sins unrepented of, mercy \u017flighted, and the day of grace ending.\u2014They look forward, and nothing pre\u017fents it\u017felf but the righteous Judge, the dreadful tribunal, and a mo\u017ft \u017folemn reckoning.\u2014\u2014\u2014They roll around their arighted eyes on attending friends. If accomplices in debauchery, it \u017fharpens their angui\u017fh, to con\u017fider this further aggravation of their guilt that they have not finned alone, but drawn others into the \u017fnare. If religious acquainance, it \u017ftrikes a fre\u017fh ga\u017fh into their hearts, to think of never \u017feeing them any more, but only at an unapproachable di\u017ftance, separated by the unpa\u017f\u017fable gulph.\n\nAt la\u017ft, perhaps, they begin to pray: But why have they deferred, \u017fo long deferred their addre\u017f\u017fes to God? Why have they de\u017fpi\u017fed all his coun\u017fels, and \u017ftood incorrigible under his ince\u017f\u017fant reproofs? How often have they been forewarned of the\u017fe terrors, and mo\u017ft importunately entreated to \u017feek the LORD, while he might be found?\u2014I wi\u017fh they may obtain mercy at the eleventh, at the la\u017ft hour. But, alas! who can tell, whether affronted Maje\u017fty will lend an ear to their complaint? whether the holy One will work a miracle of grace in behalf of \u017fuch tran\u017fgre\u017f\u017fors? He may, for aught any mortal knows, \"laugh at their calamity, & mock when their fear cometh.\"\n\nThus they lie groaning out the poor remains of life; their limbs bathed in \u017fweet; their heart \u017ftruggling with convul\u017five throes; pains un\u017fupportable throbbing thro' every pul\u017fe; and innumerable darts of agony transfixing their con\u017fcience.\n\nHappy di\u017f\u017folution! were this the period of their woes. But, alas! all these tribulations are only the \"beginning of \u017forrows;\" a \u017fmall drop only from that cup of trembling which is mingled for their future portion.\u2014\u2014No \u017fooner has the la\u017ft pang di\u017flodged their reluctant \u017fouls, but they are hurried into the pre\u017fence of an injured, angry God;\u2014Re\u017furrection will be no privilege to them; but immortality it\u017felf their everla\u017fting cur\u017fe.\u2014Would they not ble\u017fs the grave, \"that land where all things are forgotten;\" and wi\u017fh to lie eternally hid in its deepe\u017ft gloom?\nBut the du\u017ft refu\u017fes to conceal their per\u017fons, or to draw a veil over their practices. They mu\u017ft al\u017fo awake; mu\u017ft ari\u017fe; mu\u017ft appear at the bar; and meet the Judge; a Judge before whom \"the pillars of heaven tremble, and the earth melts away:\" a Judge, once long-\u017fuffering and very compa\u017f\u017fionate, but\nnow unalterably determined to teach \u017ftubborn offenders,\u2014what it is to provoke the omnipotent Godhead; what it is to trample upon the blood of his Son, and offer de\u017fpite to all the gracious overtures of his Spirit,\n\nBehold! the books are opened; the \u017fecrets a\u017f all hearts are di\u017fclo\u017fed; the hidden things of darkne\u017fs are brought to light. How empty, how ineffectual now, are all tho\u017fe refined artifices, with which hypocrites impo\u017fed upon their fellow-creatures, and pre\u017ferved a character in the fight of men! The\njealous GOD, who has been about their path, and about their bed, and '\u017fpied out all their ways, \"\u017fets before them the things that they have done.\" They cannot an\u017fwer him one in a thou\u017fand, nor \u017ftand in the awful judgement. The heavens reveal their iniquities, and the earth ri\u017fes up again\u017ft them. They (illegible text)e \u017fpeechle\u017fs with guilt, and \u017ftigmatized with infamy before all the armies of the \u017fky and all the nations of the redeemed.\u2014\n\nHow mu\u017ft the wretches \u017fcream with wild amazement, and rend the very heavens with their cries, when the right-aiming thunder bolts go abroad! abroad with a dreadful admi\u017f\u017fion, to drive them from the kingdom of glory; and plunge them,\u2014\u2014not into the (illegible text)rrows of a moment, or the tortures of an hour,\u2014but into all the re\u017ftle\u017fs agonies of unquenchable fire, and everla\u017fting de\u017fpair.\n\nMi\u017fery of mi\u017feries! too \u017fhocking for reflection to dwell upon. But, if \u017fo di\u017fmal to (illegible text)re\u017fee, and that at a di\u017ftance, together with some comfortable expectation of e\u017fcaping it.\u2014O! how bitter, inconceivably bitter, to hear, without any intermi\u017f\u017fion, or any mitigation, through hopele\u017fs and eternal ages.\n\nWonder, O man; be lo\u017ft in admiration, of tho\u017fe prodigious events which are coming upon the univer\u017fe: events, the greatne\u017fs of which nothing finite can mea\u017fure; \u017fuch as will cau\u017fe whatever is con\u017fiderable or momentous in the annals of all generations, to sink into littlene\u017fs and nothing. Events of Jesus, prepare us for their approach! demand us, when they take place!) big with the overla\u017fting fates of all the living, and all the dead.\u2014I mu\u017ft \u017fee the graves cleaving, the (illegible text)a teeming, and \u017fwarms un\u017fu\u017fpected, crowds unnumbered, yea multitudes of thronging (illegible text)ations, ri\u017fing from both.\u2014\u2014I mu\u017ft \u017fee the world in flames; mu\u017ft \u017ftand at the di\u017f\u017folution of all terre\u017ftial things; and be an attendant on the burial of nature.\u2014I mu\u017ft \u017fee the va\u017ft expan\u017fe of the \u017fky wrapt up like a \u017fcroll; and the incarnate God, i\u017f\u017fuing forth from light inacce\u017f\u017fible, with ten thou\u017fand times ten thou\u017fand angels, to judge both men and devils.\u2014\u2014I mu\u017ft \u017fee the curtain of time drop; \u017fee all eternity disclosed to view: and enter upon a \u017ftate of being, that will never, never have an end.\n\nAnd ought I not (let the vaine\u017ft imagination determine; ought I not) to try the \u017fincerity of my faith, and take heed to my ways? Is there an inquiry, is there a care, of greater, of equal, of comparable importance?\u2014\u2014Is not this an infinitely pre\u017f\u017fing call, to \u017fee that my loins are girded about, my lamp trimmed, and myself dre\u017f\u017fed for the Bridegroom's appearance; that, wa\u017fhed in the fountain opened in my Saviour's \u017fide, and clad with the marriage garment, wove by his obedience I may be found in peace, unblameable, and unreprovable. Otherwise how \u017fhall I \u017ftand with boldness, when the \u017ftars of heaven fall from their orbs? how \u017fhall I come forth erect and courageous, when the earth itself reels to and fro like a drunkard? how \u017fhall I look up with joy, and see my salvation drawing nigh, when the hearts of millions and millions fail for fear?\n\nfinis.\n\nPrinted by G Miller, Dunbar.\n\nThis work was published before January 1, 1931, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.\n\nPublic domainPublic domainfalsefalse","title":"Serious thoughts for the living","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":5132}